Warmachine: Playing a Steamroller Pairing

5 Minute Read

Mar 9 2015

You’ve got a pair of lists that you’d like to use that are playtested and ready to go, and you’re entering a Steamroller. Read on to find out how to use that pairing!

FrozenKommander here bringing a new line of articles covering the Steamroller tournament. Imagine this scenario: You’re excited to participate in your first Steamroller tournament, and as the day creeps closer and closer, you may have questions flying through your mind, with one of them being how to decide what list to use against the opponents you’re paired. Tournament day is always tough on the mental state of a player, especially when they’re playing in one for the first time or playing outside of your local meta, so take a deep breath and stay calm.Here are a few pointers to keep in mind when preparing for Steamrollers:Know Thy Army
This point is relatively simple: What does your army do with the list pairing that you brought? If you’re playing with skew lists, which are lists that tend to not be balanced and are overpowering in one aspect of the game, such as massive amounts of ARM or extremely fast models, do you know what those lists are weak against? Being able to cover the weaknesses in your pairings is not always possible, especially in a two list setting, but knowing what damage your models are capable of and the synergy in your army works without having to look at their cards will be the best route in reducing as many bad matchups as possible. Knowing your models at this level will reduce the amount of time spent looking at cards and thinking about what to do on your turn (also known as “think tanking”, or “going into the tank”), and will allow you to spend more time being able to do meaningful activations without feeling rushed. The easiest way to get to this level of knowledge with your models is to simply play against a wide range of matchups using your chosen pairing and to not change the list makeup, unless there’s a glaring mistake, such as missing a key support solo.

Know Thy Opponent’s Army

An excellent resource, albeit requires microtransactions and a powerful mobile device

One of the most important aspects to selecting what list to play is to have a understanding of what the opponent’s models are capable of doing, and at a more advanced level, how they synergize with each other. Having this knowledge prevents what are called “gotcha” moments – which is something that every Warmachine and Hordes players has had happen to them some point in their playing experience – which are model actions that result in a huge swing of the game to the opponent or even victory, such as a highly combo oriented assassination run or a feat turn that shuts down any possible retaliation you may have against the opponent. There are many methods to gain this model knowledge, such as watching/reading battle reports, listening to podcasts, reading forum posts, and while they may provide the theoretical knowledge of how models function, it’s not the same as actually playing. War Room is also a phenomenal resource as it grants access to all of the cards for every model in the game, provided that you pay for the faction decks. This aspect of list selection is where Warmachine and Hordes gains its reputation of having a massive learning curve, as there’s just so much to remember. Never be afraid to ask to see your opponent’s cards if you have any doubts, and it’s a great habit to get into.

Sun Tzu’s The Art of War is still relevant to this day and is primarily about handling the human aspect
of warfare, rather than warfare itself.

Putting these two concepts together of knowing yourself and knowing your opponent can lead to victory is not a new concept, in fact it was introduced thousands of years ago by Chinese general, Sun Tzu.

Talk With Other Players Of Your Faction

The official forums are a great resource to talk to other players of all skill levels

One of the best resources available to you as a growing player are your fellow faction players. Don’t be afraid to approach them and ask how they handle a particular matchup or what their opinion is on a certain caster model combo. If you don’t have other players in your faction in your local meta, then move onto the official Privateer Press forums and ask your questions to players across the globe. When doing this, make sure to mention your full pairing, the specific problems you have (ex. you’re having difficulties with handling the Trollblood Miserable Meat Mountain or Harbinger’s style of play), and the point level that you’re playing at in order to receive useful feedback.

Not All Metas Are Created Equal
This pointer might seem rather difficult to have in mind while playing at a Steamroller in a meta you’re not familiar with (meta of course being the term used that’s short for meta-game, which means what factions and casters people are playing in a certain geographic area), but it’s good to be aware of the fact that not all factions and caster pairings are represented in every single meta. Some metas may be lacking dedicated faction players, or even have factions over-represented in their popularity in the player base. Don’t be afraid to ask ahead of time the local players the popularity of certain factions. This is of course difficult to figure out when playing in a much larger tournament, such as Lock & Load, Warmachine Weekend, TempleCon, etc.

Keep Your Cool
Everyone eventually finds themselves in a game situation where things went wrong, such as missing a critical die roll, or forgetting to activate models in a certain order (this is also called “tilting” or “being on tilt”). Stay calm, and use that moment as a learning experience. It is after all, a game that is played for enjoyment, do not be that person that we’ve all seen before that causes a ruckus or looks clearly disappointed. Take a breather.Playing a Steamroller pairing is primarily an exercise in mental fortitude first and foremost. Being able to stay cool when things go wrong and being able to see how a game plays out are two crucial things to have in order to be able to succeed in Steamrollers.

~How do you handle your Steamroller pairings? Post your thoughts in the comments section below! For more Warmachine related content by FrozenKommander, check out his YouTube channel.

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Author: Frozen Kommander

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