Warmachine: Tactics
le super happy funtime hype train for wargamers megathread
First of all, what is a Warmachine?
The question isn't what is a, it is what is. Warmachine is a tabletop wargaming game that takes place in a steampunk like time in which steampowered mechs and mages exsist.
Rivalries as old as man steep the Iron Kingdoms in a tradition of incessant war, forging in its violent fires heroes of unimaginable power and the weapons they alone can wield. This is a land dominated by iron giants and their heroic human controllers, a fantastic realm marching to the progressive cadence of an industrial revolution, where magic and technology have found common ground in the form of a new science, called “mechanika.”
Dominating the field of battle are the WARCASTERS, rare individuals who have mastered both sorcerous magic and martial combat and who possess the singular ability to command the mightiest warriors of the Iron Kingdoms—ten-ton, flame-belching, lead-spewing machines of destruction called WARJACKS.
Warjacks are the warcasters’ greatest weapons—titanic, steam-powered automatons with arcane brains, magically linked to their warcaster controllers and capable of executing their every devastating order. Together, a warcaster and his warjacks possess the power of a small army. When leading a military force, they are unstoppable.
The wars that engulf the Iron Kingdoms are waged by four powerful nations: imperialistic and conquest-driven Khador; heroic Cygnar, with its cutting-edge technology; the fanatical Protectorate of Menoth; and the undead “Nightmare Empire” of Cryx. Bolstering the forces of these factions are countless mercenaries, drawn from all corners of the continent to profit from the endless conflicts. Other nations beyond the Iron Kingdoms have also entered the fray—ancient and inhuman races, some who ally with the human factions and others who would see humanity destroyed.
Why should I be hyped about this game?
I know privateer press, they usually deliver good gaming (except for War Room; forget War Room). It'll be a fun, XCOM: EU-like turn based RTS, and we all know how XCOM: EU ended up.
What is the game itself?
WARMACHINE: Tactics is a squad-level, turn-based tactics game featuring both a single-player campaign and online synchronous and asynchronous head-to-head multiplayer options.
Whether playing the campaign or multiplayer, the command and management of your squad is key. Not only will you make defining choices about the warcaster, warjacks, and warriors that comprise your squad, but you will also utilize strong tactical direction of their strengths and abilities in battle as well as astute guidance for how they evolve over time.
WARMACHINE: Tactics is designed around the philosophy of synergy between the members of a squad. Every unit is part of the whole and can interact with other units for greater effect. Similar to the concept of creating ability combos in a trading card game, units in WARMACHINE: Tactics can combine effects and abilities that support each other’s efforts and increase one another’s effectiveness. Careful and creative selection of a squad’s warcaster, warjacks, and warriors is essential to an effective strategy. Plus, it means you can design exactly the force you want to put onto the battlefield.
Then once your squad takes to the field of battle, your tactical command of their actions will govern their success. Will your squad advance cautiously, utilizing cover and outmaneuvering the enemy, or will they charge furiously into melee combat where brute force and resilience will win the day? In battle, how you command your warcaster, warjacks, and warriors and the tactical decisions you make to adapt to your enemy will determine your squad’s fate.
In WARMACHINE: Tactics, you’ll be able to save multiple squads in different configurations so that you can always pick the best load out for the mission or opponent at hand. And if you want to see how your squad stacks up, you’ll be able to pit them against an AI opponent in order to try out your strategies and evaluate their performance before putting them to the true test against opponents from around the world.
The Iron Kingdoms are populated by rare individuals who possess incredible arcane talents in addition to unmatched combat skills. Even more important, they can mentally command and channel their power through the most devastating weapons of war—warjacks. In WARMACHINE: Tactics, your squad is led by such a warcaster, one of many unique characters drawn from a colorful pantheon that makes up the epic cast of this setting. Each warcaster possesses an arsenal of weapons tailored to his personal fighting style as well as a unique combination of spells and skills. These include a defining arcane feat that, when used at the right time, can turn the tide of battle.
Warcasters possess a replenishing reservoir of magical energy, called focus, which endows them with their superhuman abilities. Focus is used to cast spells, charge the protective fields of their specially created battle armor, and increase the effectiveness of their combat abilities.
Every warcaster interacts with his or her warjacks and warriors differently. One warcaster may promote aggressive strategies and bolster her squad’s performance in melee combat, while another warcaster may provide greater defense and longevity to his squad, encouraging a more methodical approach to victory. The interchangeability of warcasters in WARMACHINE: Tactics provides nearly infinite replayability and ensures that no two game experiences are ever the same.
The spearhead of the WARMACHINE fighting force is the warjack. Outfitted with an array of wicked weaponry, these imposing constructs of steel and iron are brought to life through a fusion of steam power and magic and controlled with deadly precision by the warcaster.
A warcaster is in constant telepathic contact with her warjacks and can channel her focus through a warjack to boost the machine’s combat abilities and enable it to execute devastating power attacks.
The relationship between warcasters and their warjacks is as close as the kinship between any brothers in arms. Over time, a warjack gains experience and may bond with its warcaster, taking on unique personality characteristics and developing new aptitudes.
Fleshing out the squad in WARMACHINE: Tactics are the warriors. Encompassing a wide range of disciplines and roles, warriors are selected for the fighting capability and supporting tactics they add to your squad based on how you want the force to operate on the battlefield.
Squads in WARMACHINE: Tactics are small, elite units, and the warriors that comprise them are all heroes in their own right. The warriors bring with them a gallery of incredible weapons and abilities that can make a squad perform efficiently and effectively in any situation, from rapid assaults to stealthy hit-and-run maneuvers and everything in between.
Each battle awards warriors, warjacks, and your warcaster with experience that unlocks new options for your squad, like tactical feats for the warriors or bonds between the warcaster and his warjacks that affect the performance of the warjacks in specific situations. This ever-growing list of options can be accessed during squad building to customize your force to your precise strategy.
Each campaign will focus on a single novice warcaster character and allow you to play through the formative experience that evolves that character into a full-fledged warcaster, also playable in multiplayer.
The campaigns will deliver an extensive, story-driven experience. Although conducting your squad during campaign battles works exactly like combat in multiplayer, you’ll also have the opportunity to choose how the central character develops her abilities through the course of her evolution.
WARMACHINE: Tactics will ship with the “No Man’s Land” campaign, featuring Cygnar’s Lt. Allison Jakes, a young journeyman warcaster trained as a duelist who is unexpectedly thrust into a position of great responsibility and leadership before she is ready. Under your command, Lt. Jakes will rise to the occasion in the face of horror and adversity in this harrowing story that will define her character forever in the ongoing saga of WARMACHINE.
Future campaigns will explore all the factions of WARMACHINE and feature a cast of characters uniquely designed for both the video game and the tabletop.
One of the most exciting aspects of WARMACHINE: Tactics is being able to play against your friends no matter where you are or what time it is. Online multiplayer will support both synchronous and asynchronous play, so you can compete head-to-head against a live opponent on the other side of the world, or you can play the asynchronous “play-by-mail” mode, which allows both players to take turns at their leisure. If you don’t have a friend available and still want to get your battle on, you’ll be able to find an opponent with automatic matchmaking. And WARMACHINE: Tactics will offer casual, ranked, and tournament play to suit the style of every player.
Multiplayer will be supported with regular releases of new maps, units, and even whole new factions. We want to ensure that your game experience is consistently fresh and offers new challenges every time you play.
Our funding goal allows us to produce the single-player campaign and the multiplayer mode featuring playable forces with multiple warcasters, warjacks, and warriors for the Cygnar and Khador factions as well as some Cryx units that appear in the single-player campaign—about three dozen units in all. We hope to get a whole lot more in there by achieving our stretch goals: the WARMACHINE tabletop game currently includes over 500 distinct warriors, warjacks, and warcasters, and our ambition is to bring as many of them into WARMACHINE: Tactics as possible. Our goal is to deliver regular expansions to the game in the form of campaign and themed bundles that will add new characters to your faction rosters and new stories to experience. Multiplayer maps will also be released regularly as free downloads, available to play by everyone.
Okay, I am convinced, where do I get this game?
Unfortunetly, it is not done, but you can donate to get some donators swag and other goodies such as early access to the game.
You can donate here:
http://www.warmachinetactics.com/ (look for the donate through paypal button)
I dunno, I still need more convincing./It's just not really my cup of tea.
That's okay, it wasn't really meant to appeal to everyone. Maybe give it some time, you might like it in the future when you see it.
/discuss
