Al

I key to success in this game is predicting what roles your opponents are going to take. Of course, they know you’re trying to guess their rolls, so they’ll take different roles, but they know that you’ll know that.

This is one of the first Designer Games I played, and its still one of my favorites. It’s got wargame appeal without the tedium. I really like the light-hearted theme too.

I’d played miniature games for around 15 years before getting into Warmachine, but even after several years I never got that comfortable, competent feeling of knowing how to use your army most effectively against your opponents. Warmachine is full of acceptations, and units with special powers, although Mark II has leveled this out a bit. Because of this, a beat down can quickly turn into a win if you can catch your opponent by surprise.
To really master the game, you have to know about every unit in the game, so that your opponent doesn’t catch you by surprise and ruin your plans.

I don’t lean toward card games, but I’m very glad I took the time to learn this one. After my first game, I got the App so I could get up to speed, since most players I encounter are already quite good. Play is quite straight forward, but there are a few fiddly rules and conventions you need to remember.