First, about that Toys R Us sale I mentioned in my last blog. Yeah, they didn't have Brutal Legend, Uncharted 2, OR Arkham Asylum. In fact, they really didn't have any games I wanted to buy. I might go back later in the week to see if they got a new shipment in. Oh well.
I went to the local hobby shop to try and sell some rare and fairly valuable Magic cards I don't need and use that money to pick up some new boosters. While I was there I ran into a high school friend I haven't seen in some time. We knew each other because he played Magic too, back in the day. Turns out that several of the really good players I lost touch with after high school have moved back in town, so I have even more reason to get back into Magic.
In any case that isn't what I came here to blog about. Our hobby shop recently started carrying Warmachine, Hordes, and Monsterpocalypse. These are three lesser known yet still very popular miniature games made by Privateer Press. I've heard of all of them and had considered getting into it, but I simply didn't know anyone who played.
Until now.
Turns out the reason WHY the hobby shop started carrying these games was because a bunch of my old high school friends asked the owner to. There are about a dozen guys who regularly go down to the shop and play the games. As you might imagine, this has caused me to get interested in playing the games.
Monsterpocalypse isn't too bad money-wise. The models are pre-painted. The basic idea is that it is a miniatures game themed around giant monsters, particularly Japanese kaiju movies. There is a faction inspired by Godzilla, a faction inspired by Ultraman, a Cthulhu-like faction, a faction inspired by King Kong, and so on. It is also less complicated than most of Privateer Press' miniature games. The starter packs are $25, and boosters are $12, but like a card game the miniatures are randomly inserted.
Warmachine and Hordes are two companion games (In other words, they play almost exactly alike, take place in the same world, and a faction from one game can be played against a faction from another game) that are much like the better-known Warhammer/40,000. The miniatures are very expensive and must be painted, but on the other hand you really don't need THAT many to play. In fact, you could buy your faction's starter set (Which is $50) and start playing right away. Most of the guy's play 500 point battles, and according to them you can build a good 500 point army with paints and accessories in either game for about the price of two current gen games, give or take.
Now I haven't read up too much on the fluff yet, but the games take place in a fantasy world called Caen, on the continent of Immoren. Warmachines is about the "civilized" factions, while Hordes is about the "savage" factions. The factions of Warmachine use these huge, 6 ton steam-powered mechs called warjacks that are controlled by a powerful magic user known as a warcaster. In Hordes, warjacks are replaced with warbeasts and warcasters with warlocks.
I'm thinking of playing the Protectorate of Menoth, which is pretty much what you get if you gave the crusaders flamethrowers and giant mechs. The faction tends to have weaker individual units that gain great buffs when working together (Much like white in Magic, which is my favorite color in the game). Whenever I eventually get into Hordes, I think I'll play Skorne, a race of violent, highly disciplined and organized invaders. As I understand it, they play a lot like Menoth, but tend to be much more balanced; Skorne units tend to have a good balance between health, armor, and attack power, but are somewhat lacking in ranged capabilities.
If anyone is curious, you can find out more about all the games here: http://privateerpress.com/
