Sebastian Miniatures

'WARMACHINE' is a tabletop wargame produced by Privateer Press. The game is played with pewter miniatures manufactured by Privateer Press representing military characters from the Iron Kingdoms D20 Role Playing Game setting. more...

Home
Cultures, Ethnicities
Decorative Collectibles
All God's Children
Andrea by Sadek
ANRI
Armani
Avon
Bing & Grondahl Coll Plates
Blue Sky Clayworks
Boyds
Bradford Exchange
Byers Choice
Cat's Meow Village
Charming Tails
Christopher Radko
Danbury Mint
David Winter
Dept 56
Dreamsicles
Duncan Royale
Enesco
Faberge
Fitz & Floyd
Flambro
Franklin Mint
Halcyon Days
Hallmark
Hamilton Collector Plates
Harbour Lights
Harmony Kingdom
HOMCO
Hummel, Goebel
Josef
Knowles Collector Plates
Lefton Figurines
Lenox
Liberty Falls
Lilliput Lane
Limoges
Lladro
Longaberger
Madame Alexander
Margaret Furlong
Mary Engelbreit
Midwest of Cannon Falls
Norman Rockwell
Old World
Other Brands
PartyLite
Patricia Breen
Pendelfin
Polonaise
Precious Moments
Rein Poortvliet
Roman
Royal Copenhagen Coll Plates
Royal Doulton
San Francisco Music Box
Sarah's Attic
Schmid
Sebastian Miniatures
Shelia's
Slavic Treasures
Swarovski
Thomas Kinkade
Tom Clark
Unbranded
Wade Figurines
Wedgwood
Willitts
Willow Tree
Holiday, Seasonal
Religions, Spirituality

Battles are fought between Warcasters from rival kingdoms, the large steam-powered warjacks that the Warcasters control, and troops consisting of humans and fantasy races. For the companion-game involving the savage factions, see Hordes.

In 2004, WARMACHINE won the Origins Awards for Best Fantasy Miniatures Rules of 2003 and Best Fantasy Miniatures Series of 2003. In 2005 WARMACHINE won Game of the Year at Origins and Gamers Choice for Best Miniatures.

The Troops

Warmachine's most distinctive feature is the inclusion of "Warcasters" and "Warjacks" (the Warmachines from which the game derives its name). Warjacks are 6-ton techno-magical constructs designed for waging war, and running at the speed of a locomotive. They are, in general, powered by a coal-burning steam engine and guided by an arcane supercomputer-like 'brain' called a cortex. Heavily armored and often carrying oversized weaponry, warjacks fill a role similar to traditional military armour such as tanks and artillery. Many times more durable than normal troops, they pack a harder punch as well. They are also, however, far more costly than troops and Warcasters.

Warcasters are the pivotal characters of the game. Each Warcaster is a wielder of magic that has learned to control Warjacks. Warcasters serve multiple roles. In addition to guiding the Warjack's destructive power, they are army commanders and archmages. Each Warcaster has a special feat that can be used once per battle. These effects range from subtle to explosive and often are enough to change the tide of battle.

In addition to Warcasters and Warjacks, armies can field supporting infantry troops of many varieties that lend versatility and power to the potent Warcaster / Warjack combination. Some are infantry or gunners, while others have more specialized roles, from warjack repairmen to spellcasters. Most of these troops are human, but some are other races, such as elves, dwarves, gobbers, ogrun, and trollkin.

Gameplay

A distinctive feature of Warmachine is that the overall gameplay is designed to encourage aggression rather than defensive tactics, such as sitting behind fortifications. This is referred to amongst players and the game's developers as the 'Page 5' code of ethics: "Play Like You Have A Pair". Players take turns in a very specific order. Each turn begins with a Warcaster's control phase. During this phase Warcasters regenerate their magical power called "focus." The next phase is the maintenance phase. During this phase the Warcaster may allocate "focus" and pay the upkeep spells in play. Once this has happened Warcasters allocate "focus" to Warjacks in their battlegroups. This allows Warjacks to do special actions like run, attack multiple times, or perform many other varieties of actions. Once this has happened the player can then begin activating each unit / model to move , shoot, or attack. This is known as activation. The turn is over when every unit has been activated. A game round consists of each player taking a turn.

Read more at Wikipedia.org