New to Warmaster

[Grumm]

Hi all, I am new to Warmaster and was just looking for any tips or advice for beginners. I was able to pick up Orcs (about 3k points) and Empire (about 1.5k points) and will probably pick up 1.5k in High Elves, Dwarves and Undead as well if the game plays well. I was thinking 1.5k might be a good number for smallish games and 3k (probably using combined ally armies for the "good" factions") was good for largish games... does that sound about right? I also plan to use the original game to get to grips with the basics and then look at Revolution when I am familiar with the core game, although I am not really interested in the expanded army list (I play WFB 4e so the whole split between Vampire Counts and Tomb Kings is still kind of heretical to me!).

Also, I picked up a ton of old Citadel trees (the little "epic" scale ones), some lovely Hotz felt roads and I have a few static grass hills, but no 10mm buildings so far... do buildings play an important part in the game? Eventually I'd love to do a siege... are the rules for that any good and can anyone recommend some affordable 10mm castle walls and towers?

A little bit about myself: I started GW wargames in the 90’s and then took a break for college etc., but now I am interested in collecting again and hopefully starting my kids on it when they are old enough (1 and 3 at the moment!). 90’s GW was a real "golden age" for me with all the silly, goofy, chunky models and bright colours. I remember seeing Warmaster in a gaming store and my brother even played a demo game, but it was coming out right when I was moving on from hobby wargames so I never really gave it a serious look. While recently rediscovering my nostalgia for 90’s GW, though, I've decided that Warmaster is "close enough" to that period to deserve a shot (heck, I let in Mordheim and BFG, and those were pushing it for release dates). The fact that it started with an "undivided" Undead list (with the old skull chukka!) certainly helped! I'd love to be able to one day use Warmaster, WFB, Man O' War and Mighty Empires together for one epic campaign.

[Geep]

Hi Grumm,

I can't tell you much about the game- most of my experience has been in collecting the models, with few opponents around. Where abouts do you live?

3000pts is a fairly standard game size, though 2000pts is also common. I think your plans for army composition sound fine.

Revolution isn't that much different to the original Warmaster, but learning one then the other will require some 'unlearning'. It may be easier to just leap into Revolution. I've not yet had a chance to play with those rules myself.

Good luck in your gaming.

[Aldhick]

I also plan to use the original game to get to grips with the basics and then look at Revolution when I am familiar with the core game,

It's equivalent of learning 4th ed. Warhammer rules first so you can play 5th ed. :-) I recommand to decide which one you wanna to play and go straight for it :-)

[Hammerskelp]

I'll second what Aldhick said.
Having played both... I'd choose Warmaster Revolution. I think the changes make a great game even better. (Especially the 2 combat rounds per phase and the support changes.)

There is a sweet spot at 2000pts. Some things only become effective when you can double up the max allowed per 1000pts.   It's also a nice size to easily finish in an evenings play.

My 2c.
Your mileage may vary.
 

[Grumm]

I can't tell you much about the game- most of my experience has been in collecting the models, with few opponents around. Where abouts do you live?

I live not too far from Toronto! I think there may be some players in the area... will have to look around and see...

I saw a YouTube battle report for a 1,000 point game which looked very entertaining. It was basically the scale of a large WFB game (about 9 units in 4 or 5 brigades on each side). Is this a fun size to play as well? How long would such a game normally take?

[Dave]

There's a WM tournament at Adepticon every year, that's not too far from you.

[marell le fou]

Hey there, welcome on this forum !

I agree with the others, you should chose now what you want. Ask for the differencies between the two ruleset and pick up the one you want.

For my part i'm french, and we use our own ruleset. But as far as i can know Revolution is the greatest choice. Nearly everybody has opted for it.

If you want battle reports destined to beginners, i have written some (well, i've tried to make them readable for beginners). They are in french, but google should fix this.

See on our french warmaster forum.

[Aldhick]

I saw a YouTube battle report for a 1,000 point game which looked very entertaining. It was basically the scale of a large WFB game (about 9 units in 4 or 5 brigades on each side). Is this a fun size to play as well? How long would such a game normally take?

Warmaster rules are optimised for 2000pts games. The 1000-1200 may be still fun, but tactital options are extremely limited. In other words there are so few brigades on the table that usually the one who destroys the first brigade is the one to win. Lots of unit choices are unsuitable or too expensive for this format as well.

About the time... well Warmaster is not the fastest game around.. no wonder - you want to play large battles with at least some non-simplistic mechanics. The standard 2K game takes 3 hours in average, if you are experienced player and not in a hurry. If you have to check the rulebook often and like to chat along the way, it can easily take 4 hours or even more. All goes pretty swiftly when moving your units but gets slowed down when it comes to fighting.

[empireaddict]

@Grumm, Welcome aboard!  Following on from what others have said, I would recommend going straight to Warmaster Revolution.  Thanks to the great work done by Aldhick and others, it is a much better game than vanilla Warmaster.  Regarding army sizes, 2,000 points is definitely optimal.  And remember that you can always proxy minis if you're struggling to make your force up to that size.  For example, Dwarf handgunners (3-1|3|6+) can be used as handgunners in an Empire army (3-1|3|0) very easily.

[cjbennett22]

Hey Grumm!  The players that get together for adepticon are all great guys and very able to teach you if you can make it.  I live in Grand Rapids Michigan and not all that far from you and we could probably meet up for a game half way, like in Detroit.  My brother lives in Detroit so all three of us could meet up at a nice gaming store very close to him.

As for your questions, I would suggest learning the original rule book and working your way through the updates and faq's if you could.  We play those rules at adepticon.  Also, if you do think about adepticon, my brother and I usually meet up for a game Thursday night and the Warmaster tournament has usually been and will probably remain 9-5 on that Friday.    just a heads up!

Come play with us Danny.....

[cjbennett22]

also, for your castle.......I home made mine from your basic foam but there is a shop in England that makes mdf castle wall kits.

http://www.supremelittleness.co.uk/sld-10mm/castles10mm.htm

[Lex]

I have a castle for sale........ never used....  PM me if interested