Previously, I have mentioned that I hate…special characters. I still do to an extent, but during my reflections on today’s topic, I have realized that I don’t actually hate all special characters. In reality I hate how they are designed and brought into a game system, but not the actual characters own individual story.  

Thinking back to my experiences at the Black Library Expo, I remember the 40K legendary author Dan Abnett saying these words of advice at a Q&A session. “It’s always about the Character’s…”. Simple, but extremely valuable advice to any up and coming author. Then it hit me, thats why I love Warmachine/Hordes….Its all about the characters. From the warcasters, to the warjacks and even the individual solos…Everything is a character.

Allow me to back up for a moment…But Adam why would Warmachine be more character driven versus another game like Warhammer Fantasy or 40K. Now don’t get me wrong…I LOVE the warhammer based fiction. The characters are engaging and with a company like the Black Library fueling additional narrative content whats not to love. However, what I have found over time is that the fiction based in the individual codices and army book  are beginning to lag. Even with the addition of new special characters over time I have never found that particular fiction all that engaging. To me personally I always found that it was the time lines, unit entries and the individual novels that I found more engaging, and frankly they should…because its character/goal driven.

Now I am not saying the Warmachine fiction is perfect, there is a fair share of sub par content. Characters that feel like genre stereotypes and are not that engaging…like Stryker.

But with all that said, lets take a deeper look at Stryker’s own fiction from the perspective of a progress character that changes over time. Sure it’s unlikely for a character like Stryker, who is crucial to the over all narrative to suddenly die or prevent the main story from being predictable. Good guy swings sword and kills the baddies…

Original Post Taken From Here: www.belloflostsouls.com

Coleman Stryker was raised to value service to the Crown and valor as the highest virtues. He enlisted young, showing a remarkable aptitude that brought him into the Royal Guard very swiftly. When the Lion’s Coup began in 594, Stryker initially performed his duty to the Crown, fighting the insurgent forces of Warmaster General Prince Leto. It swiftly became apparent to the teen-aged soldier that righteousness was with the insurgents, and he ended the battle fighting at the side of the Younger, distinguishing himself and earning the respect of the new king.

As a reward, Stryker was granted the position he had desired: membership in the elite Stormblades. And it was here, in the quilted undersuit and lacquered armor that he first displayed any magical aptitude at all. The new warcaster was first tutored by the noted Commander Sebastian Nemo, one of Cygnar’s most veteran warcasters. Nemo taught Stryker the arts of magic directly, training a man who could end up being the elder warcaster’s greatest legacy. By the time Stryker was ready for his Journeyman tour he was among the best of the new generation of warcasters Cygnar had.

The man he served his Journeyman tour under was another old-school warcaster named Asheth Magnus, a former loyalist who had requested leniency from the Crown for supporting Vinter. Stryker and Magnus were well-paired as far as their abilities went: Magnus’ style of fighting molded Stryker’s very closely. But Magnus flaunted his position and abused his power in pursuit of enemies of the Crown. After a brutal interrogation and unlawful incarceration, Stryker did his duty to the laws governing acceptable actions by military officers and informed the Generals of Magnus’ actions.

Magnus was stripped of rank, and Stryker promoted to Captain. The former mentor was placed under Stryker’s command. During his time under Stryker, Magnus was nearly crippled, and blamed Stryker. When he returned to duty, Magnus attempted to kill Stryker. Stryker survived, and Magnus was forced to flee – the warcaster remains wanted.

He began by campaigning back up the Black River; as he did so, he interned every Cygnaran Menite he found in prison barges bound for Bloodshore Island, Cygnar’s most impenetrable prison. Though King Leto curbed excesses, it was still shockingly dark for this man.

Stryker waged war with a lack of mercy that alienated many—including his old mentor, Nemo—and at the same time it got results. He undoubtedly would continue down the path he had for two years if he hadn’t been faced with an even worse act.

 

During a fight in 606 with Feora, Stryker was forced to choose between pursuing and vanquishing her or saving innocent lives when Feora deliberately collapsed a church on him – and a number of faithful, innocent Menites also trapped. It was here that a facet of Stryker’s old self reemerged: he threw down his sword, overpowered his armor, and held up the building while his favorite warjack—an Ironclad named Ol’ Rowdy—shattered the main door and permitted those trapped to escape.

 

The building collapsed before Stryker could emerge, and only Rowdy’s devotion to the warcaster saved him, the warjack digging through the rubble for his master.

Stryker convalesced for months in a cell in the Sancteum, finally awakening with Nemo at his bedside; but rather than the lesson Stryker expected, Nemo simply expressed relief at Stryker’s survival and recovery of the part of himself Nemo considered most important: his mercy. As an incentive to recover swiftly Nemo had Stryker’s armor brought to his cell as the older warcaster was due to depart. Stryker didn’t have time to recover, however; Protectorate forces had turned the tide and advanced into Caspia, and Stryker suited up and strode out to join the defense.

 

Before any engagement could occur, Stryker stepped before the walls of the Sancteum, alone but armed. The Protectorate army was led directly by Hierarch Voyle, who stepped forward to briefly parlay with Cygnar’s most able commander. Stryker, in a gesture unthinkable several months earlier, offered to free Cygnaran Menites and deliver them to the Protectorate as citizens if the Protectorate forces would withdraw.

 

Voyle refused, proclaimed the Cygnaran Menites martyrs and ordered his Deliverers to fire on them. Stryker was aghast, and attempted to halt the massacre, causing a grand melee. During the battle, Stryker came face to face with Voyle; the Lord Commander lost. Before Voyle could finish off his stricken enemy, the Harbinger attempted to shield Stryker, and was struck down herself. With both warcasters down, Voyle seemed at a loss; with Voyle distracted, Stryker attempted to regain his strength. Recognizing he could not defeat Voyle, Stryker was prepared to buy time with his life. Then the Harbinger told Stryker that Menoth was ready to receive Voyle, and offered her own holy sword Providence. Stryker acknowledged by taking up the weapon.

 

It burned. It was impossible to wield, but he did so in spite of the pain it caused him. With Providence, Stryker struck down Voyle, shocking the Menite forces into inaction before he was forced to succumb himself. Though Feora claimed that it was time to eliminate Stryker personally “for his affront,” Grand Exemplar Kreoss recognized the weariness of both armies, and declared a withdrawal of the Menite forces from Caspia to rest and regroup – tacitly granting an unspoken cease fire.

 

Both sides now had room to breath. Stryker could finish the recovery that was almost shattered by fighting Voyle. Though the Black Cygnus remains the seal of the Storm Division, what it now means is uncertain.

As you may have noticed, the individual models for some of the warcasters (specifically Stryker) actually change. Instead of creating a thousand different warcasters that have different rules/backgrounds that suddenly pop into existence, once in a while Privateer Press will create a new warcaster that already exists, but give them different rules and a progressed story line. Realistically, Stryker is never in danger of dying (even if he comes close) in the narrative. But what I find rather interesting and engaging about the fiction is that there are always consequences. You don’t need to kill a character to have an impact on the over arcing narrative. There is growth in Styker’s character that elevates him beyond his simple protagonist roots as the “Good Guy”. Going back to Dan’s own words its about the Character. It’s the journey, the ups/downs of a character’s actions, resulting in their ultimate goal or ending.

Comparing this to the fiction that exists in other games you can really tell how it impacts the tabletop. How many times have you taken a special character into a game and only care about the rules? It’s because there is no real attachment to the character or their fluff. Now I know there are a ton of hobbyists that could care less about the narrative or the fluff of a game. That’s fine and frankly if that’s what keeps them interested in the hobby, all the more power to yah. Although, what a strong character driven narrative does is add layers to an already awesome experience. It does not take away from your game, it only adds and expands the experience. 

With regards to special characters, I only hate them if they are taken just because they are the obvious option game play wise. I think a special character should not just be an expensive version of a basic trooper. A special character should bring gameplay variety, that enhances your list building experiences. For instance, swap a warcaster and models A, B, C will operate in a particular way. Change up the caster again…BAM! A, B, C work in different ways. The first version of Stryker before he goes all “moody” plays completely to his darth vader counter-part. This is even more apparent with the newest faction: The Convergence of Cyriss, which has some their individual warcaster stats transfer to their warjacks and potentially their units. 

I love how the game doesn’t force all this narrative onto the gamer, instead it invites the player to investigate on their own and create their own fiction around the game. Sure, you might not create your own character model or general to lead your forces to victory. But what you get is a strong game system that has a fairly strong character driven element that is both progressive and engaging. 

So I leave it up to you…Do you enjoy a customized character experience that allow you to create your own narrative? Or do you enjoy being invited to explore a unique and peculiar world that has characters constantly changing and growing over time that have to deal with consequences to both themselves and the factions they ally to? To quote Epic Rap Battle: “YOOU DECIDE”!!!

Adam Twitter: @ATT64

As an avid wargamer, I find myself jumping around looking at all the new shiny miniatures that are being released. Overtime my tastes in miniature wargames have continued to shift and I can not help, but to try and understand why? Is it the game that bugs me (or my opponent), or is it the business practices of the manufacturing company behind the game in the first place. Looking back, I have been wargaming for at least 10 years by now. During that time I have dedicated 3-4 years to Warhammer 40K and 6 years to Warhammer Fantasy. Personally I do not believe its clearly one factor that drives me to try a new game system, heck most of the time its because, “hey those mini’s look cool…Is the game fun? How many people play it?”. I am a firm believer that if you are not enjoying your hobby, go out and find something that inspires you.  

Perhaps I should give some proper context to this article. After spending 1-2 years travelling around as a competitive Warhammer Fantasy player in my region, I was having a complete blast. Seventh edition was in its prime and I was loving the game (although, army balance was always a topic). Around 2010, when 8th edition was released, another little game introduced itself and looked rather timid and shy…I am of course speaking about Warmachine and Hordes…

Speaking of which, Warmachine and Hordes are two different game systems that have been designed in such a way that they can play against one another. Essentially they are the same game with a couple mechanical changes, but they are two different sides of the same coin so to speak. As a result, I will be referring to them together as one game for the sake of this article.

 Any ways, at this time Warmachine 2nd edition (or as its properly known as MK2) had just been released, now at this time I had no real interest in the game. To be honest, I loved Warhammer Fantasy so much and to an extent 40K that I couldn’t be bothered really. This was back in Jan 2010. Around May 2010, I started to get more invested in Warmachine, by occasionally reading a faction book while I was at the local game store. Nothing major, I just was curious because all we had was aging 40K codices and 8th edition was a couple months off. But something happened and my perspective had begun to change on the game. 

On a bit of a side note, I have always hated, special characters. They seemed overpriced or overpowered, regardless of the faction. Some seemed crucial to a plot line that never changed and others are soooo random (Aesthetically) that it was clear the company let the artists out of their pen… Obviously I took this mindset into Warmachine and began tearing the fluff apart. Who cares about this whinny Styrker fellow? He’s the gifted new recruit that beats up the bad guys and is all smug about it anime style…Also these Menoth guys, whats the point of breaking off from a nation that clearly out guns you and shares the second half of your capitial city…seems rather silly.

It would take some time for me to truly appreciate the universe that the games inhabited and I will cover this in greater detail in part 2. However to truly understand what pushed me into exploring warmachine in the first place all you really need to do is look at the picture below… 

This is an image of Jason Richards Cryx army, fighting my very own Protectorate of Menoth force. Regardless of what faction you play or what warcaster you choose to field on the battlefield, there is always a thematic story to be told. In this picture we have the almost “God-Like” Deathjack, going toe-to-toe with my Blood of Martyrs Character Warjack. In the Background you see my devout zealots getting ready to throw powerful bombs onto the reinforcing helljacks.

All too often wargamers feel that they are just rolling the dice and they are constantly facing off against the same old cookie cutter army lists. This simply does not happen to the same extent in Warmachine. Sure there are combos and obvious choices to take in certain situations, but each game feels dynamic and different both cinematically and competitively. By simply switching out your warcaster, COMPLETELY changes how the army feels and behaves on the battlefield. For instance, the Blood of Martyrs is pretty good in any list. I took it with eFeroa who enhances it by giving it ignite. Simply put it gives the warjack 2+ to hit and damage + some chance to put stuff on fire. Now if I had taken another warcaster: Thyra, who is the owner of BoM. Suddenly the warjack gets extra movement shenanigans everytime it attacks an enemy and can be allocated additional focus points by being bonded to Thyra….Basically it means more attacks for BoM.  

During 2010, Jason had painted up this Cryx army. Now the picture doesn’t do the whole army justice, esspecially for a past golden demon winner, but the following pictures should help to clarify the level of talent he has.

After seeing the Cryx models painted by Jason I was hooked. He really brought out the character and physical weight from the miniatures and I could see the modeling potential that existed. Afterwords, everything seemed to fit like clockwork. The kits are pretty easy to pose and are perfect for magnetizing, because you can change a warjack completely with an arm or weapon addition. After having that initial investment into the game, I started to find warcasters I liked or at the very least I thought were interesting. 

Once I started buying and playing the game I quickly found out that Warmachine (gameplay-wise) is not really about warjacks… Its actually about the Warcaster and the force they decide to field on the table. Players often get stuck by the illusion that the game plays like a game of Pokemon. You pick your trainer and your unique warjacks so that you can battle to be the very best yadyadyaydaydya… Sure warjacks have a ton of special rules and are the main focus of the battleboxes (for better or worse), but I found that they rarely achieve what you want them to do and only bring so much to the table.

There are exceptions of course, but most warcasters like only running 2-3 warjacks tops, or only one to fill out the free points you get to spend on a warjack. The game seems to be more focused on the infantry or solo models you can bring to the table. There are so many units that bring something interesting to the table that you rarely want to spend points on the warjacks in the first place. First off, theres models like the Exemplar Knights that get stronger and tougher, everytime a member of their unit dies resulting in a super solo model being created when he is the last one. Little things like that go a long way to making the troops more interesting and characterful in the game. 

In reality, Hordes plays more like what people “think” Warmachine plays. Typically in Hordes your battle plan is always dictated by what your battle group of beasts consists of. Why? Your warlock has a limited number of spells usually only 3 and those are limited in ability and scope. Every beast has an ability called an Animus which is a magic ability that the beast can use. A Warlock is able to use these animi as well, and as a result expanding their overall spell list. Additionally warlocks can transfer damage to their beasts instead of taking it themselves. This is key to being an effective Hordes player, as beasts are a lot more important and usually take priority over units and solos in the army. 

So oddly enough the more I play the game, if feel that Hordes is mechincally more like the ideal Warmachine game? What do you think?

Stay tooned for part 2, where I go into greater detail about the fiction of both game systems. 

Also a quick reminder to check out Episode 22 of War and More Radio: Time-Capsule-Cast. A pretty fun episode that has a ton of random moments and predictions about 2013.

As always,

Adam. Twitter: @ATT64