How do you play WARMACHINE and HORDES?

Are you a hardcore competitive player?

You’re always practicing for the next big tournament, fine-tuning your lists, and discussing tactics online. You learn from your defeats, celebrate your victories, and do your best to be a good sport with your opponents. You dissect each new model release as you weigh the strengths and weaknesses of its rules. You are in it to win it, to prove your tactical genius, and to show the world just how skilled (and lucky) you can be.

Are you a dedicated hobbyist?

You’ve mastered two-brush blending, non-metallic metals, and you’re already teaching a painting clinic on amazing airbrush tricks. The rules aren’t that important; you may not even know how to play the game. You’re trying to master the craft of miniature painting first and foremost. Each new model release is an opportunity to create a new piece of art to display in your home, give to a friend, or submit to a painting competition. You’re in this to create stunning pieces that truly demonstrate your skill and leave everyone else slack jawed and amazed.

Are you a narrative player?

The fiction and the setting of the Iron Kingdoms are the perfect vessel for you and your friends to tell some great stories. The rules can be tweaked or bent as needed to fit your epic saga, and perhaps you’ll even homebrew a few of your own. You don’t care how “good” or “bad” a new release is, what’s important is how it adds to your campaign. You’re here to tell tall tales in the Iron Kingdoms with like-minded companions and to have a great time doing it.

For many, the answer is a bit of all three. Most players don’t fit neatly into a single category; they dabble in a little bit of everything. If you ask me, this variety in participation options is what makes WARMACHINE and HORDES so much fun.

Not only is it fun, but it also builds interesting and diverse communities around the game. Most of us surround ourselves with players who enjoy the game the same way we do, but we still get to interact with individuals who enjoy the game for different reasons than our own. Even if you are the most hardcore competitive player out there, you can still be impressed and amazed by the painting skills of a local hobbyist. Maybe you’ve even commissioned them to paint some of your models so your tournament experience will be even more satisfying!

This type of interaction is what builds strong communities, no matter where you live or who you are. Refusing to discount or ignore another player just because his or her enjoyment of the hobby is different from yours is a common theme among our audience, and every day I hear more and more fantastic stories of communities that have come together to achieve common goals or introduce new players to the hobby.

So I’ll ask again: how do you play WARMACHINE & HORDES? And when was the last time you interacted with someone who played in a completely different manner?