Dipping a toe in Warmachine....

Warmachine, the popular table top wargame by Privateer Press has always eluded my interests for various reasons -

1) I am heavily invested in 40k and WFB, and several other systems

2) Most importantly, the aesthetic 'feel' of the larger 'Warjack' Miniatures didn't appeal to me.

I had tried in the past to build and play a force based around the Menoth faction, but after building a force, and painting it, I found the force wasn't the best for a player starting out in the game.... and promptly lost interest and cashed out of the game.

Until recently...  my local games store, Titan Games, has a large following for both Warmachine and Hordes (colloquially called 'WarmaHordes as the factions are interchangeable between the two games), and I've been watching with interest the various forces which the players have brought in to use in both pick up games and the new 'Journeyman' league.

Perusing the two rulebooks (which I held onto from the last time 'just in case'), I found that the Skorne faction for Hordes appealed - all reds & golds, with the added bonus of WAR ELEPHANTS!

They're great models - to me, they have a lot in common with the look of the Easterlings from Lord Of The Rings, which I've always liked.  I also like the back story of an ancient empire fighting to keep hold of its lands.

Now, I thought it would stop there....

Oh dear.

During a visit to Titan Games, I noticed in one of the display cabinets an army of robots, gleaming in chrome and blue, which had been excellently painted by Martin Jennings (the man's a machine himself, churning out whole excellent armies quicker than I can paint single squads).  

I didn't know which game these robots were for, but I knew I had to have them...!

Imagine my pleasure when he told me they were a relatively new faction for Warmachine - The Convergence of Cyriss

I was instantly hooked.

The only thing was, I'm an inveterate tinkerer...  the chrome had to go!  The miniatures just scream 'steampunk' to me, and that means one thing:

LOTS OF COPPER AND BRASS!

Armed with the Starter Battlegroup and Faction book off I scuttled, back to the Den O' Doom to prepare the clockwork warriors....

First up is the Warcaster -  Forge Master Sytherion:

Painting him has been quite fun, and pretty easy.  To get a nice, 'warm' brass finish, I started with a brown, rather than black undercoat (British Army Brown to be precise).  This gives a good solid base to the metallics, which doesn't bleed through (and is more forgiving if you miss a bit or make a mistake).  Then it's Games Workshops Brass Scorpion, washed with a mix of Army Painter Soft Tone and Games Workshop Carroburg Crimson, and the silver parts picked out with Leadbelcher.

The patina (which I've added to give a sense of age) is the new Games Workshop Nihlakh Oxide - effectively a wash which is heavily pigmented, leaving the colour behind in the recesses once applied.

As he's floating, I added a small amount of OSL in a matching blue colour to the patina to tie it all together.

I'm incredibly happy with the result - now onto the Warjacks from the box!

I'd love to hear your thoughts on both the game and my attempts - leave a comment!