Warmachine the Way I See It: Part 2...err kind of

[This article is part of the Warmachine the Way I See It series.]

Well, I am currently wrapping up a really fun time with the family (immediate and extended) out of the state and thought I would throw up a realization that I have noticed about Warmachine from the perspective of a GW player.

Though Warmachine is a turn based strategy game, unlike GW games, the "defending" player, ie. the person whose turn it isn't, doesn't do much of anything aside from watch as the active player works out their turn.  There is very little that happens from the perspective of a "defending" player.  You don't even make rolls for defense or armor.  This is kind of cool in my opinion as it means games go faster AND I don't spend so much time focusing on how many models I have to save and instead can focus on the next turn's strategy.  I think it will make me more nervous as I watch the devious plans of my opponents' unfold before my eyes with little recourse to them until I get my hands back on the reins in the next turn.

Otherwise, I feel like being a GW player gives me a leg up on the overall structure of how Warmachine goes.  The three phases, the maintenance, control, and activation phases all mirror GW's structure in that there are phases with substeps to each phase that follow a very specific order.  This shouldn't be to hard to pick up.  The trick to Warmachine appears to be the order of your activation.  Getting the right order to your activations can mean that you unleash a devestating series of attacks that ultimately will lay waste to your opponent's army and hopefully warcaster.  On the other hand, if something happens out of synch with your original plan, you stand a good chance of leaving a fairly solid counterattack in place to punish you in the next phase.  This is something that I, as a player, tend to get ahead of myself with, so when I play Warmachine, I have to take some time and have the plan ordered correctly.

Of interest, I think the elements mentioned above make Warmachine really tactical and far more like Chess than any of the GW games I have played.  No longer is a move made with some semblance of counteraction occurring with saving rolls, etc.  Instead, one player acts and then the opposing player counteracts as they see fits without any counteraction occurring. I find this a refreshing and appealing aspect of Warmachine. 

So far, I have put together a nominal amount of thoughts about Warmachine.  Tell me what you think so far.  Thanks.

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