Pre-orders are now live over on the Steamforged Games webstore for their newly acquired Warmachine range. Working alongside Privateer Press, they have brought across the miniatures range and will now be working to get them distributed to wargamers so they can dive in. Not only that but they have started to outline more of their vision for the game going forward.

Cygnar Storm Legion Battlegroup Box // Warmachine

Warmachine Pre-Orders // Steamforged Games

One of the changes has been in the structure of how they present the game. The entry point for someone at the moment comes as part of a Battlegroup Box (examples are here in this article) for a particular faction. These have come down in price by $10/£10 and work as an entry point in their own right. You get a Warcaster alongside a couple of signature Warjacks for your faction with all of the options when it comes to weaponry for said Warjacks.

If you pick one of these up you're not far off starting to play fifty-point games of Warmachine with the addition of a few other Warcaster/Warlock options and some Warjacks/Warbeasts. A next logical step however is to perhaps look at one of the Core Expansion sets for the different factions.

Cygnar Storm Legion Core Expansion // Warmachine

The Core Expansions will offer up a good way for you to introduce a lot more of those signature units for a particular faction into your army all in one place. If you introduced one of these into your collection alongside the likes of a Battlegroup Box, you'd be easily within range of a seventy-five-point list and very close to a 100-point list as well. Not only do they come with more Warjack/Warbeast options but also a bunch of different units as well. Again, these have come down in price as well so they are much more attainable for hobbyists who are just starting out.

Dusk House Kallyss Battlegroup Box // Warmachine

This can further be expanded with the addition of Auxiliary Expansion options for all of the different factions in Warmachine right now. These come with more units, more solos and unique Warjacks/Warbeasts which can be helpful in going down a particular route with your force and theming it.

Dusk House Kallyss Core Expansion // Warmachine

It should be noted that at the moment, these miniatures are still all available in 3D-printed resin. This is the material that Privateer Press was working with for the new edition and from the samples that we've seen of the different releases over the last year or so, the quality is top-notch. You just need to obviously be a bit more aware of the material you're working with.

There is a plan for introducing hard plastic into the mix for Warmachine as we talked about recently during one of the Steamforged Games updates. It will be interesting to see if the entire range slowly gets converted over to plastic or if we see just the new ranges getting the plastic treatment going forward.

Khador Winter Korps Battlegroup Box // Warmachine

Talking of new releases though, there are plans for a new entry point to be added into the mix for newcomers to Warmachine. The Battlegroup Boxes exist currently but Steamforged Games are planning on introducing you to Warmachine with Command Starters.

A Command Starter Set will feature something like a Warcaster, Character Warjack, Character Solo and a Character Unit. It will be fully playable right out of the box and perfect for thirty-point lists without any messing about. These will be slightly more expensive than the Battlegroup Boxes but give you a really good starting point.

The Cryx Necrofactorium Command Starter will be the first of these and will be coming out in the near future. It will be a good indicator of the style of "starter set" that Steamforged are working towards.

Khador Winter Korps Core Expansion // Warmachine

If you've yet to decide on your faction of choice then the proper port of call for a newcomer is going to be the Two-Player Starter Box which will feature miniatures for both Cygnar and Khador. It will be the first place you see hard plastic miniatures and new ones to boot. You will have seen images of the new Warcasters that will be appearing in that set in the various news stories we've put out about the change.

Khymaera Shadowflame Shard Battlegroup Box // Warmachine

When it comes to availability, the idea is that these pre-orders are going to be running right now with an aim to ship to customers in mid-July. Steamforged Games and Privateer Press have been working together ahead of this pre-order period to make sure that orders get fulfilled which is nice. I hope it all runs smoothly.

There are issues shipping to wargamers in Australia and New Zealand at the moment (which always seems to be the case!) but fingers crossed that they solve the issues and get things in place so that everyone can get their hands on the miniatures that they want.

Khymaera Shadowflame Shard Core Expansion // Warmachine

You might also note if you've got a particularly good eye that some of the contents of various sets have been tweaked and changed. This is to try and offer a well-rounded set of options for folks diving into their faction. Some miniatures have been moved around into different boxes, for example.

Orgoth Sea Raiders Battlegroup Box // Warmachine

Steamforged Games will also NOT be supplying magnets in the sets that they send out. So, whilst the Warjacks and Warbeasts will feature space for you to add your magnets, you will have to source those yourself. Thankfully, it is very easy to get your hands on magnets for wargaming so just have a look online and you'll be able to find something!

Orgoth Sea Raiders Core Expansion // Warmachine

I must admit, I am now very tempted to dive in and pick up some miniatures for Warmachine to try out the game once more. I might be tempted to finally pick up some Dusk House Kallyss miniatures although I am also possibly going to wait for that new two-player starter set as I always liked those in past editions.

Southern Kriels Brineblood Marauders Battlegroup Box// Warmachine

I hope that we also get to see more focus on the traditional "Hordes" side of things with Warmachine in the coming year or two. There are some amazing factions that I'd love to see reinvented. Circle Orboros needs to have some tender love and care and I can see new werewolf miniatures looking rather spiffy.

Southern Kriels Brineblood Marauders Core Expansion // Warmachine

Last but not least, we also had a road map from Steamforged Games plotting the route ahead. This takes into account the schedule from Privateer Press and Steamforged's own plans.

Updated Release Schedule // Warmachine

As you can see, there are a selection of releases for a number of factions already slated for the next couple of months. Cryx get their eye in come August/September time and then the big new two-player starter set comes out in October/November to see you through the winter months.

Could you be tempted by the new direction for Warmachine under Steamforged Games? If so, which faction will you be picking?

Drop your thoughts below...