Convergence of Cyriss: Overall Concepts
By now I’m sure everyone has seen the Privateer Press 2013 Keynote video wherein fellow staffer Ed Bourelle and I pulled back the curtain on several exciting new releases coming your way this year. And for fans of WARMACHINE or HORDES, I have no doubt one of the highlights of that presentation was the revelation that the Convergence of Cyriss is being introduced this summer as an all-new WARMACHINE faction.
The Convergence of Cyriss evolved from concepts originally included in The Witchfire Trilogy, the classic RPG campaign that introduced players to the world of the Iron Kingdoms. We knew from the start that Convergence had to be iconic to the Iron Kingdoms, while at the same time being uniquely alien. Convergence isn’t made up of your run-of-the-mill cult of Cyriss members—these are the most extreme and devout Cyriss worshippers in all of Immoren. So extreme is their devotion to the Maiden of Gears, a core tenant of their faith requires the transfer of the soul from inferior flesh to mechanikal perfection.
From a development standpoint, we wanted playing Convergence to feel like being in control of a giant clockwork mechanism where each model is a part of a greater whole. We knew this would be most critical in the warcaster’s battlegroup, which forms the center of the Convergence machine. Particular effort was given to defining the relationship between Convergence warcasters and their warjacks.
The Convergence of Cyriss eschews the traditional cortex utilized by other factions, seeing its artificial intelligence as an affront to the Goddess. From this disdain was born the interface node. Unlike other factions, Convergence warjacks—known as vectors—do not have their own MAT or RAT stat. Instead, these values are derived from their controlling warcasters. Likewise, as vectors lack any capacity for autonomous action, Convergence does not utilize ‘jack marshals. To further define the personal impact a Convergence warcaster has on the capabilities of his vectors, each warcaster has his own Field Marshal ability.
As the core of the Convergence army came into focus we began working on units, solos, and a battle engine to form the outer “gears” of the faction. Given their analytical approach to everything, it was natural to believe the majority of Convergence troops would handle variables in battlefield conditions with precision armaments. An example of this strategy can be seen in the protean weapons of the heavy infantry, which allow players to choose different weapon abilities such as Set Defense or Empower.
Perhaps my favorite expression of the Convergence’s calculated approach to solving the equation of warfare is its battle engine, the Transfinite Emergence Projector. This will be detailed in a future blog, but for now I will just say never before has a single battle engine presented so many permutations for its controlling player to utilize.
As the in-game concepts were realized, it fell to Privateer’s extremely talented artists to represent those concepts visually—a task they have executed masterfully. For an in-depth look into the Convergence of Cyriss visual concept process, check out “The Convergence Begins” with Creative Director Ed Bourelle, in No Quarter #47 (available later this month).
Stay tuned to Privateer Insider as we continue to reveal exclusive sneak peeks into the Convergence of Cyriss every Wednesday, leading up to Lock & Load GameFest 2013!