By Chris O.

Hello, fellow gamers! Grab a seat and get comfortable because today I want to talk to you about introducing new players to the wonderful world of WARMACHINE.

But first a brief introduction. I’ve been playing WARMACHINE since 2011 and immediately fell in love with the world of the Iron Kingdoms. Over the years, I’ve run local events both as a Press Ganger and as a simple volunteer, and I quickly learned that one of my favorite things to do is to share the game with new people. There’s nothing quite like the feeling of sharing a hobby you love with a novice player—the excitement of learning their new favorite piece of lore or pulling off some crazy combo they hadn’t even known was possible last week in incredibly satisfying.

There are, of course, a myriad of ways to bring new players into WARMACHINE and to guide them on their journey to tabletop dominance, but today I’m going to talk about an exciting addition to the game that I think has a ton of potential as a teaching tool: Duos.

What Is Duos?

Duos is a new list-building format introduced to the WARMACHINE App in the February 14, 2024 update that allows you to build 50- and 75-point lists with two Leader models. Each of these Leaders must have at least 1 attached Cohort model; otherwise, all force-building rules remain the same: field allowances are unchanged, each force selects 5 Command Cards, etc. Two Leaders are required to build a Duos force. These Leaders have separate battlegroups; one Leader cannot allocate focus to, force, or reave fury from the other Leader’s Cohort models(s). And losing a single Leader does not end the game.

Additionally, while it’s not a strict part of the format, I would recommend playing Duos with Execution Mode, especially when teaching new players. For those unfamiliar with Execution Mode, this means that only Leaders can deal the final blow to other Leaders, which gives the novice players in the game a bit of extra safety from misplacing their Leader models in such a large game. (Full rules for Execution Mode can be found in the Core Rules section of the WARMACHINE App.)

Teaching with Duos

While there are tons of juicy potentials for a pair of more experienced players to go head-to-head with the craziest Leader combos they can dream up, one of the most exciting things about this format to me is the way it can be used to get new players involved in larger, more exciting battles than they might otherwise be ready to play on their own.

Often in teaching WARMACHINE (especially to players who have less experience with wargames in general), there can be a period of time in which the new player understands a lot of the basics of play while still being uncomfortable piloting a force of 50 points or larger. At the same time, they frequently see other players in their community playing larger games with more models and can feel like they’re missing out. With the help of the Duos format, we now have a way to bring those newer players into a larger game without completely overwhelming them with analysis paralysis simply by pairing them with an experienced player and giving them control of a single Leader, their battlegroup, and even a small selection of the overall list. This gets them directly involved in larger games earlier in their WARMACHINE journey, and it encourages them to ask questions of their teammate in a way they might not be comfortable doing when watching two veteran players play a normal match. It also allows their veteran teammate the flexibility to give the new player control of more or less of the list over the course of the game, if it seems like the novice is getting overwhelmed or bored.

In much the same way young warcasters train alongside a veteran mentor before they are given their own command, new players can now experience how WARMACHINE is played at a larger scale without the pressure of piloting a full-sized list entirely on their own. Veteran players can work with their teammate to include them in decision making while providing guidance as they work through the game together.

Discussing plans for the turn together before beginning the Maintenance phase allows the new player the opportunity to understand the goals they should be considering and make suggestions of their own. Be sure both players have a chance to stay engaged during the Activation phase; try to avoid situations where anyone is left feeling like they aren’t contributing. Most importantly: just make sure everyone is having fun and feels like they’re involved.

Model Selection

With the intent and goals out of the way, let’s talk about making the game actually happen. Duos is a format that works with either 50 or 75 points; both game sizes have their pros and cons for teaching, and it’s up to your group to decide which one makes the most sense for you. Personally, I like the idea of the more-experienced teammate controlling more than half of the list to start—that gives them a lot of room to support their less-experienced teammate mechanically on the table by handling the buffs and the more complex interactions that the newer player might not be ready for but is ready to start learning. So, if the newer player is really only comfortable with a Cohort model or two, 50 points is a great fit, but if they are ready to start playing with some infantry, that can get to 25 points pretty quickly, and so a 75-point game might be a better fit. As always, though, nobody knows your group better than you, so do what feels best.

One of the first things that can make this a great experience for new players depends on which models they are given control of. This is flexible, of course, because every player is different and comes to the table with different expectations, skills, and preferences. So, think of this as a set of guidelines instead of hard rules.

I built these modules for 75-point games, and I had two main priorities in mind when putting them together. First, they needed to be made using the contents of their respective army’s Core Starter. This is the most straightforward entry point for a new player into an MkIV army, so depending on how far along in their WARMACHINE journey they are, they will either be able to use their own models or they will be getting practice with models they can continue to use when they pick up a Core Army Starter. Eagle-eyed readers may also notice that these module share some similarities to the Command Starter boxes, which will come out of the box as a great module for a Duos teaching game!

Second, the modules needed to be somewhat self-contained so that the new player will have a sense of control over their portion of the force rather than being totally dependent on models they don’t control—while still having the potential for synergies their teammate can use to demonstrate the importance of buffs and combos in WARMACHINE.

A tertiary priority was to give new players a decent mix of ranged, melee, and arcane attacks, though this wasn’t always possible while still meeting the first two priorities. All that said, here is an example of a new player module and some explanation for the choices. More examples for the other MkIV armies can be found at the end of this article.

Storm Legion

• Captain Athena di Baro
  • SPELL – Arcane Shield
  • SPELL – Onslaught
• 15 Stryker
  • 3 HEAD – Arcane Precision
  • 8 RIGHT ARM – Electro Bombard
  • 4 LEFT ARM – Power Fist
  • 3 Legionnaire Officer
  • 6 Stormblade Legionnaires
  • 2 Legionnaire Standard Bearer

This module comes out to 26 points, which feels about right for a 75-point Duos game to me. The player piloting this module has enough of the list under their control to feel involved without feeling overwhelmed by choices. Of course, you don’t need to aim for any specific point total—just work with your teammate to figure out what each player is comfortable with.

In addition to picking models that are part of the Core Army Starter, I tried to make sure that the module has a good selection of internal synergies and is capable of operating independently depending on how the game goes. Onslaught as a Rack choice gives the player a spell that is useful for the entire list, encouraging them to work with their teammate to determine where best to position di Baro in order to benefit the team as a whole. Meanwhile, the internal synergies between the Stryker and the various Legionnaire units is fairly straightforward but fundamental to learning Storm Legion.

You could, of course, swap things around. If the player prefers the look of Stormblade Stormguard or Tempest Thunderers, they’re an easy replacement to make. Likewise, if the new player just want to play ’jacks or if they have models from outside the Core Army Starter box, you can easily swap those in.

All the examples of current MkIV armies I provide at the end of this article follow the same basic principles, and they’re all open to tweaking to fit your specific players.

Scenarios

There are a number of scenarios that can work here, and it will largely depend on what the newer players are comfortable with. Simple assassination is always an option if any players don’t yet feel comfortable with the added complexity of a scenario. For players who do want to include a scenario, I would personally lean toward something on the simpler side, such as a single or pair of central objectives that can be scored by any model or one of the more static Steamroller 2024 scenarios like Recon MkIV. Of course, if you want to inject more flavor into the proceedings, there are some great Battle Forge scenarios like “Hoist the Colors,” “Breakout” (from Black Tide Part 1), and “Date Night” that can all work well in Duos.

Conclusion

The world of the Iron Kingdoms is a dangerous one, and new commanders are always needed. Duos adds another great tool to the arsenal of anyone looking to help share WARMACHINE with new fans, and I can’t wait to hear about all the epic two-Leader games going on across the battlefields of Caen!

If you’re looking for more resources for new players, check out the Community Hub, where we have a selection of guides for new and returning players plus lots of friendly players happy to answer questions and give tips.

See you all on the battlefield!

More examples

Winter Korps

• Kapitan Ilari Borisyuk
  • SPELL – Fog of War
  • SPELL – Avenging Force
• 14 Great Bear
  • 2 HEAD – Aggressive
  • 7 RIGHT ARM – Deep Freezer
  • 5 LEFT ARM – Battle Axe
• 2 Winter Korps Officer
• 6 Winter Korps Infantry
  • WEAPON SUPPORT TROOPERS – Auto Cannon
  • WEAPON SUPPORT TROOPERS – Rocketeer
• 1 Winter Korps Standard

Sea Raiders

• Kishtaar, the Howling Silence
  • SPELL – Second Sight
  • SPELL – Inviolable Resolve
• 13 Tyrant
  • 3 HEAD – Hunter
  • 7 RIGHT ARM – Belcher
  • 3 LEFT ARM – Claw
• 3 Reaver Commander
• 7 Strike Reavers
• 2 Reaver Standard

House Kallyss

• Hellyth, Scyir of Nightfall
  • SPELL – Mirage
  • SPELL – Ghost Walk
• 16 Eidolon
  • 3 HEAD – Future Sight
  • 5 RIGHT ARM – Force Fist
  • 4 LEFT ARM – Force Shield
  • 4 BACK – Force Cannon
• 4 Dreadguard Scyir
• 6 Soulless Guardians

Brineblood Marauders

• Captain Firequill
  • SPELL – Fortune
  • SPELL – Fortify
• 14 Deepborn Dire Troll
  • 2 HEAD – Bellower
  • 1 FIN – Minnow
  • 5 RIGHT ARM – Hammerhead
  • 6 LEFT ARM – Squid Blaster
• 3 Surgeon
• 6 Marauder Crew
• 3 Marauder Crew Bosun

Shadowflame Shard

• Shyryss, the Flawless Dark
  • SPELL – Curse of Shadows
  • SPELL – Silence of Death
  • SPELL – Host of Shadows
• 12 Vipex
  • 3 HEAD – Ophidian
  • 3 TAIL – Hunter’s Mark
  • 6 ARMS – Cleavers
• 4 Shadowmancer Scion
• 7 Quickfang Stalkers
• 2 Quickfang Master