Restart after several years: Which faction(s) to play?
Oct 19, 2020 14:18:25 GMT
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Post by ygethmir on Oct 19, 2020 14:18:25 GMT
Hi everybody!
Returning player here who is back to newbie-level after not playing WarmaHordes for what was the last decade, basically. But when I received two old MkI Starters from a friend and we decided to give the game a go once more after all this time, I got hooked up again. 
Over the last weeks we now played a few battlegroup games to get a feel for the factions and the system again, and I've been reading up a bit on all the stuff that has been released over the last years. Now, I'm at the point of having to think about where I want to be headed, and that's actually not that easy to figure out.
As for the gaming environment: Most likely no tournaments, just casual gaming with my wife and 1-2 friends. For the most part, our games will favor small engagements over large battles due to overall time investment (not just playing the game but also learning all the rules and interactions that are involved with large battles).
Back then, I started with Khador but quickly switched over to Circle as I didn't like the Infantry-heavy game Khador had to play in MkI/II. This seems to have changed in the meantime, but I'm still not particularly interested in the Khadoran infantry whatsoever. Doomreavers and Fenris are fine, the rest... I don't especially care. With Circle, I like almost all their models and casters and - although I'm not good at it - I do like their playstyle: unpredicatibility, lots of movement options, the fragile balance of offense, defense, and the need to control the board. I love armies that offer the option plurality of a swiss knife even after selecting a caster. Circle feels like providing this plurality of options, Khador does not.
The easy answer, therefore, would be: Why not stick with Circle?
I will, in a way. However, in the last couple of games (granted, all of them battlegroup level) my opponents didn't really enjoy playing against Circle. Either Circle disappeared out of range, or repositioned unfavorably for the opponent, or there were sudden forests coming up, and so on... Basically, they felt like grinding through the game without getting to grasp the enemy strong enough to land some serious blows. Khador, despite the axe-to-face combination of Sorscha's feat and the Juggernaut charging a frozen enemy caster, was much more welcomed.
That's not what I envision as "engaging, enjoyable gameplay" for all participants and while I will continue playing Circle every now and then, I guess it may not be the best choice as my main faction.
Opponents play Trollbloods and Cryx. They do like their factions but haven't expanded beyond the starters yet (MkI starter for Cryx, MkIII starter for Trollbloods).
So, long story short: I'm looking for an interesting faction that is fun to play both with it and against it. And with cool miniatures, obviously. 
After much research, I do have quite a good idea where I want to be in the long run. I just don't know what's the best way to get there. And whether it's desirable to get there at all, given my gaming environment.
Ultimately, I'd like to play Infernals.
They basically trigger all aspects that I find interesting in a faction: Cool miniatures, swiss army knife options thanks to summoning, hard choices all the times with how essence and summoning works. However, as I see it, Infernals do need quite a good understanding of the game in general as I have to gauge not only my own essence economy but also the opponent's fury/focus economy. And I'm far from that point. In addition, I don't want to start with Infernals right away as I feel their completely different mechanisms complicate the understanding of the core game.
As a preparation for Infernals and as a nod to my opponents I wondered whether Legion of Everblight or Convergence of Cyriss might be good factions for me to play with. Legion still offers a lot of the movement flexibility of Circle albeit with a more attack-oriented focus (my impression, might be wrong) and teaches "favorable trading" in terms of dealing and receiving damage (or keeping and losing warbeasts/units) which seems to be key for successful play with Infernals. Convergence of Cyriss teaches planning and use of synergies to create impressive results from units that are mediocre on their own - what I've read another key element of Infernals.
This brings me to three main questions:
1) Are Infernals a viable choice for casual gaming and, in consequence, my wish to play them a realistic goal? Or should I rather stick to the basic factions?
2) If the Infernals are viable, what would be the best preparation, considering gaming environment, opponents, and personal preferences? Go for Legion of Everblight? Convergence of Cyriss? Stick with Circle no matter what?
3) Would you suggest something entirely different?
Looking forward to your input, and thanks for reading all that!
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