Teaching the Game

Two weeks ago I taught a friend to play Warmachine. On Saturday, I had that privilege once again!


My wife's cousin was in town for the weekend. Like my brother-in-law, I consider Derek more of a friend than family member so I invited him over to our gaming night. He'd never played anything like Warmachine before, but knowing how passionate I am about it he readily agreed to let me teach him how to play.

I ran through the various Warmachine factions for him - our group is fortunate enough to represent Khador, Menoth, Cryx, and Cygnar (and soon Ret and Rhul!). So after giving him a brief rundown on what everyone did, he couldn't get the glow out of his eyes from when I told him about Menoth and their healthy combination of melee attacks and pyromania. Thomas, our Menoth player, had split a Khador/Menoth box with me when I first started playing so it was easy to field a decent 22 point army. He also brought a choir and mechanic because... well, it's not the true Menoth experience without hymns and fire.

After giving him a rundown of stats and basic rules (which went much smoother than last time) I made a list of my own and our game began. Game 1 went about how you'd expect a beginner's game to go - I gave him some basic tips and strategies as we went, reminded him of some rules, and pointed out some specific things he could do with warjacks when the situation arose. Game 1 ended with him using 2 Cinerators to eat at least 1/3 of my Juggernaut, followed by Juggy missed FOUR attacks (one of them boosted!) on a Cinerator with Shield Wall (+2 DEF/ARM).

Apparently he found that game fun and hilarious because he agreed to a Mangled Metal game. I wasn't setting out to beat him, but I really wanted to give him a close game. I decided to let him run his army now that he had a feel for it, and would only let him know about a rule or ability that may better inform his decisions. So we deployed and off we went to game 2.

Normally my Destroyer can soften up even a Khador jack, and without the choir making them impossible to shoot I figured I could at least scratch some paint on the big jack. In typical teacher fashion, however, I decided to just whiff on everything during his advance. He put Shield Wall on his warjack with a Repulsor Shield, making him something like 14/21, and without reach all my Juggernaut could do was charge and boost the hit because his shield would knock me backwards out of melee range.

Game 2 ended with Juggernaut being decimated (again), Destroyer hitting the heavy jack with a Nerf ax, and Sorscha forced to help ding up the light jack so I could push through to Kreoss. In an effort to stay consistent, my die rolls were basically failures and I neglected to keep an eye on my focus and was unable to Wind Rush back to safety. At the start of his turn he was staring at a 16 DEF Sorcha with a heavy jack who had 3 damage boxes left... one was a cortex, the other his right arm. I looked at him and said "This is the day you learn about headbutts." And with a jack full of focus, Sorscha crumpled to the floor a second time and his warjacks became walking meat grinders.

Teaching Warmachine is one of the greatest things I've done in this game. Seeing people slowly unravel strategies on their own, or hear them take different tips you've given them and combine them in a new way is incredibly rewarding. As I dropped him back off to my in-laws, our car ride was filled with excited chatter about how cool the game is and how he would play the game if he lived nearby. I got to be a part of someone starting a night nothing about Warmachine and ending with a positive experience and a desire to play again. Being responsible for that experience is something everyone should undergo at least once.

So if you haven't taught someone to play Warmachine, try it next month. We know it's a big game with a lot of rules, but learning the basics with a few jacks, a warcaster, and a couple of basic units is Warmachine in its purest form. It's incredibly simple to teach, and the reward of seeing someone discover the game is immense. So try it out - who knows, teaching a friend to play may be your first step in becoming a Press Ganger!

See you tomorrow, which will bring us one day closer to the end of my Warmachine/Hordes faction dice giveaway!