WARMACHINE is set in the Iron Kingdoms, an environment that combines the best of traditional fantasy with steam-power and gunpowder. Across the realm, ancient rivalries among nations are exploding into all-out conflict, setting the stage for WARMACHINE and other Iron Kingdom products.
In WARMACHINE, players take on the role of an elite soldier-sorcerer known as a warcaster. While a warcaster is a formidable force on the battlefield, their true strength is in their ability to magically control and coordinate the actions of their mighty warjacks—steam-powered combat automatons that represent the pinnacle of military might in the Iron Kingdoms.
Each warjack is a fifteen foot tall ironclad behemoth, a coal-fired engine of destruction with a primitive magical brain. On its own a warjack is capable of only the most rudimentary actions, but when controlled by a warcaster its efficiency and deadliness increase dramatically.
WARMACHINE focuses on battles between warcasters and the titanic forces that they control. A game is fought with a warjack's thundering cannons, ripping iron-claws, and crushing hammer blows, as well as devastating spells wrought by the warcaster himself. When the dust settles, one side is victorious and the other is nothing but smoking scrap metal!
Factions at War
Cygnar
Strife and turmoil, blood and sweat, gun smoke and blazing arcane fire: all of these accompany the blue and gold banner of the Cygnus into battle. Cygnar is a protector of its people at odds with many forces that seek its strength and prosperity for their own. Now Cygnar’s proud military, seasoned by bloody warfare, protects the nation from the wolves of Khador, the pious fires of the Protectorate of Menoth, and the undying legions of Cryx. Forged on the anvil of war, Cygnar’s military forces grow more experienced with each passing day. However, as the Crown calls for recruits and rewards the valiant with gold coin and commissions earned in service, the ominous pressures of a war on many fronts drains the nation’s coffers. Younger and younger recruits enlist each day, and the training period for infantry has intensified.
Many say that Cygnar’s vanguard is their advanced mechanika; indeed, the nation is unequalled in the synthesis of magic and science. Their advanced technology is evident in the varied strengths of their troops from specialty forces such as the fabled Stormblades and units of gun mages down to trencher and long gunner infantry. The Royal Navy too is peerless in its might because of mechanika support for its ships, and it has become crucial in preventing incursions from the sea in recent times. As new warjacks trundle off assembly lines, mechaniks find themselves forced to implement alterations in the field to suit the conditions of combat. It would seem that war is changing the pace of Cygnar’s technology as swiftly as it is changing the pace of its people. Their foundries produce more weapons, warjacks, alchemical components, and material to support the war effort, and goods and rare materials throughout the kingdom are now rationed for the military.
In truth, the Cygnaran spirit resting in the hearts of its soldiers is the military’s true strength. Even after massive losses over the past campaign season, so many of them are still eager to take up arms and fight despite the risks. They are more than willing and ready to defend themselves and their beloved kingdom from those who would crush the principles of freedom and all for which Cygnar stands.
The Protectorate of Menoth
Even though Cygnaran law governing the Protectorate forbids the assembly of a standing army, the treaty contains a clause allowing a capable defense force—the Menites have done so a hundredfold. In the decades following its inception, various leaders have slowly amassed a secret army under the guise of this defense force more or less under the watchful eye of their neighbors. Every Sul-Menite is expected to be ready for the call to arms, and it is their holy duty to prepare. The laws of Menoth far outweigh those of any mortal king.
In the beginning, the Hierarchs and the Synod were training their people in hidden facilities. Under cover of night, in unmapped caverns, and behind hidden walls, Sul-Menites learned how to fight. Weapons and ammunition were stockpiled and tucked away in caches known only to high-ranking clergy. By the time Hierarch Voyle called for a holy war in 605 AR, the tone and feel of the Protectorate’s “military” had taken on a new face: that of the warrior in motion. It became a surge of the devout, a holy tide of soldiers streaming in from all directions. The crusade has given the Protectorate a renewed vigor of faith. They have even recalled those of the Old Faith in Khador seeing that an united war effort is stronger than a fractious, segmented one. Hidden warjack depots send new and improved chassis into the world, deploying troops that were not supposed to exist in the thousands to soon-to-be battlefields. The skies have darkened with the soot and smoke from the massing forces, and the flames of their holy war burn bright enough to be seen for miles.
The general populace must obey any ordained priest in addition to any other servant of the Temple. Priests generally defer to scrutators, but both have greater authority than the exemplars or monks who in turn wield more clout than paladins or the Temple Flameguard. However, even the lowest-ranking Flameguard can demand obedience from a Protectorate citizen. It should also be noted that members of a military group do not obey the commanders or superiors of a different group except at the special behest of a ranking priest or scrutator. For example, an exemplar cannot normally give orders to a paladin or a monk, regardless of rank.
Khador
Like the stones holding up the fortress, Khador’s massive military is built from its citizens. Every capable Khadoran is added to the list of possible conscripts—if he does not enlist on his own, of course—sometime during the month after his 17th birthday. Most young men enlist as a matter of pride, and a good number of women follow suit as well. The enlisted majority become Winter Guard, the backbone of the Khadoran military. Some survive and graduate to higher roles such as the prestigious brotherhood of Iron Fangs or the imposing Man-O-War shocktroopers who fight alongside the most powerful warjacks in all western Immoren.
The massive armies of Khador personify their ideals: strength and resilience over all else. They are trained to smash an enemy’s defenses with decisive strikes but are more than ready to dig in their heels and outlast any force in a war of attrition if necessary. They are glorious to behold in their solidarity as they march, often hundreds deep, with Khadoran pennants whipping above their heads and flanked by titanic warjacks that shake the ground with each step. Many confl icts have been quelled without a single casualty when such a force marches into the area, for their reputation marches with them.
The queen commands Khador’s legions through her High Kommand. This group of venerable career soldiers have defi ed the odds and retired from the field into prestigious positions. They lead not from behind a cannonade on the battlefi eld, but from the great war room chambers of Stasikov Palace in Korsk. Although they defer to the queen—who oft reminds them by directly commanding their offi cers—they comprise the main wartime minds that have her ear at all times.
Cryx
The forces of Cryx exist solely to devour any and all things at the behest of the Dragonfather. Their martial strengths are speed, surprise, and force in numbers. Enemies of the undying know they must never be lax in their vigilance, for seemingly out of nowhere raiders can arrive without warning, carried across the sea aboard their infamous blackships.
Spreading like a cancer, Toruk’s agents constantly gather the dead of the battlefield. The Cryxian military is varied and powerful. More than once an apparently defeated Cryxian army has suddenly risen to snatch victory from its would-be vanquishers. These forces are made of blood-starved Satyxis reavers, degenerate mercenaries, and shambling thralls.
From the metal-rending fists of a mechanithrall to the filth-belching cannon of the bloat thrall, necrotechs have placed their stamp on everything that walks, crawls, or slithers out of their dank, macabre workshops. Supporting Toruk’s legions are the necrotechs’ black-iron masterpieces: shadow-forged bonejacks and helljacks. They are ultimate products of malignant intention and some of the most harrowing creations in the Cryxian arsenal.
While scouring western Immoren for its dead, Cryxian agents have specifically sought the bodies of arcane mechanics, innovaters, and strategic thinkers and stripped them of their secrets—questioning the dead is often easier than interrogating the living. What these forensic necromancers uncovered has bolstered their ‘jacks even more. They ascertained the make up of the arc node allowing warcasters to channel their potent magics through their warjacks. Effectively extending the range and battle potency of warcasters to devastating levels, this pilfered technology has augmented Cryx’s ‘jacks to even greater levels of malevolent destruction.
Stolen technology is indeed a Cryxian tradition. When the Orgoth were cast out of Drer Drakkerung by Toruk’s hordes, Cryxian warwitches and blackships soon began appearing in the Nightmare Empire based perfectly on the sorcerous designs of the erstwhile invaders. Of all the blackships, few are more infamous than the funereal galleon called the Atramentous, bathed in Toruk’s flames and manned by the ghastly undead Revenants.
Mercenaries
The term “mercenary” was once used as a slur among fighting men. In certain kingdoms, notably Khador, the term is still used as a disdainful appellation for those who have no attachment to their homeland. Nevertheless, where war and wages thrive mercenaries inevitably follow; with the occupation of Llael, mercenary bands have cropped up all over the kingdoms.
Mercenaries are so common in the Iron Kingdoms that some speculate it was mercenaries who helped bring them about and ultimately are hindering their solidarity. After all a mercenary’s wage comes from war, and conflicts keep mercenaries in business. For example, the once-powerful Thunderhelm Irregulars, recently laid low by Khadoran forces, were practically permanent occupants of Llael, and the Blackshields are so closely tied to Cygnar that they have become an official branch of the army in all but name.
There is perhaps no greater display of material wealth and military might than the ability to hire mercenaries. Some leaders hire mercenaries as political and fiscal displays of power to intimidate their enemies. Battles have been won by the mere presence of an overwhelming force, and mercenaries can help pad a weak army. A mercenary force can turn a rich man into a dangerous one.
Conversely, mercenaries make for expensive friends. Unpopular dictators gladly pay for fighting men they feel they can trust. Since mercenaries have no political affiliation, they are viewed by some as the ultimate neutral force and a means of “fighting bitterly while keeping the peace” as King Leto once said of Khadoran mercenaries on the north borders of Cygnar and Ord. It goes without saying that this parasitic relationship can quickly turn predatory if an employer fails to keep his mercenaries well paid.
Retribution of Scyrah
Not long ago the Retribution of Scyrah was an outlawed fringe organization of zealous and violent elven fanatics. Their goal has been the eradication of human wizards and sorcerers, whom they hold responsible for the ills of their species. Until recently they have had to work in secrecy from numerous cells within Ios’ neighboring human kingdoms. Now things have changed. Their message has found a voice inside Ios and they have won new allies to their cause. They are no longer forced to hide their affiliations and have begun to organize into an army capable of waging open warfare. The Retribution is now large and influential enough to abandon secrecy at home and to become a recognized political, religious, and military power.
The Retribution has gained access to a significant portion of the armed might of the nation, including hundreds of myrmidons brought by House Shyeel as well as the Dawnguard legions of House Nyarr, who are among Ios’ most formidable warriors. While their size and the scope of their military capability has increased almost a hundredfold from what it was, their army remains relatively small compared to those of the nations they plan to strike. They are also competing for resources inside Ios with the force assigned to defend the nation’s borders.
This has prompted the Retribution to adopt unconventional strategies, including a unique doctrine of engagement. They wield their forces like a spear set against the weakest point in the armor of their enemies. Comprehensive reconnaissance combined with rapid redeployment is the key to Retribution strategy. Their forces are uniquely equipped with advanced arcanika, giving them the tools to wage this type of warfare and thereby represent a threat far greater than numbers alone suggest. Working to the Retribution’s advantage is the fact that the human kingdoms know little about their capabilities, while their own intelligence-gathering efforts have been thorough.
The resolve of Iosan soldiers is strengthened by the knowledge that they fight for their survival as a species. They intend to strike against enemies thought to have played a hand in the extinction of their gods. At their core they remain a fiercely dedicated and religiously charged organization, one that now has access to a powerful and sophisticated armory as well as sufficient soldiers to wage war against humanity.