#warmahordes

I’ve recently began playing Warmachine MK4 and while the app is convenient, the collection of lore presented is rather anemic. Fortunately, I discovered my local library possesses a copy of Iron Kingdoms: Full Metal Fantasy Core Rules (IK:FMF) released at the height of “Warmahordes” popularity a decade ago.

The book itself is a solidly constructed 360 page hardback with a generally appealing layout, and plenty of high quality full colour art. My only complaints are that Characters (and their creation) is before any explanation of the games system, and that the reader is presented with the 41 page History of Western Immoren before we get to the 54 page Life In The Iron Kingdoms that actually describes the setting. As I was primarily reading IK:FMF for the lore anyways I can’t complain about that too much.

As for the setting itself, its decent if still a bit rough. That’s not to say the Iron Kingdoms lack depth, but rather it’s clear that when it was written priority was given to developing the aesthetics of the factions for the skirmish game rather than constructing a grounded setting or a thematically resonate role-playing game. For example the fact that the Iron Kingdoms are in the midst of a mostly steam, but also magitek or rather “Mechanika”, powered industrial revolution informs the settings distinct steampunk aesthetic. Unfortunately it soon becomes clear that the writers are not particularly knowledgeable about the industrial revolution, and were I suspect rather more inspired by America’s industrial policy during World War 2 and accompanying mythology. Other aspects of the setting, in particular its treatment of religion, suffer from similar shortcomings and American ethnocentric assumptions.

The system itself uses a 2D6 + Stat resolution system as its core mechanic. Nine stats are divided into three groups that should be familiar to anyone who has played an Odd-like, plus four derived stats such as Initiative. Skills and Abilities (Feats) can also affect rolls and should be familiar to most players. Finally there are Feat Points which can be spent for a variety of bonuses many of which are tied to specific Benefits conferred by the characters Archetype.

Character creation in IK:FMF is oddly similar to GloG. All characters share same advancement track, modified by 4 templates. The first template is Race, there are seven playable options; Human, Dwarf, Gobber (Goblin), Iosan (Spring Elf), Nyss (Winter Elf), Ogrun (Ogre), and Trollkin. A character’s stats are determined by an array for their race as well as height and weight, starting languages, Archetype’s available, and the equivalent of racial traits.

The second template is Archetype, there are 4 archetypes presented in the Core Rules: Gifted (with magic), Intellectual, Mighty, and Skilled. Archetypes confer “Benefits” which function much like Abilities. There is a starting Benefit that all characters of a particular Archetype receive, and many more they can choose as they advance. As mentioned before, many of these Benefits require expending the system’s equivalent to hero points.

The final two templates are Careers; all characters are essentially multi-classed. The Core Rules list 28 careers which can be taken in any combination assuming that the characters meet the prerequisites. The most common prerequisite being that the Gifted Archetype is required for magic using classes. Careers determine which Skills, Abilities, Spells, Connections a character can develop through advancement, and begin with in addition to starting equipment. Gamemasters should be mindful of allowing players access to the Warcaster career as their aptitude for both magic and mechanika, including the settings iconic Warjacks, thrusts them into the role of default protagonist.

Finally there are Adventuring Companies that really should have come first, of which seven options are presented. They are an optional step that define the nature of the party such as Intrepid Investigators or a Spy Ring with guidelines for character classes and a few thematically appropriate perks.

Magic uses an action point system that replenishes each round and most spells seem to be taken directly form Warmachine. As such players who enjoy creative applications of spells will be disappointed unless they are playing with a like minded GM.

Combat in general is essentially just Warmachine. In fact their is a sidebar promoting Warmachine miniatures for use with IK:FMF. Oddly in spite of their remarkable mechanical similarity there isn’t even an appendix for converting characters to Warmachine.

Mechanika is a bit more interesting and calls to mind the excellent Magical Industrial Revolution and the inspiring and eternally unfinished Gramarie System. Simple mechanika enhances mundane objects with the addition of Runeplates and some sort of short lived font of magic such as an Alchemical Capacitor. A product of IK:FMF’s serviceable skill based Alchemy subsystem. Steamjacks unsurprisingly receive the most attention a 25 page chapter dedicated to them, while all other Gear, Mechanika, And Alchemy are contained within 43 pages.

Iron Kingdoms: Full Metal Fantasy has a number of unusual quirks due to the franchise’s unusual history. The Iron Kingdom first appeared as the background setting to the Witchfire Trilogy of modules for 3rd edition Dungeons & Dragons. Which led to the creation and development of the Iron Kingdoms as a D&D setting before exploding in popularity with the release of the twin skirmish games Warmachine and Hordes. As such there are many strange echoes of 3.X D&D throughout this rule book and the skirmish game to this day. For example, most Stats are about four higher than they need to be as a holdover from the shift from D20 to 2D6 resolution systems; and should not be confused with Abilities that are essentially Feats from D&D. Similarly each warcaster in the skirmish game has a signature Feat no doubt inspired by the feats of D&D, which inform IK:FMF’s Archetype Benefits and Feat Points.

In the course of this review I have also briefly skimmed material from the other Iron Kingdoms roleplaying games. The previous 3.X era of Iron Kingdoms is clearly straining against the limitations and assumptions of Dungeons and Dragons, and it is interesting to see how the concepts have evolved and developed since. Yet their indelible mark remains.

There is also a third Iron Kingdoms roleplaying game. Iron Kingdoms: Requiem presents an updated version of the setting following the events of Warmachine MK2 and MK3 to The 5th edition D&D audience. It seems to to be well put together and fit comfortably into the 5e mold, and appears relatively successful. If you’re running any sort of 5e Ebberon on game it’s well worth a look.

1/3

The most important thing I learned is the first step in “going fast” with painting minis: have your color choices and basing style decided before you get started. In this case, I knew I wanted any glowy bits to be pink/magenta/purple (hottest/brightest to coldest/darkest), that my metals would be one of two formulas, and the armor and fabric would be black, highlighted with a blue-gray and a greige. For the bases, I knew I wanted to use tufts I have on hand and not to distract too much from the minis themselves. So, I found some “rubble” (broken up sheets of plaster), “ballast” and “stones” (broken up walnut shells), and decided on a neutral gray color so that the tufts would stand out. I happened to get the leaves later and just had to use them because they suit the theme so well.

The second important thing I learned is the value of a test mini. I took one of the minis I’d field a bunch of that also had a lot of the surfaces I need covered (bone, metal, glowy stuff...), painted it up, based it, and used it as the example that I would model the rest of my painting after. If I had any spots where I wasn’t sure what to do, I checked the test model for similar materials, and went from there. The test mini also let me figure out order of operations. I found that, since it was the innermost and messiest part of the paint scheme, that pink/magenta/purple was the first thing I should do so that I could clean it up as I worked on the rest of the model

The third thing I found was that I needed a way to differentiate between identical minis. For the ‘jacks (the steam-powered robots), I do this with pips on the backs of the bases. For the solos, such as the above pistol wraiths, I do it with colors on sashes or other small but visible parts. Both of these are things I can either do as part of painting the mini or very quickly after the mini is complete.

Fourth was one of my favorite things to learn: The value of using tools from outside my minis kit. First, I found a great way to blend colors on a mini was to use a makeup brush while the paint is still wet to soften the line between them. For my minis kit, I now have a bunch of cheap as fuck eyeshadow brushes for that and dry-brushing. The other useful tool I have is a dotting tool, like you’d use for nail polish, that I use for putting the pips on my bases. It went from “try to be accurate with a brush to get perfect circular dots” to “just use the dotting tool and do it in seconds”.

Fifth was one I didn’t expect: the value of my own time. I found that I have, historically, attempted to paint all of my mini to my showcase standard. That is not going to get you an army with any expedience. However, I found that if I picked a spot on a model as my “focus” (usually a head/face or other interesting part), painted that and the things around it well, then quickly completed the rest, I was still happy with the results. The guys below, I focused (and took my time on) on the head, hood, and shoulders. The rest was done fairly quickly.

About that base that doesn’t have the same basing material: I had made the mistake of gluing him to the base before painting him and couldn’t get him off the base without breaking either the mini or the base. So, I painted the base to match the rest, added a couple tufts of grass, and called it a day.

I also learned that, unfortunately, there’s not much that I can do to “force” inspiration from a sculpt I don’t find inspiring. Agathia, the warcaster/leader, was a model I didn’t find much inspiration in, so I found myself just looking to get her done. She still looks alright and matches the rest of my army, but me pose and overall style of the mini just....wasn’t interesting to me.

The last thing I learned was a reminder I have needed for a long time: Mini painting is a hobby, and something I should do for enjoyment rather than perfection, unless I’m planning to enter a competition. Is this army a collection of the prettiest models I’ve ever painted? No. But it is a collection of good-looking minis I’m still proud of.