I picked up the Warmachine Prime book this past Wednesday, and have been greedily reading through it ever since. It’s a miniatures combat game, so it isn’t exactly my bag (I’ve tinkered with Blood Bowl and play an occasional game of Zombies from time to time, though). Being a non-Warhammer player, my views of this game are largely unhindered by comparisons with the Games Workshop money-making behemoth. The game itself isn’t why I purchased it. I got my grubby little hands on Prime just for the background info.
Background information covered in Prime that isn’t addressed in previous Privateer Press offerings includes more information on the nature of the Orgoth occupation, additional insights regarding the interaction between Menites and Morrowans in Cygnar and elsewhere, and additional information regarding the histories of the four major powers. Naturally, most of this information is of a military nature, and may never apply to your D&D game.
The sections on Cryx and the Protectorate of Menoth were especially interesting, as previous literature gave very little information regarding these two. Cryx is presented as an immensely powerful, thoroughly wicked kingdom where treachery, misery, and a preponderance of undeath are common under the shadow of their god-king. The land and its people are blighted, and slavery and unresting thralls drive their economy.
They send forth raiders in a way reminiscent of the Vikings, who are not content to merely board merchant vessels to steal their wealth. Cryx sends forth small armies to sack and raze entire towns and villages, carrying back goods, slaves, and corpses back to the Scharde islands.
For some reason, from the information presented in the Lock & Load Character Primer and other resources I had the impression that Cryx was fearsome largely due to its ruler, Lord Toruk. This new material puts them on a level with mighty Khador or Cygnar itself in pure military might. No wonder King Leto sleeps little at night!
The Protectorate of Menoth is also a bit different than I had expected. The cease-fire terms that ended the Cygnaran civil war are explained a bit more thoroughly. The faithful of Menoth, specifically the followers of Sulon, were given the eastern side of Caspia itself. The Protectorate is forbidden to have a standing army and pays taxes to the king of Cygnar but is otherwise totally independent. With few agricultural prospects in a largely barren land (think Middle East), they get by through the mining of gemstones and what amounts to crude oil (the Blood of Menoth).
The folks at Privateer Press do a great job of nurturing some “real-world” notions regarding religious strife by placing the Protectorate in a harsh, arid environment where they are forced to hold together by faith and some innovations that they refer to as the bounty of their god. It like a bit swords & sorcery kibbutz over there.
I could probably keep going about it for some time, but instead I’ll just recommend that you go get it. If you like minature wargaming, this may be a good change of pace for you. If you’re a compulsive RPG-reader like myself, you’ll find it to be a pretty darned good read. Good production value overall (though there were a few typos), and the excellent artwork we have come to expect from the Iron Kingdoms. None of the extra-cool black & white work from the d20 products they’ve released, but very nice nonetheless.