I haven't played since 2003, what do I need to buy?

[BlackOpsElf]

Hi, everybody. As you can see by my join date, I've been gone for a while.

I was a huge Warmachine fan pre-Escalation. WotC's Chainmail skirmish game had just been cancelled the year before, and everybody was looking towards Warmachine to fill the void. I bought pretty much every Cygnar model I could get my hands on from the game launch til grad school got in the way.

I've since gotten back into miniature wargaming in a big way, but never got back into Warmachine because I was afraid I'd have to buy too many new books and models to "catch up." Now, with MkII coming out, I see this as a perfect time to come back in.

I found a box of all my old painted Cygnar models yesterday. Here's what I have:

Stryker, Haley, Nemo, Caine

Charger, Lancer, Ironclad, Defender, Stormclad, Sentinel

Stormblades (full, with UA), Stormsmiths (3), Longgunners (10), Trenchers (10), Gun Mages (6)

Journeyman Warcaster, Reinholdt
Are there any **necessary** models that I need to pick up in order to stand a chance against newer players?

Do I need to pick up UA's for all of my units in order to make them worthwhile?

Is this "squire" guy everyone keeps talking about really mandatory?

Ultimately, I've spent a lot of money on other games, and for me, the appeal of getting back into Warmachine is that I already have a playable, painted army, so I only want to know what I need to buy in order to compete.

In case people want to focus on a specific caster, I like Nemo and Caine more than the other two I own.

[slinkdawg]

For the cost in $, the squire basically makes every warcaster have an additional focus and bigger control area. It is huge.

Aside from that, all the core models you listed should be pretty viable. Purchase and paint the squire, and play around with that, and that should be plenty to get into MK II and learn the new meta.

Welcome back to the fold. Proxy a model(s) if you need to, but the big goal for MKII was to make everything viable/workable again. Your old prime stuff should work ok.

[whitekong]

The longgunner ua and gunmage ua shouldn't cost you too much and should open up some interesting options for you. Good luck.

[PBear]

Most of your stuff is perfectly competitive and you don't need to expand. If you want to make some minor additions, I'd start with the Squire and then the Gun Mage UA. Most Cygnar UA aren't necessary to be competitive, but I really like the ATGM UA.

Next I'd probably add the B13--it's a cheap 3-model unit and adds a lot of versatility. After that, you can add one little thing at a time, but you already have a collection that you can use to build a perfectly viable tournament army.

[whats82]

Solid models. I'd say pick up some new casters and try things out to get some fresh perspectives. Right now cygnar's top swan are Siege and eHaley, so even if you don't play those competitively, it pays to know how they work because you'll sure be seeing them around by other players.

[FalseAngel]

I, too, would suggest getting some more of the new warcasters, some of the cheapest game changing pieces out there after all.

Also the Squire is a great single model to get your hands on. For UAs I would echo the comments of the Long Gunners' and the Gun Mages' UAs being very worthwhile, but not really needed. You certainly have good 'jacks, though if you're ever feeling spendy Ol' Rowdy was a wonderful addition to Cygnar.

But really, Cygnar has been very good with it's core that it started out with in Prime honestly. Certainly there are some nice units, but Stormblades and Long Gunners are by far our main stays to this day. Though some may argue that Trenchers have fallen a little low.

[TsavongLah]

Arlan Strangewayes, the Squire, and the B13 are in every list I make. They're pretty cheap, both in real money and in game points, and are extremely useful in just about every game. Get those for sure.

[sniggles]

everytime you change warcasters you change what an army can do, if you want to stay current you should get all of the warcasters. aside from that, everything in the cygnar army sorta works, except the GMCA.............:(

[Killionaire]

Solid models.

You don't need anything, except the Squire, B13 and Gun Mage UA. You do not need the Long Gunner UA, as that thing kinda blows anyway. Aside from the Sentinel, you've got a pile of A-List Jacks, and Nemo of all people is one of Cygnar's strongest in MK2 hilariously enough.

You'll do fine, and I make many competitive lists out of mostly those models (though usually not Long Gunners, but that's personal playstyle)