My Experience So Far

To date, I have little true experience with Warmachine: my Cygnar battlegroup is growing, slowly but surely, but I've played only two duel-sized games with the store's starting Cygnar army (won the first with a caster assassination, surrendered the second). I recognize that, with such little field experience, I should not rush to comparisons between Warhammer and Warmachine - but I just can't help it! Since I have so little experience with the game proper, I'm going to limit my comments to a comparison between the Privateer Press and Games Workshop models:

1) I feel I get more bang for my buck. This is derived from two disparate, but complementary, facts. First, it seems that I need less models to field a good-sized battle group in Warmachine. For what I've seen, most Warmachine matches are held at the 500 or 750 point level - and each faction's starting set already provides roughly 350 points. While you get alot more models out of them, 40K battle forces are rarely balanced ("Here's a tank/transport, and a few squads of guys! Go!"), are much more expensive ($70-$90), and provide a fraction of the forces you'll need for a 1000 point, and especially 1750 point, game. Secondly, I can find Warmachine models for really cheap on the internet, more consistently than I can Warhammer models. I know this is a one-off experience, but I was able to get my Cygnar starting force on eBay for $35, including shipping.

2) I'm more invested in my models. The Cyngar starter kit has four models, a warcaster and three 'jacks, and that makes up the lion-share of a 500 point force. All of the models are impressively cast, really giving you the sense that they're lumbering war machines, and you only have a few of them. It's really easy for me to justify spending time and effort making these (awesome looking) models live up to their full potential. Contrast this with my experience with Tau Fire Warriors: well, if you're lucky, they spend the entire game off map, hiding in their Devilfish - thanks to 5th edition rules, they don't even need to disembark to claim an objective! And if they are disembarked - well, either an autocannon has disintegrated them into a fine blue mist, or they've been ripped limb-from-limb in close combat.

3) Heavy metal? I don't really care about this difference. I've read Matt Wilson's enlightening post, and I realize why Privateer Press went with metal models. Compared to the Fire Warriors and Crisis Suits I'm used to, PP models are riddled with amazing charm and detail. Granted, detailing is coming into its own, so we'll probably see more than just Bastions in plastic. I really like these high-quality metal models (I'd be lying if I said the weight didn't factor into that feeling), but if they can be done in plastic - well, alright. Anyways, in my book it's a moot point: for the far-foreseeable future, my Cygnar army is going to be all metal.

Last but not least, and the reason for this blog's title:

4) Privateer Press' models have more sex appeal. While working on my Tau, I said many, many, many times that, if new plastic models were released for the Witch Hunters, I'd change armies in a heartbeat. I don't intrinsically crave T&A, I don't want to field an army of daemonettes. But I would like some cool looking warrior women in my army! Games Workshop, you have let me down in this regard! Privateer Press, you know my heart's desire! So, I'm backing a "boys in blue" Cygnar army... except they're chicks.