Trying out Warmachine

I had a chance to play Warmachine last weekend.  For those of you (like me) unfamiliar with this game, it's a skirmish game set in a magical/steampunk world.  You have your warcasters, which throw spells, and your warjacks, which are big and smashy.  There are also rules for regular warrior-types.

Kerstan, who lives nearby, had a few of us over to play Warmachine and loaned me a force to use against Joe, another local gamer.

I'd never played the game before, and I had a good time.  While it took me awhile to pick up the rules, the combat was pretty straightforward.  Spell effects were simple, but taking advantage of the synergies between various spells and models took a little more time.

My game ended with  my caster struck down, but it was a close contest.  If I had rolled a little better on one or two of my attacks on my previous turn, it might have had a different outcome.  After our game, we watched our host play against another gamer, Stephen.  It was fun watching them play, and everyone got a kick out of a misread of the "Lamentation" spell as "Lamination."  Some jokes about the battlefield being coated in plastic, and an entertaining Saturday afternoon.  I will have to play this game again.