In case you haven’t heard the news, Steamforged Games now owns the Iron Kingdoms IP, which includes Warmachine and all of the related games and products.

Steamforged Games’ Mat Hart released a follow up article detailing their vision for the Iron Kingdoms moving forward which contained some very important details that were missing from the initial press release.

For starters, Steamforged Games now owns the Iron Kingdoms. Privateer Press’ involvement will purely be as a design studio working on the game. The important bit here is that Steamforged Games has oversight on the development, and may be able to help steer the game(s) in a more positive direction. While the initial effort is to get Warmachine into a healthy position, Warcaster will be seeing some love in the future.

However, that was not the only big news in the recent articles…

We have a release schedule for the rest of 2024!

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Keen eyed fans will notice some new products types in the calendar, which will make getting into the game way easier. Every faction will eventually have the following starter products available, giving players a clear pathway to get to the 100pt standard format:

• Command Starters ($79.99 USD)
  • Usually consist of a warcaster, a character warjack, a character solo, and a character unit. This will be a fully playable force for the 30pt format of the game straight out of the box

• Battlegroup Boxes ($69.99 USD)
  • A warcaster, a light warjack, and a heavy warjack
  • Combined with a Command Starter, this will get you up to the 50pt level
  • For already released factions, these are the same battlegroups from the old Core Army starter boxes.
  • Note: $10 USD price drop from Privateer Press previous prices

• Core Expansion ($159.99 USD)
  • This replaces the old Privateer Press Core Army starter boxes
  • Combined with a Command Starter and a Battlegroup Box, you can play 75pt games with list building options, and you will get very close to 100pt games with most factions.
  • The old battlegroup is removed, and replaced with a different warcaster and a character warjack on an alternate chassis sculpt
  • The included units and solos also differ slightly from the old Core Army box sets

• Auxiliary Expansion ($149.99 USD)
  • These sets replace the old Army Expansion boxes
  • Functionally an alternative to the Core Expansion that does not include a warjack
  • Similar to the Core Expansion sets, adding this to a Command Starter and Battlegroup boxset will get you playing at the 100pt level

So, paying full msrp at retail, new players are looking at around $300 USD for a fully playable 100pt army and $460 USD if you want extra list building options. While that number hurts way less than your average Warhammer army, it is still a little steep considering that most of the existing range is 3D printed to order. The positive spin on these new changes is that you don’t have to dump all that money all at once. You can start the game for under $100 in a “slow-grow” league, and build up to the “big-boy” version of the game at your own pace. It is also nice knowing exactly what you need to buy ahead of time so you can plan your purchases accordingly

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So, the other big news is that the first HIPS plastic Warmachine kit will be a new 2-player starter set featuring Khador and Cygnar!

This new product is slated as a “Command Set”, so while the contents have not been fully spoiled, we can imagine that it will be two command sets in one box…oh, and Caine is coming back baby! Its nice to see someone survived the apocalypse.

Lastly, if you are looking to get your Warmachine fix as soon as possible, the Steamforged Games’ store is open for pre-orders with an expected ship date of 7/18/24.