Tuesday, January 19, 2010

MKII Prime Review

So I've had this book about 2 weeks and this morning on the Metro i finished the Khador Section and now I have read pretty much the whole book. I'm far too lazy to read everything in the book, But I'm confident I can give it a decent review.

The Art work in this book is pretty darn good. The style of P.P's artists seem to change book to book. I'm not positive but based entirely off what I've seen I would say all 3 prime books have different artists. The style here is slightly cartoony and I can see that being unappealing to some. But Personally I think a few characters have never been drawn better. Vlad and Sorcha come to mind. The Jack pics are recycled from remix and are still among my favorites. Cryx units were redone and look pretty freaky. Overall the mix of new and old art is pretty nice. Art work: B+

Rules wise its hard to grade. Since this is just Warmachine prime +1 Heavy Jack I can't call any faction broken, just 1 dimensional. Rules: Incomplete

Story wise I'm a big fan. There is a little skirmish in the opening of the book between Menoth and Cygnar. I won't say much, but its in the feel of the book. They re-hashed the countries histories in their sections and added in a few new things that have happened since the story began to chug along. I think its great for people who don't know the story because they can pick it up and get a cliff notes version of whats happened so far. Also there is a large bit of history written from the perspective of the piper, its pretty damn cool. Story Section: A

Overall layout is sold. In the original Prime books Cryx was before Khador, and that wasn't the case in any other book, This time around they listed Cryx last in the book and I'm guessing that will be uniform from here on out. The Index is nice, the Faction pages have colored borders so they are easy to find and flip to. Very friendly and intuitive set up. My one complaint is that the Miniatures are off on their own instead of attached to their factions sections, but that's a small preference issue. Layout: B

Extras! There is a painting Section, which is ok, its tough to give detailed painting tips in so small a space. The Terrain section had about the same treatment. The appendixes are a nice reference area for the book. Warjack bonds and timing issues are explained there. The forward by Matt Wilson is as amazing and heartfelt as always. Page 5 caught my attention, its my feeling that Page 5 has gone down hill since Apotheosis. They were a little too in your face and the jokes didn't hit home as hard. This is was very different. It was really in the spirit of the game. P.P doesn't want games to end from Vp sniping. This is a game designed to have mass destruction as two 10 ton jacks smash into each other and both players fight to the bitter end. Then there was Rule 5. This was the one that really caught my attention, to summarize; Don't be a Douche! Great message and something that I feel was almost lost after seeing the way the 2008 national tourney went. Extras: B+ (Pg 5 and the Forward put it over the top)

Overal Grade B+/A- range. Great book every Warmachine player needs to pick it up. Tomorrow the faction Decks come out and then I will be able to give real feedback on the rules and balance of the game. Word on the street is Menoth is broke

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