Warmachine Retribution revealed

Privateer Press have updated their website with more details of the upcoming Retribution of Scyrah faction for Warmachine.

Releasing in September, Forces of Warmachine: Retribution of Scyrah will provide everything players will need to field the new faction, including model statistics, background material, and a modeling and painting guide. The book will be written for use with the upcoming new edition of game rules, WARMACHINE Mk II, which releases early 2010. Privateer Press’ bimonthly No Quarter Magazine will feature articles in issues #25 and #26 that will allow players to use their Retribution of Scyrah models with the current Warmachine rules.

When asked about the new faction Privateer Press Chief Creative Officer Matt Wilson said, “Retribution of Scyrah will be the first real look at the long-secluded and mysterious elven kingdom of Ios. The very first thing people should note is that these aren’t your standard tree-hugging elves.” In fact, Wilson went on to explain, the faction will include highly disciplined troops outfitted with some of the most advanced technology in the Iron Kingdoms, backed up by the never-before-seen sleek and powerful myrmidon warjacks. “The Retribution of Scyrah will bring amazing new depth and feeling to the Warmachine game in terms of play style and abilities,” Wilson concluded.



Not long ago the Retribution of Scyrah was an outlawed fringe organization of zealous and violent elven fanatics. Their goal has been the eradication of human wizards and sorcerers, whom they hold responsible for the ills of their species. Until recently they have had to work in secrecy from numerous cells within Ios’ neighboring human kingdoms. Now things have changed. Their message has found a voice inside Ios and they have won new allies to their cause. They are no longer forced to hide their affiliations and have begun to organize into an army capable of waging open warfare. The Retribution is now large and influential enough to abandon secrecy at home and to become a recognized political, religious, and military power.

The Retribution has gained access to a significant portion of the armed might of the nation, including hundreds of myrmidons brought by House Shyeel as well as the Dawnguard legions of House Nyarr, who are among Ios’ most formidable warriors. While their size and the scope of their military capability has increased almost a hundredfold from what it was, their army remains relatively small compared to those of the nations they plan to strike. They are also competing for resources inside Ios with the force assigned to defend the nation’s borders.

This has prompted the Retribution to adopt unconventional strategies, including a unique doctrine of engagement. They wield their forces like a spear set against the weakest point in the armor of their enemies. Comprehensive reconnaissance combined with rapid redeployment is the key to Retribution strategy. Their forces are uniquely equipped with advanced arcanika, giving them the tools to wage this type of warfare and thereby represent a threat far greater than numbers alone suggest. Working to the Retribution’s advantage is the fact that the human kingdoms know little about their capabilities, while their own intelligence-gathering efforts have been thorough.

The resolve of Iosan soldiers is strengthened by the knowledge that they fight for their survival as a species. They intend to strike against enemies thought to have played a hand in the extinction of their gods. At their core they remain a fiercely dedicated and religiously charged organization, one that now has access to a powerful and sophisticated armory as well as sufficient soldiers to wage war against humanity.

From Chris Walton, the designer of the look of the Retribution:

I haven’t dumped anything off in a while, so I figured I’d light a bonfire and drop this dude in the pool so to speak. Dawnlord Vyros is one of the first warcasters for the newest faction in WARMACHINE, the Retribution of Scyrah. The Retribution represents an armed faction within the elven kingdom of Ios. The elves of the Iron Kingdoms suffered a cataclysmic event with the loss and wounding of their gods, a situation that the Retribution lays squarely at the feet of the human kingdoms and their magic. They have now amassed enough support within the kingdom of Ios to bring their secret war into the open.

Bear with me, I’m getting up on my soapbox for a minute and I’m totally out of shape…

Whew…

So one of the major complaints that I’ve been hearing about the look for the Retribution is that they don’t look like they “fit in” with the rest of the Iron Kingdoms, or that they don’t have a steampunk “feel”. Make no mistake, this was purely intentional from start to finish. The elves of Ios are a cloistered xenophobic race that has had very little to do with the rest of Immoren for a very long time. This is a society that trades with no-one and kills any who dare to cross their borders. For a time their gods walked among them helping their empire reached undreamt of heights of power, and their technology base is radically different from anything anyone has seen in the rest of the IK. It would have been very easy to throw some rivets and chunky plates on them and call it a day. But that would have cheapened the entire faction – totally disregarding the mystery and alien qualities of the elves in the WARMACHINE setting. In the end, I’m really glad that we took them in the direction we did. The new and the unknown are often scary, and that’s exactly how nature intended it.

And from Matt Wilson:

We knew, by the nature of what the Retribution was supposed to be and the fact that we’d barely seen the tiniest glimpse of Iosans so far, that we were going to be throwing out some radical new content in the Iron Kingdoms. The point was to really make them stand apart to shine the light on the disparity between the Iosans and the human kingdoms. They have so very little in common, of course they’re going to want to exterminate each other! That said, we knew some people wouldn’t be into the stuff as well, and that’s a good thing because if everyone all of a sudden starts playing Retribution, the battlefield is going to get a little monotonous. More than anything, though, I want to say how pleased I am at how it has come together. While we’re always concerned with what our audience will think, we first and foremost believe in being true to ourselves. I can honestly say that I don’t know of a single person at Privateer who isn’t completely psyched by how the Retribution has turned out.

Bill Cosby has a great quote: “I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.”

So, we set out to please ourselves, and my theory is, that because we are a lot like you, then a lot of you are going to be pleased as well. That’s how we approach everything, and so far, I think it’s working.

Viva la Retribution!