WTC 2022 – End of an Era: Remembering Mark 3

This article was originally meant to be a look into what the players thought may be changed in the future as Warmachine naturally evolved and new metas emerged. It was initially going to discuss what balance changes were upcoming or which factions would be getting some new models. But, Privateer Press’s announcement of an entirely new edition kind of killed that idea pretty quickly. And whilst all these players are absolutely top-tier, even they can’t guess at what Privateer Press has planned. Overall, most of the players are at least interested in what the new edition holds, with quite a few very excited for it. Only a couple are hesitant about it, but that makes sense with the scale of changes that Privateer Press has planned. Personally, I’m very interested to see what comes out, but I’m not familiar enough with the planned changes to offer my opinion. So instead of looking into the future, we can look at the past.

I started playing Warmachine in 2013, when I picked up a starter set for Legion of Everblight dirt cheap from a friend. Afterwards I quickly filled out a tournament sized list and started attending every event I could find. My list was far from good, and I only had a vague understanding of the meta, but I was ecstatic about the game. Previously I played Warhammer Fantasy, and whilst I still have fond memories of those games, I also have many memories of debating exactly how rules worked, often with no concrete resolution. Once I found Warmachine, I was pumped to have found a game that had such a tight ruleset, and quickly dove in head first.

Over the course of my time playing Warmachine, I have attended 2 World Team Championships, 4 Oceanic Team Championships, and too many single events to count. I started with Legion of Everblight, but have amassed a sizable Cygnar collection as well. Just before COVID-19 hit, I proposed to my then girlfriend, and we got engaged. The local guys all chipped in and bought me a Crucible Guard army as an engagement present. We had actually planned to hold a tournament on the weekend of our wedding, to make it an awesome weekend for anyone travelling. Unfortunately, COVID-19 was in full swing so those plans got cancelled, but that leads me well into the next point I want to make.

Despite having played Warmachine for almost 10 years, I struggle to think of a particular game that I can pick as my favourite. There are a multitude of games that I remember fondly, but the biggest thing that jumps out is the people. I can remember a few games I played well, and are proud of, but I can remember hundreds of fun interactions with the other members of the community.

There was the time my mate said “Anything”, when asked for a drink order, so I returned with a fishbowl of margarita for him. The weeks spent overseas in preparation for the WTC’s, or the nights out at weekend events. Even the parts that I’m not too fond of, my nickname “Henty”, which came from a TO’s typo, but it has stuck through the years, and has been of great amusement to everyone else. One of my fondest memories is Australia winning the 2018 WTC and seeing the elation when they walked back into the main hall, to a deafening wall of applause from the rest of the event.

And when I posed this same question to the other players, the majority thought in a similar fashion. There were memories of expertly played games, but these are far outweighed by the memories of the people and the wider achievements. 

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Aaron “Waley” Wale

Winning the 2018 WTC and then crying!

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David “Pottsy” Potts

Winning the 2018 WTC

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Josh “Gigantor” Bates

Playing in Cancon 2017. It’s like the new edition just clicked with me then, I was playing Cygnar and realised the game was way more skill based rather than list based. I had a ball and winning the event was the cherry on top.

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James “Moops” Moorhouse

Coming back to the game and winning Cancon 2020 and making Phil sit through the 45 minute Krueger assassination bottom of 1

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Robin “Washed Rob” de Oliveira

Attending Lock and Load 2019

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Ian “King” Fraser

Bringing out Durgen in a Satyxis dominated meta and winning my first tournament through excessive fire checks.They may be blast immune, but they sure do burn nicely. 🔥👌

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Jack “The Saviour” Ding

Stopping Peter Bates 19 game win streak at the Vic Championships last weekend!

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Dan “Nads” Tacken

Playing like 200 wartable games over the pandemic then rocking up to Cancon and getting third after never placing higher than halfway.

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Aleks “Touchdown” Glavas

Winning 2017 SA State Champs playing Issyria. On the final table I clocked myself T6 and won the scenario.

Bonus point – Playing Kraye at OTC. He is so much fun to play!

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Chris “Active Player” Davies

When I posted “About to mentally process we just won the WTC2018!” & seeing Waley Cry after we won!

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Sam “Deathclock” Evans

Definitely taking a themeless Lylyth3 list to the OTC and going 4-2 (which could have easily been 6-0). The ultimate snowflake

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Dimitri “Dimi” Sarbanis

Australia winning the 2016 and 2018 WTC and having travelled to those WTC’s

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Brian “Actual Canabal” Woods

Winning Melbourne champs 2019 with Skorne and Qualifying for the IG in 2019

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Peter “Tyrant Crumpet” Bates

Seeing Waley cry is my best mk3 moment

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The Secret Weapon

Winning WTC 2018

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I would definitely recommend sitting back and reminiscing with some friends about the good times you’ve had in this hobby. I found that I was reinvigorated for the hobby afterwards, and am looking at some of the more recent events in a new light. When it comes down to it, I really enjoy this hobby, and I absolutely love that I’ve had a multitude of amazing experiences that I will treasure. I’m now really excited about what the future holds, and I’m looking forward to it eagerly.

Another thing I have been looking forward to is publishing the team photos! Now that teams and lists have been released, we can introduce our Australian representatives!

Blue-Ringed Octopus

Frilled Necked Lizards

Swooping Magpies

This will be the second last article in this series, with the last being a review of the entire WTC experience from the players. But don’t worry, we still have some player interviews planned to be released soon! And with titles like; Winning at Warmachine with Waley, Grading Generals with Gigantor, and Newbies and Nerves with Nads, there will be something for everyone.

Until next time, 

Henry