HD vs War Machine

[Morfedel]

Is anyone here familiar with and have played War Machine? Because I am a BIG War Machine fan, and I wonder how Hell Dorado compares? And note, I'm not looking for "HD is better" but rather WHY its better (or equal to, or whatever) War Machine.

Thanks in advance!

[Space Cowboy]

Im a big WM fan, and I think WM and HD are too different to compare. WM is a relatively simple, unit based game that has a strong emphasis on getting, on average, twenty to thirty models to work together, and building combos. HD is a much smaller, much more detailed skirmish game that focuses on individual models. Its what Confrontation should have stayed!

[Brasidas]

Space Cowboy is correct, Hell Dorado is on a smaller scale than Warmachine, so comparisons can only go so far.  Nonetheless, I think I'll try.

To me, Hell Dorado takes some of the best elements of Warmachine, and mixes them with some of the best elements of Confronation, and then mixes in some things that are unique to this game.

Like Warmachine, there seems to be a strong element of building combinations, or at least it's that way with the Saracens.  You've also got a resource mechanic in Hell Dorado's command points that reminds me of the focus/fury mechanic of Privateer games.  The officers in Hell Dorado all seem to have a once per game special effect, much like WM's feats.

Like Confrontation Hell Dorado uses alternating actvations, so it can be more difficult to set up those combinations that you build.  Hell Dorado also punishes you for charging, so that element of having to get the first good hit on the other guy is not there as much.  It becomes more about maneuvering to set up favorable fight conditions than maneuvering to strike the first hit.

Zones of Control remind me of GW's Lord of the Rings.  Every model has a Zone of Control, and you can't just wander willy-nilly past them.  This makes it possible to at least partly sheild guys in the back field from the fighting, at least until those front-men are engaged.

Finally, because the scale is smaller, the focus is entirely on individual models rather than units of models.  This will change how the game feels. 

Hell Dorado is a very nice system, with beautiful figures.  I think once the English rulebook is released, it will be a fairly popular system (at least as much of Conf during its heyday).

[Morfedel]

Hell Dorado is a very nice system, with beautiful figures.  I think once the English rulebook is released, it will be a fairly popular system (at least as much of Conf during its heyday).

Confrontation during its heyday? That's kinda a sad comment, considering, at least around here, confrontation just died off in the last year. Then again, it felt like they were changing their rules so often....

[Magic Dave]

I play hordes as well at the moment and one of the things i dislike is that you dont have alternating actvations, this makes it hard to react to the game, HD allows you to react to the moves of your oppo, and this is makes for a good game. Like Hordes/Warmachine most skills and bonuse's stack for bigger hits and better fights and this is also good. I one thing that i really like about HD is the small size of the forces and the fact that most are chartaters, makes for good fights and are more personal, like hordes. I think there is a big difference between the games but HD is well worth a look.