You got me there, never notice number of factions in rulebook, 20 seems a bit to much. But then again there were a lot of splinter faction (Stormhammers,Swordsworn,Spirit cat....) which got absorbed in main factions (Stainer,Davion,CNC..), so numbers got a bit smaller.
As far of introduction of new ones, after CW in Wolfstrike peace of indroduction should be slowered, there is also a new rule of not passing any factions in new expansions- that will hold introduction, too.

With unretirment all factions are playable, but in real world- most of pre AoD mech can't keep peace with new ones- so splinter faction mech will be lees used.
Vehicles and infantry are another story, with new booster format (2 mech,1 vhecihle,2 infantry) they be even more important, and pre AoD stuff can keep up with new one. Note Wolfstrike will have 6 mech per type, whail only 4 v/i per type.

What's retired or unretired depends on your venue. At my venue there is currently nothing on the restricted list.

I am honestly not even sure what sets are included in what would be the "restricted" block anymore. Wait here via the Wizkids site...

However unretirement is determined on a case by case basis by your venue. It's up to them. I'd suspect that most venues are allowing nearly everything to be played, but you never know.

***

Currently all factions are playable in some form or the other. However keep in mind that some factions only have a handful of units and probably will never be supported like the rest, IE Clan Sea Fox.

***

Boldrick last point is a good one. Pre-AoD mechs (and some folks would say AoD mechs) just aren't really on par with the newer stuff largely due to the addition of pilots and gear. However as he mentions some older vehicles and infantry make the transition very well. In some cases they are even better some of the current choices (some artillery units for example).

Midwinter-

Welcome to the game. Retirement is no longer in effect so all pieces are tourement legal. However, Battlemaster have the authority to ban pieces if they feel the need. So check with your local venue to see if any pieces have been banned from tourny play.

Most of the original factions have been absorbed by a "parent" faction. The following is a faction grouping with the original faction then parent: Highlanders/Republic of the Sphere, Swordsworn/House Davion, Stormhammers/House Steiner, Dragon's Fury/House Kurita, Spirit Cats/Nova Cat, Steel Wolves/Clan Wolf/Wolf Hunters (Clan Wolf and Wolf Hunter factions are both relatively new and Wolf Hunters are a very unique faction as they double as mercenaries). Singular factions are House Liao, Rasalhague Dominion, Bansson's Raiders, Mercenary, Clan Jade Falcon, Clan Sea Fox, and Comstar. Sea Fox only has 4 units and Comstar only has one (but it is a stomping unit and is worth getting). The faction mergers occurred because of events in the current mechwarrior universe. Again, welcome to the game.

Long Live the Republic!

Excellent, that's exactly what I was after. I was a bit confused at seeing Clan SeaFox listed as a faction to collect and discovering it only has 4 Units. Even worse for Comstar. Poor guys.

10) A GS, when assigned to his own mech, pays the alternate point cost (that seems pretty damn high compared to the normal point cost) and gets the special test. My question is: if the GS is in his preferred mech does he have to pay the alternate point cost? Or can he sit happily (and not get the special text of course) in the preferred mech if he wants?

If he is in his ride, he has to pay the extra points

Fair enough. The specific example I was thinking of was the pilot who comes with the Starter Set that has an ability aimed at combatting VTOLs and, of course, there are no VTOLs in the Starter Set..

11) Is there a rundown of the number of units from each faction per booster series? Something that says "there are 13 House Liao units in Domination, 31 in Liao incursion" etc etc. I've been using the Units link here on MWRealms but it's a little slow going for all of them!

If you look through the archived news articles, you will find a breakdown by faction article. Its usually the first article for a new set. I also have breakdowns on my website although I'm a little behind on things right now. I might get things updated today if lucky.

Thank you for wording that so much better then my answer. I was trying to eat lunch, ignore the chocolate lab using his jedi mind tricks on me so I'd share it, and respond to my IMs, while posting here.

I apologize for possibly repeating other's answers with this one. I just went through Midwinter's posts to make replies....


You don't need to explicitly breakup a formation - a formation only lasts for the duration of the order.

So, if you have five infantry in a chain, each in base contact with the next (i.e., IIIII), you may choose to make a movement or ranged combat formation with any 3-5 of them, so long as the 3-5 chosen are all connected via base contact (in other words, you can't choose to make a formation of just the two on the ends and the middle one, leaving out the other two, since there wouldn't be any base contact among the members of the formation).

Close combat formations may be made with any group of 2-3 'Mechs and/or infantry that are in base contact with an opposing unit. For close combat formations only, your units don't even need to be in base contact with each other.

Once the order is over, the units are no longer "in formation", but a new formation order may be given the next turn. This means that formations can dynamically shift and change fluidly throughout the course of the battle.

You are correct. If there is no minus symbol next to the modifier, it actually adds to the corresponding values. This is known as TSM (Triple-Strength Myomer).

Yes, it can, but only if it does not also have the Salvage SE (black square on the attack value).

Sorry, I can't help you with this one! ;)

We generally call them click rings or infantry rings. They aren't in boosters - only in starters. If you need more, you can probably get some from a local battlemaster, or other players who have managed to accumulate several of them.

Nope. The DFA attack may not be used against infantry, or units at cruising (VTOLs when they're flying high). Any other unit is fair game, though.

Recruit Blitz to Clan Jade Falcon, so as to make use of the "Merciless" faction ability. Beyond that, I'm afraid I got nothing right now... (I'll leave this to better players than I).

All factions are currently playable. Many of the early factions were "splinter factions" from the Houses and Clans that came later. As such, from Age of Destruction onward, there have been "House Alliances" which indicate that the splinter factions are being absorbed into their parent factions. Any factions with a House Alliance may participate in formations together. Any announced House Alliance is permanent.

There are also "Grand Alliances" which are temporary alliances of convenience between factions. These are set by each expansion (and may only last until the next expansion is released). Any factions with a Grand Alliance may participate in formations with each other as well.

Current active factions (i.e., are receiving new units regularly in expansions):
Bannson's Raiders
Clan Jade Falcon
Clan Nova Cat
Clan Wolf
House Davion
House Kurita
House Liao
House Steiner
Rasalhague Dominion
Republic of the Sphere
Wolf Hunters
Mercenary / Gunslinger

Splinter factions:
Dragon's Fury
Highlanders
Spirit Cats
Steel Wolves
Stormhammers
Swordsworn

Historical factions (produced for special prize figures):
Comstar
Clan Wolf-in-Exile

Oddball faction:
Clan Sea Fox (they've gotten two units each in two sets for a grand total of four units. They aren't being made as a full faction, but have been introduced to add some color to the game).

House Alliances (as of the upcoming Wolf Strike):
Dragon's Fury - House Kurita
Highlanders - Republic of the Sphere
Spirit Cats - Clan Nova Cat
Steel Wolves - Clan Wolf
Stormhammers - House Steiner
Swordsworn - House Davion
Wolf Hunters - Clan Wolf

Unfortunately, I don't remember the current Grand Alliances at this time, so you'll have to look those up in the latest expansion's rulesheet. Sorry.

Not anymore. We had retirement from Age of Destruction until just very recently. Now all sets are allowed, though local Battlemasters are given discretion for banning units (or entire sets) as they see fit, though they must publish these lists in the event listings. Also, certain scenarios or official WizKids events might have their own unit or set restrictions, which will be published in the event listing.

If you're playing home games, then the only things banned are up to you.

Nope, sorry. If he's in his preferred 'Mech, he has to pay his higher cost. Of course, you can put a different gunslinger in with similar (or the same) bonuses, and not have to pay the higher cost, then. You won't get any special abilities, but if you don't want them anyway, it's a great way to get stat boosts.

My girlfriend asked me the other day, and I quote "So when are you going to teach me how to play with your little dollies?"

I didn't know whether to be excited or insulted so I settled for a strange mixture of both.

My 2yo and 5yo love playing with my 'Mechs. They had my Ares kissing one another earlier...

More thanks in order for all the very helpful replies. On the female front (cough), I've always counted my lucky stars to have an other half who I can drag into MMOs and, thinking about it, most games :) Go her.

12) Ruthlessness (House Liao) or Zellbrigen (Jade Falcon)... I'm a little confused. Let's take Ruthlessness. House Liao unit opens fire on a random Green plebe unit. What happens if Green plebe unit
a) can't be targetted in some later turn due to, say, other units blocking?
b) runs out of range the next turn?
the RAW in both these cases seem to say the attacking unit still has to (try to?) attack. :ermm:

Not so. Basically if you give the unit an order that targets something, the target must be that unit. Nothing prevents you from giving your unit a move or vent order, however.

So, just to be clear, whilst that unit is in range it must be the target. If it moves out of range (or you move your unit out of range) it's back to normal (pick a target, any target)?

No. What I said was you can give it a Move or Vent order. If you wish to declare an attack then it must be the target. As such if it is outside of your range, the only way to get around it is to base an opposing unit. That then negates the Zellbrigen/Ruthlessness.