This is a new player guide to the terminology of Mk4. This Topic is a Wiki, so if you have any term you think should be included please feel free to add them. If you have questions about a term you’ve heard that isn’t included please ask in the replies; it’s probably worth including in the list.
Official Terms
Army
An Army is a collection of models that work together and is the foundational building block of Warmachine Mk4. Your chosen Army dictates what models you can put in a list and what Spell Rack cards you have available to you.
Faction
Factions are a larger grouping of models above the Army level. These primarily exist as a thematic or narrative connection between different Armies. In previous editions of Warmachine your Faction dictated your available model selection, but in Mk4 they are largely external to the actual rules of the game. A Cygnar Storm Legion model and a Cygnar First Army model may share a Faction and may have thematic or stylistic similarities, but they cannot be used in the same list. The exception to this is Cadres.
Cadre
Cadres are groups of models that are part of a Faction which can be added to lists of multiple Armies from that Faction. Cadre’s are still in development, so their exact composition is not yet known, however they are likely to include things like support models, battle engines, or colossals.
Legacy
Legacy models are models that were released during previous editions of Warmachine. In short, any model released before August 2022 is a Legacy model. Legacy Armies are Prime Arena Armies made up of Legacy Models.
Prime Arena
Prime Arena is Warmachine’s main competitive format. All models released after August 2022 are Prime Arena models, as well as select Legacy models that are part of a Legacy Army (see above). Legacy models that are not part of a Legacy Army cannot be used in Prime Arena play. Events can be run as Prime Arena or Unlimited Arena events, so look at the details for an event before you attend.
Unlimited Arena
Unlimited Arena is Warmachine’s free play format. This format allows all models in Prime Arena as well as all Legacy models. Legacy models that aren’t part of a Prime Arena Army can be used alongside models from their Legacy Faction by building a Custom Army.
Warrior Model
All models are Warrior Models unless they are defined otherwise; all models are considered Warrior Models unless they are a Warjack, Warbeast, Horror, Colossal, Gargantuan, Structure, or Battle Engine.