On Tuesday, Steamforged Games previewed massive model ranges for two new Warmachine armies. The fiery fanatics of the Protectorate of Menoth return in the Covenant of the Flame, while the spooky undead pirates of Cryx sail into view as the Dread Armada.
Fans knew to expect reveals for both armies after initial teasers at Lock and Load Europe in June, but we weren't expecting to get quite so much detail about both ranges. Steamforged seems to have revealed every model from the substantial initial wave of Menoth releases, taking us through to January, as well as a treasure trove of new and updated Cryx models.
Protectorate of Menoth: Covenant of the Flame
The Protectorate of Menoth returns to Warmachine after a three year hiatus with the new Covenant of the Flame army. As befits the Menite arch-traditionalists, very little has changed about the faction's identity since they last appeared on the tabletop. They've got a combination of cumbersome but heavy-hitting Warjacks, control gameplay, and they love setting things on fire.
The Covenant of the Flame has access to the Gifts of Menoth, a list of four sweeping debuffs that protect friendly models within the Warlock's control area - or while within 3″ of one of your holy relic Warjacks. The Menite player gets to pick which turn each one is applied to the opponent's army. One stops the opponent from casting spells; another stops them from shooting; a third that stops warrior models from charging; and a fourth that stops Warjacks from spending Focus and Warbeasts from being Forced.
A sweeping theme for the army is fire. As well as many ways to set enemy models on fire, every Warcaster (and some other models) has a way to turn Fire tokens on enemy models into resources. Every Warcaster's spell list includes Lawgiver's Judgment, an upkeep spell that strips Fire Resistance from all enemy models in their control area.
- Defenders of the Flame Command Set - October 7, 2026
- Revenger Light Warjack - October 7, 2026
- Crusader Heavy Warjack - October 7, 2026
- Scourge of the Unbeliever Army box - November 24, 2026
- Bastions of Faith Army Box - November 24, 2026
- Heralds of Perdition Army Box - January 19, 2027
The first place that new Menoth models will be available is the Defenders of the Flame Command Set, releasing on October 7 2026 alongside the standalone Repenter Light Warjack and Crusader Heavy Warjack kits, available from October 7 2026.
The Defenders of the Flame is a 30 point starter army led by a new incarnation of the fiery Warcaster Feora, Marshal of the Flameguard. She's wielding her OG weapons, Truth and Consequence, a pair of punch-daggers hybridized with flamethrowers.
She looks like a genuinely pretty easy Warcaster for new players to get started with, because her theme is very simple - she wants to set everything on fire.
Feora allows friendly Faction models in her control area to remove the Fire continuous effect token from an enemy model to boost a melee attack or damage roll against it; or she can spend the token to cast a spell for free. While Menoth has no shortage of ways to set things on fire, her once per game Feat 'Blessing of the First Gift' is undoubtedly the easiest, as Feora simply torches everything around her.
The spell Sacred Paragon turns Feora into a melee powerhouse, and she has a handy Teleport to pull her butt out of trouble. Should you want to hold her back a little more and rely on the rest of your list to deal damage, she can afflict an enemy with Debilitating Heat to debuff it and increase your melee output against it.
Joining her in the Command Cadre is a reliable block of Flameguard Defenders. These single wound infantry bring decent armor, Set Defense, Shield Wall, and Shield Guard. That provides handy protection from ranged attacks for Feora or the other models in this Cadre, since she brings basically no protective tech of her own.
The set also has what looks to be a unit attachment or solo, but Steamforged didn't spell out exactly what it was.
The box set also contains a new Crusader class Heavy Warjack with a single weapons loadout but like all the new warjack kits, the head and weapons are designed to be magnetized; there are four options each for the head, left arm, and right arm. As a general rule, the ranged weapons inflict Continuous Fire and hit hard, the melee weapons have Critical Continuous Fire and hit harder, and everything's pretty cheap.
The last model in the Command Cadre is a new character solo, the Idrian archer Valeria, Whisper of Death. She's a fairly standard fast-moving sniper assassin who also happens to be a crucial support solo. First, she can pull a similar trick to Feora and spend a Fire continuous effect token to make an additional ranged attack - and she's got a choice of three arrow types: armor-piercing, rapid-firing, or flamethrower grenade.
But then she's got a handy special action to grant Pathfinder to another friendly Warrior unit - not her primary use, but the kind of thing that will be essential to win a scenario.
The other standalone release during October will be the standalone Revenger Light Warjack - another design call back to classic Menoth designs. There are a choice of four heads, and four weapons each for the left and right arm, including extremely effective roadblock options and some surprisingly strong ranged weapons.
The Scourge of the Unbeliever Army box will launch on November 24, 2026. It's a 50 point starter army with the following models:
- Malekus, a flamethrower wielding Warcaster
- Eye of Truth, a new Character Warjack
- A Crusader with a fixed loadout
- Flameguard Defenders
- Cleanser Purifiers (with flamethrowers)
- Vassal Mechanics
The Vassal Mechanics are a classic Warjack buffing unit: your Warcaster can slurp their lifeforce to allocate Focus to Warjacks, and they have a couple of powerful buff actions.
The Vassals also show up in the Bastions of Faith Army Box, which will also come out in November. It's another 50 point starter army that contains:
- Stallos - a traitor Warcaster who has returned to the faith.
- Cleanser Skyhammers unit
- Cleanser Sanctifiers unit
- Cleanser Preceptor, Solo
- Vassal Mechanics
The Sanctifiers are heavy infantry with a once-per-game mini-feat that will punish your opponent for killing your troops - it'll trigger when one of your other models dies, allowing a model in this unit to advance 2″ and make a melee attack in payback.
The Preceptor is a very potent melee solo who, between armor twenty, a shield, and the ability to make other models die in his place, is extremely hard to kill. But he's also the army's only source of Guidance, essential for seeing through clouds.
The last new box to be revealed is the Heralds of Perdition, another 50 point Army Box, due on January 19, 2027. The Steamforged team didn't spell out everything on the box, but here's what was shown in pictures:
- Warcaster Thyra
- Blood of Martyrs character warjack
- Daughters of the Veil character unit
- Cleanser Purifiers
- A Purifier solo or unit attachment
- Cleanser Sunburst ballista on 80mm base
- A pair of solos
The Protectorate of Menoth is one of the four founding Warmachine factions from the very first rulebook in 2003, but with the release of Mk IV in 2023 the existing Menoth range was phased out of production. Its return has been hotly anticipated among fans (pun intended).
Cryx: Dread Armada
Steamforged revealed dozens of new units, solos, and warcasters for the nightmare empire of Cryx - but at time of writing, the clock has just struck midnight here in the UK, and I have turned into a pumpkin. You can check out the Cryx reveals from the 48 minute mark in the livestream recording, above.
The new Cryx Dread Armada army leans heavily remasters many classic Cryx units from earlier editions of Warmachine to create a Prime army for Warmachine Mk IV. If you have a collection of older models, you should be able to find a home for many of them.
Dread Armada will be available as STL files for home 3D printing via a crowdfunding campaign, launching on MyMiniFactory on October 15. You'll also be able to buy printed models directly from Steamforged at some point in the future.
If you want to chat about what's got you most excited - and try to convince me that I shouldn't start a Menoth army until I've painted my Kithguard - come and join me in the Wargamer Discord community!