Miniatures titles Warmachine and Hordes to drop print stats cards in effort to be more like video games

Steampunk miniatures wargame Warmachine and its sibling spin-off Hordes are to do away with physical statistics cards as publisher Privateer Press doubles down on digital.

From July onwards, Warmachine and Hordes releases will no longer include printed cards – instead, players will need to view the cards through the War Room 2 companion app (which charges for additional faction decks) or online in the PDF format.

According to ICv2, Privateer will also offer a print-on-demand service for players still desperate to own physical copies of the cards, which should launch between April and July.

Privateer recently launched a new digital platform playtesting known as Community Integrated Development (CID), which contains art, up-to-date character information and revised rules for playtesting, with each playtest lasting around four to six weeks.

Privateer chief creative officer Matt Wilson compared the new structure to the evolving state of video games, which are tweaked, changed or replaced entirely through often multiple post-release patches and updates.

“We’re uncoupling the game rules and stats from print media so that, like video games, we can be responsive to the meta while continuing to develop an ever-expanding game line,” he explained.