Warmachine: Tactics

Short version: Don't believe reviews older than March 2015. The game is better, prettier, and more stable than ever before. It still might not be for everybody, but it's worth a look.
UPDATE: August 2016 - Updated spell effects, all new UI, somewhat improved AI, and generally very attractive and stable performance. This is how the game should have released, and more updates are on the way. I can recommend it still.
Long version:
I've been playing since Early Access, but wanted to wait until the last of the Kickstarter DLC was released before writing a review. In the meantime, I've watched a nearly unplayably buggy game get lots of fixes and polish from the developers, and now I feel like it would be fair to give it a balanced review. APRIL 25, 2015
PROS:
+Excellent character models and animations fully capture the look and feel of the Iron Kingdoms setting.
+Very deep core gameplay draws many concepts faithfully from its table top origins.
+Single player story is decent, written by game creator Matt Wilson, and has some fun missions.
+Each faction is very distinct, and has a good (not great) variety of models.
+Multiplayer is fun and intense. I've only dabbled, but I could get hooked.
+SP Skirmish mode is okay for testing teams or admiring art assets.
+Highly active and invovled development team communicates regularly with players.
Minor Drawbacks:
* Some spell and engine effects are too shiny/intense for my taste.
* The balance between troops and warjacks has shifted quite a bit in favour of the former. Feels different from tabletop.
* No Man's Land single-player campaign leaves out two of the factions almost completely (3 if you count Mercs).
* Limited unit selection in early matches means not as much replay value for single player campaign.
* The user interface has been improving, but it takes up a lot of screen, and isn't the prettiest.
* Some of my favourite units aren't out yet, and I know I'll have to pay for them as DLC someday.
* Controls and camera are better than ever, but still take getting used to.
* There isn't a large enough player base to guarantee fast MP matchmaking yet.
Major CONS:
- Core game features are not yet implemented
(no Hotseat, no Asynchronous MP, no painter, and only stupid-easy Skirmish difficulty)
- Single-player campaign has bad AI, and compensates with waves of suicidal dummies.
- Certain graphics configurations caused the game to crash frequently. I'm good now, but it was unplayable at times.
I recommend this game more than I ever could have before, especially to people who tried an early build and gave up because of the bugs and lack of polish. It is very playable, very fun, and worth coming back to. For new players, I would recommend it if you are a fan of the Warmachine universe, or if you like skirmish tactics games. Just be aware that there's a long road ahead for continuing development.

Each update makes this a better game and assuages my fears about this game, which was "really" rough when it first released. It is getting closer to what I would expect a beta game to be at, though I have my doubts about an end of August release. I hope they take the time they need and keep rolling out great updates. This game has the potential to be great.
Edit 5/8/16: The biggest complaints about this game have rightfully been the large bugs and the horrible user interface. With the last patch the game looks MUCH better than it had, and is now very playable. The bugs are getting squashed too. In the end, cut scenes on the single player game still look bad with the lack of animation, but the game runs great and is easy enough to navigate around in and do what you are trying to do. This is the game that should have been released. Too bad White Moon Dreams took this long to get it out, but they are still plugging away at it, improving the game experience.

Gameplay is fine, though the grid based system is somewhat dissapointing, but inevitable. It does lack a lot of polish though, controls feel clunky, camera is choppy, It looks pretty dreadfull, and there are graphical glitches abound. thankfully these are minor issues that can be patched out reasonably well, if they put some effort into it. All in all, it feels like a beta release, but a good beta release. recomended, but only for those that really wanna play warmachine on pc.

Genre - Steampunk?Fanatsy Turn based Strategy
I have never played the board game of this but have played similar games in the past. The game itself has an extensive campaign with 20 missions, having differing objectives and units throughout. You play as the one faction Cyngar, although I suspect that other campaigns may be added later. You command basic troops, heroes and bandits (Mini Mechs). You also have access to some spells and abilitys to turn the tide of battle. The controls are not the easiest but after a bit of trial and error they should make more sense and help you decide which units to move and attack with first (I recommend the tab key for cycling through units). The game plays well and the universe and story of the campaign are fairly engaging. I haven't tried a skirmish game yet but this should allow you to contrpl the other factions against the AI or humans. There is some DLC, but this just adds more units to the skirmish mode, so don't feel obliged. A fun game for all fans of turn based strategy.

TL;DR Review: Games ok in current form, needs work. Buy it if you're a die-hard Warmachine fan, but it's different from the tabletop.
Being fully released for a while now, Whitemoon Dreams has certainly made an impressive game for only having a little over a year for development and being an Indie Developer. That being said, the game still suffers from optimization issues and bugs. They are almost doing themselves a disservice by putting an FPS moniter in the corner of the screen. Playing through the single player campaign, my FPS changed with every mission, some hovering around 50, while others struggled to get above 15. The graphics setting do allow you to gain a few FPS by knocking down the quality, but sometimes that doesn't even help. Another big stumbling block is the bugs, which have gotten better. Sometimes these bugs are a simple graphical glitch, but other times, they either make the game crash or don't let a unit finish attacking, effectivly ending the game. In the campaign, the cut scenes are sometimes fully animated, but other times, it's just panning shots of still models. I actually prefer this to the way other games just plop the idle characters into place, idle animations and absense of lip-syncing ruining your sense of immersion. I understand that Whitemoon can only do so much, being an indie developer, and have limited manpower, but the cut scenes just feel inconsistant.
To anyone who plays the tabletop, this is a similar experiance, but there's a great differance. Some good, some bad. For one, it's a grid based system, as opposed to freely moving about the field to whatever distance is desired. This system makes melee ranges interesting. Stats are made more akin to a "out of 5" system, making some things hit harder than the tabletop, while others suffer. Another change is that Warjacks no longer have systems on thier damage grids, and it is instead more akin to a health bar now. Of all the changes from the table top, I really wish this one had stayed. In addition, certain units have gained abilites, like Assault Kommando Flamethrowers can now "Flush out" enemies hiding behind cover and push them back. On the subject of warrior models, there are no units in this game, all grunts are now solos with about 8 - 15 health. As a result, some damage has been amplified, like corrosion does 3 damage a turn and fire is even more potent. Warcasters, however, keep the same health they have on the table top.
Despite all this, I still adore this game. I love seeing the tabletop game come to life. I love seeing the animated cut scenes in the campaign. I love the progression that the main protagonist goes through. I love seeing units breathed new life with new abilities and mechanichs. I love the communication that the Developers have with the community, and how often they update the game.
All in all, it's not perfect, but I love it all the same.

EARLY ACCESS REVIEW: 9/25/14
With the latest patch from 9/23/14, you can finally play Skirmish mode, which means that you make your own army and play against someone else with their custom army, or against the PC (currently on Easy mode). A typical skirmish game takes about 30-45 minutes. For $40, I think that's a pretty fair price for what you'll eventually get when this game is complete, not to mention that there's going to be a 21-mission single player campaign too.
Fun is what it is, and it's pretty close to the tabletop miniature game. It has so much ridiculous potential that if you're a fan of the Iron Kingdoms lore, miniature wargaming, and/or the X-Com style of turn-based strategy combat, then you'll have many hours of fun with this game in my opinion.

I understand why this is getting mixed reviews. The first thing you're greeted with is characters who are stationary and unmoving during a cutscene.
Going into this I knew that Privateer Press is a company that makes wargames using miniatures. And that the characters in this are essentially figurines. I recommend going on Youtube and seeing some of the actual game footage, particularly the cut scenes, before you buy. So you know if this is a turn-off to you.
The devs focus seems to have been the combat system, which plays alot like the recent X-com games. My first impressions are that the gameplay is deep and well-made. I suspect that much of the community is more interested in the competitive multiplayer aspect then the campaign.
This should not be surprising but I should also mention that I encountered some bugs, mostly minor graphical ones.
Anyway, if you like tactical wargames, and don't give a shit about how pretty the cut-scenes are. Then you might very much love this. But try the demo first.