‘Warhammer: The Old World’ is Drawing on the Best of Old GW

As we learn more about the Old World, it’s clear this game is a return to classic old-school form for GW.

Four years ago, Games Workshop announced Warhammer: The Old World. For fans of old GW games, it was a big deal. This seemed like a return to the old days of Warhammer Fantasy Battles and ranked-up games. However, pretty soon a lot of people started to have some big questions. Was The Old World going to be anything like WFB? While we started to get some art pretty soon, information on rules was very light.

Yes, it would use square bases, and after… years, we did get confirmation that it would be on the same scale and use the same models as WFB… but that was it. Then after years of waiting, the floodgates have opened, and we finally have a good look at how The Old World will work. From the previews we’ve gotten, it’s pretty clear it’s drawing on the best of old GW games—and from a few surprising sources.

Warhammer Fantasy 9th Edition?

It seems clear that Warhammer: The Old World is effectively Warhammer Fantasy Battles 9th Edition. This is a game that is built on the bones of WFB and seems to most heavily draw inspiration from the 7th and 8th Editions of that game. I think it should be very recognizable to players of WFB. Now it’s obviously not being billed as 9th Edition, maybe because ‘9th Age’ is a thing, or they want new branding or because the setting is a different year, I don’t know, but rules-wise… it clearly is.

Take movement, for instance. This seems pretty much in line with what was before. And that’s really good in my opinion. Movement was, maybe more than anything else, what set WFB apart from other games. It’s what gave it a special feel. 7th Edition Warhammer Fantasy was one of best ranked-combat games out there, possibly the best fantasy mass combat game ever made. So it’s very encouraging to see GW drawing on it for the bones of the new game.

Changes For New Ideas

That’s not to say that the game is just a copy or slight update. It’s clear that The Old World is making some big changes to the old games. The most obvious we’ve seen is the turn sequence. Three of the phases, movement, shooting, and combat, remain the same as before. However, a new phase, the Strategy Phase has been added. This is a phase we’ve seen a lot of more modern games add. It’s normally a pretty quick phase, but serves as a start of turn and often clean up phase. It’s more for housekeeping than exciting combat, but a useful phase to have.

Perhaps less welcome is the removal of the magic phase. Taking another page from newer games, GW has rolled that phase into the others. Instead of a dedicated phase, spells are now cast in each phase, if you have the right spells. While this removes a fun “mini-game” it also helps balance things out. If you were an army with little to no magic, such as Dwarfs, this was a pretty unfun phase. We will see how it shakes out.

Taking From the Past

The new changes in combat resolution are also a big difference. Instead of the old binary hold/break system you’ve now got a lot of options. Even within three reactions of the beaten unit (plus a tie) you’ve also got a host of options for the winner to follow up or now. This leads to a much more complex combat system with a lot of nuance. I’m really excited to try it out. It retains the chance for a unit to get beaten, flee, and be utterly destroyed, but also makes it more likely brave or well-trained troops will just get pushed back.

These rules draw from a number of older games, such as Warhammer: Ancient Battles. They clearly show that the writers of The Old World are looking through a lot of GW’s back catalog of tabletop games, not just WFB, for inspiration. This honestly makes me very excited. From what we’ve seen The Old World seems like a great successor to Warhammer Fantasy Battles. It’s capturing the spirit and the nuance of that game.

However, it’s not a simple republish or minor update. The game designers seem to be drawing on the best of old GW games for rules. They are also working to update and streamline things where they can. All of that points to a well-crafted game, that feels both old and modern at the same time. I’m excited.

Let us know what you think of the reveals for The Old World, down in the comments! 

Author: Abe Apfel

Abe is that rare thing, an Austin local born and raised here. Though he keeps on moving around, DC, Japan, ETC., he always seems to find his way back eventually. Abe has decades of experience with a wide range of tabletop and RPG games, from historicals, to Star Wars to D&D and 40K. He has been contributing to BOLS since almost the start, back when he worked at and then owned a local gaming store. He used to be big into the competitive Warhammer tournament scene but age has mellowed him and he now appreciates a good casual match. He currently covers 40K tactics and lore, as well as all things Star Wars, with occasional dabbling in other topics. Abe remains in mourning over the loss of WFB to this day.