Warhammer: The Old World – Rules Teases And Changes
Games Workshop has a new development diary out for Warhammer: The Old World and it’s got some rules teases hidden inside.
If you get a chance we highly recommend you read the full WarCom article in its entirety. There’s a lot of really good info in there about the Old World and the goals that GW is trying to achieve for the game. However, if you’re just looking for some highlights here are a few key things we spotted that really jumped out at us.
The Main Challenge of Warhammer: The Old World
“When we embarked upon the daunting task of designing Warhammer: The Old World, we wanted to create a modern game in the mould of Warhammer Fantasy Battle, a reimagining of a classic tabletop wargame that would appeal to both veterans of the Old World and newcomers to this most venerable of fantasy realms alike.”
This pretty much sums up the initial goal and main challenge of launching Warhammer: The Old World. How do you relaunch a game that you’ve killed off for the veterans and also have it feel “modern” enough to entice new players into it? Finding that balancing act is going to be a tricky one for sure. But I think they started off with the right idea.
“For several months the designers regularly assembled to play games of every edition of Warhammer Fantasy Battle, reminding ourselves of rules that in some cases we hadn’t played for decades. We wanted to identify which parts of a classic game we enjoyed the most, and which parts we felt could be improved upon. Here are some of the tweaks we’ve made to the rules.”
This was a really good idea. Not just playing the last edition of Warhammer Fantasy but previous editions as well. By seeing what worked in each and what didn’t they can hopefully reiterate on the good stuff and “fix” the not-so-good things.
Old World Rules Teasers
Now then…let’s get to the stuff we’re all curious about: The Rules!
On Unit Frontages:
“The rules encourage players to field units of varying size based on their type and role. Perhaps most importantly, the formations units adopt (how wide or deep they are) are just as significant as where they are deployed and how quickly they advance.
…
The rules encourage units with wide frontages, but the ideal number of models per rank is decided by the player, not enforced by the rules. To do this, we’ve ensured that as many models as possible can fight in combat, giving even those models that are within the fighting rank but not in base contact with the enemy the opportunity to bring their weapons to bear. “
Ideal unit frontages will have to be decided by the players. It does seem like the front ranks will get to fight on a unit even if they aren’t quite in base-to-base. We’ll have to see how many units from that “fighting rank” will be allowed in the combat however. I also wonder if there will be another “horde” pile-in mechanic again.
On Units Breaking:
“…units that lose a round of combat will often give ground reluctantly rather than immediately breaking and fleeing, while the winner can advance to press their advantage.
Players will quickly learn, however, that a cunning enemy will use this push and pull of battling units to lay traps, and an advancing unit runs the risk of exposing a vulnerable flank to a well-timed counter charge!”
This is a big change from previous editions of WFB. Breaking an enemy unit and then catching it on the run would often lead to it being run down (and thus removed from the board). This new system sounds a lot like the losing units won’t be run down completely but rather will be pushed back. This is not just a major change but also a new tactic players will be able to use!
On The Magic Phase:
“…spellcasting has been liberated and spread throughout the different phases of the game, rather than restricted to just one. In doing so, we’ve ensured that every spell available to a Wizard can have a significant impact upon the battle if cast in the right place and at the right time.
Situations where a single spell can decide the outcome of a battle are rare. The focus has shifted from keeping track of dice pools or hands of cards onto the positioning of Wizards.”
Interesting! So magic will no longer come down to a single phase but will instead be used throughout various phases of the game. Additionally, we won’t have to worry about cards or additional dice pools to manage. Honestly, this sounds a whole lot like a mix of the AoS abilities and also the 40k Psychic Powers of 10th edition. I’m curious as to how this change will pan out.
I think the Old World sounds interesting as a “new” setting. I’m still a bit concerned about their main challenge as listed above. Courting new players while attracting those older veterans (who are still angry about GW killing off WFB in the first place) is quite a tall order. I think we’re going to need a lot more previews about the game rules and lore before it’s launched…
What do you think of these changes? Do they sound enticing to you?
