‘Warhammer: The Old World’ – What GW’s Latest Matched Played Rules Changes Mean to You

Let’s take a look at the latest Warhammer: The Old World matched played rules GW is using at an official event, and what it means for you.

The Old World has been out for nearly a year and there have been a lot of events going on around the world. While some of these events have played the rules straight with no changes, many, if not most, have added some additional rules. Most of these rules are comp rules (changes or resections to army composition or how you build an army) or mission rules. Events around the world use comp as a way to help balance the game as well as to make an event more unique. GW is no different, the official GW at Warhammer World (few though they are) also have comp rules. However, like other events they are not set in stone and have changed between events. It’s clear GW is testing things out. So lets take a look at the latest rules we’ve gotten.

The Throne Of Skulls

Throne of Skulls is an upcoming Old World tournament. It’s being held on 2/22-2/23 at Warhammer World. It is one of very few official GW Old World events we’ve seen. As such people tend to read a lot into the rules used at these. While GW has not put any official matched play guidelines, they do have these event packets. Above we can see the main new restrictions. First up we have a limit on how much you can spend on a single character. At the 2000 pts of this event that is 500 pts. Second we have some limits on high level wizards. 

The only other restriction they have is no allies. This is a common and expected one. Mercenaries and named characters are allowed. While the no allies rules was used in past GW events, the other resections are new. In addition this is an official GW event so only armies form the core books are allowed. Legends armies are not allowed. Lets take a little deeper look into what GW is saying about playing Warhammer: The Old World competetively.

The Character Limit

The 500 pt. character limit is clearly targeted at a few powerful lords on big mounts. It particular its punishing to Chaos Lords on Dragons who will have almost no points for any upgrades/magic items. Most other characters won’t see a big effect. High Elves on their biggest dragons and Wood Elves will not be able to take max upgrades. On the other hand Tomb Kings are unaffected. That’s pretty much it, oh maybe something mounted on the big Spider, or some really odd build, but nothing very serious. As this event doesn’t allow Legends armies the other dragons, and VC on Mortis Engines that might be affected by this are already not allowed. So this is mostly here to tone down Choas Lords… and I’m fine with that but wish is was a little broarder in toning down dragons/big mounts.

The Wizard Limit

Here again I think they are looking in the right direction. I think limiting some of the crazy things wizards and magic can do is a smart move. Events, such as NOVA have already done this. However I don’t think these restrictions really accomplish that much. It’s basically limiting you to 1 lvl 4 and 2 lvl 3s. A lot of armies are capped at 2 lvl 4s anyway, and very few will run 3 or more. So I’m not sure simply dropping 1 or 2 of the lvl 4s you were taking down to lvl 3s really fixes much. The worst magic abuses often doesn’t even come from traditional casters. Sure it will keep down some crazy magic, but I just don’t think it does much.

No More “Rule of Three”

GW’s first event, back in April included a version of “The Rule Of Three”. This limited units that did not already have restriction to being taken no more than three times in the same list. When this came out a lot of people said it was how GW meant the game to be played and that we should all follow suit. I however argued differently. This was the rule for one event only, and I also argued its a bad rule. Well maybe GW listened to me. Or maybe not, whatever the case they’ve moved away from the Rule of Three and it’s not included in this event packet. It’s a clear sign that the first packet was in no way meant to be used by every event ever across the globe.

What This Tells Us About ‘The Old World’ Events

So what’s the take away from all this? Well first off that GW, or at least their event staff, are still tinkering with things. Not only are they using comp, but its a different comp from their other TOW events. They clearly think that big ridden monsters and magic are an issue (I agree). However they are being very conservative in their changes and not, I think, doing enough to have a major impact. Given that they changed things from events I would also argue that they are not saying this is a packet to use at all events. It’s for this specific one and not meant as a broad rule. I do think it gives events a bit of license to keep tinkering with comp and using it, as GW is doing exactly that.

I do think it’s an acknowledgment that the game isn’t perfect, at least for competitive paly. Some comp (or more FAQs) are needed. This is a place that TO’s can step in. It’s very good to see GW actually trying to address these issues at events. Overall this is good movement in the right direction. 

Let us know what you think about the rules packet, 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.