Game System - Warhammer: The Old World

[Count michael]

Well this is seriously interesting
Seems like GW realised maybe killing off the old world like they did probably wasn’t a good idea so are actually planning on bringing it back
Old World? New Warhammer!! - Warhammer Community
sounds like they are planning on making it like Horus heresy as a seperate system which should prove interesting

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=768457003626108

also as a sign of things to come they are bringing back Square bases
God I missed them

 

[Unas the slayer]

It's definitely interesting and exciting news, i was going to post it too. I believe the huge success of TotalWar Warhammer is probably related to this decision.
Sadly, we're talking abouit a wait period of 2-3 years… :(

 

[Irisado]

This makes me very glad that I neither rebased my models nor sold any of them. I am not so sure that the wait period is going to be so long either, as GW appears to be mocking itself with some of those time-related comments ;). Either way, I think that it is potentially a good news story for all those of us who invested a lot of money in Fantasy over the years.

As an aside, the trailer does rather remind me of the trailers for the 'final' Star Wars film. 'Nobody (nothing in this case) has ever really gone'.

N.B. I've moved this to the World that Was for now, as it's more appropriate to a Warhammer board than an Age of Sigmar one.

 

[Unas the slayer]

This makes me very glad that I neither rebased my models nor sold any of them..

SO TRUE.

i would really like to come play again my true Tomb Kings. And even proper Dawi, as they were not truly discontinued, but the survived dispossessed in AoS are kinda… 20% of the models range i own.
The situation for vampire counts is less problematic, as basically all of my models are still playable in AoS (except necromancer on horse)

on a side (but related) note, GW say that using square bases on AoS minis is fine (as long as you measure to and from minis as if they were on the round bases), but with the Old World with square bases, I'm confident that round bases will be the only ones playable in AoS. Kinda like WYSIWYG: pick the base / equipment you want, and stick to it.

 

[Raven Torrid]

Today, Games Workshop has confirmed that Warhammer: The Old World will be using square bases and that it will be the in the standard scale (fears of a Warmaster remaster are washed away, huzzah!).

https://www.warhammer-community.com...tions-about-warhammer-the-old-world-answered/

While square based armies always trigger nostalgia in me, I find the round bases more visually appealing and still plan to rebase my old VC on round bases. Especially since I'm more into using them as a display piece than I actually play.

However, I also really liked this aspect of the WHFB: "Warhammer: The Old World is a reinvention of the classic rank-and-file game of Warhammer Fantasy Battles. Regiments move in ranked-up units, and strategic manoeuvring into position to launch or receive a critical charge will be as much a key part of the game as it ever was." so I plan to use AoS models with trays or base adapters to be able to play both games with the same models. Only intend to play with a group of friends so it shouldn't be an issue anyway.

They also said they aim for the game to be a mix of the best rules from 3rd to 8th edition so we still need to see how that will turn out.

What I'm most excited about however, is that this implies that Bretonnia and Tomb Kings might get new models sometime in the future. That would make me very warm inside.

What are your thoughts and plans regarding this?

 

[Unas the slayer]

What I'm most excited about however, is that this implies that Bretonnia and Tomb Kings might get new models sometime in the future. That would make me very warm inside.

What are your thoughts and plans regarding this?

I am excited for ToW... i only hope it won't take 2 years or more to release it.
And given that a large part of my armis are still square based, i'm happy with it.

 

[brr-icy]

I'm tentatively curious, but seeing how much i actually like any system they've released in the last 13 years, not too hopeful, but I will be getting a bunch of the models
\

 

[Unas the slayer]

IN the meantime, someone is building old armies, waiting for ToW

 

[Gederas]

Well, we've got a hard 'date' for the general setting for The Old World.

"This led us to events well known to fans of the Old World, the Great War Against Chaos and the Siege of Praag, two centuries before the End Times. More precisely, we decided to look into the decades prior to this legendary world-changing event. In those years before the Chaos Lord Asavar Kull led his armies south against the nations of Men and Dwarfs, the Empire of Man was not the unified nation that bravely faced the armies of Archaon that players of Warhammer Fantasy Battle will remember. Instead, it was deeply divided and ravaged by war following long centuries without the unifying presence of a single Emperor.

[...]

In Warhammer: The Old World, we discover an Empire weakened by centuries of civil war, vulnerable to the ever-present threat posed by rampaging armies of invaders. Beastmen Brayherds surge from the deep forests, burning and defiling all that stands before them. From the moors and mountains come roving bands of Orcs and Goblins, looting and pillaging, while in distant and forgotten lands ancient kings sit upon crumbling thrones, planning the reconquest of the lands of the living. Yet beyond these present threats looms the spectre of something far greater – the armies of Asavar Kull amassing in the north.

While we know that the Empire would ultimately unify under the leadership of the great Magnus the Pious and turn back the armies of Chaos, at what cost will this unity come? There are many stories to tell of the years before the Great War against Chaos, and the desperate ruination of the End Times. Truly, Warhammer: the Old World promises to reveal much about the world that was, in ways sure to captivate fans of the Old World old and young…"​

So, it looks like it's going to be set a few decades before the Great War Against Chaos and the Siege of Praag. Which means.... Most (if not all?) of the Vampire Counts Named Characters are currently 'dead'. Sounds like possibility for 'new' named characters?

 

[Sception]

Undead don't seem to be the focus of the Old World game as it's currently being developed - that focus seems primarily to be on the fractured Imperial factions and the looming thread of Chaos. However, we have had a couple mentions of the undead now, and they've both been about Tomb Kings, not Vampire counts. Specifically in the previous preview there was a picture of a tomb kings chariot, and in this one there's the line:

in distant and forgotten lands ancient kings sit upon crumbling thrones, planning the reconquest of the lands of the living

Supposedly the Old World game will feature rules for all the old school factions, presumably including vampire counts. But I believe the main undead presence will be the tomb kings, possibly even in the form of an old school 'warhammer undead' army combining tomb kings and undead, but in a way that puts the nehekharans at the center, and to the extent that new Old World undead minis are produced, they're likely to be in the tomb kings style and focus on tomb kings units.

IMO this would be a sensible approach since the current AoS 'Soulblight Gravelord' faction really is just old world vampire counts by another name anyway. While some of the newer models might have difficulty ranking up on small square bases, aesthetically the new gravelord kits would all look right at home in the twilit corners of sylvania. It would seem like a waste of resources to release a competing line of nearly the same guys.

 

[Gederas]

Undead don't seem to be the focus of the Old World game as it's currently being developed - that focus seems primarily to be on the fractured Imperial factions and the looming thread of Chaos. However, we have had a couple mentions of the undead now, and they've both been about Tomb Kings, not Vampire counts. Specifically in the previous preview there was a picture of a tomb kings chariot, and in this one there's the line:

Supposedly the Old World game will feature rules for all the old school factions, presumably including vampire counts. But I believe the main undead presence will be the tomb kings, possibly even in the form of an old school 'warhammer undead' army combining tomb kings and undead, but in a way that puts the nehekharans at the center, and to the extent that new Old World undead minis are produced, they're likely to be in the tomb kings style and focus on tomb kings units.

IMO this would be a sensible approach since the current AoS 'Soulblight Gravelord' faction really is just old world vampire counts by another name anyway. While some of the newer models might have difficulty ranking up on small square bases, aesthetically the new gravelord kits would all look right at home in the twilit corners of sylvania. It would seem like a waste of resources to release a competing line of nearly the same guys.

A man can dream Sception, a man can dream...

 

[Unas the slayer]

But I believe the main undead presence will be the tomb kings,

TBH, if i could choose ONE undead army for TOW, i would pick Tomb Kings.
Not only because it was my first undead army back in WHFB, but also because my vampire desire can be quenched with AoS, while my dry bones have no place to wander.

 

[The Sun King]

When the Old World releases I will definitely reboot my Bretonnian and Tomb Queen (Khalida all day every day) armies!

 

[Oppenheimer]

It's been announced for so many years now and all they have to show for it is some concept art that is mostly stolen from Warhammer Total War. I don't have a lot of faith in it I'm afraid.

 

[Gederas]

It's been announced for so many years now and all they have to show for it is some concept art that is mostly stolen from Warhammer Total War. I don't have a lot of faith in it I'm afraid.

To be fair, they originally announced it in 2019 with a tentative release date of 2023. I doubt we'll see it this year because, well... Covid happened

 

[Sception]

I'm personally content with how progress has gone, but I'm old and patient.

 

[Gederas]

I'm personally content with how progress has gone, but I'm old and patient.

I agree. Though I'm neither old (well, I feel old at times...), nor patient

 

[The Sun King]

At least they show signs of life and that they are progressing. It would be more worrying if there was radio silence.

 

[Oppenheimer]

I don't play 40K so I wasn't paying attention but did they regularly report on Horus Hierarchy before it was released? Not that GW is terribly consistent.

 

[Gederas]

I don't play 40K so I wasn't paying attention but did they regularly report on Horus Hierarchy before it was released? Not that GW is terribly consistent.

They had articles that got more numerous the closer we got to release. Now we have (at least) one per week, every Thursday on Warhammer Community

 

[Unas the slayer]

I don't play 40K so I wasn't paying attention but did they regularly report on Horus Hierarchy before it was released? Not that GW is terribly consistent.

given it's Horus Heresy, i believe you don't play 40k. (sorry, i had to)

but yes, there was an increasing number of articles.

 

[Privateer#2323]

The Undead Kingdoms will inevitably be part of the Old World..as they are part of those Sigmar Worlds today....and have been so for the millenia gone. No matter whether THEY want it or not. Death is an eternal part of all life....and Blood is the livestream of the living and will serve us all very well today, in the future and in the past....

Watch October 2023 for a highly potential release date, as it is the 40th. anniversary date of Warhammer Fantasy Battle....

 

[Sception]

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2023/02/06/old-world-development-diary-walk-like-a-nehekharan-in-the-land-of-the-dead/

Another old world article, this time explicitly about the tomb kings. Nehekhara under Settra extending all the way north to encompass most or all of the old world might be new lore - iirc back in the day tomb kings incursions north were mostly following after mortals who had stolen treasure from sleeping kingdoms and taken it back home with them, rather than aiming to reclaim territory that had once been theirs. But I could be wrong, that might be old lore, and even if it's not I'm cool with it as an addition.

Strong evidence in support of my theory that the old world undead presence will mainly be tomb kings rather than vampire counts - though the presence of tomb kings doesn't exclude the possibility of vampire counts also getting rules, models, or narrative focus. But while there might be rules support for vamps (old world was supposed to support all oldhammer factions, even if they're not a focus of the narrative), I again doubt they'll be a narrative focus. The game is set at the time of Magnus the Pious - there are vampires around, but the Von Carstein wars are over, Mannfred is deep in his bog mummy period, and barring retcon there just aren't any major vampiric uprisings going on in the old world at this time.

I also doubt we'll see much in the way of direct model support for old world vamp counts, because there just isn't a significant aesthetic difference between old world VC and AoS Gravelords, to the point that sales of one line would likely cannibalize the other. You could say that 30k and 40k both have marines, but marines have always gotten special treatment for sales reasons, and GW only really started pushing 30k plastic kits around the same time that new 40k marine releases started transitioning to the new armor mark with a significantly different design.

As for model support for Tomb Kings... I'd like to think so, especially since this this is a lot of emphasis on the faction fairly early in overall development for them to be an afterthought that has to wait for the game to be successful first to get any actual support, but I'm not sure. The current article would have been a great place to showcase some 3d design work on tomb kings bits & bobs if such were in the works, and we're still just seeing 2d art and maps.

 

[Privateer#2323]

Well, alass we get a clear indication that one of the greatest undead ever, Settra the imperishable, will once again roam the mortal realms of "The Old World".
If it is true that the new "Timeline" will be set 200-300 years before the reign of Karl-Franz, then we talk about the years around 2200 ( Imperial calendar ) . A Period of increasing vampiric activity following the hiatus caused by the death (ahem) of Manfred and the destruction of his last vampire army in 2145...

The "new" timeline (2350 and earlier ) would actually be exactly the one during which Arkhan the Black re-emerges, forges an alliance with Khalida and travels together with her to...Sylvania...and claims the staff of Nagash !...

In a nutshell : if Settra will play a major role, why shouldn't this become true for Arkhan ( who is even available in AoS ), Khalida and with them the Vampires ? Vlad fought against Imp.Ludwig an was still available in the last VC book in the Karl-Franz setting...

 

[Unas the slayer]

Well, no more mere fluff, now we are given plastic!

Bretonnia vs Tomb Kings!!!