So the newest, hottest title from Games Workshop just dropped. The Old World is here. Also the End Times happened, did you know that?
Am I excited for it? Yeah, kinda. I am a huge fan of Warhammer Fantasy and even though my enthusiasm for it is not as strong as it used to be, this fascinating world is still near and dear to my heart. I was genuinely sad to see it go with the End Times, and I was ecstatic when Creative Assembly revealed that they’ll be making a trillogy of Total War games based around this setting. For some reason I was hoping that CA’s initiative might culimante with GW actually bringing back Warhammer Fantasy.
And it did, kinda.
The Old World, at least according to certain rumors, happened because lots of people fell in love with the setting after playing the Total War: Warhammer trillogy, as well as Vermintide games by Fatshark. They were all like: “where can I get some sweet, sweet High Elves minis and rules to use them on a table?”. Imagine their surprise when they discovered that the game on which the wildly popular TW:W franchise was based is no longer here, replaced by Age of Sigmar. Suddendly Games Workshop realised their mistake – there are people, aside from the “old guard”, who are massively interested in a dead franchise. They want to experience it. They want to play it, but there’s no way for them to enjoy it “officialy”. The only way for their wishes to happen was eBay hunting and paying attrocious prices for 2nd or 3rd-hand models, drowned in thick paint and with probably a few important bits missing.
So Games Workshop, being the company that it is, decided that they want to capitalise on the huge attention that the Warhammer Fantasy world was getting. Cue the “Old World”, a brand new WFB experience… except that we’re not calling it “Warhammer Fantasy Battle” anymore. No, no – it’s a completely different thing. Set a few hundred years before the End Times (which happened by the way, in case you missed it) and offering a plethora of brand new models, as well as some timeless classics, it tells the tale of eternal fight of good vs evil…
Wait, what? Good vs evil? In my Warhammer? What the hell?
Yeah the Old World… it’s not Warhammer Fantasy. And yes, I am aware that I’m repeating myself here. But it’s really not. First of all there’s the clear divide on “good vs evil” which was always a rather alien thing when it comes to this setting. There was simply no good guys/bad guys division here. Everything had different shades of gray. Sure, the Empire and Bretonnia were bastions of civilisation and progress (at least the Empire was!), but they were also xenophobic, racist, militaristic to the extreme and treating the majority of their citiznes like shit. The Warriors of Chaos, Kurgans, Hung, the Norse and other tribes, were bloodthirsty and savage marauders, no doubt about that. However they were also closer to the “natural powers” of the world, often had a strange sense of honor (Lord Mortkin anyone?) and sometimes, just sometimes, could even be seen as those who are right in a given situation. Really, the only truly vile factions were the Druchii and Skaven, and even then only by a slight margin. The Dark Elves fought for their “birthright”, while the rat-men acted like, well, gian rats! Multiply, devour everything in your path, conquer, move on. Yeah they were a right bunch of furry bastards, but they acted according to their nature.
Now we have the Tomb Kings on the side of evil. Tomb Kings. Yeah, let that sink in. The “true neutrals” of Warhammer Fantasy, the guys who just want to be left the hell alone, who only act violently when their borders are threatened or their relics get stolen. They’re “evil” now.
Fuck right off. Seriously. I understand that it’s easier from the marketing standpoint (same with the new, “improved” Bretonnian colors), but it’s completely at odds with the lore, spirit and the general idea of this given faction. Naturally the Old World had to introduce a couple of lore changes – it takes place a few hundred years before the “current” era (and the End Times, which happened by the way), but I don’t think this was the right deicison. Same with classifying Orcs and Goblins as “evil”. Likewise I would never dare call “Bretonnians” with their horrible way of treating their lower class as “good”, but what the hell do I know, right? I’m just a consumer.
Ok but what about the models? Are the new sculpts nice? Is it a good idea to bring back a bunch of 10+ years minis for people to buy in this day and age? After all there are so many great, and free, 3D sculpts nowadays, readily available for practically anyone. Personally I don’t mind Games Workshop cleaning out their warehouses from old stuff. Sure, some of those models look really dated but they also have this unique charm to them. I look at the old Men-at-Arms and Yeomen minis and can’t help but smile. Same with the classic Tomb Kings Ushabti. They’re great! As for the new stuff – it rocks. I’m 100% serious, there’s no irony here, just my genuine feelings. New Warhammer: The Old World models are friggin’ gorgeous. Bretonnian Foot Knights and Tomb Kings Necrolith Bone Dragon are probably two of my favorite new sets for now, at least before the Empire will enter the fray!
Unfortunately this is GW we’re talking about here: you know, two steps forward, one step back and all that jazz. The fact that there are so many factions that will not only get no new models, they will also not recieve a rerelease of their old stuff! What armies I am talking about. Oh, you know, just some minor ones like SKAVEN AND VAMPIRE COUNTS, to name just two. There are more, of course. Ogre Kingdoms, Lizardmen of Lustria and Dark Elves are also getting the shaft here. Not only that but they will also recieve the “legacy rules”, similar to certain models and factions in the Horus Heresy. As a long-time HH player I can tell you one thing with 100% confidence – these kind of rules suck ass, major time. They’re poorly tested, lazily written, weak and nonsensical. They make models and even whole armies borderline unplayable. I have no doubt that introducing them in the Old World will make the armies using them A-tier trash. Oh and Games Workshop will almost certainly not update them over time, and at least try making them of similar quality to the “official” ones. To add insult to injury the lore reasons why those armies are not included properly in the main game are just dumb. Like Vampire Counts are sleeping, apparently. They got tired, you see, the poor little things. And I guess the Dark Elves of Naggaroth randomly decided to stop raiding other civilised lands? Yeah, right. I call big fat bullshit on that one.
Really this last thing is probably the biggest red flag for me. I don’t mind different bases too much (3D-printed converters exist) as well as the fact that, just like with the Heresy, the books needed to play the game are huge, cumbersome and hard to carry (not everyone likes digital prodcuts or has a tablet to use them). I don’t even mind the incredibly childish, juvenile and pathetic reminding us that, yes, the End Times happened and Warhammer Fantasy Battle is not returning. We’re getting the Old World and then, if we want more fantasy-themed goodies, it’s Age of Sigmar time. Nah, it’s the fact that so many cool, awesome and interesting armies got sidelined, that is just bizzare to me. It’s also really hurtful. I own a very large Empire army, which I plan to use in Old World. That said I also recently started a Vampire Counts force, and now it’s… well, a 2nd-category citizen of sorts. Feels bad man. Feels disrespectful.
That and the fact that sometimes when reading the Old World articles on Warhammer Community, I have a feeling as if Games Workshop… doesn’t really want this game. That its creators didn’t wanted to get involved with it in the first place. Like their hearts are not really in it, not 100%. Which is a shame because the premise, despite all the End Times nagging, is interesting. Especially for a Empire player, with the fact that during this period Sigmar’s realm was divided into multiple smaller principalities, all ruled by a different “Emperor” or “Empress”.
At this point all I can say is this: I wish Warhammer: The Old World all the best. I hope that it’ll prove to be a huge success and that it’ll bring the fascinating world of Warhammer Fantasy to the fore once again. I can’t wait for the future Empire releases, both new and old ones. I will certainly purchase all of the books even if only for their lore sections. That said the official Old World art is sweet as well, and there’s a brand new, tie-in novella by Graham McNeill titled “Lords of the Lance”. It tells a story of a Bretonnian coalition mounting a dire expedition into the Land of the Dead itself – the terrifying Nehekhara!
So let’s rise our glasses to the success of this game. As I mentioned in the title, I am cautiously optimistic. Come on Old World – prove me right. Prove to me that you are a worthy successor of one of the best tabletop games of all time. Sigmar willing, it shall be so.
Until next time!
Xathrodox86
P.S. Whine time again, but I have to: fuck me, but some of those old models are pricey! I understand that there are lots of people willing to buy them, myself included, but those prices are… insane. Simply insane.
P.SS. I nearly forgot to mention the fact that the End Times happened. Did you knew that?
It always rains in Nuln 