Welcome back, denizens of the Old World, to another of our semi-regular updates on our ongoing work on Warhammer: The Old World. Here’s Andy Hoare from the Warhammer Studio with more on the most exciting thing to hit the setting since, well, chunks of Morrslieb made planetfall.
Andy: It’s been quite a while since our last update, but that’s how you know we’ve been extra busy! Our miniatures designers, painters, writers, illustrators, and graphic designers have all been engaged in a period of industrious activity getting new miniatures designed and the main rulebook written, playtested, lavishly illustrated, and laid out. This truly is a gargantuan project with lots to show off, but for now we want to give a glimpse of some of the amazing artwork the Warhammer: The Old World team’s illustrators have been producing…
New Art
The world of Warhammer has always been blessed with the most lavish of artwork, but that’s no excuse not to create more! The studio illustrators have been hard at work rendering classic and new miniatures into full-colour artwork. A key part of this process has been to identify exactly the correct look and feel for these new pieces, capturing just the right level of gritty, myth-inspired classic fantasy that much of this beloved setting encapsulates.*
This Peasant Archer of the Kingdom of Bretonnia wears the heraldry of his liege lord Gastille – the Red Hand of Brionne. Peasant Archers and Men-at-Arms wear mostly drab colours on their somewhat ratty clothes, with hints of the main colours of their lord’s heraldry.
This Tomb Kings of Khemri chariot sports the classic red and teal of Settra the Imperishable. These are the colours of the city of Khemri, the great necropolis of the Land of the Dead, but each of Settra’s client kingdoms sports its own distinctive livery.
Like the humble Peasant Archer, this Knight of the Kingdom of Bretonnia wears the black and red of Duke Gastille. In his case though, his raiment is much more sumptuous, bearing the white axe icon of Brionne. Incidentally, the presence of the gold rim around the shield device on his barding marks him out as a Knight of the Realm – a more junior Knight Errant would not be permitted this element.
This Orc Boar Boy is shown simply doing what Orcs love doing more than anything else in life – charging into battle without a care in the world!
It wouldn’t be a Warhammer: The Old World update without an update on the ongoing development of the setting. We’ve mentioned in past updates that the new game would be set in an earlier point in the timeline, and we know people have been eagerly examining the maps for clues about what things are like at this particular point in time.
There’s lots more work to do, but we’ve recently added a number of emblems indicating locations important to the Dwarfs and the greenskins – in particular up in the mountain ranges that cross the Old World, and in the northern reaches of the Badlands. Each icon is just the tip of the iceberg, with a huge amount of work going into developing the character and history behind each and every group and faction.
More to come
So that’s it for now, but stay tuned to the Warhammer Community website for more information throughout 2023, which is of course the 40th birthday year of the venerable game of Warhammer!
* I say “much of” because there are, and always have been, what could be described as “high fantasy” elements within certain Warhammer factions, in particular the High Elves with their wondrous cities and the Empire of Cathay, with its floating bastions!