Warhammer: The Old World is galloping into position on its finest, barded Bretonnian Warhorses, so it’s now time for our next look at the rules. We know how to plan, move, shoot, fight, run away, cast magic, and soup it all up with Universal Special Rules – but without an army, a general, points, or a plan, we’re really just a bunch of skeletons milling around in a field.
It’s time to muster your forces and select an army.
Building Your Army
As they have always been in real life, armies in Warhammer: The Old World are selected according to a system of ‘points’. Games do not have recommended points values – as long as you’ve got a General and three Units, you have an army. However, 2,000 points per side will make for a substantial two-to-three-hour game – perhaps involving 100 or more models each.
Every faction* will have a Grand Army upon release – a balanced list of options from which you can pick a wide variety of units chosen from four categories shown above. There’s usually one page of stipulations, but the full range of units from each faction is available for selection. Take, for example, the Grand Army of Bretonnia:
There’s a lot here to unpack. Firstly, you can’t overload your army with powerful wizards and mighty heroes – Prophetesses and Barons are a rare occurrence, even in the armies of the king. There is, however, the flexibility to take characters of lower ranks: Paladins, Damsels, and Sergeants at Arms enjoy no such limits – and you’ll certainly want at least one Paladin for that free Battle Standard Bearer upgrade.
Otherwise, as long as 25% of your roster (500 points in a 2,000-point game) is spent on units listed as Core, and includes one unit of Knights of the Realm and another of peasant levies, army selection is very flexible. As you’d expect, Grail Knights and Field Trebuchets aren’t such a common sight, but at 38 points per model, +7 per champion, musician, and standard, you can just about cram two units of six Grail Knights into a 2,000-point army – perfect for any Duke who prefers to keep every single one of his eggs right there in one decorative basket.
Talking of Dukes, we should probably take a look at their rules:
Grognards may remember multiple ranks of heroes from previous editions of Warhammer Fantasy Battle, and those delineations are still present and correct. A Duke is a mighty warrior indeed – no time for feasting, issuing edicts, or sprawling decorously across your throne for these guys: every Bretonnian General is tremendously skilled at arms and as strong as a Troll.
Options abound. You’ll note a choice of weaponry – these are taken from a larger menu of arms in the main rulebook. A morning star adds +1 Strength and -1AP in the first round of combat, and a great weapon doubles those bonuses but makes you Strike Last. A lance adds similar bonuses, though only on the charge, while a shield improves your armour save by +1.
We’ll gloss over those Knightly Virtues for now – suffice it to say there are two pages of ‘em, and they’re great. But wouldn’t you like to know about the mounts? Well, guess who’s back…
Yes, your Duke or one very fancy Baron is entitled to ride a Hippogryph captured as a chick and trained from birth as one of the fiercest mounts in the Old World. They’re fast, strong, and lethal in combat, and they fight independently of their rider but combine profiles, making a single model that’s much tougher and can dole out a lot of attacks
At the other end of the martial scale are the Men-At-Arms. What they lack in combat prowess, they also lack in bravery, equipment, and chivalric acumen. On the other hand, they’re very cheap.
The Grail Monk functions as a kind of second champion, whose Blessed Triptych will inevitably prove very useful – it grants the whole unit Stubborn, so the first time they are required to take a Break Test they don’t need to risk a dice roll. Instead, they Fall Back in Good Order. Combined with Shieldwall (which allows them to Give Ground instead of Falling Back) they’re capable of stealing the impetus from even the heaviest cavalry.
Armies of Infamy
The Grand Army is not the only way to select a force, however. Each faction will gradually gain access to Armies of Infamy, which provide often wildly different ways to muster a force. As a Bretonnian Lord, you might wish to enter exile – especially as it means you can then take forbidden Border Princes Bombards into battle, while those who really just enjoy Knights and more Knights may prefer an Errantry Crusade.
There’s no Old World Almanack next Monday – it’s Christmas Day after all, but check in on the 26th for something of an off-white Christmas…
* Yes, including those factions getting a PDF list…
