Warhammer Share Sneak Preview of Old World Rules

What promises to be a new gameplay and reshaper of the Warhammer 40k games, was teased today by Games Workshop. The studio provided a sneak preview of the rules for Warhammer The Old World revealing aspects of the new Strategy phase, magic, and morale.

First look at the new Warhammer The Old World rules from Games Workshop, ahead of the game’s launch in 2024. A post on the Warhammer Community website on Monday revealed the game’s turn sequence, breaks down the Strategy phase, and reveals parts of the rules in general.

The Old World’s release date is not yet known, but Games Workshop has confirmed it will be in 2024. GW provided some top-level information about Warhammer The Old World rules in July 2023, but this is the first detailed breakdown.

Games of Warhammer: The Old World will be split into several rounds, with each player taking one turn during a round. A player’s turn is “broken down into four main phases: the Strategy Phase, the Movement Phase, the Shooting Phase, and the Combat Phase”, and “each Phase is broken down into four steps called Sub-phases”.

In Warhammer: The Old World, the Strategy Phase is divided into four sub-phases: Start of Turn, Command, Conjuration, and Rally Fleeing Troops.

An article on Monday explained that the ‘Start of Turn’ sub-phase resolves issues such as stupidity tests for Stone Trolls or the ability of Night Goblin Fanatics to pop out of other goblins’ units.

As well as providing an example of a Character’s special rule, the preview also provides an example of a Character’s special rule. The Falcon-horn of Fredemund allows a Bretonnian Lord to force nearby enemy units to take Leadership tests and lose the ability to fly until the Bretonnian’s next Start of Turn phase if they fail.

The Old World does not resolve magic in a separate phase as it did in earlier editions of Warhammer. Instead, wizards are able to use their magical powers at various points in the turn sequence, depending on their magic type.