Whisperings of Prophecy: What the FAQ Means for Old World

Cole, Thomas. The Departure. 1837.

In this article I’ll be examining the changes to Old World in the recent June FAQ as well as those found in the new Matched Play Guide and what they mean on the tabletop. 

So, What Changed? (TL;DR edition)

• Magic is less reliable (including bound spells), but so is dispelling, and level 4 wizards are no longer auto-includes.

• Infantry are much better at taking charges and winning combat.

• Ridden monsters cannot guarantee that they will maximize combat resolution in challenges.

• Core infantry units have a role now in that they are integral to scoring in some scenarios.

• New scenarios and hidden objectives mean winning is not just about doing the most damage, though that still goes a long way towards victory of course!

• The most crucial change: bound items like the ruby ring of ruin can be turned into a frog by a wizard wielding the scroll of transmogrification (though disappointingly the ring does not turn into an actual frog model and start hopping away from its wielder!) 

The New Meta: My Predictions

Gone are the days of docile infantry who go quietly to their deaths, shepherded to the slaughter by the thundering hooves of the cavalry. Now the infantryman is as proud and haughty as a high elf, and as you go to declare your charge against him with your unit of craven cavalrymen he stares you down and says “NO.” 

It seems to me that the new meta is going to be about big blocks of infantry that take objectives and grind through combat with high static resolution and, by extension, it will be about destroying said big blocks of infantry. While it is hard to say if the old bogeymen that once haunted the highest levels of tournament play, such as pegasus knights and tomb king magic, have been vanquished I do think there has been a clear shift in the general power levels of units in the game. So, are there clear winners and losers among the factions or have things evened out?

First, though, the indirect winners:

• Bolt throwers: if the new meta does indeed mean more infantry in larger formations then through and through becomes a lot more effective–but maybe I’m just biased, I was already taking two eagle-claw bolt throwers in almost every game because they look cool. 

• Templates: Rock lobbers, mortars, certain spells like fiery conflagration, and breath weapons all seem much more effective in a world where dense infantry formations exist. We’ll have to see how things shake out but it may turn out that dragon fire is actually a thing to fear now. 

• Chariot heroes: How you may ask? Now impact hits are counted before a challenge and ridden monsters don’t strike for overkill if the rider kills their opponent in a challenge, so chariot riding characters may prove more effective at breaking infantry formations than ones on monsters and some can even negate their rank bonus with first charge to boot. 

Across the Factions:

It’s too early to rank the factions in order of power level, and I question whether that is a useful exercise anyway, but let’s take a look at some of the biggest winners post faq: 

(I will preface this by saying I am a High Elf player, I don’t know the other factions nearly as well but I have played against most of them.) 

• Winner – Empire: with cheap infantry (who have gained horde for an extra rank bonus), plentiful support characters, and excellent support items like the griffon banner empire might be the biggest zero to hero transformation of the changes. In 2000pt games they should be able to field more than one properly supported infantry block to hold down parts of the board, while still having the points remaining to back them up with serious combat threats and artillery. While it remains to be seen whether or not empire players will dominate the podium at tournaments, they are certainly not the joke they once were. It's a good time to be an empire player. 

• Winner – High Elves: Having played High Elves for almost the entire existence of Old World, I think the defenders of Ulthaun are in a better place than they were. Yes, our dragons aren’t the unstoppable wrecking balls they were before, but they are still wrecking balls, and our magic may be worse than it was, but we aren’t the only factions to see these changes and our infantry just became a whole lot more viable. Yes, they are more expensive than most, but they also have better stats to show for it, and in a world where infantry blocks clash, ours have the tools to come out on top with our superior initiative and weapon skill, and swordmasters may be one of the best units in the game now. 

• Winner – Undead Factions: Both Tomb Kings and Vampire Counts can field huge amounts of resilient infantry (which may be absurdly resilient if the assumed ruling of many stands that regeneration saves can be taken on wounds lost to unstable), and they just got a lot harder to chew through. In a version of the game that focuses more on objectives, positioning, and combat resolution than raw damage the undead factions are going to be suitably scary. 

These are just a few of the most improved factions in my opinion. Of course, there are other winners, but hopefully this provides a snapshot of the new landscape of the old world going forward. It's an exciting time to play the game!

Join me next time as I go over my thought process in rebuilding my army lists–I’ll report back later to spill the beans on if I’ve cracked the meta or if I’m simply a crackpot.