‘Warhammer: The Old World’- What Point Size Should We Play The Game At?

There are a lot of point sizes you can play ‘The Old World’ at, but which is the best? Let’s talk.

We’ve all been having a ton of fun playing The Old World. It’s been great to see the community around this game grow and come together. Across the world people are prepping armies and events are getting announced. I’ll be hitting up the NOVA Open later this year, as well as some other events, and I’m not alone. However the game is still in its early days and people are working to figure things out. One of the big questions is at just what point size should we play the game? Today lets take a look at the major options.

500 Pts- Learning Game

500 pts is about the smallest you can actually play The Old World at. Below this, the rules don’t really work. This is an OK size for a very limited learning game, but army lists are very restrictive and you will only have a couple of units a side. The game is not really designed to be played this small and while it can be useful for learning the game beyond that, there isn’t a real reason to play at this size.

1000 Pt- The First Real Game

1000 pts is the smallest game size the rule book really recommends. At 1000 points, you unlock pretty much all the army options, though you may not have the points to take everything you want. Most really big units are going to be off-limits due to points. Games will go pretty quickly, but armies will be pretty limited both in the number of units and the size of them. This is great size for learning games and while growing an army. However, I think most players will find it too small.

1250 pts- The Starter Size

1250 pts is roughly what you get in each of the two starter boxes. If you and a friend each have one, and that’s it, then this is a fine size to play at. Outside of that however it doesn’t really offer any over 1000 pts or 1500 pts.

1500 pts – First Real Army

1500 pts is, to me at least, the first place you start to feel like you have a real army. Things are still tight, but you can comfortably get past your mandated choices and pick some interesting things. You’ll generally be able to have a few decent-sized units and some cool characters. Your lists are still going to be a little tight due to the points limits, and nothing is going to be really crazy. While you can take good things, you will generally only be able to really take one of any super-good thing. This is a good size if you want to have to make some really hard choices and pick a small well thought out fighting force.

2000 pts- The Average Game?

The rule book lists the average game size as 2000-3000 pts.. 2000 pts. is thus right at the start of average and where you really start to feel like you have a big detailed army. At 2000 pts. you have full access to everything, with almost no single build being over the points for its category. You also have access to two times the number of all point-level restricted units. You’ve got a lot of options here and can really build out an army. Unlike 1500, you’ve got a bit more to play with and can start taking some fun or vanity units. A lot of people are gravitating around the 2000 pt. level right now as it provides a good mix of large armies and point resections. Still there are arguments that its both too restrictive and not restrictive enough.

“1999+1” – The Lazy Choice

1999+1 is a point size some people are using in a, misguided in my view, attempt to balance the game. The idea here is to play a 2000 pt. game with the point restrictions of a 1000 pt. game. I.E. any units that are 0-1 (or whatever amount) per 1000 pts would be limited to 1 instead of 2. In particular, people are using this to block armies from taking two dragons. On the flip side, it also tends to give players a lot less time to deal with big enemy dragons. While most armies are just running one big dragon or equivalent, many need to take a host of say war machines to deal with them, which this limits. Outside of that, it plays generally like 2000 pts.

2250/2500- Legacy Sizes

I’m combining these two because they are both pretty similar. A lot of players building 2000 pts, myself included, often finding themselves wish for just a couple more points to bulk out their army. Well, these sizes let you do it. They are effectively just 2000 + sizes, giving you a little more to work with but the same general restrictions as 2000 pts.. Both were also common sizes of play in the last couple of editions of Warhammer Fantasy, so many players with old armies already have this size. At either one of these point sizes you just get to have bigger and more filled out armies. At the same time the games won’t really take much longer and you can still get things well.

3000 and Over- The Big Game

3000 pts is the upper end of the “average” game described in the book. At this size you really get the sense of big massive armies with a lot of things on the table and tricked out heroes. These are big and fun games with a lot going for them. You get to have a real fleshed-out army with not a lot holding you back from taking what you want. However games do start to take longer and a normal 6×4 table will feel cramped. While you can play one game this big in a night, they are not very practical for events due to table size and game length. They also need you to have a large and developed collection to play.

These issues really only compound once you get over 3000 pts. At this point you are really look at a game that is an event in and of itself. The rules start to break down a bit at times. You need a big table and a lot of time. While these are fun for one-offs, they aren’t practical for regular play.

So What Should We Play At?

So what size should we all play at? Well that’s a bit of a tricky question. For friendly games its really down to personal preference and your collection size. I know a lot of people are doing 1000 or 1500 pts. right now as they build armies and that’s totally fine. For myself, I like Old World for big battles and, outside of teaching games or playing with people who are still building armies, 2000+ is really the sweet spot. Given that, I think most games should fall in what GW has already said is the average size: 2000- 3000 Pts.. 2000 is a decent size, but I think I do really like the 2250/2500 range to allow for just a bit more freedom and size in armies. I hope that as people start to build up bigger armies, events will move to this size, but we will just have to see.

Let us know which size you like to play at, down in the comments!

Author: Abe Apfel

Abe is that rare thing, an Austin local born and raised here. Though he keeps on moving around, DC, Japan, ETC., he always seems to find his way back eventually. Abe has decades of experience with a wide range of tabletop and RPG games, from historicals, to Star Wars to D&D and 40K. He has been contributing to BOLS since almost the start, back when he worked at and then owned a local gaming store. He used to be big into the competitive Warhammer tournament scene but age has mellowed him and he now appreciates a good casual match. He currently covers 40K tactics and lore, as well as all things Star Wars, with occasional dabbling in other topics. Abe remains in mourning over the loss of WFB to this day.