‘Warhammer: The Old World’- The Biggest Takeaways From The FAQs
GW just dropped a raft of The Old World FAQs on us today, lets take a look at what we got.
While the Old World is a great rule set, it is not flawless. In any super complex system like this, there are bound to be holes and questions that need answering. A few weeks ago, we covered a number of them here. Now, GW has dropped another set of FAQs, not just for the core rules but for all the army rules as well. Let’s dig in and take a look at some of the big takeaways from these changes.
GW Is Doing Right By The Old World
Right off the bat, I think the fact that we got this FAQ is great news for the Old World. The game has been out for about 3 months, and this is the second set up of FAQs we’ve gotten. Nothing in these FAQs was game-breaking, but its good to see a dedication to fixing and updating things people have questions about. That’s good news going forward. It’s also a glimmer of hope for Legacy factions as they did get some minor updates, though not a “FAQ”, despite their lack of support. I also think it was the right move to not make any major changes to rules or balance at this point, the game is just too new.
Units And Drilled
The great drilled debate is finally over. Since the game came out people have been arguing if you could reform before a charge. The main use of this would be to move from a marching column into battle order and charge. Most people have been playing it that you could not. However GW has cleared things up, you can use drilled before a charge and indeed before any sort of move. This is great news for drilled units. In particular it buffs Dwarfs, as they have access to a lot of drilled units. This lets them use marching column to make up for their slow speed and then move into combat formation.
Drilled wasn’t the only important clarification for units. GW also tweaked a couple of rules that were causing issues when a close order unit was reduced to 1 model. Now they have to act like they are in close order but can only gain the +1 to combat is they are US 5 or more. This nearly cleared up those issues.
Minor Dragon Nerfs?
GW also made a few small moves that seem to tone down monstrous mounts. The Bedazzling Helm can now only be taken by infantry or cavalry models. Also, if you choose to use a mount’s armor save over your own – you don’t get any benefits from magic armor you are wearing. It’s a little unclear if you must pick the highest armor value to use or can choose whichever one you want. The wording is ambiguous. They also changed the wording on a number of items, and Bretonnian Virtues to only affect the rider.
Did They Break Chariots?
GW offered at least one clarification that opened up another can of worms. They have clearly said now that each split profile model is actually several models. As such, if they are in the fighting rank but not B2B, each element or model on the model gets 1 attack. This is pretty good for chariots and cav. Single attack cav in particular can benefit a lot from this. But it might just have broken chariots.
The issue is that impact hits are a USR. As stated in split profile they would apply to all parts of the chariot. Chariot, crew and beasts. Now if the chariot were one model it would only get to make one set of impact hits. But since GW has made it clear they are a number of models that means RAW each element gets to make impact hits. A basic Tomb Kings Chariot, RAW, now would do 5d3 impact hits. Some Orc chariots could get up to 7d6 I think. Clearly this isn’t meant to be the case, but it’s what happened.
Weapon Changes
We got a decent number of weapon changes as well:
- Bow of Loren only can use Enchanted Arrows on one of its attack. This is the most complicated answer they could have given.
- Mace of Helstrum/other one attack only weapons, do not work with Spectral Doppelganger.
- Lances can be used after any charge, or counts as charge.
- Cannons cannot be aimed in a way that goes into combat. (I think this ruling is a mistake, but there it is).
- Weapon rules clearly apply to attacks, not the model.
Frenzied Things Really Want To Charge
There is a whole subsection of questions that all boil down to “Frenzied Units Really Want To Charge”. Basically, if you have some silly trick you think can stop the unit from having to declare a charge, it probably does not work. They’ve got to try and charge and try and make it. They are still a little unclear on how skirmisher/other blocking units work, as they have a “chance” to charge, but maybe not if you don’t wish it. Overall, however the gist is – get into combat!
A Whole Host Of Others
These are just some of the changes in the FAQs. A lot of things were cleared up. A number of things, like “how do skirmishers actually work” still need more clarification. I do really encourage you to go read the FAQ’s as they make the game a lot better right now.
Tell us what you think the biggest change in the FAQs is, down in the comments!
