‘Warhammer: The Old World’- The January FAQ’s Biggest Winners And Losers

Take a look at which Warhammer: The Old World armies benefited the most, or least, from the new FAQ.

We’ve got a brand new FAQ out and its got a lot of changes. Overall they are pretty decent. Though some can be abused. As with any group of changes not all armies have been effected equally. So today I want to look at some of the biggest winners and losers of the FAQ. Lets dig in.

Big Loser – Grand Cathay (Winner- Everyone Else!)

I think the most obvious loser of the FAQ was Grand Cathay. They got a decent sized raft of nerfs. Of course we saw the many changes to the Sky Lantern. But they also had some other changes aimed at taking down the most abusable aspects of the list, such as stacking cannons and Rings of Jet. Interestingly they didn’t see any of their spells drop in casting value. Now these changes were needed and warranted, but are still nerfs. Still I think Cathay is in a fine place and wasn’t destroyed as a faction.

Loser – Bretonians

Brets didn’t see a ton of changes hit them, but those that did do effect most lists. Making the Royal Peg into a monster really removes any reason to take it and I think you’ll see people switch to Barded Pegs or Hippos. It’s sad because the Royal Peg is a really nice model, but I’m not sure it makes a HUGE difference in the overall power level. It’s a little worse, but still strong.

Winners – Tomb Kings

Tomb Kings are I think of the big winners in the FAQ. They did get a couple of smaller nerfs, no regen on Unstable and not being able to take the Armor of Ages on big mounts. Some events already used these rules, so in that case its not a big deal. However they got some buffs as well, with being able to raise skirmishers and chariots getting a little better. Overall that’s mostly a wash, but two of their biggest enemies, Brets and Cathay, got hit much worse.

Biggest Winner? Vampire Counts

I think VC might be the big winners of the FAQ. Mostly for the same reasons as TK. They didn’t get hit with any nerfs, outside of not being able to regen crumble. At the same time their main rivals got taken down a peg(asus) or two. They also benefit more from being able to raise skirmishers.

Very Mild Winner – Wood Elves

I guess Wood Elves got some buffs. Sure. I’m not sure the very minor points drops on a few units will have much of an effect on the army at all. Most builds I’ve seen are saving like maybe 1%, cool. I also think its funny that Dryads got a movement buff, but Branchwraiths didn’t get it, so you can’t really have them in the same unit any more. Cool! Anyway, these are technically buffs, but I don’t think they do much for the army.

Slightly More of A Winner – Empire of Man

Empire also got some minor buffs. The priests got better LD and Flagellants got tougher. Priests are a unit you see a bit so them getting better is a real buff. The Flagellant buff might also make them an actual choice to take, but likely not. The clarification that you can in fact take 6 cannons (though this was always the RAW) is also nice for the army. Nothing earth shattering here, but a nice buff none-the-less.

Biggest Loser – Dwarven Mountain Kingdoms

Dwarves got done dirty in this FAQ, and for no reason. Now are there some Dwarf thing that needed fixing? Yes! Gyrocopters spam sucks! But Slayers weren’t a thing that needed to be addressed. And yet they were. Both Doomseekers and the Goblin Hewer got nerfed heavily, to the point of almost being useless. On top of that Rangers, pretty much alone of all skirmishers, got a unit size cap. While this might not have a huge impact on top tier Dwarf lists, it is a big drop in the playability of thematic Slayer lists. Just a real shame to see them do this, and for no real reason.

Let us know what armies you think were the biggest winners and losers of the FAQ, 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 Warhammer: The Old World, as well as all things Star Wars, with occasional dabbling in other topics. Abe mourned over loss of WFB for its entire hiatus, but has been reborn like a gaming phoenix with Warhammer: The Old World.