‘Warhammer: The Old World’ Five (More) Rules You Might Be Getting Wrong

Warhammer The Old World is a complex game that we are all trying to learn. Here’s a few tricky rules people often get wrong.

It’s been over a year since Warhammer the Old World officially launched. The game has been a solid success with tons of people getting in to it and events popping up all over the place. Even a year in I still see a lot of the same common questions coming up again and again. The game is constantly gaining new/old players. These are several common things people still question or get wrong. Some of this comes from the struggle of learning any new game. Another part of it is also the kind of… “muscle memory” I have from playing Warhammer Fantasy Battles for 20+ years. It’s easy to assume things just work like they used to. So, to help people out with learning what might be GW’s best game I’ve been going over some rules I see a lot of people getting wrong. We’ve talked about a few already, but here are five more rules I’ve seen players asking a lot of questions about.

 5. Skirmishers and Panic

Panic is already a rule that be a little confusing to people, as we covered it last time. However another aspect that I often see people either get wrong, or just forget is how it interacts with Skirmishers. In particular this has to do with how units fleeing through you cause panic. Normally when a friendly unit flees through another friendly it causes a panic check. However when a unit in skirmish formation flees through a formed up unit (i.e. one not in skirmish) there is no panic check. The opposite however is not true, and also if a skirmishing unit flees through other skirmisher there will still be panic.

4. Magical Vortexes (Again)

Vortexes, how they are moved and placed is another one we talked about last time. But something we didn’t cover is what happens when YOU move over a Vortex. I’ve seen a lot of people play it as the vortex does it’s damage, if it does damage, to a unit that moves over it. This is not how it works (generally). The Vortex spell itself will tell you what it does. Most Vortexes are either dangerous, difficult or impassable. When moving over them you would follow the rules for that type of terrain, and if dangerous, roll your tests. As far as I know all current Vortexes only do damage when they, themselves move and moving over them doesn’t trigger the effect. It’s possibly that some new vortex will come out that does do this, but there are none as of now. So just make sure to carefully read the spell effect!

3. Overrun

This is another rule that can trip people up as it’s a change from prior editions. A unit overruns whenever they completely destroy the enemy (all units they are engaged with) before the break test sub-phase. Unlike in prior editions it is not only charging units that can overrun, nor can it only happen in the first round of a combat. Any unit, in any round that kills the enemy overruns. You can test to restrain, but this is also something you have to do.

A couple extra notes:

– Frenzied units MUST overrun and cannot restrain and reform.

-Unstable wounds are lost after combat resolution is calculated, but before break tests are made, so you can overrun if the enemy crumbles.

-Skirmishers that have formed up in combat maintain whatever formation they are in until they end a phase no longer in combat. That means if they overrun (or pursue) they have to stay in what ranked up formation they are in.

2. Scouts

This is another one that pops up and that I see people miss a fair amount. This has to do with getting the +1 to go first from setting up your army first. A lot of people short hand this to how many “drops” each player has. However there are some things that can throw this off, and the biggest is Scouts. You see Scouts, units deploying use the Scouts rule, do count against you. So if player A. has 10 units to deploy, and player B. has only 5 units, but one is scouting, then player A will get the +1 to go first.

For any doubting this GW was kind enough to confirm it in the FAQ. That being said, remember you don’t have to deploy using the Scout rule, you can chose to be set up normally. Also if both players have Scouts, its whoever finishes setting up the Scouts first that will get the +1.

1. Bound Spells and Effects

This is another one that pops up a lot, and used to be debated, but now has a very clear answer. It’s basically to do with what special rules, or things affecting, a character apply to a bound spell they cast. Maybe the most classic of these was Beastmen trying to use the Hagtree Fetish to re-roll wounds on a bound spell. But you’ve also had things like High Elfs asking if their wizards can re-roll casting a bound spell.

Again this is one that GW has answered in an FAQ. And it’s basically – almost nothing affects Bound Spells. Since the character isn’t casting the spell, the item is, then rules that apply to the caster generally don’t apply to any bound spell they case (or try to). The only exception is if the rule says it affects bound spells, as the Casket of Skulls does, for example. Now since this FAQ was hidden in the Ravening Hordes FAQ and not the general FAQ I think a lot of people may have just missed it. (I’ve also seen some people argue that it only applies to Ravening Hordes/Beastmen, but that is of course a load of bunk!). One should note that an effect which targets an enemy units, for instance something that made them re-roll all saves, could potentially affect a bound spell.

Let us know what other rules you see people getting wrong, down in the comments! 

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.

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