‘Warhammer: The Old World’ – Where Does The Meta Stand At The End Of The Year

As we head into the holidays, it’s time to take a look at where the Warhammer: The Old World meta is at the end of 2025.

2025 has been a big year for the Old World. Though the game is less than 2 years old, it’s gotten a ton of love. This year we got 9 full books and a major FAQ/rules update. We also got a whole brand new army. We saw a ton of games getting played and a lot of events happen as the game has really bloomed and come into it’s own. Over the course of the year the meta also changed and evolved with releases and FAQs and innovations. So today we take a look at where the meta has ended up at the end of the year.

The Top Armies

I don’t think it’s any secret a few armies have risen above the rest. Grand Cathay is the best army in the game right now. Hands down. It’s got a crazy win rate and absolutely dominates unless there is some very heavy comp (army composition rules). Behind, you have Brets and Tomb Kings in their various flavors rounding out the top three. These two were the release armies and have been strong for the whole game. However recent changes have made them have a little more parity in their army builds, where as before Exiles and Mort Cult where by far the best versions.

I know some people will look at the straight stats and also argue that Wild Herd and  Chracian Warhost should be up here, after all both of these have win rates comparable to Brets and TK. However I’m not personally convinced, while they may be strong I think their win rates don’t tell the complete story. For instance both have far fewer games, meaning a handful of good players can throw off the data a lot. Wild Herd has around 600 games, vs plain old TK with over 4000 games, meaning to me the TK is much more likely to be accurate. Warhosts in particular, and Wild Herd to a lesser degree, have a lot less event placings. I need to see some more form these armies before I’d put them in the top tier.

The Strong Contenders

To me they likely belong more in the next category down, which is a still a very strong zone to be in. Here I’d also place Vampire Counts. In a lot of ways I think VC are up there as one of the strongest lists in the game. But their win rate doesn’t quite back them up. I’m not sure why the army is struggling to fully break in, maybe its status as a legends faction pushes it towards more casual players. I dunno. Maybe not enough events are using objectives.

I think I’d also place Orcs and Goblins here, with a big asterisks. O&G have a pretty run of the mill win rate, but I think that is in large part because they are a very diverse army and there isn’t a goblin Army of Infamy. While O&G are pretty mid, a Night Goblin fanatic heavy army is a really strong list, and is up there with some of the best. So again I think pure faction win-rate doesn’t tell the whole story here. Should Chaos and Dwarves be up here also? I’m not sold, but I can see arguments for it.

Skirmish Is A Little Less Important

Last year I would argue that skirmish was the king of rules and pushed a lot of lists to victory. Now it’s still very strong. But they have put enough nerfs onto it that it’s no longer the must-have rule. There are counters and your skirmishers can’t just whiz around the table without any worries or obstructions. There is a lot more counter play now and things to consider.

Dragons Are Toned Down

Dragons are another unit that really got toned down. There was a time when they were really dominant. These days, despite Cathay being the top dog and land of dragons, they aren’t really. Changes to static combat res, point caps and a few other rules updates really made them a bit more mid tier. In fact I think they are in a pretty fair place. Very strong, but with counters and not overpowering, as long as you can’t take a bunch of them.

Fly Is King

If there is one rule you really want these days it’s fly. It’s a rule that is powering a lot of the top lists. TK, Brets and Cathay all like to run a lot of flying things. Some of the best Dwarf lists also run a ton of flyers. If you can get several units with fly on the table you can make it really hard for the other player. I’d argue that this is the top in the game right now and where we are seeing some issues.

Infantry Has  A Place

Thanks to the 1.5 FAQ Infantry has a real place in the game. Now it’s not always going to win games. And it remains the less offensive part of your army. However its also no longer just free points for the other players which is how it sometimes felt. Some armies of course can make better use of it, but most armies have a place for some cheap infantry to tie things up or hold objectives. This has been one of the better and more transformative changes in the game I think. Armies look at lot more like “warhammer armies” now. You can also see some all, or mostly, Infantry armies doing OK. Both Wild Herd and Warhost use a lot of Infantry. Overall this has been a great change, and really has transformed the meta.

Let us know what you think of the meta, 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 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.

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