Let’s talk about how Games Workshop can save Warhammer: The Old World. They’re so close!
I love The Old World. I think its an amazing and fun game and in a lot of ways one of the best GW has put out in a long time. Certainly it scratches an itch I need scratched. On the other hand its clear to me that the game is in a bit of trouble. Over the past couple of years I’ve helped run and attended a large number of events, and talked to players all over the world and from various communities. What’s becoming increasingly clear is that GW has lost control of the game.
This is something I warned about a year ago, and it’s only gotten worse. Between an ever increasing number of fan made comp packs, faction rewrites and FAQs the game is increasingly splitting into regional factions and smaller groups that can’t even agree how to play. This puts the whole game at risk. So today lets take a look at how GW can fix this and save the game.
Why Should GW Fix It?
Now as soon as I say that GW needs to fix this issue and take control of the game back there is going to be a set of people who will disagree. “Why should GW be the one to fix it?”, they might ask. “Just let the fans do it, we are doing it already.” It’s a common refrain. But there are some very very good reasons why it needs to be GW to fix this.
The first is simple, you need credibility to establish a baseline. This isn’t an attack on fan made supplements and house rules. Those have a place, but that place is really in casual and narrative play, with friends, and doesn’t work as a baseline for the game. That’s mainly due to no one being able to agree on every change and fix. Only GW has the credibility and authority to impose a base line for their own game that we all play.
And we need a baseline. You have to have a good baseline to really grow a game and get new people into it in numbers. You need one to have a unified community, for talking about the game and having events and exploring the game. Right now its hard to even talk about balance when various events use vastly different rules for how they are run. The host of house rules is having the effect of splitting the community, when it needs to be at least someone unified.
The other major reason GW needs to have control of the game is because otherwise they won’t support it. If you want more updates, new factions, new models, new books… then that all has to come from GW. For them to have an incentive to do that, it kind of needs to be their game. They need to see it doing well in a way they can understand, if people just take their game and then go use a bunch of 3d printed models and their own rules… well then they aren’t actually playing ToW (at least in GW’s eyes). If people aren’t playing then GW won’t support the game. So lets take a look at how GW can fix the issues and save the game.
1. Deal With The Legacy Factions Issue
This is the biggest and likely the most contentious issue in the game right now. People are very passionate about the Legacy factions, but they do cause a lot of issues. Their power level is way off, either too low or too high. Their rules are outdated and getting worse. As a result people have started re-writing them to greater or lessor degrees. People are starting armies with no knowledge of if they will be legal in a couple years. GW needs to fix this issue, and quickly. There are two main ways to fix it. The first, and best, is to make them full factions and give them new updated rules. We’d all prefer that.
The second option is to really push to remove them from the game. Take the PDFs off the website. Make it clear whenever a WOW 2nd Edition comes out that they are no longer part of the game for now. Push to cut them out of events. This could be painful (though legacy armies make up less then 20% of armies at events based on available data), but would be better for the long term health of the game than we have.
2. Start Running Their Own Official GW Events
One of the reasons that GW has lost control over the game is that they don’t run any major events of their own for Old World. The only ones they do are a few smaller events at Warhammer World in Nottingham. The same is not at all true of 40K and AoS, both of which have large tournament scenes and for which GW runs major events. All of this culminates in the World Championships of Warhammer. GW needs to do the same thing for Old World. To do this they need to run only a couple major events around the world. They can then loop in some other major events (as they do with the other systems) and have everything lead up to a big Championship. All the events would have to use the same comp pack/basic rules, though there could be room for some differences in missions etc..
All of this would work to set a baseline for the game. And because playing in a this big circuit/going to the championship is a goal for a lot of players, they will want other events to be in the same format. We’ve seen this trend with plenty of other games, once there is a big official format the bulk of events follow along. This again helps establish a baseline and lets GW control how the game is played better. This isn’t to say there is no room for experimentation and “weird” events. But those exist as something different from the norm, which can still be fun and different, but don’t divide the community.
3. More Frequent Balance Updates
Another thing GW needs to do is release more frequent FAQ/Errata/ Balance updates for the game. This is something they do for their other major games and it not only keeps them in control, but can help keep those games fresh with the meta changing and evolving. Now I don’t know that I want things to be as diaristic as 40K, with the game radically changing every 3 months. But more, and better updates would be good.
There are still a massive number of FAQ questions that are unanswered 2 years into the game. Moreover GW has made only the lightest of attempts address game balance. This has helped lead to the need for tons of comp. A lot of people feel the base game needs balance help. If you can count on GW to look at balance every 4 months, there isn’t as much need for fan made comp. If not, then something has to fill the gap.
4. Release 2nd Edition
A lot of this can also be wrapped up in the release of a 2nd edition for the game, though I think some of these steps should be taken before then. For instance a 2nd Edition could be a time to fully remove, or reintroduce, the Legends factions. It would also be a time to address some of the big rules questions and loosely written sections of the rule book (cough, cough, skirmishers, cough). A more tightly written rule book, would also remove a lot of the need for extra community FAQs, and rewriting parts of the rule book. This would again, help set a level base line that everyone is playing on. Right now we don’t have that. Different events/groups can play some rules in different ways. This can lead to unpleasant interactions.
So overall, I think if GW can take these steps, which are all things they do for other games and know how to do, capped off with a more tightly written 2nd Edition, they will be in a strong position to retake control of the game. This overall what is needed and best for the game. Only GW has the authority to establish a real baseline for the game. Without it the game won’t grow and be healthy. So here’s hoping 2026 brings some good changes.
Let us know how you think GW can save the game, down in the comments!
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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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