Do you want to play with the best of the best armies in Warhammer: The Old World right now? Then these are ones for you.
Warhammer: The Old World has been out for around over two years now, and we’ve gotten a lot of games in. Around the world, people have been playing in both casual games and a growing number of large events. It’s been just stellar to see the game grow and expand. We’ve also seen a meta, or multiple metas (metii?) evolve and change through a few cycles. When the game had just come out, I went and ranked the various factions, breaking them up in the core and legacy factions. We’ve updated our rankings since then.
Now its time to take a look at them again and update where things stand. We’ve had more armies come out, more FAQs and a lot more events. So lets see where things stand in the spring of 2026.
Now this particular ranking is going to be partially based on numbers, and partially on my general feelings on the lists and how they’ve been doing at events. I think there are some very strong lists that for reasons, either thanks to being new or composition rules (comp), haven’t shown up a lot yet. In addition, a challenge we face is that competitively, there are really two metas, the comped and the un-comped meta. The un-comped meta is events playing with army lists straight out of the rule book. The comped meta are events that impose some additional rules to how you can build armies. I’ve tried to account for this, but I’m sure there will be debate.
5. Kingdom of Bretonnia/Bretonnian Exiles
Bretonnains are a really strong arm, but oh how the mighty have fallen. Now I’ve previously listed them at the top of the game, and in particular I think the Exiles AoI is the best version, though all three of their armies are pretty viable now and you’ll see a lot of play from alternate builds. Brets have taken a lot of hits with recent changes. Pegasus Knights (and Royal Pegs) got more expensive. Skirmisher’s have gotten a few nerfs and then a few more. You can no longer vanguard and charge. Royal Pegs got nerfed out of a existence. And infantry buffs have overall hurt cav and cav heavy armies.
However they’ve also benefited a bit. They have several very cheap but still decent infantry options for objective claiming. Meanwhile Foot Knights have become a very decent unit. On top of that they still have some of the best combat characters in the game with lots of mobility and some of the hardest hitting units around. As an army with fairly mid magic, the hits to magic also don’t really hurt them a ton.
Exiles make the army very reliable with Stubborn and Veteran going around to almost everyone. Cannons and the Frontier Axe are also great. However all these nerfs do really add up. They also frequently suffer from nerfs due to comp as people have a lot of bad feelings around them. While they are still strong they just aren’t dominating the meta and have fallen into a pretty normal win ratio.
4. Vampire Counts
Another one that’s fallen a bit, last time I did this kind of list VC where on the top. They are still good, but I think knocked down a bit. Vampire Counts have a lot going for them these days. Being undead lets you ignore a ton of rules. Having the option to bring models back is totally amazing of course. Awhile ago Scream Lists were all the rage. These are built around spamming Wailing Dirges ( Banshees, Mortis Engines and Terrorgihsts get these). These force the enemy to take a LD test at -2, losing a number of wound equal to what they fail by.
A magic heavy VC also has a number of ways to lower enemy LD. Tying the enemy up with cheap chaff, and then hitting them with 5-6 screams and some LD de-buffs can see powerful units, even dragons, just vanish. And these lists are good, but the meta has moved away from them. Vampires simply have some very hard hitting units, and a lot of staying power. Infantry buffs really helped them out as they have a lot more infantry than TK. Meanwhile basically no one scores objectives as well as them. They are very strong, but also lack some range. While it’s very hard to beat them, they can also be tough to win big victories with so they don’t always preform as well as they could at events.
3. Tomb Kings
Tomb Kings in general are a strong army and have both benefited and been hurt by the recent changes to the game. The magic changes have made the Mortuary Cult less attractive and no longer have it running towards the top of the game. However Tomb Kings are very good at holding objectives in attrition games, so have benefited from the matched play guide. All of this puts them in a very strong place.
The Tomb Kings army still has good magic and an amazing unit roster. It’s got a couple infantry units that benefited from the buffs there. TK also have a lot of cheap choices, so its very easy for them to grab a lot of objectives. They also have very strong monster mash lists, being able to run some strong lists with 4 big flying monsters, or have very tanky lists with lots of bowshabti shooting you up. You could possibly switch VC and Tomb Kings around here, but I think Tomb Kings are more easily able to win big victories.
2. Wild Herd
Wild Herd were a bit of a sleeper list for a while, but they’ve been having a big moment. In the past 90 days they have the second highest win rate in the game and are a very strong faction. Thanks to their buffs they have the best magic in the game right now, and can spam out a ton of powerful spells. They have access to great magic missiles and some other spells they can really take advantage of. They also can build a mean, and very cheap, DeathStar unit. They aren’t the easiest build to run, but they have a ton of power and have had a lot of success. There are a lot of armies who just don’t have a real answer for them.
1. Grand Cathay/ Jade Fleet
Despite a series of nerfs Grand Cathay, and in particular Jade Fleet, have risen to and stayed on top of the meta. Jade Fleet currently has the best win rate in the game and has held that spot for a while. Cathay brings a very good mix of options with ultra powerful characters, fast flexible units, strong shooting and some of the best board control options in the game. Jade Fleet can run super strong 5-6 monster armies, with other builds bring more of a mix of shooting, monsters and other things around. And this is without really seeing the effects of the latest expansions to the army which only make it better and give it more options. Cathay, while not as uber broken as it once was, remains very strong and flexible and the army to beat.
Let us know which armies you think are the best, down in the comments!
Let us know what you think the best armies in the game are, 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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