We know Warhammer Old World is going to be on square bases, and a new rumor says that it may not be the 28mm scale we all assumed it would be…
We heard from an industry insider there are some serious signs pointing to the scale of the game being smaller, either 15mm or 8mm.
While this isn’t set in stone (and this is obviously a rumor so please don’t take it for a fact here folks), we want to take a look at all the info pointing towards a normal scale GW game or if they’ll go smaller.
Because if you remember, they haven’t revealed a single mini, just art, so that is a little strange in itself, and GW hasn’t been against smaller-scale games, such as Adeptus Titanicus or Aeronautica Imperialis.
Come to think of it even Titanicus had a model hidden in plain sight before it was officially announced. Remember this adorable little guy?
RUMORS: Warhammer Old World Not 28mm Scale
So, all we know is the game is going to be on square bases, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be on smaller bases that are also square, right- again nothing has been revealed or promised by GW at this point except basically this fact.
Now, let’s get into the rumor why it might not be the same scale. First, they have only shown armies that worked well with the traditional square bases. Like the Bretonnian Lance formation or those masses of Kislev calvary. Both of those armies were also featured in Warmaster, which was the epic scale version of the old Warhammer Fantasy. While that game didn’t last too long, there is a precedence for it. Also, they could be waiting so long on a reveal to bring out a ton of minis on the smaller scale and try to use a shock and awe factor to bring tons of attention to the game.
Second, we’ve heard from sources that the game will be smaller, while that can’t always be trusted it is a good indication of what’s coming. Third, GW doesn’t like to just spawn games with a similar feel and ruleset. Next, let’s look at the financial/IP side of things.
Bringing Fantasy Players Back with Warhammer Old World
If you look at AoS, GW has almost full control over the IP. Where they probably can’t claim the aesthetics of the Bretonnians or Empire.
So, Old World is a strange move for them in a sense, because the main reason they took Fantasy to Age of Sigmar the way they are is probably so they can control the IP of all of it.
It’s not a huge logical jump to realize anyone can’t just claim things that just look like Knights from history. This is probably one of the reasons they abandoned Fantasy in the first place (sorry square-basers).
Now moving to a game set in the Fantasy Realm, to a smaller scale would make it different from similar games out there and make those minis not compatible with those systems back to the Old World. I think we can all agree that GW hates nothing more than people using other minis for their games!
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But, with that said, it may be hard to pull back in a lot of the players they originally lost if they change the scale. If you’re used to playing fantasy games on a 28mm scale, how likely would you be to jump into an epic scale? We’ll just have to wait and see on that, but this could just be a way to get people back into the GW fold hoping they eventually try out AoS.
Total War Was a Game Changer
Plus with the success of the Total War videos games for Warhammer, which are basically played at this scale, it could in theory be very easy to “pre-load” a customer base over to Old World from day one.
So it seems like because of the IP issues, AoS will always be the cash cow for GW on the fantasy miniatures side of things, however, the Old World could very much be a great secondary Fantasy revenue stream for Games Workshop as well.
The Horus Heresy Argument
While we did say GW doesn’t like to just clone games, they basically did that back with The Horus Heresy. But that was designed by Forge World and now the rules are 2 editions behind, so it really doesn’t play anything like 9th Edition 40k.
If they are just going to make Old World the same scale, everything will have to be different, not just the bases. The ruleset may have to be so drastically different that it plays completely unlike Age of Sigmar and attracts a different style of player. While having big units on square bases seems different, even things like magic, combat, and shooting will all most likely be extremely distinct.
But at the end of the day, it is also possible that GW just changes the rules over from AoS, gives us square bases, and says have at it.
What Could the Minis Look Like?
Well, thanks to this image from Imgur, we have a look at all of the Kislev minis ever released. While the new concept art focused more on the bears, they actually had a decent amount of mini released through the years. You can see a ton of both epic/Warmaster and 28mm scale minis in there (from both Mordheim and Fantasy). Meaning they would have something to go off whichever scale they chose.
They also show the bears with/without a rider. And in the old epic scale for Kislev, they had a pack of bears without a rider. Just interesting to think about!
We Don’t Really Know
Obviously, this is all conjecture, but something very interesting to talk about! It looks like we’ll just have to wait until they reveal some minis, but perhaps we should not be totally shocked if the scale isn’t what we were originally thinking!
Do you think a smaller scale could be possible? Would you play if it was done on a different scale?
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About the Author: Rob Baer
