Kislev, Bretonia, High Elves, Wood Elves, and even Orcs are all confirmed for the Fantasy Battles Reboot- Warhammer Old World!
There have been multiple announcements across the course of a year, so let’s recap everything we know about The Old World!
In case you missed the past Warhammer Old World announcements, we’ve included them here:
- GW Announces Warhammer Fantasy Returning (sort of)
- Fantasy Bears! More Kislev Previews For Warhammer Old World
- GW Announces the Return of Bretonnia (and High Elves)
GW Announces Warhammer Fantasy Returning (sort of)
Boom goes the Warhammer Fantasy Dynamite. GW is revamping an old game in a new way.
After a quake-making announcement on Warhammer: Age of Sigmar’s Facebook on square bases coming back, the curtain has finally been drawn back revealing a new game announced from Warhammer Community.
Warhammer: The Old World Announced
It looks like now that Age of Sigmar is well underway, the GW team has decided on taking a step back into the past and revamping an older medieval fantasy setting that’s loaded to the brim with lore. Warhammer: The Old World will be taking place back before the efforts of Archaon brought about the End Times!
As 30k tells of events/lore that happened leading up to the 40k setting, Warhammer’s The Old World will be a setting before Age of Sigmar- with square bases.
The Old World is to Warhammer Age of Sigmar, as the Horus Heresy is to Warhammer 40,000. The bedrock of lore from which mortals rose to godhood and legends were forged. And like the Horus Heresy, seeing those mythic heroes in action has an undeniable appeal, as does re-creating the glorious armies of a previous epoch – an exciting proposition for hobbyists and gamers alike. And now, we have a dedicated team in the Warhammer Studio beginning the work of bringing all that awesome back to the tabletop.
It Won’t Be Here For a While
Note the appearance of Albion top left
The old world looks to be coming back! This was what the world looked like back before Archaon had all of existence sucked into the warp and spat back out as Mortal Realms. And while this is definitely a big announcement, GW also mentioned that this won’t be coming to pass any time soon.
In the deepest dungeons of the Warhammer Studio, the counsel of the wise have convened, ancient forges have been re-lit and work has already begun. So far… we’ve made the logo.
Next up, everything else.
You get the idea – this is a long way off. Years. More than two. Like three or more. Definitely not soon.
Keeping things transparent with the community of hobbyists, it’s exciting to see a new revamp of the game that’ll brush the dust off of some incredible lore. With that said, it’s looking like it’ll be a while before we see any real solid release details.
Fantasy Bears! More Kislev Previews For Warhammer Old World
Bear mounts are back in the latest Kislev faction previews for their Fantasy reboot in Warhammer Old World. Check out these bear mount variants!
Warhammer Community revealed even more on the Warhammer Old World front with a deeper, second step into the Kislev faction. If this is the first time you’ve heard about Warhammer Old World, it’s essentially their revival of the medieval world before it ended and became Age of Sigmar.
With that said, here’s the first announcement we saw on Kislev before we jump into the latest.
GW Previews New Concept Art For Iceguard of Kislev
One of the coolest aspects of returning to the world-that-was is the opportunity to revisit certain aspects of its classic lore and delve into them in greater detail than ever before. A perfect candidate for further investigation is the harsh, frozen realm found to the north of the Empire – Kislev, the land of the Ice Queens. To that end, let’s take a look at a project that’s currently in development…
One new unit that’s in the early stages of development is set in the Ice Court – the seat of the ruling Tsar or Tsarina. Known as the Ice Guard, they’re an elite fighting formation of warrior women, equally skilled with bow and blade. But where they differ significantly from the other Kislevite units we’ve seen in the past is that they’re able to channel the elemental magic of their realm in a similar manner to their Ice Queen – the most powerful practitioner of this unique form of sorcery. Here are some awesome pieces of concept art for the Ice Guard, courtesy of Forge World’s Mark Bedford.
The artwork is definitely dope and from the looks of their weapons, they might all be imbued with some level of magic. See the way they glow? They were also mentioned as elites serving their Ice Queen.
Check out the artwork on that banner. Doesn’t that look exactly like the old Ice Queen model from back in the day?
The Blast From The Past
Model Credit: Beasts of War
Since GW is pulling a massive nostalgia move with Warhammer: Old World, it would be neat to see the old models updated with the newer technology available. All while still keeping staple pieces of the model unchanged.
While brand new artwork for some new ice ladies has been revealed, we also can’t forget about the classic cavalry units of Kislev. The Ungol Horse Archers and Kislevite Winged Lancers may be in the same boat getting a model overhaul as well.
Fantasy Bears! More Kislev Previews For Warhammer Old World
Many heroes of Kislev tame great bears and ride them to war. Forming a bond with their mighty beasts is not easy, but for those who do, it is lifelong – indeed, legend says that when Tsar Boris died, his loyal bear guarded his corpse for a day and a night before disappearing into the snow. Some of you might actually remember this classic model of Boris riding his bear from years past…
GW is taking a deeper step into the Kislev faction and blowing the dust off the old Tsar Boris model. While he’s probably not coming back, they did mention that bear-mounted cavalry is under development.
New Bear Mount Concept Art Revealed
All we’ve really got to see is some artwork renderings of what may be ahead in the far, far future. With a silhouette of a man riding the bear for scale, things are looking sweet.
From what we can tell, the bear cavalry is going to have a few different armor styles. The shields are going to be mounted on the shoulder of the bear as some added armor to the mount while the rider’s not using it and whatever horns/antlers are found are turned into weapons on the bear’s helmet.
Finally, to match what we’ve seen with the weapons of the Kislev, this bear has some ice shards on its armor. Also, for what it’s worth, this mount looks like it’s meant for someone especially important.
There have not been any dates on Warhammer: Old World just yet. All we’ve seen is a simple announcement and a few concept art pieces for the Kislev. That should give you a pretty good idea of just how NOT far along we are into seeing this new system.
GW Announces the Return of Bretonnia (and High Elves)
It’s happening- first Kislev and now Bretonnia (and both the High Elves & Wood Elves) are coming back in the latest GW Old World announcement!
Warhammer Community released an article with a huge reworked map of Bretonia and some extra info bits from other factions. Let’s dive into all the details!
GW Announces the Return of Bretonnia, High Elves & Wood Elves in Old World
Even though many of the Bretonnian cities, such as Parravon, Quenelles, and Aquitaine, will no doubt be familiar to many, the names and coats of arms of the lords who command each province are brand-new.
We knew that this wasn’t exactly a 1-1 Fantasy Battles reboot, and this goes on to prove that. Somehow, the story is either advanced, redacted, further in the past, or an alternate reality. As we know, Chaos originally won and the Age of Sigmar was born. It will be interesting to see the lore of this new-old universe develop.
However, one name, in particular, stands apart from all others, for it’s a name steeped in Bretonnia’s glorious history – that of the incumbent ruler, King Louen Orc-Slayer. But for someone to get a name like Orc-Slayer, there has to be…
Seeing that they confirmed they are willing to have old characters return, but don’t want a full reboot of all that was, it will be an interesting process to see how/who GW chooses to welcome back to the official lineup. I’m sure it will also frustrate some Fantasy players who were excited about the original announcement when their favorite character isn’t returning.
But hey King Louen is alive again, and slaying him some Orcs!
The Hobby Products & Tools We Swear By
The alarming regularity of their Waaaghs! and destructive rampages is the primary reason why the northern lands of Bretonnia are so heavily defended with mighty castles and walled cities.
Judging by the representation on the map and all the Orc symbols, it’s fair to assume one of the major enemies of Bretonia will once again be the Greenskin hordes.
The High Elves of Ulthuan were once the undisputed rulers of the seas, maintaining a trade network of colonies and glittering port-cities on every continent, from the Tower of the Rising Sun in the east to the Citadel of Dusk in the west.
You can clearly see the High Elves have a presence on the coast of Bretonnia as well with scattered enclaves around the map. Undoubtedly there is a light alliance between them due to the trade, although perhaps not a military agreement? We will have to wait and see.
Athel Loren (Wood Elves- home of the Ariel) is very clearly on the map, However, GW didn’t touch on them other than a passing mention. The reinventing of Fantasy Battles is inching forward, but seeing as this is one of only three updates over a year, it may still be very far out.
The current situation of our world is sure to hurt that slow pace as well.
What do you think about developing nations like Bretonnia in Warhammer: The Old World? Are you excited about it? Or would you have preferred a 1-1 reboot?
Let us know in the comments of our Facebook Hobby Group, and make sure you enter the latest monthly giveaway for FREE today!
About the Author: Andrew Schrank
Andrew Schrank
Job Title: Miniatures & Warhammer Hobby Staff Writer
Socials: Facebook
About Andrew Schrank: Over the past 15 years, Andrew has played all the games, including tabletop and video games, and immersed himself in the associated lore. Andrew joined the Spikey Bits team in 2018 and covers the Warhammer hobby and tournament scene, along with the latest in tabletop miniatures, each week.
Aspiring diplomat, Lord of Fluff, and Master of Ice Hammer, He loves Star Wars, Chaos Undivided, and Gundam. During his free time, he hunts Platinum trophies on PS5 and reads international news. On weekends, Andrew plays commander and cEDH games, often with unique strategies that push the limits.
He believes each day presents a new opportunity to grow and be challenged.
