Warhammer The Old World has returned with two launch army boxes featuring box sets for Tomb Kings and Bretonnia, new minis, and rulebooks!
We had been hearing about the return of Warhammer Fantasy for years! Now we know what products will be available for the launch of Warhammer The Old World, which will arrive on January 20th, 2024! Let’s look at the latest on the two featured launch factions, new models, and the rules for all of them!
Warhammer The Old World Launch Box Sets
Warhammer Community gifted the details of the official launch products, rules, box sets and more for Warhammer: The Old World on December 26th, 2023.
There is no single launch box for Warhammer: The Old World. Instead, there are two separate – and massive – core army boxes, each containing a full 1,250-point army with dozens of all-plastic miniatures each. On top of that, you get a complete 352-page hardback Warhammer: The Old World rulebook, a four-page reference sheet, 20 D6 dice, one six-sided scatter dice, three weapon templates, two classic red plastic measuring sticks, and transfer sheets.
We knew for a while that these were the two launch factions. It’s great to see they’ll split up the Tomb Kings and Brettonians into separate Warhammer the Old World launch boxes. Now, you’ll get a full core rulebook, along with templates, dice, and other necessities to get started playing!
In their Bretonnia army construction article, Games Workshop said that armies would be 2,000 points. So, both the Bretonnian and Tomb Kings army boxes may be a good step towards collecting a whole army.
Warhammer: The Old World Core Set – Kingdom of Bretonnia Edition Retail Price: $255 CA$310 €205 £155
Click on these links to order yours for less from these retailers: | Amazon | Dicehead Games | Bazooka Games | Frontline Gaming | Element Games (UK) | eBay | or | Games Workshop’s Store
Raise your banners to the Lady with the Kingdom of Bretonnia box, which contains 76 miniatures. The resplendent new Lord on Royal Pegasus can be built as a Duke or a Baron. They’re backed up by a lance formation of 12 Bretonnian Knights of the Realm, 36 Bretonnian Men-at-Arms, 24 Peasant Bowmen with two defence stakes, three Pegasus Knights, and a Kingdom of Bretonnian Transfer sheet with 176 transfers.
We got Bretonnia reveals drip-fed for a while. So we’ve seen all of these models already. However, seeing the Bretonnian army box in full view looks spectacular!
Bretonnian Army Launch Box Set Pricing & Value
Don’t miss the wild pricing, value, and savings we may see with the new Bretonnian Army Launch Box for Warhammer the Old World. We priced out the value potential savings here in another article.
Warhammer: The Old World Core Set – Tomb Kings of Khemri Edition Retail Price: $290 CA$350 €235 £175
Click on these links to order yours for less from these retailers: | Amazon | Dicehead Games | Bazooka Games | Frontline Gaming | Element Games (UK) | eBay | or | Games Workshop’s Store
The Liche Priests have exhumed a horde of 93 Tomb Kings miniatures, including the magnificent new Liche Priest on Necrolith Bone Dragon (which can additionally build a Tomb King on foot, or be built instead as a Tomb King on Bone Dragon). The rest is made up of enough classic kits to create an army fit for Settra himself – 40 Skeleton Warriors, 32 Skeleton archers, 16 Skeleton Horsemen, and three Skeleton Chariots.
As with the Bretonnians, officially seeing the new Tomb Kings Army box for the first time is also spectacular!
Tomb Kings Army Launch Box Value is Pretty Shocking
Warhammer The Old World Fantasy Battles in the World of Legend Rulebooks
Warhammer: The Old World Rulebook $70 CA$85 €55 £42.50
Click on these links to order yours for less from these retailers: | Amazon | Dicehead Games | Bazooka Games | Frontline Gaming | Element Games (UK) | eBay | or | Games Workshop’s Store
The rulebook will also be available separately. This weighty 352-page tome features over 70 pages of background on the World of Legend, plus Core and Advanced rules for the game, an explanation of the Winds of Magic and rules for casting spells, a gallery of armies painted by the ’Eavy Metal studio, and rules for building armies and setting up your battlefields. It will also be released as a digital ePub version for easy access to rules on the go.
A huge rulebook is a requirement when it is for an entire game/world reboot! This thing is massive and will surely be full of great lore and art. Oh, and, of course, the rules to play. Fortunately, you get the Warhammer The Old World Rulebook in both the army box sets at launch. For those who just want the rules, it will be sold separately as well.
Forces of Fantasy $50 CA$60 €40 £30, and Ravening Hordes $50 CA$60 €40 £30
Click on these links to order yours for less from these retailers: | Amazon | Dicehead Games | Bazooka Games | Frontline Gaming | Element Games (UK) | eBay | or | Games Workshop’s Store
Rules for all nine factions in the game will be available at launch, in one of two tomes covering the forces of Good and Evil – Forces of Fantasy and Ravening Hordes respectively.
Forces of Fantasy is a 192-page book available in hardback and ePub formats covering five factions: the Dwarfen Mountain Holds, the Empire of Man, the Kingdom of Bretonnia, the Wood Elf Realms, and the High Elf Realms.
Each army gets an introduction, a gallery of miniatures, a grand army composition list, a complete set of unit profiles (so you’ll have no need for a separate army book to play), special rules, magic items, and unique spells.
Ravening Hordes contains all your Evil factions – it’s a 160-page hardback book or ePub containing similar material for the Orc and Goblin Tribes, the Warriors of Chaos, the Beastmen Brayherds, and the Tomb Kings of Khemri.
You’ll need the main Warhammer: The Old World rulebook to use either book.
This time around, what is essentially the Grand Alliances are grouped into two rulebooks. From the looks of it, you’ll need one of these depending on if you are more “good” or “evil” inclined. Some of you may remember Ravening Hordes. It was the stop-gap set of points and rules GW would publish at the launch of new editions of Warhammer Fantasy as well.
Warhammer The Old World launch looks slightly different, though. While it has new compilation versions of the army books, they are also putting out something a bit new…
Arcane Journals: $27 CA$32 €22 £16
Click on these links to order yours for less from these retailers: | Amazon | Dicehead Games | Bazooka Games | Frontline Gaming | Element Games (UK) | eBay | or | Games Workshop’s Store
In addition to these hefty hardback books, there are the Arcane Journals – softback books for each faction that expand it all out with history, heraldry, maps, special characters (including a certain undead emperor), magic items, spells, a historical scenario, and thematic Armies of Infamy which let you select armies of very different compositions.
For instance, Arcane Journal: Kingdoms of Bretonnia has rules for armies of Bretonnian Exiles and Errantry Crusades, while Arcane Journal: Tomb Kings of Khemri provides the Nehekharan Royal Host and the Mortuary Cults. It is important to know that you don’t require an Arcane Journal to play your chosen faction – all the units and army rules are contained in Ravening Hordes or Forces of Fantasy – but they do provide a trove of extra options and extra depth for discerning generals.
The Arcane Journals for the Kingdom of Bretonnia and Tomb Kings of Khemri will arrive at launch alongside their army releases, with those for other factions following in the future.
On top of the Core rulebook and Army List books, each faction will have this sort of expansion book. These also don’t come with the Warhammer The Old World launch army boxes. However, you still get the massive core rulebook.
Now, it appears that purchasing your army’s fluff and lore will cost extra. But those books will also contain the rules for their Army lists, which is nice. You may want to pick up the Grand Alliance book (Forces of Fantasy or Ravening Hordes) and these faction-specific Arcane Journals to get everything for your faction.
Warhammer The Old World Release Schedule:
The Bretonnians and Tomb Kings are just the first two of nine factions arriving in the World of Legend. The rules for the other seven will be available at launch in Forces of Fantasy and Ravening Hordes – and look out for miniature releases for the other seven in due course.
Don’t worry if you’re more of a follower of Hashut or interpreter of the Great Plan – Legacy army list PDFs for the other seven factions from Warhammer Fantasy Battles will be available shortly after launch.
While we are getting these two factions at launch, it’s great to know we’ll get access to all the faction’s rules! To see what armies will be legacy versus fully supported, read this article here.
We know the release date for Warhammer the Old World is January 20th, 2024, which syncs back to GW’s new two-week normal.
In case you missed the major Warhammer Old World announcements since 2019, we’ve included them here:
- Warhammer The Old World: New Rules Changes & Models
- There Will be NO Warhammer The Old World Starter Set
- The Shocking Reason Behind GW’s Choice of Armies for Warhammer Old World!
What do you think of the new Warhammer The Old World launch army boxes featuring box sets for Tomb Kings and Brettonia, new minis, and rulebooks?
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About the Author: Andrew Schrank
Andrew Schrank
Job Title: Miniatures & Warhammer Hobby Staff Writer
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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.
