The Old World’s new Warhammer models are bigger, sharper, and are giving us serious Primaris Marine flashbacks
If you just finished rebasing your Tomb Kings army for square bases, that Host of Nehekhara reveal probably hurt a bit. A lot of hobbyists had tracked down those old skeletons, maybe paid collector prices for some hard-to-find units, and finally got everything ready for Warhammer: The Old World. Then GW rolled out a bunch of new sculpts in September, followed by new Skeleton Horsemen on October 12.
And the annoying part? The new models look awesome. Which makes it almost worse, but in a good way…
- What’s happening: GW is replacing some of the classic Old World kits it revived in 2024 with brand-new plastic sculpts.
- What we have seen so far: Tomb Kings got 78 new skeletons and chariots plus new Horsemen, and Warriors of Chaos got 22 new minis in the 2026 core box.
- What’s next: More returning armies could get the same treatment, but GW hasn’t confirmed anything beyond what’s been shown.
The Tomb Kings Made It Back to Shelves Just Long Enough to Get Replaced
Remember when Tomb Kings were one of the big launch armies for The Old World back in January 2024? GW’s early Tomb Kings previews made a pretty big deal about bringing back the classic Skeleton Warriors, Archers, Horsemen, and Chariots. And for a lot of us, that was enough. You could finally buy the army again without hunting through secondhand listings.
Now jump ahead to September 2026. The Host of Nehekhara set shows up with 78 newly sculpted Skeleton Warriors, Archers, and Chariots. Then October 12 rolls around, and we get updated multipart Skeleton Horsemen and Horse Archers, too.
So those kits we were excited to see return in 2024? They’re already getting replaced just over two years later.
Look, the old models still work just fine on the tabletop. There’s nothing wrong with running them, but that being said, if you just spent weeks painting forty skeletons, seeing the shiny new versions probably feels a little rough too.
The New Chaos Kits Are Too Good to Pretend Otherwise
Chaos is going through pretty much the same thing, except the new models might be even harder to resist. Warriors of Chaos came back in 2024 with 25 classic kits and no new models planned for that first wave. Then the 2026 Old World core box landed with 22 brand-new Warriors of Chaos minis. Since then, we’ve seen more new Chaos Warriors, Knights, and characters join the range.
And yeah, these things look fantastic. We might be looking at some of the best fantasy miniatures GW has put out. They still have that classic Warhammer Fantasy feel, but the details, poses, and proportions are a big step up from a lot of the older plastics.
Nobody needs to pretend the older sculpts look better just because they’re annoyed with GW. The new stuff definetly deserves praise, it’s just a little frustrating that we barely got the old army back before GW gave everyone another reason to buy it all over again.
GW Found a Way to Sell Us the Same Army Three Times
Think about how this played out. GW sold Warhammer Fantasy Battles armies for years, then shut the game down. Years later, The Old World arrived, and a bunch of those same models went back on sale. Veterans could rebuild their collections, and new players could finally pick up armies they’d missed.
Now we’re getting modern versions of those same units, which is basically three chances for GW to sell you the same army.
And here’s the thing: the new kits look good enough that plenty of us are probably going to buy them anyway. We don’t know what conversations are happening behind closed doors at GW, and we’re not going to pretend we do.
Whatever is happening behind closed doors at GW we don’t know, but selling updated models to people who already bought the originals has obviously been pretty good business opportunity for the over the years. So its hard to imagine that doesn’t become something we see more and more of now.
In Some Ways, Veterans Get The Shaft Again
This is probably where longtime Fantasy players feel it the most. Some folks kept their armies packed away for ten years or more after the game went away. Others sold everything after the End Times, only to start hunting those exact same models again when The Old World came along.
And remember how expensive some of that stuff got when it was out of print? Rebuilding an old army wasn’t always cheap, and then you had the whole basing situation. The Old World switched to larger square bases, which meant rebasing your collection or picking up movement trays to make everything fit.
To be fair, GW said the old models were still perfectly usable, and movement trays were an option. Nobody had to tear their army apart and start over.
Still, plenty of hobbyists spent a lot of cash and painting time getting everything ready to play again. So seeing those same units get modern replacements this quickly can still hurt a bit.
New Players Get the Best Deal Out of All This
Now, if you’re just getting into The Old World, this is a completely different conversation.
Some of those old Warhammer Fantasy models are 20 or 30 years old, and let’s face it, not all of them have aged particularly well. Newer plastic kits tend to be easier to build, come with more options, and fit right in with the rest of GW’s modern miniatures.
If you weren’t collecting back in the 1990s, you probably don’t have much attachment to those old sprues. You just want your army to look as cool as it does on the box. And getting brand-new Tomb Kings or Warriors of Chaos models is a lot more appealing than paying today’s prices for plastic that’s been around for decades.
Grand Cathay is a different situation, of course, since that’s an entirely new range rather than an old army coming back.
Plus, if we want The Old World to bring in players beyond the nostalgia crowd, it’s tough to argue that GW should just keep selling the same old kits forever.
Primaris Fits, With One Big Twist
If you’ve been playing 40k for a while, this probably sounds pretty familiar.
When Primaris Marines showed up, GW started updating the Space Marine range bit by bit over several years. Players who already had Marine armies suddenly had a whole bunch of new models to buy. Meanwhile, the old Firstborn Marines gradually got pushed out of the main range, leaving plenty of collectors wondering what would happen to their existing armies.
Now, The Old World isn’t doing exactly that. There isn’t some separate, upgraded class of Tomb Kings or Chaos Warriors like there was with Primaris. These are still the same units, and your old miniatures don’t suddenly become unusable when the new ones arrive.
The big difference is the order GW did things. With Primaris, GW started replacing the original Marines. With The Old World, it brought the original kits back, sold them to everyone excited about the game’s return, and then started rolling out the new versions.
That’s a pretty interesting twist on the whole Primaris playbook.
Nobody Knows Which Army Gets the Next Makeover
Look, GW is a publicly traded company that makes money selling miniatures. Of course it’s going to keep putting out new kits. Nobody should be surprised by that.
The frustrating bit is not knowing what’s coming next.
Say you’re looking at buying a bunch of classic models for your Old World army right now. Are those kits going to stick around for years, or will you see updated versions before you’ve finished painting everything?
A little more communication from GW would really help here.
After all, we’ve already been through Warhammer Fantasy ending, Age of Sigmar taking over, The Old World bringing those armies back, and now some of those returning armies are getting refreshed.
The 2026 Old World roadmap gives us an idea of what’s on the way, which is nice. But it doesn’t really answer the question collectors have when they’re about to spend money on an older kit: is this one getting replaced next?
Final Thoughts on Warhammer The Old World Resculpts
Would we be surprised if Tomb Kings and Chaos were just the beginning? Not really. Other returning armies, like Bretonnia, could eventually get similar updates if these new kits sell well.
That’s just speculation for now, though. GW hasn’t shown anything to confirm it. For the moment, it’s probably worth keeping that two-year turnaround in mind before going all-in on a pile of the current “revived” kits.
But that doesn’t mean you should feel bad about the army you’ve already got. Those models you spent years collecting and painting are still your army, whether GW releases newer versions or not.
Run the old stuff, mix in a few new models, or pick up the resculpts you actually like. There’s no reason to replace everything just because some new plastic showed up.
Besides, give it enough time and today’s fancy new sculpts will be the classics everyone remembers. And knowing how this hobby goes, GW might find a way to sell us those again someday, too.
🔗 Related Reads:
- New Warhammer The Old World: 2026 Roadmap + Release Schedule
- Warhammer The Old World Warriors of Chaos: 54-Mini Core Box + Dragon Revealed
- New Old World Chaos, Blood Bowl Releases Now Available
- Warhammer Bases Guide: Old World Base Size Reference & Upgrades
- Amazing New Converter Movement Trays for Warhammer The Old World
- Firstborn vs Primaris: Primaris Are Dead in Warhammer 40k
What do you think of GW resculpting the Warhammer The Old World armies it just brought back?
