Warhammer Fantasy – Through the Ages Part 1
As the article on Warhammer 40k through the ages was so popular, I decided to write something similar on Warhammer Fantasy. Actually this draft has been sitting on my desk for a while now, and I finally pulled through to finish it.
On November 15 of 2019 an article on Warhammer Community created a lot of buzz - Old World? New Warhammer! With a teaser the day before on social media, everything comes round again, even squares.
The post announced the return of the Old World of Warhammer Fantasy, a game system and lore that had been discontinued in 2015 with the End Times and replaced by the new brand of Age of Sigmar. But why was this the case? For that, we have to go back to where Warhammer Fantasy started. It is quite the journey, so I split it into two parts: part one covers Warhammer Fantasy Battles from 1983 to the End Times, part two covers Age of Sigmar and the return of The Old World.
1983 Warhammer - The Mass Combat Fantasy Role-Playing Game (1st Edition Logo)
The first edition of Warhammer was released in 1983. The idea behind it was to create a rule set, which made it possible for role players to use their miniatures in skirmishes and mass combat. There are multiple books on the origins of Games Workshop and Citadel Miniatures, for example Dice Men or Talking Miniatures, but to put it briefly Games Workshop was a distributor of role playing games and Citadel Miniatures a company that produced Ral Partha miniatures under license in the UK until 1984 and their own unique ranges as well. To promote sales of these miniatures set of rules was needed and Rick Priestley and Richard Halliwell, who wrote the Reaper Fantasy Wargame Rules in the late 70s, would be the authors of the first edition of Warhammer, together with Bryan Ansell.
Warhammer Fantasy – Through the Ages Part 2
In part one we followed Warhammer Fantasy Battles from three little booklets in a white box in 1983 to the End Times, when Games Workshop did the unthinkable and destroyed its own world. But the story didn't end there. It split into two paths: Age of Sigmar, the new game that replaced Warhammer Fantasy in 2015, and The Old World, which brought regiments and square bases back in 2024. So let's pick up where we left off.
2015 Warhammer - Age of Sigmar
All of this was answered in July 2015 with the release of Warhammer - Age of Sigmar. The regiments were gone, square bases were gone, the lore was gone ... well, altered and "further" developed. In the beginning there weren't even points. Balance was left to scenarios and sudden death conditions for uneven armies, until the General's Handbook introduced matched play points in 2016. The game was more of a platoon sized skirmisher, than the mass combat experience of Warhammer Fantasy Battles. But that was the point, the world had changed. Games Workshop transferred a lot of the experience they made with 40k towards their new fantasy universe.
2015 Warhammer Age of Sigmar - 1st Edition Launch Box
The first starter set pitted the Stormcast Eternals against the Khorne Bloodbound. The core rules came on just four pages and were free to download, square bases became round, and army books were replaced by warscrolls – one profile per unit with everything you need. An idea that 40k adopted two years later with the datasheets of its 8th edition.
Warhammer World Championship Preview 2025 – Part 2
After covering the previews for Warhammer 40,000 and Horus Heresy we now move on to the fantastic realms of Warhammer with The Old World and Age of Sigmar ... and the return of Warhammer Quest!
While the Big Summer Preview for Warhammer The Old World, this one picks up the introduction of Grand Cathay from earlier this year and shows an extensive second wave with lots of additional choices for their army.
With the Astromanacers of the Celestial Court more magic is added, in a familiar way with a mounted wizard and on one foot, along with a raven familiar. Both models come with different options.
Warhammer – The Big Summer Preview Show 2025 Part 2
Due to the size of the The Big Summer Preview Show we split our coverage into two parts, part 1 covered all the Sci-Fi topics on the Warhammer 40k and Horus Heresy, and in this one we're going to cover the Old World until the Age of Sigmar.
Just like in part 1, we're going to go through the announcements not in chronological order, but by gaming system.
Warhammer The Old World – Grand Cathay Battalion
We are pleased to welcome a brand new army to the Warhammer The Old World tabletop - the forces of Grand Cathay. Those of you who play the Total War: Warhammer Series know more about this than those who have stuck with the miniature game, which is why we are going to cover the battalion in a slightly different way.
Games Workshop sent us the Grand Cathay Battalion boxed set, which is available for pre-order from June 21st and will officially be released on July 5th, with an RRP of 145 EUR or 110 GBP.
But before we unbox the battalion and take a closer look at its contents, we want to introduce Cathay in a similar way to how we did it with the first two Old World factions:
Warhammer The Old World – High Elf Realms Ellyrian Reavers
The latest addition to the Old World are the High Elf Realms, who got a teaser on Las Vegas Open, with the re-release of "classic" miniatures of the last Warhammer Fantasy Battles kits along with some new additions to the range. A few characters and a new plastic kit of the Ellyrian Reavers.
This new multi-part plastic kit is available for 67,50 EUR and covers ten mounted miniatures. They went on pre-order on February 15th and will be delivered on March 1st.
Warhammer The Old World – Launch Day!
Today the product range of Warhammer The Old World is officially launched. While some might be lucky and received their items in the last days, others just received their shipping notification and a few unlucky ones that their orders have been postponed.
In my case, I just got the shipping notice tonight at 01:00 in the morning, that the map of the Old World, that I ordered even got shipped. Not my prefered way, I was looking for receiving it today or on monday and not just being shipped.
This is a part of the known map, that has been around since the third edition of Warhammer Fantasy, and received further information and details over the years.
Warhammer The Old World – Who are the Tomb Kings of Khemri?
We talked about, where the Bretonnians came from, and now it is time to talk about where the Tomb Kings of Khemri came from. In the early editions of Warhammer Fantasy, the undead were just generic evil, aligned with Chaos and Orcs.
You had the basic tropes, with Skeletons, Mummies, Ghouls and such. Just like you would find them in any roleplaying game bestiary. And in Warhammer Armies the undead became a play-able faction, build around a Necromantic force, that would command an army of the undead to raise and further creatures to rally around it.
Warhammer The Old World – Who are the Bretonnians?
While the setting of Warhammer The Old World plays 200 years before the time Warhammer Fantasy was set in, the more important question is - who are the Bretonnians that didn't (quite) make it into new Age of Sigmar?
The introduction of the Old World itself, with a more elaborate lore, came with the release of the 3rd edition of Warhammer Fantasy and the supplement Warhammer Armies. Inside these books, the Bretonnian lore is brief and compact.
The Kingdom of Bretonnia is described in a similar way, the corrupt France as seen in the tales of d'Artagnan and the three Musketeers. A kingdom of proud cities and prosperous ports, who have fallen into ruin, due to widespread corruption, inefficiency and decay. Interestingly enough, that is the story of the Flesh-Eater Courts, who are based upon the pre-End-Times Bretonnians and degenerated into a realm of Undead cannibals. The threat of the undead is a theme, that was present during the 5th edition onward in the lore of Bretonnia, for example in the Dukedom of Mousillon or with the Red Duke.
Warhammer The Old World – Kingdom of Bretonnia Battle Standard Bearer on Royal Pegasus
And after covering the two heroes from the plastic sets, let us take a look at only new plastic hero, as the other new additions are made from Forge World resin - the Battle Standard Bearer on Royal Pegasus of the Kingdom of Bretonnia.
Initially I thought this would be built from the Duke/Baron kit, as they have the same mount. This is something that Games Workshop did in the past, have dual character sets of mounted and unmounted heroes, usually including banners, for example with the Empire General or High Elf Noble. But that was a misconception, this is just the Banner Bearer.
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