Take a look a few Warhammer : The Old World lessons we learned at this years NOVA Open GT.
This past weekend saw the NOVA Open GT take place in Washington, DC. With 66 players and armies representing every faction save Chaos Daemons, it’s one of the largest Old World events around. I returned to the scene of my crimes this year not as a player, but as a judge. We had a great Judge team and the whole shebang went really well. A huge shout out to Blue Ford of SquareHammer for putting it all together and making it happen. As a judge I had a lot more chance to watch games and look at the lists there. Yesterday I took at a look at the best lists we saw there. Today I want to look at a few big picture take aways from the event.
5. The Game Is a Lot Healthier Then It Was
While I’ve always had fun with The Old World, it’s always been a game that could use some improvement. NOVA was the first big event, at least in North America, post the 1.5 FAQ. Overall the game felt a lot healthier and better than it did say last year. At least if you are looking for a rank and flank game. There was a much better spread of armies represented, with only Deamons of Chaos not showing up. We even had two brave Skaven players! Aside from factions, you just had armies that looked a lot more like armies. There was a lot more infantry on display, doing very relevant things.
You could walk around and see a lot of games that just looked like traditional fantasy game, lots of ranks and flanks on display. And these weren’t just trash armies or bottom tier stuff. The infantry was contributing to the game. These players were doing well. Even by Round 5 we had several infantry-heavy armies in the running, playing very close games. Things just felt a lot better.
4. There Are Still Problem Units
That’s not to say that there are no issues with the game. There are clearly still a few problem units that are pushing armies/builds up there. In particular things with Fly continue to be a bit problematic, as they just don’t really play the game. Now, one or two things with Fly isn’t really a huge issue. However when you can lean heavily in to it, especially with ridden monsters, it becomes a real issue. Cathay Lanterns and Shugengan, Bretonnian Pegasus Knights and Characters, Gyrocopter Spam, TK dragons and Necrosphinxes. Warriors of Chaos lists running 2-3 dragons. These do kind of break the game down.
Despite the improvement of infantry, four of the top five players, ever player that placed at the event, was running 4+ flying units. Another problem unit, run by the fifth member of the top five, is Fanatics. This is another unit/model that just doesn’t play by the normal rules of the game and can be abused. Fanatics are a particular issue I think, as they are so good they’ve basically become the only way to play Orcs & Goblins. So something need to be fixed here.
The upside here is that the problems really seem concentrated to a few units/abusable mechanics. Rather than it being something broad like “infantry don’t work”, it feels like “these 5 units are OP”. I think that’s a much better place to be in, and easily addressable via a Balance Dataslate/FAQ.
3. No One Knows How Skirmish Works
Even after nearly two years and several FAQs and Erratas, no one really understands how Skirmishers work in the Old World. As judges we got more rules questions concerning skirmishers than any other single topic. These ranged from basics, to complex edge cases scenarios to needing us to come measure/watch specific movements when it came to charges/lining up. And these were not just coming from new or inexperienced players. We had many experienced players, and even judges, confused over corner cases.
Even knowing the rules aside, skirmishers are just very, very fiddly. Checking LoS, trying to block LoS, figuring out the correct order to move charging ones, moving them with proper spacing. It’s just a lot of very precises things you have to keep track of. It remains a set of rules I really wish GW would either re-write from the ground up, or put out some kind of notes on.
The Matched Play Missions Are Good
NOVA used the new GW matched play missions. Counting the Friday Doubles event this was the 4th event I’ve either played in or judged to use them. And I have to say I’m really liking them. They really do make the game feel more dynamic and with more going on. At the same time they don’t change the fundamental nature of the game from one where you fight and kill the other army. They certainly give infantry a greater role, and make some units/builds more viable. I also don’t think we’ve seen a lot of players lean super heavyily into building lists to win the objective game.
My overall impression of them is that the points from Secondaries don’t often decide a game, at least between good players. However they do dictate how and where the game is fought. They tend to be worth enough that players have to go after the objectives. A lot of time this means their scores balance out, or one player just dominates anyway and scores a lot. However it still leads to a much more dynamic game, with players forced to engage and close with each other to grab objectives. It can also lead to changes in targeting priority, as players try to knock out scoring units.
Subscribe to our newsletter!
Get Tabletop, RPG & Pop Culture news delivered directly to your inbox.
At the same time it means that TO’s and players need to reset a few expectations. There are a lot more points up for grabs then in a base game. Winning with 4000-5000 vps isn’t impossible, or even uncommon. You also end up with a much larger spared of VPs between players, which is something to take into account.
1. I like Some Missions Better Than Others
All that being said about the missions, I do like some better than others, and think there is room for work and improvement. For instance I think the King of The Hill scenario is by far the best. Not only does having a large hill in the middle change the battlefield, in a good way, but the extra points really force a fight in the middle, and rewards good core troops. I would really like to see most 5-day events use this mission, with different secondaries, at least twice.
As for secondaries, I think events need to be careful about how much they use Domination. While I do like this objective, and it gives hordes something to play toward, it can really skew things. With up to 1000 pts up for scoring at the end of the game it can really turn a close game into a blow out. Also players who table the enemy can really just rack up massive points. I’d likely use it less than some others. On the flip side I think strategic objectives is great and should be in most games. It really does help change the flow of a game. Baggage Train is fun but feels like it should be worth a few more points, as it is it has lot less impact than the other objectives.
I think that this remains an area that TO’s can still have fun with. Using the base of the matched play guide to build off and invent some new secondaries or missions to add existing secondaries to is a great idea to me. I’m really excited to see what cool missions we have a year from now at the next NOVA!
Let us know what lessons you’ve learned from recent events, down in the comments!
Abe is that rare thing, an Austin local born and raised here. Though he keeps on moving around, DC, Japan, ETC., he always seems to find his way back eventually. Abe has decades of experience with a wide range of tabletop and RPG games, from historicals, to Star Wars to D&D and 40K. He has been contributing to BOLS since almost the start, back when he worked at and then owned a local gaming store. He used to be big into the competitive Warhammer tournament scene but age has mellowed him and he now appreciates a good casual match. He currently covers Warhammer: The Old World, as well as all things Star Wars, with occasional dabbling in other topics. Abe mourned over loss of WFB for its entire hiatus, but has been reborn like a gaming phoenix with Warhammer: The Old World.