Since Warhammer: The Old World came out, a lot of players have been trying to make 500–1000 point games feel “real” without turning them into a completely different ruleset.
Games Workshop’s answer is Warhammer Battle March—a smaller, faster format introduced in the Arcane Journal: War of Settra’s Fury. It’s designed for skirmish-sized games, and it can also be used to run an allied contingent inside larger armies.
If you want the rules at a glance, here’s the quick summary first—then we’ll break down the limitations, scoring, and missions.
Alright—here’s how it works.
Jump to:
Quick summary · Limitations · Victory Points · Missions & objectives · Maps & deployments ·
UPDATED: Minis to start playing Old World
Warhammer Battle March rules (quick summary)
–Recommended setup: smaller board, capped terrain size, and fixed objective layouts + a few deployment types.
–Turns: 5 (instead of 6).
–Points: 500–750 (and usable as an allied contingent in 2000–3000).
–Army restrictions: lighter minimums, but tighter caps on characters and unit categories.
–Scoring changes: General/standards/objectives adjusted; objective control is 3″ with Unit Strength 5.
Limitations of Old World Battle March
The minimum number of non-character units you must include is 2 instead of 3 (which is the limitation in standard armies). These 2 units can be war machines, but swarms and war beasts don’t count.
Of all the units and options in the army that are 0–1 per 1000 points, you may include only one choice (you couldn’t take a Goblin Spear Chukka and also give “Skirmishers” to an Orc regiment, because both are 0–1 and you’d have to pick just one).
- You must include a character to be your General.
- No character may cost more than 25% of the total points.
- No Core unit may cost more than 35% of the total points.
- No Special unit may cost more than 30% of the total points.
- No Rare or Mercenary unit may cost more than 25% of the total points.
Victory Points in the new Warhammer Battle March
Use the same Secondary Objectives and Victory Points as the Matched Play Guide (July 2025), with these changes:
- Killing the General is 50 instead of 100.
- Each enemy standard is 25 instead of 50.
- Each objective you control on your player turn: 10 VP.
- Objectives are controlled at 3″ instead of 6″, and with Unit Strength 5 instead of Unit Strength 10.
Do these feel like only a few changes? That’s because… it is. But hold on—check out the new missions:
Secondary objectives/missions in Battle March Old World Rules
Although it says you can play any scenario from the normal game, they recommend playing with the following variations and objective layouts:
- On 30″×44″ boards.
- With no terrain piece measuring more than 12″ at its widest point.
- Once terrain is placed, roll a die. On a 1–3 you play with 2 objectives; on a 4, 5, or 6, you place 3 objectives (I’ve put the layouts below in images, because the objectives have fixed positions).
- Objectives use 40mm bases (like Stormcast Eternals or Terminators).
- Those objectives are placed according to these two diagrams, with the exception that no objective can be within 3″ of a terrain feature. If that happens, you must move the objective the minimum distance so that it no longer is.
Remember that each objective gives 10 victory points in each player turn to whoever controls it.
Combine these two objective layouts with three deployment types to create six distinct setups.
Which ones are they? Here you go.
Maps and deployments
Once the objectives are placed, roll a D6 to determine deployment type:
- 1-2 Pitched Battle
- 3-4 Close Encounter (Errata: The deployment zone on the short table edges is 15″ instead of 7.5″.)
- 5-6 Opposed Flanks (Errata: distance between deployment zones is 18″ instead of 12″).
In “Close Encounter” and “Opposed Flanks,” if both players agree, the allowed deployment band can be mirrored from right to left or left to right.
Note: GW says the player who didn’t roll the dice chooses the deployment zone.
As if rolling the die gave any kind of advantage.
Anyway.
Here’s a change compared to normal games: The player who chooses the zone does not start deploying; instead, both players roll a die and the winner starts deploying.
They don’t choose. The player who rolls higher simply deploys first (alternating units—this part works as usual).
When all units have been deployed, both roll another die and the winner chooses who takes the first turn. There’s no +1 for the player who finishes deploying first.
Honestly, I don’t know what to think about all this.
The changes are minimal; it’s practically no different from a normal The Old World game. But if they changed more, would it still feel like a TOW game?
I don’t know.
The point is this is what we have; this is what GW has given us, and I think the aim of this mode is clear: to get people started in The Old World so they move on to 2000-point games later. That’s another reason why Battle March needs to feel very similar to the base game.
By the way, what miniatures should I buy to start playing Warhammer The Old World?
I’ve noticed that posts about which boxes are worth it and which ones aren’t, how to start collecting an army while saving money, etc., are really helpful for you. So I’m planning to make a dedicated post about that for each army.
The problem is that it’s going to take a while, because I just don’t have the time. It’s quite a lot of work (and so are the list breakdown posts, and the magic analysis ones…).
So here’s a quick summary:
In my opinion, the army boxes, battleforces or spearheads that are actually worth it when starting an army are:
Wood Elves: their battalion is very good.
High Elves: The Old World battalion is terrible, the Lumineth spearheads are also bad, and the Lumineth battalion is bad as well (just slightly less so). Sorry, there’s no real hope here. I’d try to get a solid cavalry bundle with Ellyrian Reavers, Silver Helms and archers.
Empire and Renegade Crowns: the battalion is very solid. Even if it’s out of stock on Wayland, if you can find it elsewhere it’s definitely worth it (for Renegades you won’t use the tank, but the infantry alone makes it worth it).
Dwarfs: I like the battalion.
Beastmen: the battalion is excellent. In fact, the monster it includes can easily be used as a Giant Spawn of Nurgle (which is very strong in-game, and the original model is awful).
Cathay: probably the luckiest faction. There are two battalions and both are solid, although I personally prefer this one, the newer one. The other option is this one, which leans more towards elite units.
Bretonnia and Tomb Kings of Khemri: Even though they come with the rulebook (and I generally don’t recommend buying rulebooks for this game), I think both battalions are very solid. This is the Bretonnia one and this is the Tomb Kings one.
Warriors of Chaos: I really don’t like the battalion. It lacks too many “cheap” units. I’d wait for the new Spearhead magazine releases, which should include Chaos Warriors and Knights at a better price.
Orcs & Goblins: probably, along with High Elves, the worst battalion in the game. Keep in mind that Night Goblins are the most played option, so I’d look for a Gloomspite Gitz starter box from Age of Sigmar and use the trolls as fillers for your Night Goblin units.
That said… below you’ll find the posts I mentioned in the article.
Warhammer The Old World Rules Guide: Updated and Fully Explained
Warhammer The Old World: The ultimate guide to Get Started in 2026
✠ Warriors of Chaos in Warhammer: The Old World: Guides, Rules & Army Lists
High Elf Tier List in Warhammer The Old World: which units are worth it WITH Characters
Warriors of Chaos Tier List. The WORST CHAOS UNITS in Warhammer The Old World 1.5.2
The Best High Elf Magic in Warhammer The Old World: Full Breakdown
If this article helped you, consider supporting the site.
Any error in the post, feel free to reach out at theoldwarrior@theoldwarrior.com.