New Recruit vs Old World Builder: Best List Builder for Warhammer The Old World in 2026

If you play Warhammer The Old World, sooner or later you’re going to need a reliable list builder.

My advice: do it sooner rather than later.

Not just to build legal armies, but to save time, avoid mistakes, and arrive at the table with everything sorted out.

In this article you’ll find a direct, clear, no-nonsense comparison between the two most relevant tools right now.

We’ll look at what they have in common, how they differ, which type of player each one suits best, and which one makes more sense to use in 2026 depending on how you play.

Let’s get to it.

What New Recruit and Old World Builder Have in Common

Before getting into advantages, differences, or use cases, it’s important to clarify something first: New Recruit and Old World Builder both cover the basic needs that any Warhammer The Old World player expects from a list builder today.

Both are free.

Both allow you to create Warhammer The Old World army lists from scratch, choosing faction, characters, units, options, and equipment. There are no features locked behind a paywall or anything like that. Full version from day one.

Both work on PC and on mobile.

Both check basic list legality by applying the general system restrictions (categories, points, limits, etc.).

You can save lists and edit them later without starting from scratch.

Both work directly in the browser, with no installation or additional software required, so you can build lists even at work if you want.

Do you remember the previous post where I said you don’t need to buy Arcane Journals or rulebooks? Go read it if you want to save money. In any case, with these tools you can check UPDATED rules for all units.

They update within days whenever Games Workshop releases any rules changes.

From here on is where the real differences start: how they help you build lists, how they warn you about errors, how you access information, and how comfortable the whole process is depending on your player profile.

New Recruit alternative: Advantages of Old World Builder

Old World Builder stands out especially for its visual cleanliness, which clearly differentiates it from New Recruit. An interface with fewer elements, cleaner-looking, and less cluttered.

There are fewer things on screen, fewer buttons, and less information displayed at once. This reduces distractions and avoids visual overload. For many veteran players, this simplicity makes list building faster and more comfortable, especially during long tweaking sessions.

One of its biggest strengths is multiple list management. In Old World Builder, all your lists are always visible in a side panel, allowing you to jump instantly from one list to another. This is very practical when comparing variations of the same army or when comparing units across different armies.

Compared to more guided tools, Old World Builder goes for a direct approach:
you see the list structure, the points, and the options you choose, without extra layers of help or warnings that might interrupt your flow. This allows you to work much more efficiently when you already know the rules and limitations of your faction.

Old World Builder alternative: Advantages of New Recruit

New Recruit offers a more guided and information-rich experience, which clearly sets it apart from Old World Builder in several key aspects of list creation.

One of its biggest advantages is that it allows list synchronization across devices, which is especially useful if you work on lists from your phone, laptop, or different computers. This makes it easy to continue a list at any time without relying on a single device.

While building lists, New Recruit shows all available options in a side panel, making it easier to focus on what you can include instead of jumping between screens or comparing with other open lists. This approach reduces errors and speeds up decision-making.

When it comes to legality, New Recruit really shines with its visual warning system. Yellow and red exclamation marks clearly indicate when something needs to be fixed for the list to be legal. They’re very visible but not annoying, and they make it hard to miss an error. In comparison, it’s easier for something to slip through in Old World Builder.

Another strong point is the “list with descriptions” button. In addition to the classic eye icon that shows the description of a specific rule, New Recruit includes an extra button per category that displays all descriptions from that section at once.
For example, each Chaos Mark has its own button to view its individual effect, but the Chaos Marks section also has a button that shows all four descriptions simultaneously, making direct comparison much easier.

This same system applies to magic items, allowing you to see all magical weapons, armor, or equivalent options at a glance, which is very helpful when deciding what to include without opening descriptions one by one.

New Recruit also includes an image button in each unit’s profile. This button searches for the miniature on Google, which can be very helpful for newer players who don’t yet visually recognize all units.

In addition, it offers a particularly useful feature: exporting spell cards for magic lores as PDFs, ready to print and cut out, which greatly speeds up gameplay at the table (spell cards are sold separately, but then Games Workshop updates spell difficulties and suddenly both the cards and the rulebook you bought are outdated).

Finally, New Recruit is not limited to Warhammer The Old World. The platform supports many more games, such as Warhammer Age of Sigmar or Warhammer 40,000, which can be an advantage if you play multiple systems and prefer to centralize your lists in one place.

What Is the Best List-Building Tool for New Warhammer The Old World Players?

For a new Warhammer The Old World player, the main problem is usually not a lack of ideas, but the sheer number of rules, options, and restrictions involved in building a list. In this context, the best tool is the one that reduces friction and minimizes errors.

Here, New Recruit has a clear advantage. Having all options always visible, combined with clear visual warnings for legality issues, makes it much harder to accidentally build an illegal list.

In addition, help buttons and grouped descriptions allow you to understand what each rule, mark, or magic item does without constantly checking the rulebook. This speeds up learning and reduces the feeling of being lost, which is very common with early lists.

For all these reasons, New Recruit is clearly the most comfortable and safest option for players who are just getting started with The Old World.

That said, if New Recruit’s interface really puts you off, Old World Builder is still a very good alternative.

Which Is Better for Veteran and Competitive Players?

At first glance, it might seem like a simpler and faster tool such as Old World Builder would suit veteran and competitive Warhammer The Old World players better. However, when the goal is to fine-tune lists, squeeze points, and avoid mistakes in demanding environments, New Recruit comes out ahead again.

The “list with descriptions” button allows you to analyze marks, magic items, and equivalent options at a glance, which is crucial when adjusting lists at the points limit or evaluating small changes for the meta. This kind of direct comparison saves time and reduces selection errors.

In addition, cross-device synchronization makes it easier to work on lists at different times and in different contexts. In fact, even though I mention it here, this is for me the single most important feature, whether you’re a beginner or an experienced player.

I recently changed my phone, and losing all your lists is really frustrating.

Which Is Better for Quickly Creating Tournament Lists?

Same winner again. New Recruit takes it.

I’ve already explained the advantages above, but the reality is that tournament organizers are increasingly asking for lists uploaded to New Recruit. If you’re using Old World Builder, that means creating an account and importing your list into New Recruit anyway.

You can import it in about 10 seconds, so it’s not a big deal.

Quick Comparison Table: New Recruit vs Old World Builder

Final Conclusion: New Recruit or Old World Builder for Warhammer The Old World in 2026?

New Recruit synchronizes across devices and is the tool used by tournament organizers.

If you’re currently using Old World Builder, there’s no rush, but the idea would be to gradually move over.

Start creating new lists in New Recruit.

But if New Recruit’s uglier interface really bothers you, then work in Old World Builder and, when it’s time to submit your list, import it and you’re done.

I hope this post has helped. I think it includes useful information both for people entering the hobby and for more experienced players, since many don’t actually know both tools.

Recommended posts:

Warhammer The Old World: How to Get Started in 2026

Competitive Army lists for Warhammer The Old World – 2000 points

Unbreakable in Warhammer The Old World

UPDATED: Competitive Renegade Crowns Army List 2000 points

Warhammer The Old World FAQ 1.5.2 Breakdown — Biggest Rules Changes & Army Tweaks

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