Parry: With sword and shield, warriors attempt to deflect
enemy attacks. Whilst engaged in close combat, a model
with this rule that is equipped with and chooses to use a
hand weapon and shield improves its armour value by 1, to a
maximum of 3+.
Here are typical questions I’ve run into hundreds of times in tournament games:
Who can use Parry in Warhammer: The Old World?
Only infantry and heavy infantry. Monstrous infantry can’t use it, and neither can any kind of cavalry or monster. Ogre Kingdoms with the Ironfist do NOT have Parry.
Old World Parry Rule: Can I use if I’m charged in the flank or rear?
Yes — in The Old World you can. It was in previous editions where you couldn’t.
Do my Black Orcs with full plate armour and a shield get a 2+ save?
No. Parry can’t improve your armour save beyond 3+. Not Black Orcs, not Chaos Chosen (even though nobody runs them), not Dwarf Ironbreakers, and no similar troop reaches a 2+ armour save thanks to the rule Parry in this game.
If a unit has spear, hand weapon, and shield, and it chooses to fight with SPEAR AND SHIELD, does it get the +1 save from Parry?
No. It has to choose to use the hand weapon and shield — just “having it on the model” doesn’t count.
Important: remember to ask your opponent what they’re fighting with before you roll to hit. Most of the time, those troops will maximize their save and choose the hand weapon, so this prevents the classic move where, if your rolls are bad and you cause few wounds, they’ll suddenly claim they were using spears once it’s their turn to attack.
Those Bretonnian peasants CANNOT use the polearm with two hands to hit harder and still benefit from Parry.
Parry Old World: can infantry use it in the same turn they are charging?
Yes, they can use Parry. What they can’t do that turn is use an extra rank (normally the second one) as a supporting rank, so only the front rank gets to make attacks.
If you receive the charge, you can have an additional supporting rank as normal.
Where can I find the Parry rule in the rulebook?
You won’t find it in the main rulebook. It first showed up in the Warhammer Old World faq 1.5 Games Workshop released on July 25th, 2025, well after the book came out, as a way to give infantry a boost.
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If you think there’s an error in the post, feel free to reach out at theoldwarrior@theoldwarrior.com, and I’ll review it. Hope you enjoy ToW!
