New magic items.
Even more.
I think this is already the fourth time they’ve thrown a ton of new magic items at us. Sometimes they’ve released updates specifically for Cathay, others for Battle March…
But this time, you can definitely use them. They’re common to every army.
They were introduced in August 2026 with the March of Chaos Arcane Journal.
The Arcane Journal comes with 2 more blocks of content, which I’ll cover in other posts because otherwise this is going to become endless, and I want this post to be something you can use to easily check the magic items specifically.
Let’s get to it.
Well, you already know how this works: magic weapons, armour, talismans… I’ll split them up like this to make everything easier to read, and I’ll go through all of them.
New Magic Weapons for Warhammer The Old World
Sword of Reaving, 50 points:
+D3 Attacks, +1 Strength, -1 AP; if you don’t cause any wounds, the bearer suffers D3 Strength 4 AP -1.
We are NEVER going to see this sword on the table. What a pile of shit.
I swear, I read this stuff and every time it feels more like GW releases things like this just for the sake of it.
Flail of Wrecks, 45 points:
-2 AP and Multiple Wounds (2). If you charge, you also get +2 Strength and Armour Bane (1).
If you roll ANY 1s to wound, your Initiative drops by 1 point for the rest of the battle (cumulative, until you’re down to Initiative 1).
Another massive pile of crap.
Grim Veredict, 40 points:
+3 Strength, AP -1, Armour Bane (2), Furious Charge, Impetuous, Requires Two Hands and Strikes Last.
If you lose a round of combat, you suffer one wound with no armour save allowed.
At this point I understand that this is going to be about cursed items, but honestly, in EVERY SINGLE CASE so far, the downside seems much stronger than the benefit, not to mention how expensive these weapons are in points.
Hunter’s Scorn, 20 points:
Ranged weapon, range 30″, Strength 5, AP -1, Armour Bane (1), Multiple Shots (2).
If an enemy with 2 or more Wounds suffers any unsaved wound from this weapon, it and its unit suffer a cumulative -1 Initiative until the end of the game. If the bearer of the weapon FAILS in their attempt to wound the target, this effect is lost.
This weapon isn’t even clearly written: it says the effect is lost, and that can be interpreted in several ways:
- If I fail to wound with ANY DIE (remember that it has Multiple Shots 2) in a turn, I can no longer reduce Initiative for the rest of the game.
- If I fail to wound with BOTH DICE, I can no longer reduce Initiative for the rest of the game.
- If I fail to wound with ANY DIE against a unit whose Initiative had already been reduced, it gets its Initiative back.
- If I fail to wound with BOTH DICE against a unit whose Initiative had already been reduced, it gets its Initiative back.
Thanks, GW, for giving us even more stuff to argue about. Let’s move on to the magic armour. Out of these, I honestly think the only one we MIGHT actually see on the table is the last one. The rest are a joke.
New Magic Armour for The Old World
Armour of Dark Faith, 40 points.
Infantry or cavalry only. Light Armour. It allows you to re-roll armour saves, but if you lose a wound, it becomes mundane Light Armour.
Scale of False Promise, 35 points.
Infantry or cavalry only. Heavy Armour. The bearer gets +1 Toughness and +1 Wound, but also Stupidity. Every time you fail Stupidity, you get +1 to your subsequent Stupidity rolls (meaning it becomes more likely that you’ll fail it each time).
Mantle of Drifting Shadow, 20 points.
Infantry only. Light Armour. The bearer cannot be targeted by shooting attacks or spells from more than 6″ away (it doesn’t specify enemy spells, so you can’t cast Enchantments on them from more than 6″ away either).
They gain the Loner special rule and +1 Movement.
Of the 3 new armour items, this last one is going to see play, although less than it might seem for 2 reasons: first, it’s infantry only, and second, it might seem ideal for putting on a wizard, but wizards from many armies can’t cast magic if they’re wearing armour.
There are some combos you can do as well. In general, whenever you’re thinking about taking one of these items, put it on a character who doesn’t care about suffering the downside (for example, the Initiative penalty barely matters to the unit champion of the High Elf Sisters of Avelorn, because in principle she isn’t going to enter combat and, even if she does, she always attacks first).
New March of Chaos Talismans
Amulet of Spell Attraction, 25 points.
Once per turn, when a friendly unit within the bearer’s Command range is targeted by a Magic Missile or Hex, the bearer makes a Leadership test. If they pass it, the spell is resolved against the bearer instead of the original target, even if under normal circumstances the bearer could not be targeted by that spell.
I have doubts here: does a unit champion have a Command range? I’d say no. In that case, you couldn’t equip this on unit champions to tank spells, but it would be good, especially on a Skeleton or Grave Guard unit champion, since they can just be resurrected afterwards.
In any case, it lets a character with high Toughness protect vulnerable units from Magic Missiles like Fireballs and so on, or protect your deathstar from a Miasma that prevents it from charging, for example.
Periapt Of Soul Exchange, 20 points.
One use only. During your Command phase, the bearer can use it, killing D3 friendly models within their Command range and recovering as many Wounds as models killed.
At first, it might seem interesting for healing your typical general on a dragon/monster, but bear in mind that those characters normally already have their optimised combo of expensive magic items, and this is only going to restore 1D3 Wounds. Not to mention that the models have to be within their Command range (I’m not really taking this into account because your general’s Command range while on a Large Target is 18″, which is pretty wide, but if you don’t give it to your general and instead put it on another character… Command range is usually pretty short, even if they’re riding the biggest dragon in the game, so be careful with that).
Magic Standards from Arcane Journal: March of Chaos
The Banner of The Dark Heart, 50 points.
The unit cannot benefit from Inspiring Presence, but when it has to test for Panic, Fear or Terror, it can roll 3D6 and discard the highest result.
Way too expensive.
Standard of the Fell Warrior, 15 points:
One use only. During the Remaining Moves sub-phase, the unit can reform its ranks for free before moving normally (but it cannot wheel or make a Quick Turn).
Careful, because this happens after the Charges sub-phase. It’s not THAT useful.
New Enchanted Items in Warhammer The Old World
Ring of Doom, 25 points.
The bearer can cast Doombolt at Power Level 2 (the signature spell from Dark Magic). Each time they successfully cast it, roll a die. On a 4+, the bearer reduces their Toughness by 1, to a minimum of 1.
It’s not the best Magic Missile in the game, but 25 points at Power Level 2 isn’t bad. For a character who isn’t going to get into combat, it could be interesting.
Daemon-Blooded Steed, 15 points
Cavalry only. The bearer’s mount gains Impetuous, +1 Movement, +1 Strength and +1 Attack.
This one looks pretty good for the Wood Elf stag. Bear in mind that you can’t put it on your dragon to make it even stronger, because that isn’t cavalry, nor can you put it on a character riding a chariot, which would have been a good option for getting some use out of it.
I’m glad they limited it.
Elixir of Power, 15 points.
One use only. During their Command phase, the bearer can drink it, giving them +1 Strength, +1 Attack and +1 Initiative (to a maximum of 10) until the start of their next turn. When the effect ends, the bearer loses one Wound that cannot be saved by Regeneration.
If you’re reading through all these items one after another, here we have an item that makes you lose a Wound, while earlier we saw one that let you recover Wounds… the combo is right there, it’s pretty obvious, but I’m not sure it’s worth it.
March of Chaos Arcane Items for Old World
Rod of Might, 50 points
+1 to casting rolls, but Miscasts happen on natural double 1s and natural double 2s.
Scroll of Invocation (can be taken multiple times per army), 30 points
0-1 per wizard. One use only. It can be used instead of rolling the dice to cast a spell, meaning the spell is automatically cast at its minimum casting value. The enemy can attempt to dispel it normally.
I think it works well with the Lore of Illusion. A well-timed Crystal Column, a good Miasma… that can win you the game. This makes sure the spell always goes off and, with such a high base casting value, your opponent is going to have a hard time dispelling it (although if you can get outside their wizard’s dispel range, even better).
Infernal Familiar, 25 points
In addition to their normal spells, the wizard can choose either Doombolt (the signature spell from Dark Magic) or Winds of Chaos (the signature spell from Chaos Undivided). However, if they suffer a Miscast while using either of these two spells, they won’t be able to cast it again, in addition to suffering the normal effects of the Miscast.
Careful: it says they know the spell, not that they can cast more spells than their level normally allows, so I really don’t think it’s worth it. Neither of those two is among the best spells in the game either, to be honest.
Anyway, there are definitely a few good ones here that you can make use of, but something that really stands out to me is that, normally, the weapons they release are usually complete garbage. I don’t know if the classic great weapon is simply too good, but its advantages over weapons that cost far more points are usually pretty obvious.
I hope you find the post useful. Here are some related posts from the March of Chaos Arcane Journal.Bueno, ya sabéis cómo va esto: armas mágicas, armaduras, talismanes… lo separo así para que sea más fácil de leer y voy analizándolas todas.
Warhammer Battle March: All the New OPTIONAL Content
MAGIC UPDATES The March of Chaos in Warhammer The Old World: Arcane Journal EXPLAINED
High Elf Tier List in Warhammer The Old World: which units are worth it WITH Characters
Any errors in the post? feel free to reach out at theoldwarrior@theoldwarrior.com.