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Unit Strength Old World Warhammer

Unit Strength has been a staple since earlier editions of Warhammer Fantasy, and it serves several purposes in The Old World.

The first thing to understand is that a model’s Unit Strength depends on its unit type. For example, War Beasts or infantry have Unit Strength 1, and Heavy Cavalry has Unit Strength 2—regardless of whether they are Vampire Knights or basic Imperial Knights.

A clarification: in The Old World, a model’s Unit Strength is independent of its base size. This matters because, for example, Squig Hoppers are Light Cavalry, even though they’re on 25 × 25 mm bases. Since they’re Light Cavalry with Unit Strength 2, enemies don’t suffer the -1 to hit penalty when shooting these guys.

Besides that, to score secondary objectives in Warhammer: The Old World games, certain requirements must also be met—one of which is having Unit Strength five or ten, depending on the specific objective (you can find more detail in this post about secondary objectives).

UNIT STRENGH theoldwarrior old world



Warhammer The Old World Unit Strength

It ties into several rules, which I’ll explain below, because in the rulebook they’re scattered across different pages, making them a pain to track:

  • If you charge an enemy in the flank or rear with a unit that has Unit Strength 5 or more, the enemy loses their rank bonus in combat resolution (as long as you maintain Unit Strength 5+).
  • Any Skirmisher unit with Unit Strength 1 gets a -1 to be hit when targeted by weapons that use Ballistic Skill (most ranged weapons). If they have more than Unit Strength 1, the -1 does not apply. So, when shooting at typical Light Cavalry Skirmishers, you don’t get the -1 to hit.
  • If you flee as a charge reaction when multiple enemy units declare a charge, you flee from the enemy unit with the highest Unit Strength. If they have equal Unit Strength, randomly determine which one you flee from.
  • If you must flee (or fall back in good order) from multiple units in combat, you flee from the enemy with the highest Unit Strength involved in that combat. If they have equal Unit Strength, randomly determine which one you flee from.
  • If you lose more than 25% of your Unit Strength due to enemy shooting, you must take a panic check immediately.
  • If a friendly unit with Unit Strength 5+ flees (or falls back in good order) from combat, all your units within 6 inches must take a panic check.
  • If a friendly unit with Unit Strength 5+ is destroyed, all your units within 6 inches must take a panic check.
  • Unit Strength is also used when determining whether an enemy will fall back in good order or flee after losing combat. If you have more than double the Unit Strength of your opponent, they flee. If not, they fall back in good order.
  • It also matters when rallying: if a unit is below half of its initial Unit Strength, it suffers -1 to its rally test.
  • In any combat involving at least one unit of infantry, the side with the higher combined infantry Unit Strength gains a +1 to combat resolution.
    Example: I have 20 Chaos Marauders facing off against 14 Imperial Knights, 13 Imperial Militia, and 12 Greatswords. I have 20 infantry Unit Strength; the enemy has 13 (Militia) + 12 (Greatswords) = 25. They have more, so they get +1 to combat resolution. (The 14 Knights don’t count for this.)
  • Burning the enemy baggage train requires a unit with at least Unit Strength 5.
  • If you have both Close Order formation and Unit Strength 10 or more, you gain +1 to combat resolution.

Unit Strength is what activates the Fear rule in The Old World.

If you try to charge an enemy unit that causes Fear and it has higher Unit Strength than your unit, you must take a Leadership test. If you fail, the charge is considered failed and you do not move.

If you’re engaged in close combat with an enemy unit that causes Fear and has higher Unit Strength than yours, you must take a Leadership test. If you fail, you suffer -1 to hit this turn—even if your attacks are directed at a different unit.

  • If you have more than double the Unit Strength of an enemy unit and you win the combat, any result of “fall back in good order” is automatically converted to a flee result.

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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!




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