Warhammer The Old World Battle March

Since The Old World came out, people have been looking for ways to adapt the game to small 500 or 1000-point battles.

Well, Games Workshop has heard your prayers.

They’ve released a game mode in the new Arcane Journal: War of Settra’s Fury where:

Games last 5 turns instead of 6.
Armies are between 500 and 750 points.
It also lets you use these rules for an allied contingent in a larger army (2000–3000 points).

Let’s get to it!

THEOLDWARRIOR battle march new arcane journal dark elf

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:

See the Deal on Wayland

Secondary objectives/missions in Battle March

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.

THEOLDWARRIOR battle march new arcane journal daemon

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
5-6 Opposed Flanks

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 die 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.

Storm Dragon’s Dawn Arcane Journal

A rules supplement for Warhammer: The Old World
Explore the Armies of Grand Cathay even further, and ally them with the Empire of Man
Includes additional rules for terrain, multiplayer battles, and a selection of linked scenarios

$24.65

Buy on Amazon

Honestly, I don’t know what to think about all this.

On the one hand, it seems like this Arcane Journal as a whole is a bit light on content (I’ve linked the other three posts below where I explain the content in four quick minutes: Slayer Hosts, Renegade Crowns, and updates for Tomb Kings).

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.

Anyway, here’s what I promised:

Warhammer The Old World Battle March: The New Skirmish Mode