Warhammer The Old World gets new Chaos versus Grand Cathay core set
Warhammer: The Old World’s 54-model, two-army core set pairs Chaos banners, knights and a two-headed dragon against Grand Cathay’s jade host.
Warhammer Community used the Big Summer Preview to unveil a new Warhammer: The Old World core set built around Chaos and Grand Cathay, and it is the first Old World starter to include two armies. The 54 miniatures are points-matched for balanced games straight out of the box, which makes the box as practical for tabletop play as it is tempting for painters looking for a fresh batch of armored trim, standards, and square-based regiments.
The Chaos half is the sharpest invitation to lean into grime, brass, and corruption. The set includes 1 Aspiring Champion on a Daemonic Mount, 1 Aspiring Champion with Battle Standard, 16 Chaos Warriors and 4 Chaos Knights, and the mounted Champion can be built as a Chaos Lord, Exalted Champion, or Aspiring Champion. That flexibility gives the command models real hobby range, from a banner-heavy centerpieces to a more brutal, stripped-down warlord. The new Chaos Knights, clad in heavy plate and armed with great lances, look built for dark metallics and weathering, while the Chaos Warriors, with horned helmets and jagged weapons, are the kind of rank-and-file kit that rewards steady edge highlights and filthy recess shading.
The biggest display-project temptation is the new Chaos Dragon, which can alternatively be built as a Sorcerer on Chaos Dragon. A preview video described it as a ferocious two-headed Chaos Dragon, pushing it well past simple army filler and into centerpiece territory for monster painters who like to spend weeks on a single model. The core set also includes the updated rulebook, Battle March for smaller games in the 400 to 750 point range, and Battle March: General’s Companion, which adds scenarios, campaign rules, and extra magic items. Arcane Journal: The March of Chaos goes further, adding a new Army of Infamy that combines Warriors of Chaos with Beastman Brayherds, plus new ways for Wizards to manipulate the Winds of Magic.
Grand Cathay gives the box its clean counterweight. The faction had already arrived as the first completely new army for The Old World, with a prior 50-miniature battalion box built around 30 Jade Warriors, 10 Jade Lancers and two artillery pieces, and its realm is ruled by the immortal Celestial Dragon Emperor Xen Yang, who has held power for more than five thousand years. Set against Chaos on square bases in the World of Legend, the new core set reads like two different painting problems in one box, one built around corrupted armor, banners and mutation, the other around disciplined jade ranks and a brighter imperial finish. Arcane Magic Ploys and the re-released Common Magic Items and Lores of Magic packs round out a release that gives painters a lot of surface area before the first die is rolled.
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