TABLETOP NEWS | WARHAMMER: THE OLD WORLD
Some fantasy campaigns promise glory, treasure and a stirring charge into the sunset. Games Workshop’s newly revealed The Doom of Lord Carrard makes its intentions rather less mysterious. A Bretonnian baron is riding into Nehekhara, and the name of the book is already doing a fine job of spoiling his chances.
Revealed on 9 November 2026, the new Arcane Journal brings a narrative campaign for Warhammer: The Old World, alongside fresh themed rules for the Kingdom of Bretonnia and Tomb Kings of Khemri. There’s also a 46-miniature Tomb Kings Battle March army box intended to work as a smaller-game starting force.
A journey into the land of the dead
The campaign follows Lord Carrard from the Badlands into the heart of ancient Nehekhara. Games Workshop confirms four new scenarios: two for standard-sized battles and two for the smaller Battle March format. This is a useful choice. A narrative supplement is easier to get around the table when players can attempt part of the story without assembling two enormous armies.
The army-building additions have different flavours. Bretonnian generals can organise a Questing Host, while Tomb Kings players can build forces themed around one of Nehekhara’s six ancient dynasties. Games Workshop has not published the full rules in the reveal, so we should not pretend to know which will be strongest or how they will play competitively.
What’s inside the new Tomb Kings Battle March box?
The accompanying Tomb Kings of Khemri Battle March set is built around familiar undead troops, with a small mobile element and a handful of monstrous constructs:
- 2 Royal Heralds: one on foot, one mounted
- 18 Skeleton Warriors
- 18 Skeleton Archers
- 5 Skeleton Horsemen
- 3 Sepulchral Stalkers
That’s 46 models in total. More importantly, Games Workshop says the box can be assembled as a Battle March army straight from the contents. The smaller format previously introduced for The Old World uses armies of roughly 400–750 points, according to Games Workshop’s published explanation of the mode.
Why Battle March matters more than the model count
A smaller format isn’t automatically a cheap hobby. You’re still buying, assembling and painting a collection, and a forty-six-model box can represent plenty of evenings at a painting desk. But it does give prospective players a clearer target. Instead of waiting until a substantial army is finished, the appeal is to collect a cohesive force, learn the rules and get a game in.
The Tomb Kings composition also offers a surprisingly good hobby journey: ranks of skeletons to practise efficient batch painting, cavalry for colour and heraldry, and the Sepulchral Stalkers as a visual centrepiece. For a newcomer, those are manageable painting milestones rather than an endless pile of unrelated kits. The question of value is still open until a UK retail price is confirmed.
Our take: the right kind of expansion
What caught our attention isn’t simply another lore book, enjoyable as that may be. It’s the pairing of a campaign with a play format that people might actually find time to finish. Two full-sized scenarios for established collections, two Battle March scenarios for more compact forces: that gives clubs and friends a way to approach the same story from different levels of investment.
It also points towards an appealing future for The Old World. Larger battles are part of the spectacle, but smaller narratives can bring more people to the table and give new collectors a reason to keep building after their first finished units. We would love to see how far Games Workshop takes that approach.
Availability: Games Workshop says the Arcane Journal and Tomb Kings Battle March box will be available to pre-order soon. No confirmed UK price or exact pre-order date was provided in the announcement.
Official sources: The Doom of Lord Carrard reveal, 9 November 2026 and Games Workshop’s Battle March format explanation. This is announcement-based editorial commentary, not a review of the rules or miniatures.