Games Workshop are continuing its dive into Warhammer: The Old World with a look at Universal Special Rules. This is the collection of rules that you'll find within the main rulebook that cover the different factions battling it out on the tabletop. As an example, Games Workshop showed off the statistics for the Grail Knights of Bretonnia.

Bretonnian Knight Art // Warhammer: The Old World

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The designers mentioned that there are around seventy-five of these Universal Special Rules (USR) in the game. Because they're all in one place, including the rules for Psychology, Unit Coherence and Monsters, this means that you should be able to get your head around how other units work in the game without having to dive into your opponent's Army Book or ask them at the tabletop. I always see this as a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it's great to have access to all of these in one place but then it also means you'll have to do a lot of reading! I reckon you might want to keep that book ribbon in a good place when the book arrives.

Anywhere, here are the statistics for the Grail Knights as a guide to what will be included within a unit entry.

Grail Knights Statistics // Warhammer: The Old World

As you can see, there are some specific USR there that are only applicable to the Bretonnians but then others that are more widely used. Close Order and Counter Charge are rules that you'll find attached to different regiments in the game whilst Blessings Of The Lady is a very special rule. Talking of Blessings Of The Lady, it works much like you remember. You give up going first during the battle and instead, pray for the protection of the Lady Of The Lake. You'll get a 6+ Ward Save and 5+ against wounds of Strength five or higher. This stays in play until a unit flees or a character declines a challenge.

Lance // Warhammer: The Old World

Other examples include Counter Charge as we mentioned above which allows you (in this case) to spur your horses and charge against your opponent as they rush forward. Both units count as charging and you'll use Initiative to determine who fights first. You've also got special rules attached to weapons like Armour Bane. This (as seen above) adds a bonus slice of Armour Piercing to your attacks as you clash with your foes.

You've also got USR tied into elements like your Magic Weapons and Magic Standards. For example, the Dragon Slaying Sword has the Monster Slayer rule which is good for carving up beasts. Magical Attacks should (if I remember my Warhammer) allow you to battle creatures like spirits and other ghostly creatures!

Special Rules & Magic Weapons // Warhammer: The Old World

If you'd like to know more about the different USR that are featured here, you can find out more in the Warhammer Community Article. It all sounds good to me and I think it'll be fun to see the depth and nuance that will be brought to different armies when Warhammer: The Old World lands.

What USR are you hoping to see return?