Games Workshop have now previewed the updated mechanics for the Combat Phase that you'll get to dive into with Warhammer: The Old World. Much like with the Shooting Phase, there are plenty of familiar concepts as well as some newer ideas for your Fantasy battles.

Empire Vs Orcs Art // Warhammer: The Old World

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The Combat Phase is split down into Choose & Fight, Calculate Result, Break Test, and Pursuit. Fighting happens in ranks (as you would have guessed) with typically only the front rank being able to get stuck into the clash of arms. If you're fighting rank is wider than your opponents, have no fear as your soldiers are counted as wrapping around so they can also add their blades into the swirling melee. Obviously, if you've got spears and such in the mix then that added reach means they can also help aid in the fighting.

Fights are resolved in Initiative Order but you'll get bonuses for charging as well as fighting your opponent in the flank or the rear. So, a slower unit might be able to get a bonus and fight first if they can set up their charge properly. When you're ready to hit, you turn to the classic To Hit Chart that a lot of folks will remember.

To Hit Chart // Warhammer: The Old World

As with shooting, you'll then compare strength and toughness to see if you wound your opponent and they'll make armour saves. From there, you dive into the awesome number-fest that is calculating your combat results. I don't miss doing this.

Combat Result Score // Warhammer: The Old World

Your Combat Result is dictated by the number of wounds that you've caused alongside your bonus ranks, if you have a standard and where you got attacked or attacked from. It's good that high ground also adds a bonus now which gives you a reason to hold hills and walls but once you've totalled all of this up, you'll find out who the winner is. The difference between your scores then dictates how much you take of your Leadership when it comes to passing your test to see how you retreat.

Break Test Example // Warhammer: The Old World

This example does a good job of covering how that actually plays out. It sounds more complicated than it is when you read the rules explanation but it either means that you step back from the fighting, fall back much further or break and flee.

The way that combat works now feels much more like the way that it plays out in Historical wargames which is no bad thing. What's quite interesting is that if you choose to pursue your foe, you can actually continue to fight on once again if they give ground or fall back in good order. As with classic Warhammer Fantasy Battles, if you catch a fleeing unit then they're utterly destroyed. This means that cavalry at the very least will feel a bit more like they should do I think.

All of this is coming together to give us a look at a Warhammer: The Old World that feels very similar to previous editions whilst also adding in new bits and pieces here and there. The additions seem like they make sense as well so they don't seem tacked on for the sake of it.

We also got to see some new spells that can be used during the Combat Phase including Hammerhand...

Hammerhand - Spell // Warhammer: The Old World

...and Soul Eater. Both are used when the Wizard finds themselves in combat which means that you won't just be keeping your spellcasters at the back of the battlefield away from harm. I suppose this does mean that they won't end up getting snacked on by sneaky ambush units all the time!

Soul Eater - Spell // Warhammer: The Old World

I am very interested to see what the launch of Warhammer: The Old World is going to be like now. With the rules preview coming to a close soon, it shouldn't be long before we get to know how Games Workshop intend to release The Old World.

I would guess we're going to see the Rulebook, a bunch of gubbins like regiment trays and such and the two armies (Kingdom Of Bretonnia and Tomb Kings Of Khemri) popping up around February time. Will we also see all of the books for the launch factions at the same time? Will we get the PDF lists too for those other factions not getting books? I sense it might be a bit like Legions Imperialis where a whole bunch of stuff lands in one big go.

What do you think of the updates to the Combat Phase?