Alongside the release of the new Chaos Marauders and Marauder Horsemen comes Arcane Journal: The Razing of Westerland. Keen to find out more about the contents of this ruinous tome, we ventured into the blasted wasteland of the Warhammer Studio for an audience with the Warhammer:The Old World game developers and endeavoured to tease from them what secrets we could.
JTY: Arcane Journal: The Razing of Westerland returns to the northern shores of the Empire, where Frydaal the Chainmaker has carved a significant fiefdom for herself from lands stolen from the people of Westerland. This bloody conflict has raged for several long years by this point, and even though the arrival of the Storm Dragon at the head of a great host of Grand Cathay’s finest warriors has inspired the armies of Westerland to victory, her intervention has similarly roused ever more aspiring champions of Chaos to lead their warbands of Chaos Marauders south and join the fighting.
This Arcane Journal contains a variety of new rules, all inspired by these events. First up, the Path to Glory campaigns section introduces rules for slow growth campaigns, in which the participants start with small, Battle March sized armies (as described in Arcane Journal: The War of Settra’s Fury). The participants add to these armies over a number of campaign phases, eventually playing games with armies of 2,000 points or more.
Danny: With rules for developing characters and units as they survive battles and earn veteran status, it’s a fun way for new players to grow their collection whilst learning the rules, and a great motivator for existing players to collect a new army. These rules are also accompanied by three new scenarios based on battles fought in Westerland, two of which are designed for games of Battle March.
JTY: To accompany the new models, we’ve taken the opportunity to update the Chaos Marauder and Marauder Horsemen profiles*. For most players, these will be familiar as there are no huge changes to characteristics or options. Where it gets interesting is in regard to how the Marauder Tribes show their allegiance to the Chaos Gods.
Marauder units all have the Mark of Chaos Undivided, meaning they can be joined by characters with any Mark of Chaos, but no longer have access to the Marks of the individual gods. Instead, Marauder units can belong to one of the four Chaotic Cults – the Bloodied Hound, the Carrion Crow, the Slithering Serpent, and the Fell Raptor. These rules are unique to Marauders, and each confers a significant and thematic bonus, but only for a single round of the battle. Thematically, this change represents the beliefs of the Marauder Tribes as they implore the gods for their blessing. Champions, Knights, and Warriors of Chaos, by contrast, have already earned the gods’ blessings and, to reflect this, bear the Marks of Chaos.
Danny: There are also rules for Chaotic Traits. These are upgrades that can be purchased for characters and units, including those in Arcane Journal: Warriors of Chaos, representing the various corruptions of the mind, body, or spirit displayed amongst the servants of the Ruinous Powers. From enhanced Toughness to increased charge ranges or Magic Resistance, these options offer you a variety of ways to outfit your servants of Chaos.
JTY: The book also includes a new Lore of Magic, the Lore of the Shadowlands. Available for all Sorcerers of Chaos, these spells reflect the dark and twisted nature of the Shadowlands, giving practitioners of magic the ability to cast spells such as Chains of Darkness, which reduces the Movement and Leadership characteristics of enemy units, or Crawling Mists, a powerful spell that can give friendly units the Reserve Move special rule.
Danny: Finally, there are several pages of new magic items, but unlike those found in other Arcane Journals, these are common magic items, like those found in the Warhammer: The Old World rulebook. Themed around the tainted artefacts found in the Shadowlands, this list of magic items includes such dubious treasures as the Cackling Blade, a deadly weapon that gives its wielder D6 additional attacks, but that might turn on them, or the Levitating Shield, a strange item that seems to place itself between its bearer and the foe, freeing the bearer’s hands for other things, such as wielding a two-handed weapon!
Whether you’re a devoted servant of the Ruinous Powers, or a stalwart defender of the Old World, there’s plenty of content in this Arcane Journal to enjoy.
Thanks to JTY and Danny for this glimpse of what you can expect in Arcane Journal: The Razing of Westerland, which you can pre-order from Saturday, alongside the Chaos Marauders Army Reinforcement Set.
* For anyone without this Arcane Journal, these updated profiles will be included in the next FAQ and errata update. This is scheduled for the end of January and will include a number of balance updates for factions old and new, based on your feedback since the 1.5 update in July. We plan to keep releasing updated FAQ and errata at regular intervals, so please don’t hesitate to contact us with your questions at: oldworldfaq@gwplc.com. And we love hearing tales of your adventures on the battlefield just as much as we enjoy receiving your questions!
