Fantasy Flight Games

Chaos in the Old World: The Horned Rat Expansion

Published 7 November 2014 | Chaos in the Old World

Chaos in the Old World: The Horned Rat Expansion

Learn More About This Expansion for Chaos in the Old World

Chaos in the Old World and its expansion are © 2009 & 2011 Games Workshop Ltd. Games Workshop, Warhammer, Chaos in the Old World, its expansion title and all associated marks, logos, places, names, creatures, races and race insignia/devices/logos/symbols, vehicles, locations, weapons, units and unit insignia, characters and illustrations from the Warhammer world and Chaos in the Old World game setting are either ®, TM and/or © Games Workshop Ltd. 2009-2013, variably registered in the UK and other countries around the world. These editions published under license to Fantasy Flight Publishing, Inc. Fantasy Flight Supply is a trademark of Fantasy Flight Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved to their respective owners.

The Ruinous Powers Bestow Dark Knowledge

Published 26 August 2011 | Chaos in the Old World

The Ruinous Powers Bestow Dark Knowledge

The FAQ for Chaos in the Old World Has Been Updated

Their slinking, furred shapes infested the broken city, feasting on the fallen and pulling down the weak... The manlings stood back to back and fought for their lives, but against the implacable ferocity and countless numbers of the verminous horde their weapons were useless. The tide of monstrous rats flowed over them one by one, dragging them down to be torn apart, the yellow chisel-teeth sinking into their soft flesh, the dark furred mass drowning their pitiful screams with their hideous chattering.
-From a translation of the Tilean folk tale “The Doom of Kavzar"

Bask in the dark favour of the Ruinous Powers! The FAQ for Chaos in the Old World (pdf, 1 MB) has been updated, and includes answers to your questions about The Horned Rat expansion.

Bring Clarity to Chaos

While listing only two errata, this comprehensive Chaos in the Old World FAQ includes answers to nearly 60 questions collected from the player community. Download it below or on our support page, then race towards the ruination of the Old World armed with the dark knowledge of the Ruinous Powers!

Chaos in the Old World FAQ v2.0 (pdf, 1 MB)

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A Rat in Your Game Group

Published 26 May 2011 | Chaos in the Old World

A Rat in Your Game Group

The Horned Rat Expansion for Chaos in the Old World Is Now Available

Far below the raging battlefields of the Old World lies a labyrinth of tunnels, home to a savage breed of creatures determined to bring ruin to the world above. These vermin are considered myth by the unwitting citizens of the Empire, but those who have seen the horrors of the Old World will quickly rebuke such claims. The Skaven are all too real, and they are coming...

The Horned Rat expansion for Chaos in the Old World is now on sale at your local retailer and on our webstore! While the four Ruinous Powers continue to compete against each other to become the principle Ruiner of the Old World, the legions of the verminous Skaven have found the opportune time to spread the corruption of their sinister god.

A New Player, An Old Agenda

By adding a fifth player to the game, introducing terrible new events, and including all new upgrade and Power cards for the four Ruinous Powers, The Horned Rat expansion gives players all new ways of toppling the Old World.

The Horned Rat expansion includes a new playable power, the Horned Rat, designed to accommodate a fifth player in your games of Chaos in the Old World. Armed with a legion of Skaven followers, the Horned Rat player uses numbers and subterfuge to his advantage, scoring points by spreading the Skaven’s teeming masses across the Old World.

Gifts from the Accursed Moon

But the Skaven are not the only ones to receive favours from their god. The Horned Rat expansion also provides each Ruinous Power from Chaos in the Old World with all new decks of Chaos cards and upgrade cards, collectively referred to as the Morrslieb set. These new cards will change the way players interact with each other, creating a completely new game environment.

New Challenges

Ready for an even greater challenge?

The Horned Rat expansion also adds several new expert-level Old World cards, used to create an even more challenging play environment. While these cards can simply be shuffled into your existing deck of Old World cards, experienced players can also choose to play the Realm of Chaos Variant, using only these cards when constructing the Old World deck.

Read our in-depth previews: Devious Intellect, Feverish Blood, Seduction and Control, and Capturing the Verminous Horde, or download the rules for The Horned Rat expansion (pdf, 384 KB) from the Chaos in the Old World support section. Then, head to your local retailer and prepare to join the battle for dominance!

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Capturing The Verminous Horde

Published 18 May 2011 | Chaos in the Old World

Capturing The Verminous Horde

A Preview of The Horned Rat Expansion for Chaos in the Old World

The Horned Rat expansion for Chaos in the Old World will scurry onto store shelves next week! Today, we’re pleased to present a look at this highly anticipated expansion by designer Jay Little, who agreed to share his insights into the new fifth power.

Designing The Horned Rat expansion for Chaos in the Old World was an exciting challenge. The core experience is a tightly balanced game that blends asymmetric goals and multiple paths to victory in a way that keeps players engaged throughout the entire game. Adjusting the four Ruinous Powers was daunting enough – it took a lot of work and playtesting to capture each Chaos God’s unique play style and theme in a fresh way that remains balanced.

Adding a whole new fifth player… well, that presented an even greater challenge. Researching the lore and history of the Skaven was key to making sure the new player power felt distinct from the original game’s Chaos Gods. On the surface, there are some similarities between Skaven and several of the Ruinous Powers. The plague monks and diseases of Clan Pestilens have a Nurgle vibe, while Skaven society’s fixation with warpstone and the powerful magic of the Grey Seers is reminiscent of Tzeentch.

The first step in the process was to define those aspects of Skavendom we wanted to represent mechanically in the game. Three themes soon rose to the surface. First, the idea of a seething, verminous horde and the overwhelming numbers the Skaven can bring to bear. Next, the Skaven’s skittishness, and how it sometimes manifests as incredible mobility and quickness. Finally, Skaven are notorious for trying to steal credit from each other and claim victory from another’s efforts, and are equally quick to blame others for their own failures.

Overwhelming Odds

Several of the Skaven’s Chaos Cards play up the concept of outnumbering their opponents. For example, Strength in Numbers increases Skaven figures’ defense when they outnumber another player in a region, while Verminous Horde makes it more costly for opponents to summon units or play Chaos Cards in a region crawling with Skaven. Skaven work well when massing together in regions.

The sheer number of Cultist units the Skaven player has to work with (eleven!) also plays to this theme. And the Skaven has plenty of ways to bring all of these forces to bear.

Breeding Like Rats...

Skaven have the most units of any of the player powers, and they’ve got the tools to get them on the board quickly and efficiently. As you may recall from an earlier preview, the Skaven’s dial advancements include the ability to summon figures directly to the board – a reward unique to the Skaven player.

Additionally, the Skaven Grey Seer Chaos Card allows them to quickly get their Cultists into play, letting them lock down a valuable Chaos Card slot while getting two Cultists for the price of one. And if that’s not enough, the Clan Rats Cultist Upgrade allows the Skaven Player to potentially summon one additional free Clan Rat when spreading across the Old World. This combo can potentially allow the Skaven player to summon six Clan Rats into the same region during a single Summoning phase for only three power!

… From a Sinking Ship

An earlier preview showcased the Skitterleap Chaos Card, a signature power in the Skaven player’s arsenal. Skitterleap lets the Skaven player send his seething mass of verminkind sweeping across the map, potentially setting up some pretty interesting combos. While potent on its own, the Skaven player greatly increases Skitterleap’s usefulness (and improves his overall versatility) if he acquires The Under Empire upgrade.

A complex network of tunnels running below the Old World, the Under Empire allows the Skaven easy access to regions across the board. And with several ways to influence the placement of Skaven tokens, the Skaven could potentially Skitterleap from Norsca to the Badlands, or move their figures out of a ruined region into another region on the opposite side of the board – for free.

Stealing Defeat from the Jaws of Victory

Early on in the design process, we knew we did not want a fifth player placing corruption tokens on the board. But corruption and the victory points for Ruination are too integral to the Chaos in the Old World experience to keep the Skaven from interacting with those elements. We also wanted to create incentive for the Skaven player to summon units into the thick of the action, rather than always running away with his tail between his legs.

By having his units count as corruption when scoring a ruined region, the Skaven player can earn a lot of points by summoning a few units into a region with his last few power points. Thematically, the Skaven jump in at the last minute and take credit for all the hard work the other powers have done tipping the region into ruin.

But by doing so, the Skaven player also paints a big target on his units. After all, if the other players can knock all the Skaven units out of a region the turn it falls into ruin, the Skaven player will miss out on any potential ruination scoring. The decisions on where and how many units to summon may have greater implications for the Skaven player than any of the Ruinous Powers.

Domination Complication

Even the Skaven’s dial advancement condition reflects the Skaven’s self-defeating nature. The Skaven player earns one dial advancement token each time he dominates a region with one or more Skaven tokens. Since each Skaven token lowers a region’s resistance by one, it actually makes it easier to dominate regions with Skaven tokens. But it’s easier for everyone, not just the Skaven player!

If the Slaanesh player has Fall From Grace or the Keeper of Secrets upgrade (or both!) he’ll be more than happy to invade regions with Skaven tokens, as he’ll be able to quickly rack up points – potentially dominating a high-yield region with a single figure. Nurgle’s Infested Colony upgrade makes regions with Skaven tokens tempting targets, as well – the Infested Colony allows Nurgle to place two corruption in a region he dominates!

And if Khorne didn’t already have enough incentive to perform some pest control, two of Khorne’s new upgrades make domination more attractive. The Bloodsworn upgrade lets Khorne count each cultist as two figures when determining domination, while the Crimson Tide upgrade allows Khorne to draw a Chaos Card each time he dominates a region.

On the Right Track

I knew we were getting closer and closer to achieving the right balance after reviewing the trends over months of playtesting. There were a number of nail-biting finishes, and more and more games ending with multiple players “crossing the finish line” during the same round. We were also very pleased with how often each of the different powers were able to take advantage of both dial advancement and victory point strategies.

Playtests were ending closely. Some players were reaching the end of their Threat Dials the same round other players crossed the 50 Victory Point threshold. We saw Khorne racking up Victory Points. We saw Nurgle get four dial advances in one turn (advances, not just tokens – if he can pull off the combo, Nurgle actually has the ability to gain five dial advances in one turn).

In one particularly memorable playtest, two players hit the 50 victory point threshold at the same time. Nurgle ended up ahead of the Horned Rat 52-50 after scoring Ruined regions, and thought he had the victory wrapped up. Then when threat dials were evaluated, Tzeentch was able to double-tick his dial, with the second tick revealing the Score 5 VP advance -- taking him from 48 points to 53 for the win! Slaanesh was close behind with 45 points, and Khorne one tick away from a dial victory.

The Horned Rat expansion aims to retain the delicate balance and player interaction of the original game, while adding some interesting combinations, synergies, and tricks to master. We hope you find this addition to Chaos in the Old World as exciting as we do.

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The Horned Rat Rises

Published 12 May 2011 | Chaos in the Old World

The Horned Rat Rises

The Rules for The Horned Rat Are Now in the Support Section

Even as verminous hordes of vile Skaven enter the fight for supremacy of the Old World, all hope is not lost. Countless men and women struggle daily against the forces of Chaos, and a chosen few even rise as heroes to combat its agents directly. Moreover, the mysterious winds of fate may take a hand in foiling the plans of the dark gods, bringing welcome relief to the beleaguered inhabitants of the Empire. With luck and tenacity, the masses might stymy the will of the Ruinous Powers altogether, earning a well-deserved, if temporary, respite.

The Horned Rat, the upcoming expansion to Chaos in the Old World, will be on store shelves soon – making now the perfect time to reserve your copy at your friendly local game store! So far, we’ve seen a brief overview of the Horned Rat’s dial and strategy, and we saw how the alternate Morrslieb Set will bring new strategies to Khorne, Nurgle, Tzeentch, and Slaanesh.

Prepare yourself for the coming conflict; the rules for The Horned Rat (pdf, 348 KB) are now available in the support section. In addition, keep reading for a sneak peek at the new Expert Old World Cards, an optional variant that adds new challenges to the struggle for supremacy!

Realm of Chaos

Players looking to increase the challenge of dominating the Old World can use the new “Expert-level Old World” cards in one of two ways. First, you might simply shuffle these nine cards into your existing supply of 28 Old World cards, then draw your game’s Old World deck as usual (the card backs are identical to ensure randomization). This will result in few, if any, Expert-level Old World cards entering a given game.

The second option, called the Realm of Chaos Variant, will tests the limits of your sanity as a constant barrage of brutal game-changing events are drawn each and every turn. In this variant, the Old World deck is built exclusively of Expert-level cards, resulting in an experience in which the Old World will quite likely stand victorious over the players!

Three of the Expert-level Old World Cards. Click to enlarge.

Visit your favorite retailer to place your pre-order today, and keep checking back for more on The Horned Rat!

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Seduction and Control

Published 2 May 2011 | Chaos in the Old World

Seduction and Control

A Preview of The Horned Rat Expansion for Chaos in the Old World

While the town of Mironia slept, the fog rose from the Blighted Marshes and engulfed the Tilean village. None marked the furtive scuffling of clawed feet across the cobblestones, the eyes of their verminous owners reflecting crimson in the flickering light. But by morning every citizen, like the fog, had disappeared. Only smoking ruins remained and these too, in time, would be claimed by the rising swampland.

Back in March, we announced the upcoming release of The Horned Rat, an expansion for Chaos in the Old World that brings an exciting new faction to the war over the grim and perilous Warhammer setting. As the Ruinous Powers contend for dominance of the Old World, legions of verminous Skaven have found the perfect opportunity to spread the influence of their sinister god.

Last time, we looked at the alternate collection of Chaos and upgrade cards known as the “Morrslieb set,” and we saw what new tricks are in store for Khorne and Nurgle. Today, we’ll continue our tour of these variant cards, and we’ll see what new powers await Tzeentch, the Changer of Ways, and Slaanesh, the Prince of Pleasure.

The Changer Changes

Fans of Tzeentch’s controlling style of play will be pleased to find that The Horned Rat Expansion brings even more surprise performances to his repertoire. Strategically, Tzeentch has always been flexible enough to achieve victory either by dial advancement or victory points, and the Morrslieb set preserves this versatility. Where it stands apart, however, is in the direct level of control it gives Tzeentch, both over cards and figures.

The Changer of Ways has plenty of new tricks up his sleeve, but more importantly, he has the means to acquire them. Tzeentch has always been able to rapidly move through his Chaos deck, giving him a constant stream of options. Didn’t get the card you want? Even a Chaos card that seems to have no applicable use in a given situation can be turned to your advantage with Tzeentch’s Acolyte upgrade, which lets you use any Chaos card as a shield against incoming damage. For that matter, you might use a less-than-useful card draw as fuel for your Warp Portal, a Chaos card that allows for rapid mobility.

Or, you might use it to block an opponent’s impending card effect. Your foes will alternately love and hate you should you choose the Mystical Disregard upgrade, which allows you to place a Chaos card on top of an opponent’s Chaos card, canceling its effect!

Make Kings Your Pawns

Speaking of control, the Morrslieb set brings the Prince of Pleasure whole new ways to seduce the aristocracy of the Old World. Slaanesh is likewise fully capable of winning through either dial advancement or victory points, but you’d do well to choose your strategy as early as possible so that you can begin laying the groundwork.

The upgrade cards Fall from Grace and Rise to Glory, for example, are designed to accentuate this dichotomous decision. With Fall from Grace, you can maximize your dial advancements by concentrating your corruption tokens in certain regions. Alternatively, Rise to Glory helps you score victory points through domination. Either way, you’ll want plenty of Noble tokens on the board. But how should you achieve this?

Your Keeper of Secrets is worth three Nobles, representing his constant sway over the minds of his enraptured populace. Need more Nobles on the board? Debauchery is one versatile option. If you’ve pooled the existing Nobles in one place, you’ll gain power. If not, you’ll gain more Nobles.

The Skaven menace is growing by the day, as the Old World edges ever closer to their emergence from the Under-Empire. Head to your favorite retailer to pre-order The Horned Rat Expansion today, and keep checking back for more!

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Feverish Blood

Published 19 April 2011 | Chaos in the Old World

Feverish Blood

A Look at the Upcoming Horned Rat Expansion for Chaos in the Old World

All decent folk find the common rat repulsive. Harbinger of disease, it scavenges on our waste-heaps and frightens our children. How immeasurably worse then is the Skaven – standing on its hindlegs in foul parody of a human. Rats as tall as men, and blessed with the most vile intellect and cunning. They are the dark side of our souls, come to destroy us for our sins.
-Albrecht of Nuln, Burned at the stake, IC 1301 for pernicious declamation

Last month, we announced the upcoming release of The Horned Rat, an expansion for Chaos in the Old World that brings an exciting new faction to the war over the grim and perilous Warhammer setting. As the Dark Gods of Chaos vie for control, the legions of the verminous Skaven have found the opportune time to spread the influence of their sinister god.

In our last preview, we looked at an overview of the Horned Rat faction, including its dial and a few of its Chaos cards. But while the verminous horde presents a formidable new adversary, the four Ruinous Powers are not without new tricks of their own. Players of the existing powers can agree to use the original set of Chaos and upgrade cards, or they can decide to use the alternative “Morrslieb set,” which introduces a host of new options and strategies. Today, we’ll take a look at these alternative play styles, and we’ll see what’s in store for Khorne, the battle-crazed Blood God, and Nurgle, the vile Lord of Decay.

Points for the Blood God!

Of all the enhancements brought by the Morrslieb set, those imparted to Khorne are perhaps the least subtle (in typical Khorne fashion). That is to say that while the other Ruinous Powers receive alternate strategies that are largely nuanced, Khorne’s variant strategy is immediately obvious: Accumulate Victory Points. Mind you, this doesn’t mean that Khorne’s potential to win through dial advancement has been greatly hindered. Instead, the Morrslieb set simply makes Khorne’s second path to victory more viable than ever before.

But don’t think that just because Khorne may seem to want to occasionally dominate (or even ruin) a region, that he’s become some sort of pacifist. Indeed, many of his new upgrade and Chaos cards are geared toward rewarding him with points for doing what he does best: spilling blood. With his alternate Bloodletters upgrade, Khorne gains Victory Points when his fearsome Bloodletters claim the skulls of their foes.

And even when Khorne vies for domination, it might merely be as a means to some other end. His Bloodsworn upgrade lets his cultists count as two figures toward domination, and coupled with his Crimson Tide upgrade, this can be a great way to fill his hand with more Chaos cards.

Speaking of Chaos cards, the Morrslieb set gives Khorne a number of ways to overtake his cowardly prey... including the Skaven, who are adept at scurrying away from a fight. Lambs to the Slaughter compels his enemies to come to him, while Terror will let Khorne corral them from one region to another!

The Contagion Spreads

Veterans of Chaos in the Old World will agree that while Khorne’s most likely path to victory has always been his dial, Nurgle has traditionally stuck to the Victory Point track. So if the Morrslieb set makes Victory Points more viable for Khorne, does the inverse apply for Nurgle?

Essentially, yes, although in Nurgle’s case this remains a considerable challenge due to his especially lengthy dial. A few alternate Chaos cards help to change that, however. Festering Fever awards a dial advancement counter if Nurgle dominates the region in which it was placed, and while expensive, Nurgle’s Quest can be worthwhile in delivering an immediate dial tick.

Players of Father Nurgle will also find increased mobility. And thanks to a few specific cards, they must no longer be shackled to the populous regions that cut through the heart of the board. The upgrade card Cavalcade of Decay will force your opponents to think twice about where they dispatch their own Cultists, since in doing so they may aid you in your dial advancement condition! Meanwhile, Virulent Outbreak is a great way to keep your aggressors guessing. You’ll appear harmless as you place Cultists in the Badlands or Norsca... until you declare those regions populous and steal away a couple of dial advancements!

Rest assured that through meticulous playtesting, the Horned Rat design team worked to ensure that not only do these alternate Morrslieb set cards give a range of new strategic options, they deliver a whole new “feel” to each of the Ruinous Powers, all while remaining thematically faithful and preserving the delicate sense of balance that fans of Chaos in the Old World have come to expect.

Look for The Horned Rat expansion later this quarter, and keep checking back for more!

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Devious Intellect

Published 6 April 2011 | Chaos in the Old World

Devious Intellect

A preview of The Horned Rat, the upcoming Chaos in the Old World expansion

Their slinking, furred shapes infested the broken city, feasting on the fallen and pulling down the weak... The manlings stood back to back and fought for their lives, but against the implacable ferocity and countless numbers of the verminous horde their weapons were useless. The tide of monstrous rats flowed over them one by one, dragging them down to be torn apart, the yellow chisel-teeth sinking into their soft flesh, the dark furred mass drowning their pitiful screams with their hideous chattering. -From a translation of the Tilean folk tale “The Doom of Kavzar”

Last month, we announced the upcoming release of The Horned Rat, an expansion for Chaos in the Old World that brings an exciting new faction to the war over the grim and perilous Warhammer setting. While the four Ruinous Powers continue to compete against each other, the legions of the verminous Skaven have found the opportune time to spread the influence of their sinister god.

But how, specifically, do the Skaven go about furthering their dark agenda? Today, we’ll take a closer look at the Horned Rat faction, including its dial, its advancement condition, and several Chaos and upgrade cards necessary to bring their strategy together.

Lying in Wait

Players who appreciate the carefully constructed mechanics of Chaos in the Old World will be pleased to find that The Horned Rat Expansion changes none of the fundamental gameplay, but instead seamlessly integrates its new faction into the existing experience. Through diligent attention to the game’s overall balance (as well as months of rigorous playtesting) the Horned Rat design team worked to ensure that this new power feels as if it were part of Chaos in the Old World from the beginning.

For example, like the existing Ruinous Powers, the Horned Rat player can achieve ultimate conquest over the Old World through one of two familiar paths: Victory Points or Dial Advancement. And like his opponents, he earns Victory Points through domination and ruination, all the while seeking valuable upgrade cards as rewards for satisfying his Dial Advancement Condition.

Opportunists and Scavengers

Unlike his opponents, however, the Horned Rat player may not directly take part in causing the ruination of a region... but that shouldn’t stop him from the reaping the rewards.

This is because none of the Horned Rat’s figures place corruption tokens. Instead, the Horned Rat guides his verminous masses around the board seeking to score points through Domination, all the while waiting for some other dark god to do his dirty work for him.

When his opponents manage to ruin a region by amassing the necessary corruption and Warpstone tokens, the Horned Rat seizes the opportunity to steal away their credit. First, if he has at least one figure in the ruined region, he counts as a “participating ruiner” and receives the appropriate “bonus” points. Second, when tallying corruption to determine the first and second place ruiners, the Horned Rat may count the combined power cost of his present figures against the corruption tokens of the other gods!

With impressive mobility (granted by few helpful Chaos cards) and massive numbers (11 Clan Rat cultists!), the Horned Rat is the master of being in the right place at the right time, leaving the existing Chaos gods to balance their animosity toward each other with the ever-present need to keep the chittering horde in check.

A Sinister Plan

This gives the Horned Rat player plenty of potential to claim victory through the point track, but what about his dial? These deviously intelligent schemers are unpredictable adversaries, so either path to conquest is equally viable.

At setup, the Horned Rat player is seated last in the standard Chaos Power order, meaning that his dial overlay should be inserted between the dials of Slaanesh and Khorne. As you can see on the image to the right, his dial shows nine spaces from start to victory (similar to that of Tzeentch). You’ll also notice an increasing threat value; it’s important to note that if the Horned Rat’s threat is ever tied with that of another Chaos god, the Horned Rat’s threat is considered lower. By scurrying beneath the notice of the Old World’s most influential forces, the enigmatic vermin can better carry out their plots.

The Horned Rat’s Dial Advancement Condition reads as follows: Place a counter on your dial each time you dominate a region with one or more Skaven tokens. What’s more, The Horned Rat Expansion’s new setup places two Skaven tokens on the board from the start (taking the place of two of the Peasant tokens).

This makes the initial random placement of those Skaven Tokens vitally important. They still decrease a region’s Resistance by one, but in addition, they have a value to the Horned Rat that is comparable to that of Warpstone tokens to Tzeentch or Noble tokens to Slaanesh. This, along with a few Chaos cards that help the Horned Rat bring more Skaven tokens into play, means players will want to pay close attention to the movements of these devious clans.

There is plenty more to show over the coming weeks, including an even closer look the Horned Rat’s various powers and upgrades, and an overview of the new options for the existing Ruinous Powers. Check back often for more, and look for The Horned Rat Expansion later this spring!

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From Beneath the Empire

Published 22 March 2011 | Chaos in the Old World

From Beneath the Empire

Announcing The Horned Rat Expansion for Chaos in the Old World

Fantasy Flight Games is proud to announce the upcoming release of The Horned Rat Expansion for Chaos in the Old World! While the four Ruinous Powers continue to compete against each other to become the principle Ruiner of the Old World, the legions of the verminous Skaven have found the opportune time to spread the corruption of their sinister god.

Strength in Numbers

By adding a fifth player to the game, introducing terrible new events, and including all new upgrade and Power cards for the four Ruinous Powers, The Horned Rat Expansion gives players all new ways of toppling the Old World.

The Horned Rat Expansion includes a new playable power, the Horned Rat, designed to accommodate a fifth player in your games of Chaos in the Old World. Armed with a legion of Skaven followers, the Horned Rat player uses numbers and subterfuge to his advantage, scoring points by spreading the Skaven’s teeming masses across the Old World.

Gifts From the Accursed Moon

But the Skaven are not the only ones to receive favours from their god. The Horned Rat Expansion also provides each Ruinous Power from Chaos in the Old World with all new decks of Chaos cards and upgrade cards, collectively referred to as the Morrslieb set. These new cards will change the way players interact with each other, creating a completely new game environment.

New Challenges

Ready for an even greater challenge?

The Horned Rat Expansion also adds several new expert-level Old World cards, used to create an even more challenging play environment. While these cards can simply be shuffled into your existing deck of Old World cards, experienced players can also choose to play the Realm of Chaos Variant, using only these cards when constructing the Old World deck.

Visit our Horned Rat Expansion website to learn more, and keep checking back as we preview this exciting title. Then, later this spring, prepare to join the battle for dominance!

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Dial Up, Dial In

Published 21 September 2009 | Chaos in the Old World

Dial Up, Dial In

A strategy article on Chaos in the Old World

The path to victory is a dangerous one indeed. From the predations of your rival gods to the resistance of the Old World, you will be forced to do battle in order to maintain your grasp in the world. Over the next few weeks, we will be examining each of the three paths to victory (dialing up, dominance, and ruination), and how each god approaches these paths. Most often, a god will win by combining these paths, but for now, we are going to focus on each individually.

Our first road to glory is the victory by dialing up. For those of you who are new to the game, make sure to check out Dialing In for an explanation of the dial system, along with our other previews.

The dials in the upper left hand corner of the board each hold unique bonuses and surprises. As the gods place their dial up advancement tokens on the dials, they begin to grow in power. How they use this power determines their ultimate survival. The player who will win is the player who can stretch his resources the most effectively. Getting one dial advancement token is fine, but the player who wants to claim the dial up victory will need to be consistently getting two, three, or even four dial advancement tokens a turn. Counting the number of dial advancements your foe will gain is also incredibly important. Gaining four dial advancement tokens is excellent, but nets you nothing if any other player gets the same. You need to be the god with the most dial advancement tokens to gain the extra tick of the dial. At the same time, you need to ensure no one is going to gain more dial advancements than you. If you see Slaanesh will gain four dial tokens this turn, you need to ensure you also gain four to prevent Slaanesh pulling ahead. Target his cultists with your attacks, play cards that prevent placing corruption, or move his units to less desirable areas.

The Shifting TidesEach game will see a random set of Old World cards rising up to prevent you from destroying everything. These cards have a huge impact on the dial up victory. As each game will feature different Old World cards, players will need to see what comes up in these to see if dial up victory remains a viable option. If the Old World cards create a large number of nobles, heroes, or warpstone, there are two gods that will want to pay special attention to where these tokens land. Khorne will also want to see where these land, as they will attract new victims for him to kill. Nurgle will want to be cautious if the Dark Elf Corsairs appear, as they can make his dial up victory very difficult to pull off. The Dark Elf Corsairs put heroes in two of Nurgle’s populous regions, and are especially effective at removing your units.

In addition to the random nature of the Old World cards, the nine tokens that begin the game will have a big effect on player strategies. If the warpstone tokens end up in adjacent regions, Tzeentch will have an easier time going for a dial up victory. If the noble tokens end up in adjacent regions, Slaanesh will have an easier time placing the two corruption tokens needed to secure his dial advancement. If the nobles or warpstone end up in the middle of the board, there will be much more fighting, as Khorne will be drawn to other gods dial up needs, Nurgle will be protective of his populous regions, and Tzeentch and Slaanesh will be seeking the necessary tokens for dialing up.

As no plan survives contact with the enemy, no one strategy will always work for each god. You will need to gauge how the map is laid out, and react to the Old World cards that will be appearing each turn. As your foes begin placing units and cards, your plans will need to adapt. Each god is highlighted below, with some of their key strategies for a dial up victory.

KhorneKhorne’s path is the easiest to grasp when you start up. Kill one or more enemy figures in a region and gain a dial up advancement token. The Khorne player will need to focus on being in as many areas as possible. You will need to balance rolling as many dice as possible, while keeping the minimum number of units in a region. To ensure good hunting, make sure to look for areas that offer your opponents something as well. Any region containing a noble or hero will most likely see Slaanesh cultists flocking to it, as he looks to dial up himself. The four large regions in the middle of the board are also a good place to set up a small army, as Nurgle is looking to corrupt the populous regions. Tzeentch will be drawn to the regions with the magical rock Warpstone. His followers are easy to kill, and can give you some quick dial advancement tokens.

Khorne has the second longest dial. As such, if you are pushing for the dial up victory, you will need to spread your forces far and wide. Your warriors roll two dice each combat, and your Bloodthirster rolls a devastating four dice! Use this to your advantage. Place a Bloodletter in any region that contains an enemy model, and one of your most effective upgrades is the cultist upgrade. Now you have cheap fighting units that can overwhelm almost any power on the board. Remember, at the end of the day, Khorne just wants blood spilled, regardless of the source.

NurgleThe lord of decay and pestilence faces the longest dial in the game. As such, many players will avoid trying to go this route. You will need to play aggressively and begin your campaign of dial advances early. To complete this victory, you will need to score the extra dial advance each round for the entire game. Do not be afraid! Though he has the longest dial, Nurgle has many tricks to ensure he gains his dial ups.

The first plan of attack is to get the most out of your units. Cultists are the key path to victory, but they can be fragile. Protect them with your cheap warriors, the Plague Bearers. These are among the cheapest fighting units in the game, and once upgraded, can be incredibly effective as both an intimidation tactic as well as efficient enemy removal. The upgrade lets them “hit” an enemy model if they die. This allows them to perform double duty, as they can roll battle dice, and then they can add another hit if they are killed themselves! Many opponents will choose to avoid losing their fighters to the diseased hands of these bloated daemons.

Secondly, use the cards in your hand to preserve your cultists. Plague Touch reduces the defense value of all enemy figures in a region by one, making them easier to take out. Rain of Pus increases the defense of all of your units, making it tougher for your opponent to remove you from the region. Both of these cards make combat easier for you, and can be used to intimidate an opponent and keep them out of a region with your cultists in it. The Final Rotting is incredibly effective in scaring rival gods. At the end of the battle you get to kill one enemy cultist or warrior for each corruption token you have placed in the region. As you have a number of ways to place corruptions tokens, this can be an excellent way to eliminate a number of enemy figures in one fell swoop.

Lastly, remember you are a farmer. Seems like a weird analogy, but you are milking the regions for as much corruption as you can give them. On your dial are ways to remove corruption from the board. You also have cards that do the same. Removing corruption from the board gives you the chance to corrupt it further, allowing you to gain more dial advancement tokens. The Great Unclean One’s upgrade allows you to place corruption tokens when you summon him. This can be used to ruin non-populous regions that are close to the ruination cap. At the beginning of the game, you can gain four dial advancement tokens each turn. As the game progresses, regions will become ruined. Once they enter the totally ruined state, you can no longer gain anything from them. This is deadly to your dial advancement win. You need them to stay very healthy, which means you will need to guard them like a rancher guards his sheep from the wolves. Make sure to make the populous regions are unattractive to your fellow gods. Use your cards, units, and particular brand of awful to ensure you keep these areas alive and well.

TzeentchThe lord of change has schemes within schemes, making the most of them is up to you. With the random distribution of tokens at the start of the game, you will need to pay special attention to where the warpstone tokens fall. These will provide you with half of the magic symbols you need to dial up. If they end up in adjacent regions, the dial up victory becomes much more viable. If they end up on opposite sides of the board, you may wish to concentrate on other strategies.

The key to your long term dial up strategy is in your hand. The cards you draw will have a huge impact on both your plans, as well as what you can do to disrupt your foes. You have the second shortest dial, yet you will need some time to flesh out your rise to glory. As only three cards in your deck cost two power, you can throw out a large number of cards each round. Use Teleport to move Nurgle’s cultists out of populous regions. Call forth Temporal Stasis, which makes opposing units and cards more expensive to play in a region, to lock down an area and allow you to continue your schemes without disruption. If a rival power drops an unpleasant card in a region you want, play Changer of Ways and cancel the text effects of their card. Even better, play Changer of Ways in a region you have no interest in to cancel a beneficial card. Drain Power lets you drain the essence from your foes, and gives you a touch more power to work with.

You will need to place some emphasis on placing cards, as you draw back up to five each turn. Remember that you only draw back up to five, so you gain nothing by hoarding cards in your hand. The cultist upgrade allows you to move Warpstone about the board, a convenient way to escape Khorne’s bloodthirsty nature. The upgrade for your greater daemon lets you dictate where your cultists shall be concentrated, as it provides two magic icons wherever the Lord of Change exists. Do not concern yourself in getting into fights with rival powers. Your plans shall see fruition regardless of where their intents lie.

SlaaneshThe path to damnation is lined with justifications. It feels so good, how can it be bad? The niggling voice at the back of your mind is the lure of Slaanesh. The Prince of Pleasure leads many down the dark path with his honey coated lies. Slaanesh takes great delight in corrupting the heroes and the nobles of the Old World.

Using this, your focus will be in summoning your cultists where these tokens are found. Due to the random nature of board setup, pay special attention to where the nobles end up. If they cluster in the center of the board, you may need to sacrifice some cultists to advance your dial in the earlier stages of the game. As your dial advances, you gain more nobles to place on the board, increasing your options. As you need to place two corruption tokens to gain a dial advancement token, you will need to protect your cultists.

You have multiple routes to protect your followers, the most prominent is the aggressive path. Taking the Daemonette upgrade or the Keeper of Secrets upgrade gives you some serious staying power, and can allow you to be sheltered from Khorne’s wrath. The overwhelm strategy triggers off of being able to bring in cultists faster than your opponents can kill them. Backed with the twin Slaanesh power upgrades, which give you more power to work with, you will also want to make use of Fields of Ecstasy, which cancels battle in a region. The last strategy is the everlasting strategy. Using the cultist upgrade, which increases their health, and the Daemonette upgrade, your units become far more difficult to remove. This will turn enemy eyes elsewhere, as your will require far too many resources for them to remove.

VictoryDial up victory is a challenge, as Tzeentch and Slaanesh depend on token placement, Nurgle requires the other gods to stay out of his regions, and Khorne needs to share a region with enemy figures in addition to rolling well. However, this path is filled with instant gratification, as each god with a dial advancement token on their dial at the end of the turn gets one advance. The rewards on each dial are unique to that god, and will give you new options to crush your foes. At the end of the game, if there is a tie, victory goes to the power that completed his dial and has the most victory points. If it looks like you might be tying a player on the race to dial up, make sure to squirrel away victory points. Next time, we look at the devastating effects and quick victory points of dominating a region.

Chaos in the Old World is a game of conquest, pitting the four Ruinous Powers of Chaos against each other for control of the Old World. Players must out summon, out play, and outwit theirs rivals to ensure their domination of the lands for ages to come.

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Bring Clarity to the Chaos

Published 9 September 2009 | Chaos in the Old World

Bring Clarity to the Chaos

The FAQ for Chaos in the Old World is now available!

Tzeentch thrives on confusion and trickery, weaving complex schemes and using the hapless denizens of the Old World as pawns in his immense game.

Fortunately, Tzeentch doesn’t work for Fantasy Flight Games.

FFG is pleased to release the official FAQ for Chaos in the Old World. Download it here (pdf, 608 KB) or head over to the support page.

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Chaos Descends!

Published 3 September 2009 | Chaos in the Old World

Chaos Descends!

Chaos in the Old World is now on sale!

The ruins of my home are still smoldering as I return to look at the damage. We can only come out at night, for fear the hosts of Chaos will find us. We never thought they could win, we thought that a hero would surely rise up and defeat them. We were wrong. Chaos poured out of the frozen north and washed our world away. All we can hope for now is that they will grow tired of their sport long enough for us to rebuild.

-Johannes Broheim, Former champion of the Elector Count of Ostland

The forces of the Ruinous Powers descend to lay waste to the Old World. Standing in their way are the fractured inhabitants clinging to their existence, as well as the other gods. Each god has a unique way of rising to dominance. Khorne, the Blood God, revels in the joy of bloodshed and battle. Tzeentch, the Lord of Change, schemes and plots as he employs his mastery of magic to weave hidden destinies. Nurgle, the Plague Lord, unleashes disease and infection upon the world as he gains strength from each new illness. Slaanesh, the Prince of Pleasure, offers ultimate pleasure through wicked excess. Each god has their own followers and warriors to send forth in their name. For those wishing to become one of these foul powers, your time has come. Chaos in the Old World is now on sale!

For those of you just joining us, check out the previews.

Word of the Creator - Eric M. Lang bestows upon you his ideas in unleashing this game upon the world.

Dialing In - An in depth look at the dials and one of the paths to victory

Blood for the Blood God - Revelations of Khorne, one of the gods you can become

Kindly Old Grandfather - A closer look at Nurgle, one of the gods you can become

A Tour of the Old World - What will be standing in your way, and a look at how the board will be fighting back against your machinations

The Thrill of Corruption - Shining the spotlight on another path to victory

Pain to Pleasure - Sneak peeks at Slaanesh, a god you can become

Mistrust and Discord - An article on the weaver of fates, Tzeentch, another god you can become

Embrace Chaos - A video interview with the creator, designer, and graphic specialist involved in creating Chaos in the Old World

Order By Chaos - The rules for Chaos in the Old World

Musings of a Ruinous Power - A designer diary by Eric M. Lang

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Musings of a Ruinous Power

Published 28 August 2009 | Chaos in the Old World

Musings of a Ruinous Power

A designer diary from Eric M. Lang

By now most of you have read the articles (and possibly even the game rules) which can be found here, and now we would like to present you with an exclusive look behind the curtain.

From Concept to Board The original pitch, from the man himself (“the man” being FFG head honcho Chris Petersen), was simple: “players play the Gods of Chaos corrupting the world.” It was so simple, in fact, that I originally misunderstood; clearly a game concept this obviously cool was already produced! After being told that the game was mine to design, I seized the rare opportunity and ran with it.

The general structure for the game came to me within about half an hour of the initial meeting. For years I had wanted to do a big territory control board game with combat, but never got around to it because I was looking for something more. Having each player play a unique “personality” was the hook I needed. That those personalities are some of the storied icons of awesomeness to ever grace a fantasy world was icing on top of the cake.

A key point which I made sure to hold on to was that this game was not to be like Risk; unit combat was not the primary play pattern. As Ruinous Powers of Chaos, I wanted players to have a more holistic overview of the game they were playing. Which regions to dominate, which ones to corrupt and which ones to ruin? Which battles to fight, and why? How much power to spend on playing highly versatile but temporary chaos cards versus deploying more followers? Avoid the threats posed by the Old World deck or embrace them to further your victory condition? These are the choices I wanted players to face.

The Ruinous Powers The more I read about the gods of Chaos, the more I realized how important it was that they all feel very different from one another in play. From the beginning I knew that each player would get their own custom deck of chaos cards to influence the board, but after a few initial revisions I decided to take the leap and make sure that not a single card effect was duplicated in more than one deck.

This extra effort paid off in spades. Each of the four Ruinous Powers felt like they were really bringing their own customized battle plan to the table, and they all played out quite differently even under the same set of rules.

I also knew from the beginning that each Ruinous Power would need its own separate victory condition. This would make players’ motivations fall in line with their god’s personality, allowing even the most casual Warhammer fan (or even non-fan) to get a good idea of what each of these foul beings are all about. The particular victory conditions practically wrote themselves, and only Slaanesh’s changed during the extended design period (to make it more flavorful).

The Dials The biggest challenge with designing this game was to maintain tension between the two victory conditions without making them completely separate. The game wants you to semi-cooperatively corrupt and dominate the world, although only one player may claim supremacy. Each Ruinous Power’s alternate victory condition tugs them in a slightly different direction. How to make the two dovetail seamlessly without breaking the game’s wonderful narrative?

The dials were, as you may have guessed, inspired by FFG’s own Battlestar Galactica board game. But what compelled me to use them was the idea that each Ruinous Power could have a “reward track” that gave them either conquest points or an in-game advantage for playing “in character” throughout the game. The dials neatly replaced the need for charts and also provided nice dramatic moments during players’ first games. In addition, as players “dialed up” they would also increase their threat level, making them more susceptible to the targeted wrath of the Old World’s continuous attempts to expel Chaos.

The key point to the dials is that, while players will ultimately have to choose at some point in the game whether to try to win by straight up conquest or by their alternate victory condition, at no point is “dialing up” a wasted action. You gain conquest points, unit or power upgrades, and other game advantages for simply playing in character … so even if you’ve given up on racing to finish your dial, you still keep momentum on the primary victory condition.

And that’s it for the early design journal for Chaos in the Old World. I hope you have as much fun playing this game as I did designing it. I’d like to use this space to give due thanks to Jeff Tidball for being an amazing producer and JR Godwin and Jay Little for their boundless Warhammer expertise.

Enjoy wreaking havoc on the Old World!

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Order By Chaos

Published 7 August 2009 | Chaos in the Old World

Order By Chaos

The rules for Chaos in the Old World are now available!

The night is preferable to the day. All the sunlight does is showcase how far our world has descended. We defended what we could, we fought where we could, and in the end we were wiped away. Now we watch as the Ruinous Powers divide up what was once ours. The Old World belongs to them now.

- Johannes Broheim, former Elector of Ostland’s champion

This summer, you get your chance to become a god! Chaos in the Old World lets you reshape the world in your glorious image, as you embody one of the four Ruinous Powers. Do you lay waste to all before you as Khorne, the Blood God? Do you delight in the disease you spread as Nurgle, the Plaguefather? Will you indulge in wretched excess as Slaanesh, the Prince of Pleasure? Or will you embrace the forces of magic and change as Tzeentch, Changer of Ways?

As the weeks have gone by, you have had a chance to preview each Power. Now you find out how they all work together. The rules for Chaos in the Old World are now available on the Support page.

Make sure to check them out, or stop by our booth at GenCon for a demo. Chaos in the Old World begins corrupting the world at GenCon.

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Embrace Chaos

Published 5 August 2009 | Chaos in the Old World

Embrace Chaos

The video for Chaos in the Old World!

Mankind has new reasons to tremble!

The four Ruinous Powers have descended forth from their realm of chaos and madness. Following in their wake are warriors, beasts, and the dread lieutenants, the Greater Daemons. The paltry forces of the Empire shall be washed away on this river of devastation, as even their own members are rising up to join with these vile powers. How did this massive swing in the balance of power happen? Find out by watching the latest video from Fantasy Flight Studios.

Chaos in the Old World is a game like no other. Each player becomes one of the gods of Chaos, a force capable of immense power, a power which takes unique forms for each god. Khorne wades into the thick of fighting, blood is his only desire. Nurgle giggles with delight as he unleashes plague after plague upon the populace. Slaanesh enjoys every aspect of experience, deriving pleasure from pain and suffering. Behind it all, Tzeentch laughs as the followers of rival gods dance to his lies. Standing before them are the fractious forces of Dwarfs, Men, Elves, Orcs, and Skaven, yet they shall not be enough. Shed your mortal coil and become a force of Chaos. Become Chaos in the Old World!

Chaos in the Old World: Introductory Trailer Get an introduction to Chaos in the Old World in this trailer! (Quicktime 65MB)

Chaos in the Old World is a game of conquest, pitting the four Ruinous Powers of Chaos against each other for control of the Old World. Players must out summon, out play, and outwit theirs rivals to ensure their domination of the lands for ages to come.

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Mistrust and Discord

Published 24 July 2009 | Chaos in the Old World

Mistrust and Discord

Tzeentch schemes in this preview of Chaos in the Old World

Tzeentch is the Changer of Ways, the Weaver of All Fates, the Great Conspirator, and the architect of the fate of the universe. He takes great delight in the plotting and scheming, and favors the cunning over the strong, the manipulative over the violent. His hands twist the strands of fate, and many a mortal has been unaware of the help they provide to the Lord of Change. His plans and conspiracies know no bounds, and the culmination of one, is merely the beginning of another. To become Tzeentch, you must become his schemes.

Before us is the twisted web of deceit, lies, manipulation, and above all else, the face of endless and boundless change.

“Control your fate or somebody else will” - Heinrich von Pierer

Mistrust and discord are the call signs of Tzeentch. Every thought sparks hundreds of new conspiracies, every action sets a million plans into motion. The entire world dances to Tzeentch’s tune. Conquering the world is completed through the clever manipulation. Advancing your dial requires finesse, as you must corrupt a region steeped in magic. Every spell you cast in a region helps further this goal, and the other gods will unwittingly also add their magic to the regions. In addition to the spells cast by your enemies, magic comes in the form of the vile ratmen, the Skaven. Their all consuming greed for the Chaos rock, Warpstone, unearths many new repositories of magic for you to feast upon.

Intrigue and manipulation are your best weapons, but you can be a deadly fighter. Your spells are capable of moving your followers to anywhere in the world through the use of Teleport, giving you a sudden influx of magically powered warriors. In addition to moving your disciples, you also possess the ability to cancel your opponent’s spells. This power can change the course of a game, removing Khorne’s second battle in a region, preventing Nurgle from placing his last corruption to destroy an area, or forcing Slaanesh to battle. Every god must consider your power, as you can manipulate even their own followers into other areas of the map, leaving a precious region ripe for your influence.

“It is usually more important how a man meets his fate than what it is.” - Karl Wilhelm von Humboldt

Your worshippers are power hungry, and dedicated to you body and soul. The acolytes, your cultists, are your first line of deception. Once upgraded, they may transport the magical Warpstone across the board to a place of your choosing. Warpstone acts as a focus for magic, making it easier for you to advance your dial. Living embodiments of change, the Horrors, your soldiers, caper about the fields of battle madly shifting their shape and striking in new fashions with each blow. They sow madness and discord wherever they appear, and can prevent your opponents from playing spells in an area containing them. Magically charged, and armed with vast knowledge, the Lords of Change are your incarnation in the world of men. These massive vulture-headed daemons trail schemes and subterfuge in their wake. Although not as physically strong as Khorne’s Bloodthirster, or as tough as Nurgle’s Great Unclean One, the Lord of Change lets you advance your dial every time you corrupt a region containing one. As each turn of the dial is one big step towards victory, these daemons can dramatically shift the tide of the game.

“Fate is for those too weak to determine their own destiny.” - Kamran Hamid

Your image and effigy shall be heralded across the entire world. First, you must lay the plans that guarantee your forces victory. Then you pull the strings that make the other powers dance. Everything that happens in the Old World is by your hand. Now you must show off your brilliance. Let the forces of change, lies, and manipulation take the world.

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Pain to Pleasure

Published 17 July 2009 | Chaos in the Old World

Pain to Pleasure

This week we look at the Prince of Pleasure, Slaanesh in Chaos in the Old World!

The Prince of Pleasure, Slaanesh has lead many down the path to corruption. Turning pain into pleasure, and pleasure into pain, Slaanesh is an insidious voice in the back of your mind. How much is too much? How far do you go? Slaanesh is master of cruel passions and hidden vices, and of terrible temptations. It is impossible for a mortal to look upon Slaanesh without losing his soul, for all who see Slaanesh become slaves to his slightest whim.

This week we will focus on the machinations and minions of the noble's choice in Chaos gods.

The Allure

Playing this power requires you to place your minions in prime spots to corrupt the decadent nobles and heroes found throughout the divided Empire. Each time you corrupt a region with a hero or noble in it, your dial turns up. Every time the dial moves you gain something new and terrifying. Found in a number of places are upgrades, gifts you may grant your minions. Each of these upgrades grants dark powers to your followers and can make them nigh invincible. Also contained in your arsenal are spells, the likes of which allow you to influence the world directly.

Cards, such as Dark Influence, let you move Nobles, Peasants, or Heroes from one region of the world to any other of your choosing. As your dial advances when you corrupt a region containing at least one Noble, this will allow you to spread your perverse reign rapidly. Other cards, such as Field of Ecstasy, prevent your opponents from battling at all.

The Will

Arrayed before you are three of the most common types of worshippers found in the armies of Slaanesh. The seductresses, your lowly cultists, go forth before your army and spread your message of foul decadence, corrupting each region they enter. The daemonettes, the soldiers found in your army. These daemons are alluring and feminine, and are armed with deadly pincers capable of cutting a fully armoured knight in half! Once upgraded, they become almost undefeatable. The last is the mighty Keeper of Secrets, your leader in the field. This four-armed monstrosity is a deadly opponent and has a pair of pincers, fueled with the awesome powers of the Prince of Pleasure.

The Spread

One of four Ruinous Powers, Slaanesh leads many down the path to true corruption. Mixing pleasure and pain, excess indulgence for all five senses, this god easily holds the key to many a soul. Will you become sensation incarnate? Will you caress the souls of those who join your armies? Will you become Slaanesh?

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The Thrill of Corruption

Published 9 July 2009 | Chaos in the Old World

The Thrill of Corruption

The insidiousness of the Ruinous Powers knows no bounds!

The path to power is littered with those too weak to do what must be done. Many have gone into the Northern Wastes seeking the power the gods of Chaos can provide. Now it is the Ruinous Powers turn to seek out those in the Old World. Chaos in the Old World makes you a god of Chaos. You will descend upon the pathetic world of men, elves, and dwarfs and reshape it in your image. Corruption is the future of the Old World, and you are the vessel bringing it.

Power corrupts, and this week, we get absolute power.

“Corruption never has been compulsory” - Anthony Eden

Until now that is. Every round will see the further domination of a Region in the Old World. On each Region is a resistance number, representing how well defended the area is against the spread of chaos. Poorly defended, with few native peoples, the Badlands and the Border Princes are easy pickings for the forces of Chaos. Their mirror in the north, Norsca and Troll Country openly consort with the forces of Chaos, weakening their resistance to the call of the gods.

The heavily populated areas throughout are well defended and present a real challenge to the gods. Requiring far more troops and daemons, these regions are also worth the most points. The Empire is five times more defended than the lands of Norsca! Each Region in the populous areas is significantly more defended, and they will require far more of your forces to dominate them.

“The sun also shines on the wicked” - Seneca

At the end of every battle phase, and your followers have crushed the paltry devoted of the other Ruinous Powers, you count up the total number of your disciples in that Region. The player with the highest total in the Region gets to check his score against the resistance number (see above). If his number is higher, he scores a pile of victory points. After the points are awarded to the most worthy player, every player places a corruption token for each cultist they have in that Region. Once these tokens are placed, if the total number of corruption tokens is 12 or greater, the Region is ruined forever! The player with the most tokens is awarded the lion’s share of the Ruination points, second most gets half as many points, and the rest of the players get next to nothing. Chaos only rewards the strongest and most clever.

“Virtue is persecuted more by the wicked than it is loved by the good.” - Siddhärtha Gautama

The world can only tolerate so much corruption. If there are five or more Regions ruined at the end of the turn the game is over. The player with the most victory points is declared the triumphant god and all of the Old World is reshaped in his image. Each god will take corruption in a different way. Khorne’s followers are less concerned with corruption, and focus heavily on the blood of the other minions available. Khorne’s cultists can be upgraded to have an attack value, making them more than capable of advancing Khorne’s dial. Tzeentch will favor areas with magic icons in them. Watch where his spells go, as he can create magically charged Regions to corrupt. Slaanesh will corrupt where there are nobles and heroes, as he loves a fall from grace most. Nurgle loves watching large numbers of people become infected with his special strain of corruption and will most often be found in the populous areas in the middle Regions.

“If evil is inevitable, how are the wicked accountable? Nay, why do we call men wicked at all? Evil is inevitable." - Horace Mann

Don't forget to sign up for the Chaos in the Old World events at GenCon. There are still spots for you to take on Eric Lang, who has issued a challenge to any would be Ruinous Powers.

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A Tour of the Old World

Published 1 July 2009 | Chaos in the Old World

A Tour of the Old World

A preview of the upcoming Chaos in the Old World

The Old World is a land at war. Each of the regions has a distinct style of dress, mannerisms, and ways to wage war. From the dwarfs in the mountains, to the knights of Bretonnia there are many warriors to be found in the Old World. Yet, there are also many dangers and creatures that can spoil the plans of the Chaos gods. The foul Skaven, ratmen from beneath the surface, are active and continually undermining the world in an effort to control it themselves. The orcs have come down from the hills, and are burning and pillaging everything in their path.

This week we will explore the nine regions of the Old World, and map out the dangers that can foil even the most devious plans.

The NorthlandsThe top of the world is a frightening and frigid place. Populated by hardy peoples, this area is a dangerous place, and provides an excellent testing ground for any chaos army. Comprised of Norsca, Troll Country, and Kislev, the Northlands offer little in the ways of conquest. Kislev is the most densely populated region of the three, and when corrupted, can provide quite a few more points than the other two. However, both Norsca and Troll Country provide excellent launching points, as they have limited points for invading forces to access your domains.

This area sees a fair amount of activity as both Troll Slayers and Norscan Reavers can pop up. Both of these events can spell disaster or an unprepared army.

The Populous RegionsThe middle regions contain the majority of the citizens of the Old World. Many people go about their business in the relative safety of numbers. These areas have the highest portion of the populace. These areas will also have the most competition, as every god wants a piece of the crowded Empire Region. Even the less populated Bretonnia and Estalia are still juicy pieces of real estate, and can provide a healthy chunk of points.

However, all three of these locations are well defended, and it will take a concerted effort to exert your dominance over them. All three regions are subject to Bretonnian knights, Witch Hunters, Road Wardens, and even the predations of the Skaven.

The SouthlandsThe bottom of the world is a hot, dusty place. Found here are the lands of Tilea, the Border Princes, and the Badlands. This region shares a number of strategic similarities with the Northlands, but is more difficult to hold onto. The Badlands are secure behind the borders of Tilea and the Border Princes, but they in turn, share a number of borders with the Populous Regions in the middle of the world.

These areas are subject to the vile Skaven and the invasions of the Greenskinned Orcs, making them dangerous to leave a small number of minions in. Take care, as a number of events create new dangers in these areas.

Advancing The WastesThe task of dominating the Old World is a large one. Every god must plan their strategy carefully. Nurgle favors the heavily populated regions found in the middle of the world, and will focus most heavily on those areas. Tzeentch will change strategies with setup, as his goal is be where the magic ends up. Slaanesh will move and change the board to his desires, placing heroes and nobles where they will benefit him most. Khorne will go where the others cluster, as he delights in the slaughter. Regardless of the god, the Old World is a deadly place, and conquering will require patience and care.

Don't forget to sign up for the Chaos in the Old World events at GenCon. There are still spots for you to take on Eric Lang, who has issued a challenge to any would be Ruinous Powers.

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Kindly Old Grandfather

Published 25 June 2009 | Chaos in the Old World

Kindly Old Grandfather

Nurgle bursts on the scene in Chaos in the Old World!

All things inevitably decay. Death and life are in constant cycle, each becoming the other, never to break free of the wheel. Decay and disease merely add to this delicate dance. Down the path to pestilence is Grandfather Nurgle, the Lord of Decay. Deriving power from sickness, disease, plague, and illness, this bloated horror lovingly crafts new infections to unleash upon the world. His distended and grotesque body holds every disease known to mortals, and a few yet to be unleashed upon the world.

This week we dive into the disgusting world of Nurgle.

Bubonic

So you wish to become Grandfather Nurgle? This power is awesome indeed. Drawing strength from the maladies of mankind, you will gain the most from infecting the densely populated areas found in the center of the Empire. Your dial advances each time you corrupt one of the center regions, and you possess the fastest path to corruption. The fastest way to victory for you, is through gaining victory points. You will be able to entirely ruin areas faster than almost every other god. Your pestilent nature means you have different goals in corrupting the Old World, so you will be able to unleash your infections with much less hindrance from the other gods.

In addition to your innate powers, you will be able to influence the world directly through spell cards. These cards, such as Rain of Pus, will toughen your worshippers and make your units much much less attractive to the eyes of opposing agents. Other powers, like The Final Rotting, allow you to bless the followers of other gods, a blessing they rarely live to enjoy. Each power you call upon spreads your will further about the lands, and helps you collect points in the harder to tackle areas found up the center of the world.

Pnuemonic

The minions and followers of Nurgle are loathsome indeed. The lowly cultist, commonly called lepers, are far more foul than any of the other devoted of Chaos. Even worse, they become cheap and plentiful once upgraded. The foot soldiers are the dreaded Plaguebearers. Dripping pus, these manifestations of revulsion are the perfect army to spread Nurgle's influence to those not ready to accept the inevitable. Once they receive the gift of Nurgle, any time they are defeated in battle, they drag an opposing figure to the grave with them in a burst of pestilence! The horrors mentioned so far barely register once compared to the revolting magnificence of the Great Unclean One. This bloated creature is surrounded by maggots and flies, and rot and decay roll off of it in waves. Its presence on the battlefield guarantees a gruesome battle, leaving the survivors infected with all manner of influenza.

Septicemic

It starts with a cough, then becomes a fever. Soon the victim dies of the plague. Shortly after the town falls to disease and pestilence. News of this outbreak reaches the nearby villages, and soon every cough is a herald of Nurgle. Exultant in abhorrence, this Chaos god is deadly in his effectiveness. Every infected being spreads his blight further, and each new disease he visits upon the world draws more of the infected to his fold. Decay is a part of life. To Nurgle, decay is life. So become the Lord of Decay, and spread your sickness far and wide. Armed with the minions of disease, let the plague herald your dominance of the Old World!

Don't forget to sign up for the Chaos in the Old World events at GenCon. There are still spots for you to take on Eric Lang, who has issued a challenge to any would be Ruinous Powers.

Discuss this article
in our forums!