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I’ll be honest: I have very little interest in Warhammer: The Old World. I didn’t ever really get into Warhammer Fantasy Battles except for a small Empire army, and I was taking a hiatus from wargaming during the End Times and therefore missed out on The Big Disappointment.

And so as Games Workshop has been teasing Warhammer: The Old World, I have definitely been getting a little annoyed with the infrequency of the updates and the just plain lackluster things on display. A shot of 3D renders here, a resin model there. We keep hearing about how The Old World is coming back and it just really seems… not to be.

What I would love to see from a Warhammer: The Old World rerelease is something like the launch of The Horus Heresy: a ton of new plastics, both troops and vehicles, and good rules.

Of course, that’s a lot easier with The Horus Heresy because that’s just a war between Space Marines, so no matter which faction you play, you can use all of the same models. I get that, and it’s a reality.

But today was the first glimmer of hope that Warhammer: The Old World might actually just deliver on some promises. (There’s a big caveat here that I’ll return to later.)

To start off with, Games Workshop has presented us with not just a selection of models, but a whole friggen army (caveat there, too, that we’ll get to).

Starting with the Lord on Pegasus and the Battle Standard Bearer on Pegasus, we have actually gorgeous Warhammer: The Old World models that are NEW, and better than NEW, they’re PLASTIC. This is a pretty big deal.

The sculpt itself is somewhat tame, but I think that’s just because they’re sticking with this black-and-red paint scheme for their Brettonia army. This same model, in the hands of any number of painters, could really soar–get some color on those wings and maybe some freehand on the shield and cloth–and this would be amazing. And it’s PLASTIC.

But the plastic doesn’t end there, because we have some really terrific Knights of the Realm on Foot. These all have the same (unfortunate) red-and-black coloring, but you can absolutely see the potential for a colorfully delightful varied Brettonia. They have once again gone over-the-top with the helmets and the icons, and each one of these knights look like they have their own specific personality. I love that. And they’re PLASTIC.

It’s also worth noting how very customizable these are, which just adds to the personality aspect. Any set of legs can fit any torso fit any head fit any arms. I love that.

Then we start getting into good, but old territory. The Pegasus Knights are cool, but they’re old. And they wouldn’t look so old if it were not for the fact that: they just released this amazing Lord on Pegasus. They’re fine, and they’ll look good on the table, but they’re not amazing.

The Knights of the Realm are a somewhat different story. Yes, they’re old models, but they’re old and well-beloved. These old Knights of the Realm have been selling at scalper prices on eBay and now that they’re going to be for sale again–in plastic–that’s a big step in the right direction.

Also following along in the old and plastic category are the Men-at-Arms and the Peasant Archers. They’re fine. They’re old. But they’re not Warhammer 40k Eldar old.

The Handmaiden of the Lady is a gorgeous model, like one of my favorites of the day. I love that Warhammer: The Old World, and especially Brettonia, feels no need to be grimdark. They can have glorious models like this and be perfectly fine with them beautiful and unblemished. Of course, it’s resin, so there’s that.

In fact that’s what a lot of things are: resin. The previously-announced Battle Standard Bearer on Foot, Questing Knight Paladin with Great Weapon, and the radiant Lady Élisse Duchaard. All great, but all resin. I get that not everything can be plastic, and I get that resin does not equal finecast. But it’s still going to be a pain.

Then they tease us with the great Trebuchet (which is also Forge World resin), and they make the following statement:

“Alongside these new and returning kits which form the bulk (or entirety) of your force, there will also be a selection of returning metal heroes and specialist units that will be available to order direct from games-workshop.com.”

So, that’s going to be where things like the Green Knight are, I guess? I can only hope that these models are not limited-release made-to-order. There’s a lot of Brettonia that we didn’t see today and I hope that Warhammer: The Old World is not going to be a couple of new units for each army, a handful of old plastic kits for each army, and a load of made-to-order resin for each army.

Even so, the game is set to launch in Q1 of 2024, so I’m assuming we’ll see it by the Las Vegas Open (or I hope so).

And, with any luck, the army that I ACTUALLY am interested in buying–the Tomb Kings–will be getting a big and similar release.