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...

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!

Chaos in the Old World: The Horned Rat Expansion

The Horned Rat Expansion for Chaos in the Old World introduces a fifth player to the race toward corruption! With beautifully sculpted figures, all-new powers, and an array of exciting upgrades, the fearsome Skaven stand ready to scurry across the face of the Old World. Players of the existing Ruinous Powers can meet the foul vermin head on with a host of new gameplay options, including alternate upgrade and Chaos cards. Meanwhile, veterans will find engaging challenges with new expert-level Old World cards and gameplay variants!

The Horned Rat Expansion includes:

* 15 Plastic playing pieces
* Over 150 new Chaos, upgrade, and Old World Cards
* 5 Ruinous Power Reference Cards
* 1 Horned Rat Threat Dial and Power Sheet
* 14 Cardboard Tokens
* 1 detailed Rules Sheet

for April 2011 Devious Intellect 3
A preview of The Horned Rat, the upcoming Chaos in the Old World expansion
Chaos in the Old World | Published 06 April 2011 Rating 4 votes
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!

Published 19 April 2011 Rating 15 votes
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!

the Old World | Published 02 May 2011 Rating 16 votes
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!

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 on the support page. 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!