Testing Renegades 2.0 for Skaven in Our Next Old World Games
We had a small but very on-brand discussion about upcoming Warhammer: The Old World games, and honestly it captures our approach to the hobby pretty well: a bit of rules curiosity, a bit of organized chaos, and a lot of beer and pretzels energy.
Michał asked the group whether it would be okay if some of his lists for future games were built using the Renegades 2.0 draft for Skaven. It is still only a draft version, currently being discussed with the community, so the idea was not just to play with it for fun, but also to actually test it and later share feedback with the creators.
And the response from the rest of us? Basically: go for it.
Ender immediately set the tone perfectly, saying that Michał could build his army based on whatever some TV fortune teller would predict, because he would not know what his own Dwarfs were doing anyway — let alone the rats. The only condition was simple and fair: before the game, everything would need to be explained clearly.
Pegie was fine with it. Stas had zero problem with it. Wilini also gave the green light. So from the organizer-player side and the opponent side alike, there was really no resistance.
That says a lot about how we like to play. Yes, we care about rules. Yes, we like trying things seriously. But we also trust each other enough to test community material in a relaxed environment, as long as everyone knows what is happening.
At one point Stas joked that maybe we could even call Cinquecento the first Old World league using Renegades 2.0 rules. That claim did not survive very long, because Michał quickly pointed out that there had already been a tournament at TSN the week before using R2.0. In fact, that was the event where Val reportedly played with 12 Fanatics, which is exactly the kind of sentence that makes us want to hear more and ask fewer questions.
Naturally, the joke then evolved into trying to salvage the title somehow — maybe not the first ever, but perhaps at least the first in Poland? And of course Ender improved the whole thing by suggesting the league should happen under the patronage of Wróżbita Maciej.
That was also the moment when another important strategic advantage of all this was identified: if nobody really knows what the Dwarfs are doing and the Skaven are using draft rules, maybe we can save time on shooting and just go for pizza faster.
Honestly? That may be the purest expression of our local Old World meta.
Why we like this kind of testing
What we enjoy in these situations is that they sit in a sweet spot between experimentation and casual play:
- we get to try community-driven rules updates,
- we can help by giving real table feedback,
- nobody treats the game like a legal hearing,
- and the social side of the hobby stays just as important as the competitive one.
If Renegades 2.0 gives Skaven some interesting new tools or changes how lists are built, then testing it in our regular group games sounds like exactly the right way to approach it. Especially when everyone at the table is informed and on board.
Very relevant conclusion
Stas summed it up best in the end:
Quintessence of beer and pretzels!
And yes, that is pretty much it. We will happily mix list-building experiments, half-serious league jokes, draft rules, confused Dwarfs, suspiciously empowered rats, and post-game pizza plans into one neat Old World package.
If that is not a healthy hobby environment, we do not know what is.