General's Handbook 2025-26

Cardinal Rules

• Always be polite and respectful.
• Always tell the truth and never cheat.

Principles

• Arrive on time with all of the things you need to play the game.
• Give your opponent the chance to examine your dice rolls before picking up the dice.
• Make a respectful gesture to your opponent before and after the game, such as offering a handshake, wishing them good luck, etc.
• Avoid using language your opponent might find offensive.
• Ask your opponent’s permission if you wish to use unpainted models or substitute models.
• Ask permission before touching any of your opponent’s miniatures.
• Offer your opponent a chance to examine your army roster before the battle starts.
• Remind your opponent about rules they may have forgotten to use or that they have used incorrectly, especially when doing so is to your opponent’s advantage rather than your own.
• Never deliberately waste time during a game.
• Avoid distracting an opponent when they are trying to concentrate, and be careful to respect their personal space.
• Answer any questions your opponent has about your army and the rules that apply to your army.
• Never complain about your bad luck or your opponent’s good luck.
• Measure moves and distances carefully and accurately.
• Never fix the outcome of a game.

1. Pick Your Armies

Each player picks an army using the rules in Army Composition 2025-26 (Advanced Rules).

2. Determine The Battleplan

One player rolls a dice to determine which battleplan table to use. On a 1-3, use battleplan table 1. On a 4-6, use battleplan table 2. The other player then rolls a dice to determine the battleplan. Alternatively, feel free to pick the battleplan you wish to play.

3. Set Up The Battlefield

Attacker and Defender

The players roll off. The winner chooses which player is the attacker and which is the defender.

Objectives and Terrain

This battlepack contains 6 special objectives called Ghyranite objectives: 2 Oakenbrow objectives, 2 Gnarlroot objectives, 1 Winterleaf objective and 1 Heartwood objective. The objective itself is the 40mm-diameter circle located in the centre, while the surrounding area extending 3" from the objective is the control zone. To contest a Ghyranite objective, a unit must be within the control zone of that Ghyranite objective.

The defender sets up Ghyranite objectives in the locations indicated on the battlefield map. The objectives must be those indicated on the battlefield map; for example, if the map shows an Oakenbrow objective, the Oakenbrow objective must be set up in that location.

Then, the defender sets up terrain features. We recommend 4 small and 4 medium terrain features. Each terrain feature must be set up more than 3" from the battlefield edge, more than 3" from all Ghyranite objectives and more than 6" from all other terrain features. Alternatively, the battlefield can be set up as shown on the corresponding battlefield terrain layout map while maintaining the distance restrictions between the battlefield edge, objectives and other terrain features as detailed above.

Territory

After Ghyranite objectives and terrain have been set up, the attacker picks which territory is their territory. The other territory is the defender’s territory. The players then resolve the deployment phase. The attacker begins deployment (Core Rules, 10.0).

Battle Length

Battles that use this battlepack last for 5 battle rounds.

Glorious Victory

Each battleplan will describe how to score victory points. At the end of the battle, if one player has at least 5 victory points more than their opponent, they win a major victory. If one player has fewer than 5 more victory points than their opponent, they win a minor victory. If the players are tied on victory points, the player who completed the most battle tactics wins a minor victory. If the players are tied on victory points and completed the same number of battle tactics, the battle is a draw.

Battle Tactics

If you are using this battlepack, you must pick battle tactics cards from this battlepack to add to your army roster during army composition.

At the start of the battle, you must reveal your choice of battle tactics cards to your opponent. If the battle tactics card instructs you to pick something, you must tell your opponent what you pick and vice versa.

Advanced Rules

In addition to the Core Rules and the Season Rules 2025- 26, this battlepack uses the following Advanced Rules:

• Battle Tactics 2025-26
• Commands 2025-26
• Terrain 2025-26
• Magic 2025-26
• Army Composition 2025‑26
• Command Models

Battlefield Size

The battleplans in this battlepack have been designed for 1000- or 2000-point battles and we recommend a 44" × 60" battlefield with 8 terrain features. However, some players prefer to use a 30" × 44" battlefield with 4 terrain features for 1000-point battles.

If you have agreed on a points limit outside these bounds, feel free to adjust the battlefield size and number of terrain features appropriately.

Core

• Warhammer Age of Sigmar Core Book
• General’s Handbook 2025-26
• Warhammer Age of Sigmar Faction Packs
• Battle Profiles & Rules Updates
• Battletome publications, excluding Warhammer Legends rules

Battletomes

Throughout this edition of Warhammer Age of Sigmar, we will be releasing battletomes for each faction. Battletomes contain additional and/or updated faction rules, which include battle traits, battle formations and enhancements. When a battletome is released, it will supersede the rules set out in the Faction Pack for that faction.

Digital Updates

We sometimes release digital updates on warhammer-community.com. When we do, we will say whether that rules set is legal for use and, if so, in which types of battlepacks it can be used.

Battlescrolls

Battlescrolls are rules updates that focus on balancing the game meta more actively. Sometimes they are simply useful summaries of corrections that also appear in the relevant errata documents. At other times, they appear as sets of entirely new rules that, while not compulsory, are highly recommended for use in Matched Play battles. The rules in battlescrolls will always be used at official Warhammer Age of Sigmar events.

Errata

Periodically, we release errata documents for our publications that correct any errors. These include things like outright mistakes, rules that didn’t quite work the way we intended them to, and rules that have had an unforeseen and undesirable impact on the game meta. The errata documents are considered to be part of the publications that they are correcting, so we don’t list them separately here.

Gyranite Objectives

The battleplans in the General’s Handbook 2025-26 battlepack use the following Ghyranite objective markers:

Each Ghyranite objective marker comprises a 40mm-diameter round objective that is wholly within and surrounded by a control zone.

Contesting Ghyranite Objectives

While a Ghyranite objective is within a model’s combat range, that model is contesting that objective. While any models in a unit are contesting a Ghyranite objective, that unit is contesting that Ghyranite objective.

Paired Objectives

Some battleplans will use more than one of the same type of Ghyranite objective. For example, they could include two Oakenbrow objectives and/or two Gnarlroot objectives. In these battleplans, the rules refer to two of the same type of Ghyranite objective as a pair or paired. When a rule requires a player to control a pair of objectives, the player has to control both objectives in that pair.

When a player has to pick ‘a pair of objectives’, they can only pick a single pair of Ghyranite objectives of the same type. For example, that player could pick either both Oakenbrow objectives or both Gnarlroot objectives. They could not pick an Oakenbrow objective and a Gnarlroot objective, or both Oakenbrow objectives and both Gnarlroot objectives.

Obscured Ghyranite Objectives

Some abilities can confer the ‘Obscuring’ terrain ability on a Ghyranite objective, even though it is not a terrain feature. In these cases, replace the words ‘within 1" of this terrain feature’ in the ability with ‘wholly within this Ghyranite objective’s control zone’.

Regimented Forces

If a player has more regiments than their opponent at the start of the battle, then once per battle, that player can re-roll their priority roll after seeing the result of both players’ rolls but before determining priority for that battle round.

Battle Tactics Card 1 - Master the Paths

Battle Tactics Card 2 - Restless Energy

Battle Tactics Card 3 - Intercept and Recover

• If you went second in the previous battle round and choose to go first in the current battle round, your opponent can remove 1 Ghyranite Treasure from one of their units at the start of the battle round.

• If an ability would remove a unit that was carrying treasure from the battlefield and that unit is not set up again as part of the same ability (e.g. ‘Dark Apotheosis’ or ‘Red Ruin’), before removing that unit from the battlefield, your opponent must give the treasure it was carrying to another one of their units that does not have a Ghyranite treasure within 3" of that unit. If this is not possible, that unit counts as having been destroyed for the purpose of this battle tactics card.

• At the start of the battle, your opponent must pick 3 of their units on the battlefield to be carrying a Ghyranite Treasure. They cannot pick faction terrain features or MANIFESTATIONS. A unit can only carry 1 Ghyranite Treasure. If your opponent has fewer than 3 units on the battlefield, you automatically complete a number of these battle tactics, starting with the Domination battle tactic (followed by the Strike and then the Affray) until the number of remaining uncompleted battle tactics equals the number of enemy units on the battlefield.

Battle Tactics Card 4 - Wrathful Cycles

Battle Tactics Card 5 - Scouting Force

At the start of the battle, pick each friendly non-HERO INFANTRY and non-HERO CAVALRY unit that was not set up in reserve using a DEPLOY ability to become a scout unit. You cannot complete these battle tactics with scout units that are in combat. Replacement units that replace scout units are also scout units.

Battle Tactics Card 6 - Attuned to Ghyran

Player Territories

Each battleplan map shows two territories: one red (Attacker’s Territory) and one blue (Defender’s Territory).

Objectives Locations

The locations of Ghyranite objectives are indicated on the battleplan maps by the following icons.

Each icon represents the Ghyranite objective including its control zone. Where an objective icon is shown on the map, you must place the corresponding objective marker on the battlefield centred on the location of the objective icon shown on the map. For example, where the map shows an Oakenbrow objective icon, place an Oakenbrow objective on the battlefield in that location.

Terrain Locations

The terrain location icons show where terrain features should be set up and what type of terrain should be placed in each terrain location. The following key shows which terrain features correspond to which icons:

Designer’s Note: Faction terrain features do not appear on the battleplan maps because these are set up during deployment – the example battlefield below shows the battlefield just before units are deployed.