Have you ever wanted to know every difference between the best edition of WHFB and all the lesser ones but didn’t want to read every word of every book? Well wonder no more, for in the depths of covid lockdowns I, too, had such desires, and in their time they were satisfied.
Though I had hopes to format this in a better fashion, and maybe even rewrite it in complete sentences, I believe it is better to release it as it is now rather than leave it in obscurity for uncounted years.
Please let me know of any mistakes you find or if anything is particularly unclear. As this was completed in fits and starts over a period of 3 years or so there are almost certainly mistakes. You can comment on the sheet or just tell me here!
How To Read
Rules are made to be read from left to right. When you see an empty space it means that the rule was fundamentally unchanged from the previous edition (or further). You’ll notice some situations where there is a rule written in one edition, but all earlier spaces are blank or 4th edition simply says Unstated. This means that there was no explicit rule on the matter in earlier editions. Note that in some cases there may still be a correct ruling on the topic but it would have to be derived from the game state rather than being called out in the rules.
The rules are more or less laid out based on category, though categories shifted somewhat throughout the editions.
Scope
This does not include the magic phase for any edition. Magic was essentially rewritten multiple times throughout the editions making a changelog essentially useless.
This does not include any rules that were never fundamentally changed. This is a changelog, not a rewrite!
This does not include every small wording change. I used my best judgement here, but if I felt a rule had a fundamental change it was included, if it seemed to just be a rewording it wasn’t.
This generally includes rules that were clarified in FAQ’s, erratas, etc. While this was started prior to the excellent whfb.app sites by FlammableHero, they had come along by the time I hit 7th edition. As those sites include the aforementioned clarifications I had access to them, however the bulk of the research was done book-by-book and so I can’t guarantee it is all reflected properly.
This does not include The Old World. While I may one day take it upon myself to include it’s updates I believe the scope it’s changes necessitates a refactoring of the entire design.
This is not a substitute for reading the rules. If you are playing a game I’d recommend referring the the whfb.app sites when you come upon an unclear situation. This only addresses the core changes of any given rule and lacks the nuance of complete sentences!
But why?
For decades players have been asking the question, “what’s the difference between edition X and Y?” And for decades they have received the same broad answers. While this is perhaps more information than the average inquisitor desires it will give those with greater interest (me) all that they could desire.
A changelog like this also provides the opportunity to consider an edition’s update holistically, and in so doing see connections between game-feel and the full scope of the rules that made it that way rather than just the most controversial change or two.
And finally, if you find yourself jumping from one edition to another it gives you a chance to run through the important differences between it and the last edition you played!
Have fun!