"Leos von Liebwitz was the younger brother of Countess Emmanuelle von Liebwitz of Nuln, who died under mysterious circumstances."

"Hans Leitdorf, brother of deceased Marius Leitdorf, was the Grand Master of Knights of Sigmar's Blood. Though he had a claim on the title of Elector Count of Averland, he decided his position in the Order to be of greater importance. Ten years before End Times, Hans Leitdorf along with witch hunter Tibalt Greer had led the Knights of Sigmar's Blood into Sylvania to destroy the Black Dame of Kervheist. Many good knights had died back then. When the End Times finally befell the world, Hans led his knights against the forces of Mannfred von Carstein. The Grand Master single handedly fought his way through a horde of Skeleton Warriors to reach the Vampire Lord, but was ultimately slain in their ensuing duel."

The Freeguild General on Foot / Horse is an essential unit for a Freeguild army. Simply this guy makes your weaker units hit harder and more resilient. He is a great platform as he has so many options at his disposal.

He's not much to look at, 5 wounds, 5" move, 4+ save and a Bravery of 7. But he get's better once you start loading him out with the panoply of war he has available. He has the same weapon's options as the Freeguild General on Griffon (which I will review in the future).

• Sigmarite Weapon - 1", 5 attacks, 3+, 4+, -1 rend and 1 damage each.
• Great Weapon - 1", 3 attacks, 3+, 3+, -2 rend, D3 damage each.
• Freeguild Lance - 2" range, 3+, 4+, -1 rend, 2 damage each.
• Pistol - 9" range, 1 attack, 3+, 3+, -1 rend, 1 damage.

The most viable options are the Freeguild Lance or the Sigmarite Weapon because they can be taken with Freeguild Shield and the Stately War Banner (see below).  Take the Pistol and lose the shield, take the Great Weapon and lose the Freeguild Shield and Stately War Banner.

Warhorse - The warhorse increases the Generals movement to 12" and allows the Warhorses' Steel-shod hooves attack - 1" range, 2 attacks, 4+/4+, 1 damage each. Take this, the General costs the same.

ABILITIES

Stately War Banner - This is an optional upgrade for the Freeguild General that substantially improves the battle-shock immunity of your army. With this the Freeguild General gains TOTEM and all Free Peoples units at 24" test battleshock with two dice and choose the lower. By itselfs it's strong but along with the benefits of the Freeguild unit banners and Defiant Avengers (Order battle trait) At 24" all units roll battle-shock with two dices, re-rolling failures and all 1's are auto-success. Add the Freeguild Regiment Battalion and it's 1's and 2's are auto-successes. TAKE. THIS. EVERY. TIME!

Charging Lance - Give this mustachioed gent a Lance and he can add 1 to his damage characteristic on the Freeguild Lance if he charged. Not bad, but not great.

Freeguild Shield - Give's him a save of 3+. You can take a shield and banner, so like the banner TAKE. THIS. EVERY. TIME!

COMMAND ABILITY

Hold the Line! - If a Freeguild General uses this ability, pick up to three Free Peoples units within 15". These units cannot move
or charge during your turn, but you can add 1 to all hit and wound rolls for them until your next hero phase. 

This is an excellent command ability. It supercharges all your units turning Crossbows, Handgunners and Greatswords into absolute monsters. Yes you can't charge or move, but you rarely charge, you want the enemy to charge you to activate those nasty Great Company supports and the feared Stand and Shoot. This will make your enemy think twice about charging you. Get your troops up the table with your General, plant your feet on that objective and unleash unholy volleys of gunfire, crossbow bolts and greatsword blows with +1 hit and +1 wound. The fact you can choose three units at 15" is great as it's not wholly within and you will rarely have your units outside arms length. Long live the Empire death-star!

NOTE: If you have Hold the Line! on a Freeguild Guard and/or Freeguild Greatswords unit, you can still counter-charge in the enemy turn and not lose the ability.

Positives

• Cheap - 100 points! Why not take two?
• Freeguild Shield - 3+ save.
• Stately War Banner - stacks with Defiant Avengers and the Freeguild Guard, Crossbows/Handgunners and Greatswords banners.
• Can take a Stately War Banner, Freeguild Shield and one of the weapons options. This guy doesn't skip arm day.
• 12" move on the Horse.
• Hold the Line! command ability is amazing, turns your basic b*tches into rabid killers.

Negatives

• Screams "Kill Me!" to your opponent. This guy is a linchpin in your army.
• General on a Horse sits up high making him a tasty target for sniper/ranged units.
• 5 wounds.
• Mediocre in combat, but that isn't where you want him.

Hot Takes

• Use cover!
• Run all day with this guy, who care's, you don't want him in combat and it doesn't turn off his abilities.
• Solid core hero and general for your army, load him up with Indomitable command trait (+1 save for Free Peoples units wholly within 12" in the combat phase and if they didn't charge).
• Battle-shock banner aids in making your army highly resilient to checks.
• Keep him with your Great Companies, he gets Look Out Sir! and is essential in buffing up your weaker units.
• Consider taking two for redundancy.
• Take the General on Foot to hide behind cover.
• Must have for a Free Peoples army - makes Free Peoples across the a more efficient and resilient force.

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SAD NEWS: As of writing this the Freeguild General on Foot / Horse no longer exists on the GW webstore. He went last change to buy about a month ago. With the announcement of the Cities of Sigmar Battletome, finger's crossed we see him come back in a new model or repackaged as he is an essential part of the Free Peoples.