Double Misfire

Hi Nick, very cool list and fluffy list concept. I'd advise at least two (three if you can spare the points) Treelord Ancients in a Living City list to guarantee a Wildwood for troops to pop out of on the first turn in order to fully take advantage of the unique battle trait. It's also worth noting that you can't run a Mistweaver Saih (just call her a Spellweaver) or Chamelon Skinks in a list using Living City allegiance - even as allies. And also that you've used General's Handbook 2017 point values and unit sizes for most of this stuff (most of these don't really matter a great deal as they haven't changed by a lot, but Gryph-Hounds now come in units of six). I'd love to see Chameleon Skinks as part of this list conceptually mind, converted to match the Sylvaneth and Wanderers.

Awesome new artwork from the Stormcast battletome of a Free City and the Stormkeep outside. I know what I'm using for my next content post in this thread! ?

@Lightbox ? Totally original and unique, and you managed to get angry old man head in there! (the patrician's free company head)

@Ninelives @makeshifts Good spot, thanks! I'm adding it to the OP as a break out in the event you're told your army isn't legal option.

The Free City allegiance rules from Firestorm are 100% matched (or and kind of) play legal. There was a bit of controversy when they first came out (blame Anvilgard!) and hadn't been errata'd to only be usable with the vanilla grand alliance allegiance abilities yet that lead to a few TOs banning them, but I can't imagine anyone would have enough of a problem with them to ban or question them now (have you seen the Anvils of the Heldenhammer allegiance page?!) The realm-specific artefacts from Malign Sorcery can be used in any game by selecting a realm for your army to hail from after picking an allegiance for it. The realm-specific spells included in the new core book and Malign Sorcery are designed to be available to all wizards fighting battles taking place in that particular realm and using it's Realm of Battle rules as described in the new core book. They do not work in the same way as the spell lores several allegiance abilities have and you can't have a wizard take them as part of your army list.

@Chris Tomlin- thanks dude. I'm going to draw the line at starting one for Lion Rangers. You in fact can use a Phoenix Temple allegiance army with Phoenix Guard battleline according to the latest Firestorm errata, here's the passage in question: The Firestorm City and Warlord allegiances abilities aren't full allegiances, but are a sort of add on that sit on top of the existing vanilla allegiance abilities for their grand alliance, and much easier to define if you think of them as "bonus" allegiance abilities that you unlock by taking your GA's vanilla allegiance abilities, only including units from certain factions and avoiding named characters. Not that it matters for the Phoenix Temple, who don't have their own set of boutique allegiance abilities (yet!), but you can always choose to use your grand alliance's default allegiance abilities over any faction specific ones available to you - for example a Dispossessed army (with battleline Hammerers and Ironbreakers) could choose to use the default Order allegiance abilities over the Dispossessed allegiance abilities in the GHB, in the same way that say, an Eldritch Council army (with Swordmaster battleline) would be able to use the vanilla Order allegiance abilities (Eldritch Council having no allegiance abilities of their own). Firestorm's City and Warlord allegiance abilities are then taken on top of the vanilla grand alliance allegiance abilities if you've chosen to use them (or have no choice but to use them in the case of factions like the Phoenix Temple), provided none of the allies you've taken are factions not listed on the page for that City or Warlord ability. For example if I wanted to run my Order-allegiance-abilities-using Dispossessed with the Tempest's Eye bonus ability I would have to make sure that they only had allies drawn from the factions available to Tempest's Eye and didn't include any named characters. Whew, I hope that makes sense! I don't have the new core book to hand and will probably be able to make a better post clarifying how allegiance abilities work in matched play at the weekend.

? Not enough likes in the world ?

Head to the all-new Free Cities thread. Tempest's Eye allegiance can be used on top of the basic Order if you only use units from the required factions without any named characters.

Truly awesome thread for one of the most awesome factions in AoS! While I'd never play Phoenix Temple (the only thing I hate more than aelves is having to paint aelves, discovered this with my foray into Swifthawk Agents) it's got me thinking outside the box about how to get the most out of them and I've stumbled onto a pretty weird concept. Phoenix Guard don't have a lot going for them in the offensive department, not having any rend, but with their (and Annointed-mounted Phoenixes') 4+ save against (mortal) wounds they're very survivable and become incredibly survivable against one thing - endless spells. With this in mind I think as many allied wizards as possible casting as many predatory endless spells as possible, the logic being that it doesn't matter too much if your opponent gets to move them over your guys, you're still going to take half the casualties anyone else would. I present for submission a 2000 point matched play list looking something like this: Allegiance abilities: Order/Hallowheart (might as well stack those Archmage unbind bonuses ) Realm: Ghyran Frostheart with Annointed (280) Frostheart with Annointed (280) Greenglade Flask 30 Phoenix Guard (360) 10 Phoenix Guard (140) 10 Phoenix Guard (140) 10 Phoenix Guard (140) Knight Excelsior (140) Archmage (100) Archmage (100) Everblaze Comet (100) Geminids of Ul-Gysh (40) Aethervoid Pendulum (40) Umbral Spellportal (60) Quicksilver Swords (20) Emerald Lifeswarm (60) Lifeswarm has a special place here, healing effectively healing two wounds for every one rolled on Phoenixes and Phoenix Guard Thoughts?

Withdrawal due to lack of Ironweld content to currently write about has spurred me to create a discussion thread and guide to the various Free City allegiances contained in Season of War: Firestorm (3/7 of them Ironweld relevant). Check it out here: @Lightbox- sounds awesome, be sure to post WIPs.

Inspired by all the chat about Free City allegiances earlier today I've made a discussion thread for them. Come check it out:

OVERVIEW OF THE SEVEN FREE CITIES Wondering which Free City allegiance is for you? Already have a mixed Order army you want to get the most mileage out of? Decided your army's allegiance abilities are rubbish and want try something new? Just curious about the cities individual makeup and character? I've put together a quick primer of the allegiance abilities and factions available to each Free City, plus a few ideas to get the ball rolling on how to get the most out of them. Each Free City has a bonus battle trait on top of the existing vanilla Order allegiance abilities that are qualified for by choosing only units from only the factions available to your Free City and staying away from named characters (Gavriel Sureheart, we hardly knew you alas). HAMMERHAL The most cosmopolitan of the Free Cities. Also probably the most bland. Avalible factions: Everyone but Seraphon (I'm not sure they like living in houses) Second only to Azyrheim in scale and scope, Hammerhal is available to everyone who isn't a lizard or special character. Being as impossibly diverse and tricky to balance as you'd expect, Hammerhal forces gain a fairly unremarkable battle trait, giving them a bonus to bravery that increases based on how outnumbered the are, eventually making them immune to battleshock. Nothing to write home about, but also nothing worth turning your nose up at when it's effectively free if you're running a mixed Order army without named characters that's recently lost its battleline Skinks anyway. TEMPEST'S EYE Gotta go fast! Available factions: Stormcast Eternals, Free Peoples, Kharadron Overlords, Swifthawk Agents, Eldritch Council, Dispossessed, Ironweld Arsenal (the last two added in errata) Easily the most awesome Free City going (absolutely nothing to do with being made up of the factions that already comprised my mixed Order force when Firestorm was released ?), and home to the coolest Stormhost on the market, the mighty Tempest Lords (go read The Realmgate Wars: Godbeasts if you haven't already), Tempest's Eye boasts a diverse range of cool looking factions able to cover pretty much every available playstyle. Tempest Eye's battle trait grants a bonus to movement (higher if you're a flyer) and save rolls in the first battleround. It's got the potential to combine beautifully with the Chonomatic Cogs (in fast forward) mode and/or the extra 4" move given by the Thermalrider Cloak realm artefact (characterful given that Tempest's Eye resides in Aqshy). The initial extra move is also a massive boost to normally slow moving Dispossessed armies, and well worth a look at as an alternative allegiance for them. I'd controversially argue that Tempest's Eye was also a better allegiance for Ironweld Arsenal artillery with the first turn movement bonus buying critical extra threat range to keep soft crews out of harm's way with. If you'd like to take a more detailed look at making the most of Tempest's Eye's battle trait and the factions available to it, check out the first Realmsphere Guide, covering exactly that HERE. ANVILGARD Nice special rule, shame about the aelves. Available factions: Stormcast Eternals, Free Peoples, Dispossessed, Devoted of Sigmar, Darkling Covens, Scourge Privateers, Order Serpentis Anvilgard is where most of the old Dark Elf units who didn't make the cut for the Daughters of Khaine book hang out, and if you're a Druchii player of yore well worth looking at. "Implacable March", it's battle trait is rather jazzy and unique, and involves a chance to automatically kill any enemy models you've pinned in in a way they can't retreat. There's an entire thread discussing how to get the most out of the intricacies of Anvilgard and Implacable March in the last edition, and @Kaleun, @Jamie the Jasperand @syph0nare much better qualified to talk about it than I am. THE LIVING CITY I hope you ordered gunfire with your trees! Available factions: Stormcast Eternals, Free Peoples, Sylvaneth, Wanderers, Dispossessed Saved by the US and Canada in the Season of War 2016 summer campaign, the living city is home to the two factions formerly known as Wood Elves, with a surprising side order of duardin. It's battletrait allows units to deploy in reserve and set up during any of your movement phases, either from a table edge or out of a Sylvaneth Wildwood. This has seen a massive boost in usefulness in AoS 2.0, with Wildwoods no longer costing points in non-Sylvaneth armies, allowing you to pick up a Treelord Ancient or three and summon them to your heart's content. If you're a dwarfy sort who's not too keen on war machines and does't miiiind trees, the Living City is also surprisingly accommodating of Dispossessed, with it's nifty deployment options compensating for a lot of their usual shortcomings when it comes to getting near objectives or in to first turn shooting range, especially if you're comfortable with the idea of Treelord Ancients summoning a Wildwood you can drop a unit of 30 Irondrakes (or a Celestar Ballista or two) out of! GREYWATER FASTNESS No, I don't know why the Wood Elves are there. Available factions: Stormcast Eternals, Free Peoples, Ironweld Arsenal, Collegiate Arcane, Wanderers, Dispossessed (added in errata) Saved by the UK in the Season of War 2016 summer campaign! Given the peculiarity of my appetites, you think I'd be more into Greywater Fastness with it's status as a production line for the Ironweld Arsenal and battle trait offering war machines a small chance to fire in the hero phase, but I decided to fall in love with Tempest's Eye instead (and probably paint my models too bright for anything with "grey" in it's name). If you would like to collect a Greywater Fastness force, and want to maximise on its battle trait it's worth doubling it up with the Ironweld Arsenal's Artillery Detachment battalion, effectively doubling each war machine's chance to get bonus shots in. HALLOWHEART Infused with magical power, the citizens of Hallowheart are especially good at... unbinding other people's magical power. ? Available factions: Stormcast Eternals, Fyreslayers, Free Peoples, Collegiate Arcane, Dispossessed, Eldritch Council, Order Draconis, Phoenix Temple Hallowheart's battle trait gives a bonus to unbind spells and a bonus unbind. While this has undoubtedly improved with the advent of AoS 2.0 and the influx of wizards casting endless spells it's still a bit underwhelming compared to most of the other Free Cities'. Could potentially be combined with an Archmage and/or Luminark of Hyish's existing bonuses to unbind if you play in or are expecting to play in a magic-heavy meta. Also offering a home to most of the old High Elf factions in the same way Anvilgard does Dark Elf ones, Hallowheart is probably worth setting up shop in for lack of better options if you already play an Order Draconis or Eldritch Council army. THE PHOENICIUM Good luck spelling THAT! Available factions: Stormcast Eternals, Free Peoples, Dispossessed, Phoenix Temple Saved by the Europe and the rest of the world in the Season of War 2016 summer campaign, the Phoenicium has an awfully weird little battle trait, offering units a very minor boost to combat prowess and bravery if a friendly unit is killed in the combat phase. Maaaaybe worth using if you're the proud owner of a Phoenix Temple army, but the Anvilgard and even Hammerhal battle traits are probably much better. One to play if you're into the background (and the Phoenicium has some really cool background).

AoS2 - FREE CITY DISCUSSION AoS - CITIES OF SIGMAR DISCUSSION Recent news means that this thread is in for quite a substantial rebrand! I'll get on with properly updating the OP over the next couple of days, but for now celebrate and speculate I guess! 😁 If you're asking what the hell a Free City and is and/or if GW managed to sneak another battletome out without you noticing, worry not, you've come to the right place. The Free Cities are the settlements founded in the Mortal Realms by the races living in Azyr after the Stormcast did the really difficult job of beating Chaos back into it's rightful place as a second tier antagonist behind Death. If you like old WFB good guy factions you've come to the right place! The Free Cities do not have a battletome per say, but the seven best known ones to have their own boutique sets of mini allegiance abilities, usable in any AoS game included in Season of War: Firestorm, a map-based campaign supplement that's probably one of the best things released so far for AoS - check it out if you haven't already (Destruction , Death and Chaos also got one set of mini allegiance abilities each but they've got their own sub forums). These "City Armies" as they're termed by the Firestorm book all have an extra battle trait that you get on top off the existing grand alliance allegiance abilities for Order are unlocked by taking an army made up of only the required factions for that paticular Free City (for example an army from the Phoenicium could only contain Stormcast, Free People, Dispossessed and Phoenix Temple units), and no named (special) characters (I will be abandoning this thread for good when a Gotrek model is released alongside Realmslayer at the end of the year ?). I created this thread as a response to the discussion of Free City allegiances currently spilling out of the Dispossessed thread, and thought it would be cool if we had a community hub to share list ideas, tactics, awesomely converted and painted armies, and background for such a cool set of mini-factions. Without further ado here's a list of resources for current and aspiring Free City players: USEFUL STUFF: Season of War: Firestorm errata - IMPORTANT, updates the way Free City allegiances work and adds to the factions available to Tempest's Eye and Greywater Fastness. Community article confirming matched play "legality" - For use in the event an opponent, gaming group or tournament organiser claims the army allegiance rules in Firestorm are only for use in campaign games, and not "normal" games of Age of Sigmar. The Hammerhal Herald - Fun, regularly updated Warhammer Community offshoot site exploring daily life in one of Sigmar's Free Cities. Free City generator - A fun extra put together by the Warhammer Community team allowing you to randomly generate background for you own Free City, right down to name, size, inhabitants and what it's best known for. Previous Anvilgard thread - The old let's chat thread for the Free City with easily the most unusual battle trait. Contains a lot of useful advice and theoryhammering. Overview of the Free Cities - Quick breakdown of each Free City, who lives there and how to get the most out of their battle trait (literally the post below this one). "Lonely Realmsphere Guides" detailing how to get the most out of the battle trait and troops available to your chosen Free City: Discussion threads for the factions available to the seven different Free City allegiances:

Nice! Cool excuse to go really nuts and run a pair of Unforged, one with Anraheir's Claw and the other with a Relic Blade for maxium dwarfage. Appropriate given that the Claw's from the Realm of Beasts, but he could also have an Amber Battlemage (on foot) cast Wildform on him for an extra +1 to wound if you wanted to go really nuts. Totally "legal" in any game, including matched play. It's the realm-specific spells that are only allowed if you're fighting in that particular realm.

The Unforged has always been goooood when you give him a Relic Blade, especially when he does 24 damage to a unit of Chosen belonging to a particularly hysterical Slaanesh player. He's even better now in a lot of lists because you can realistically give him Legendary Fighter for an extra 2/4 damage attack, knowing that he'll die early, allowing you to give a command trait to your "real" general.

Realm of Fire by way of Middenland if you're interested: (though I'm keeping my army's original Averland and red/bone Dwarf colour schemes and just giving them Tempest's Eye iconography and a few Tempest Lord Stormcast to lead them into battle, saying they're respectively an individual trading company and clan based inside Tempest's Eye with their own colour schemes. Nothing at all to do with the allegiances available to Tempest's Eye coincidentally being the ones my existing Order army was already made up of, right down to the tiny amount of Swifthawk Agents, no siree... ??)

@smucreo I'm liking the second list a lot. It's a shame you can't fit a second Runelord in to spread the -1 Rend love around (it's dynamite on an Unforged with a Relic Blade). With such a small amount of drops due to the batallion you'll also be picking priority against most armies, allowing you to shoot first with the Irondrakes too. If you're looking at sticking to fluffy (Tempest's Eye sits in Ashqy) artefacts, had you looked at the Thermalrider Cloak for your Warden King, giving him a whopping 14" move with +2 charge on the first turn with successfully cast Cogs, and letting him beat up most small units and other infantry heroes when stacked with Legendary Fighter and the Runelord's -1 rend. Also, not that it makes much difference (both are stinking elves who exist to make your dwarfs faster and then sit the rest of the battle out), but the Loremaster's gone up in points in the new GHB; the Archmage has however had his points go down to the Loremaster's old value.

The Unforged is something most people would never normally run outside the battalion, but he's not terrible for the points you pay once you've slapped a Relic Blade on him, and is a handy extra hero in the battleplans you need them to take objectives with. I can't fault you for wanting to include Ironweld stuff instead of Sylvaneth, rock on! Had you considered the Chronomantic Cogs (in fast forward mode) in a Tempest's Eye list to get an extra 4" on each unit in the first turn?

Tempest's Eye allegiance on a Dispossessed based force feels wasted without at least on block of 30 Quarrellers to take advantage of being able to shoot if you're given the first turn with. If you're willing to swap the Gyrocopters out for something else fast moving (Aetherwings?) I'd give the Living City a look to get the Irondrakes in place (albeit stood next to a board edge) on turn 1. The War Throng's auto pass battleshock on a 1-3 rule in a list using Order (and by extension Free City) allegiance abilities is than the Dispossessed battle trait that does the same thing, as you'll get to reroll battleshock in an Order War Throng.

I've spent 20+ years thinking about cannons, it's all good. Do you plan on doing anything special with your artillery hobby-wise, or just painting it as beautifully as the rest of your stuff? As far as the theme of your army goes, have you checked out the Living City allegiance in Season of War: Firestorm in relation to recent changes? Sylvaneth Wildwoods being free to summon in non Sylvaneth armies again and the change to Irondrakes double shooting could mean a pretty formidable combo for green duardin if you didn't mind painting a couple of Treelord Ancients to summon them. Just think of what you could do with deployable cover for Ironbreakers to camp out in! Just remember, you were all here before they got cool.

Beehives shooting out swarms of bees, you know you want to. (I love your army btw) ????

? The Irondrakes' being able to move and double shoot is huge, and means they're able to pickaxe in at full firing strength. Also the new wording means the unit champion gets to double shoot with his rend -2 D3 damage torpedo, which is a pretty nice boost. ?

All mine are on 60mm rounds. I guess I'll get round to rebasing them if I've got to for an even or whatever (or if I decide to rebase the army to be on cobbled city streets). ? Pretty happy I don't have to worry about rebasing my Cogsmith's pile of cannonballs. ?

The AoS 2.0 faqs are up: https://www.warhammer-community.com/faqs/ Nothing resembling merged artillery crew profiles for us, though Greywater Fastness armies can now include Dispossessed, which is neat.