Double Misfire

Really?! 🤨 The Dispossessed artefacts are terrible, and AoS is all about movement and objective grabbing. I'd take the Tempest's Eye or the Living City to boost mobility and farm command points with for pure Dispossessed.

Zipping in with a quick review today is The Fist of an Angry God, a short story that sees Knights Excelsior Stormcast Eternals do battle with the Disciples of Tzeentch, released by the Black Library as a digital short last week, and then as part of of the Oaths and Conquests anthology, written by none other than seminal Warhammer author and Gotrek and Felix creator William King, in his Age of Sigmar debut. If you're a lot younger than me, or have only made recent acquaintance with Games Workshop and its worlds, then you may have never heard of William King (often credited as Bill), but will almost certainly have encountered the characters and concepts he created when developing the modern iterations of the Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 settings, and be familiar with the house styles he helped establish for both mainline design studio background and the Black Library. If you've got a favourite character or part of Warhammer or 40k, chances are they were created by, or at least have something to do with King. Almost consistently excellent in his previous work for GW, King's prowess certainly hasn't diminished, and although I've probably got a fair bit of nostalgic bias, despite, or perhaps playing to its succinct nature, The Fist of an Angry God is probably the best Age of Sigmar work the Black Library have put out so far, and speaking as a Stormcast-apatheist, is the most compelling I've found AoS's poster boys to date (including the times they've significantly differed from the norm or were teased as classic WFB characters). No mean feat when the short story's protagonist Balthus (no relation to Josh Reynold's Balthas Arum) is a Liberator-Prime, and about the most 'default' rank and file Stormcast you're likely to get. Disclaimer: If anyone's skimming this post curious to find out if Balthus or any of the other Stormcast appearing in The Fist of an Angry God are Felix Jaeger, he's not, and there's nothing to indicate any of his companions are, so don't feel obliged to read the rest of the article if you don't want to. King's trademark cynical whimsy is present from the off, with Balthus questioning whether the kaleidoscopic nature of the Tzeentchian fortifications the Knights Excelsior are laying siege to are designed to serve any purpose outside of being mildly annoying, and attributing any negative emotion he feels to being a sorcerous trick on the enemy's part. Along a few suitably old school denotians and details like the story's spellcasting Tzeentchian antagonist referring to herself as a Sorceress and not a Magister, and Blue Horrors not splitting into Brimstone Horrors on death (though the latter may be an oversight), the short is the most 'Warhammer', an Age of Sigmar story has felt to date, unsurprising when it comes from the definitive 'Warhammer' writer. The Fist of Angry God is set in the Tzeetchian fortress of Azumbard, defended by cultists, Tzangor and daemons, defending it from an assault by a Warrior Chamber of the Knights Excelsior, who are accompanied by large battering ram called a 'Towerbreaker', crewed by a Sacristian Engineer (named Sextus in a charming King aptronym) - whether the Towerbreaker is an impending siege engine in what's probably an overdue by now wave of Stormcast releases, or just something cool King came up with at the time of writing we may never know. The prevalence of Warrior Chamber troops, combined with the relatively 'fresh' feel of the Stormcast and their novelty to the Tzeentchian antagonist suggest that the story probably takes place during the Storm of Sigmar, following the reopening of the Gates of Azyr, and the first appearance of the Stormcast in the Mortal Realms, ending the Age of Chaos, but no solid timeline indicators are given. Also notable is the depiction of the Knights Excelsior in a comparatively relaxed manner compared to the militant zealots they're usually pigeonholed as - perhaps also a timeline indicator that they haven't been reforged as much as the Knights Excelsior we're used to. I'm not going to provide a full breakdown of the short's plot in the way I normally do in my reviews, as no major developments in the setting or lives of established characters occur, it's a very concise read, and at only £2.49 there's really no excuse not to check it out yourself. If you're only going to read one Black Library story this year, then make sure that it's The Fist of an Angry God, what I can only hope is the first of many opportunities for King to explore and make his mark on the new setting.View the full article

Zipping in with a quick review today is The Fist of an Angry God, a short story that sees Knights Excelsior Stormcast Eternals do battle with the Disciples of Tzeentch, released by the Black Library as a digital short last week, and then as part of of the Oaths and Conquests anthology, written by none other than seminal Warhammer author and Gotrek and Felix creator William King, in his Age of Sigmar debut. If you're a lot younger than me, or have only made recent acquaintance with Games Workshop and its worlds, then you may have never heard of William King (often credited as Bill), but will almost certainly have encountered the characters and concepts he created when developing the modern iterations of the Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 settings, and be familiar with the house styles he helped establish for both mainline design studio background and the Black Library. If you've got a favourite character or part of Warhammer or 40k, chances are they were created by, or at least have something to do with King. Almost consistently excellent in his previous work for GW, King's prowess certainly hasn't diminished, and although I've probably got a fair bit of nostalgic bias, despite, or perhaps playing to its succinct nature, The Fist of an Angry God is probably the best Age of Sigmar work the Black Library have put out so far, and speaking as a Stormcast-apatheist, is the most compelling I've found AoS's poster boys to date (including the times they've significantly differed from the norm or were teased as classic WFB characters). No mean feat when the short story's protagonist Balthus (no relation to Josh Reynold's Balthas Arum) is a Liberator-Prime, and about the most 'default' rank and file Stormcast you're likely to get. Disclaimer: If anyone's skimming this post curious to find out if Balthus or any of the other Stormcast appearing in The Fist of an Angry God are Felix Jaeger, he's not, and there's nothing to indicate any of his companions are, so don't feel obliged to read the rest of the article if you don't want to. King's trademark cynical whimsy is present from the off, with Balthus questioning whether the kaleidoscopic nature of the Tzeentchian fortifications the Knights Excelsior are laying siege to are designed to serve any purpose outside of being mildly annoying, and attributing any negative emotion he feels to being a sorcerous trick on the enemy's part. Along a few suitably old school denotians and details like the story's spellcasting Tzeentchian antagonist referring to herself as a Sorceress and not a Magister, and Blue Horrors not splitting into Brimstone Horrors on death (though the latter may be an oversight), the short is the most 'Warhammer', an Age of Sigmar story has felt to date, unsurprising when it comes from the definitive 'Warhammer' writer. The Fist of Angry God is set in the Tzeetchian fortress of Azumbard, defended by cultists, Tzangor and daemons, defending it from an assault by a Warrior Chamber of the Knights Excelsior, who are accompanied by large battering ram called a 'Towerbreaker', crewed by a Sacristian Engineer (named Sextus in a charming King aptronym) - whether the Towerbreaker is an impending siege engine in what's probably an overdue by now wave of Stormcast releases, or just something cool King came up with at the time of writing we may never know. The prevalence of Warrior Chamber troops, combined with the relatively 'fresh' feel of the Stormcast and their novelty to the Tzeentchian antagonist suggest that the story probably takes place during the Storm of Sigmar, following the reopening of the Gates of Azyr, and the first appearance of the Stormcast in the Mortal Realms, ending the Age of Chaos, but no solid timeline indicators are given. Also notable is the depiction of the Knights Excelsior in a comparatively relaxed manner compared to the militant zealots they're usually pigeonholed as - perhaps also a timeline indicator that they haven't been reforged as much as the Knights Excelsior we're used to. I'm not going to provide a full breakdown of the short's plot in the way I normally do in my reviews, as no major developments in the setting or lives of established characters occur, it's a very concise read, and at only £2.49 there's really no excuse not to check it out yourself. If you're only going to read one Black Library story this year, then make sure that it's The Fist of an Angry God, what I can only hope is the first of many opportunities for King to explore and make his mark on the new setting.View the full article

WHOOOOOOOOOPPS 😳 Editing that out now! Shows how much attention I pay to Wood Elves

Thank you! 😊 I may update the article with a section of Barak-Thryng, but initially excluded them as it's a CoS focused article, I don't know that much about Kharadron, and from what I've read up on I think Fyreslayers probably fill a better role in a Barak-Thryng list.

Do people still post here, or has everyone jumped over to the Cities of Sigmar subforum? Anyway, if you're keen I've just written an article analysing Dispossessed units in CoS lists, with a section covering all seven different city allegiances: https://www.doublemisfire.com/2020/02/the-lonely-realmsphere-guide.html Feedback very welcome.

In other news I've mixed things up with my Lonely Realmsphere Guide series, and instead of focusing on a particular city allegiance, my latest article is all about the Dispossessed. Check it out in the link below, feedback as always very welcome. https://www.doublemisfire.com/2020/02/the-lonely-realmsphere-guide.html

@Stega314 I like the Hammerhal list more, but I've probably developed a latent anti Hallowheart bias. I'd definitely swap the Armour of Malus out on to the griffon general for a sweet sweet 2+ save mind!

If anybody's still interested in writing Dispossessed focused lists, I've just written a new blog article analysing their role in Cities of Sigmar armies in detail. Feedback welcome. https://www.doublemisfire.com/2020/02/the-lonely-realmsphere-guide.html

Instead of visiting a city, The Lonely Realmsphere Guide is taking a different tack today, going deep on a microfaction close to my heart in the Dispossessed (no small courtesy of my not being able to get my head around how to make the Phoenicium work). Read on for an in depth tactical examination of every Cities of Sigmar Dispossessed warscroll, followed by thoughts on how to get the most mileage out of the Faction Formerly Known as Dawi in each of the seven city allegiances, whether you're planning on fielding an army mostly composed of them, or just a few units as part of a more cosmopolitan CoS force. If you're reading this article and planning on, or already include Dispossessed units in your Cities of Sigmar army, then first off congratulations on your great taste. Functioning on the battlefield in the time-honed manner you' fully expect from traditionalist duardin, the Dispossessed hit like a ton of bricks, are about as hard to shift as one, give enemy wizards a hard time, and don't move very fast. Oh boy do they not move very fast; not as self sufficient as I'm sure they'd like to be, Dispossessed units hoping to make it into enemy territory will need to look for a helping hand from allegiance abilities and even *spit* endless spells. While they are reliant on support, and other roles being filled by units from different Cities of Sigmar factions, Dispossessed units become incrementally better the more of them you field in conjunction with another, mostly owed to stacking up on the buffs put out by Runelords and Longbeard units. A solitary Dispossessed unit in a mixed CoS force will perform pretty underwhelmingly, and I'd always back one up with a Runelord. WARDEN KING The first thing you'll notice is about the Warden King is his Ancestral Grudge command ability, significantly upping his subjects' already solid melee game. Beyond that he's got a pretty handy army wide battleshock deflector in his Oath Stone when positioned carefully, and a melee profile that's not to be sneezed at, especially when backed up with the right artefact. Despite the robust buffs the Warden King brings, I'd almost always opt to take a cheaper Runelord and his broader spectrum of buffs and anti-magic first, and would probably reserve the Warden King for army lists with a strong melee core, and at least a couple of large melee units. I've never taken more than one Warden King, but can imagine I'd only do so in games the majority of my army was Disposessed, and I needed to cover all fronts, and a spare in the event of one being sniped off. Being a cornerstone of making a larger Dispossessed contingent work, having 5 wounds, and likely to never be too far from a Runelord adjutant makes the Warden King a prime candidate for army general, with an Honoured Retinue letting him put his melee profile (especially enhanced by an artefact, command trait and/or the Runelord's Forgefire) to good use with less fear for his personal safety than he'd usually warrant. Be warned though, that the Warden King's a very important piece, and even with an Honoured Retinue as soon as your opponent realises this they'll only need to put an average 10 wounds into him to drop him, so be cautious and only commit him to combats you know he can win. Non-general Warden Kings I'd keep out of melee range entirely. RUNELORD For sheer utility alone this guy is my undisputed favourite warscroll in the entire game, offering a choice of offensive and defensive buffs to Dispossessed units, shutting down enemy magic, and when used pragmatically actually helping your wizards get the most out of their endless spells, as well as only getting better taken in multiples. As good as more than one Runelords can be, I'd only go there as part of a sizeable Disposessed contingent, certainly not adding a second before I'd taken a Warden King. Of the Runelord's two prayers, Forgefire is the one most people will gravitate towards first, with the prospect of an additional point of Rend on melee and ranged weapons being a clear no brainer in most circumstances. It's typical to see a Runelord begin the game buffing a unit of Irondrakes' ranged attacks before switching to a frontline melee unit when they make it into combat. Ancestral Shield is an underrated ability, offering only a 6+ change to shrug off wounds that can make it easy to dismiss, but it's better than no chance to shrug off wounds, and is worth considering over Forge Fire not only on turns when your units are unlikely to see combat, but also ones when you just need them to survive. I've lost count of how many games I've won because a unit of Ancestral Shielded Longbeards has been able to save a couple of extra wounds and hold on to a critical objective. The best thing about Forgefire and Ancestral Shield is the fact that they're both stackable (something often overlooked due to the Runelord's pre Cities of Sigmar warscroll not being able to do it), meaning that you can apply as many extra points of Rend to a unit of Hammerers or Irondrakes as you have Runelords able to roll a 2+, and turn a unit into a serious defensive brick with multiple 6+ shrugs. Thanks to Runes of Spellbreaking, Runelords have the best unbinding modifier this side of an unwounded Nagash, so make sure they're always within 30" of enemy wizards to cause no end of frustration to your opponent by cancelling that one critical spell their entire gameplan hinged on. As well as this, the Runelord gets the same modifier to what's essentially a 'free' attempt to dispel an endless spell each turn, which as well as having the obvious application of shutting down anything that looks like it might harm you/help the enemy, also lets you dispel an endless spell your wizards have cast in a previous turn to free it up to be cast again, allowing it to be repositioned and reactivated. Just imagine being able to get 2D6 Hammerers back with an Emerald Lifeswarm in a single battleround. With a melee profile that falls flat, the Runelord's got no reason to even think about going near the front lines outside of battleplans where heroes are needed to capture objectives, and typically you'll want a wall of duardin separating him from the enemy, while his prayers and unbinding abilities are kept well within range. He's also a natural candidate for general's adjutant to a Warden King. HAMMERERS While costly, fighting under a Warden King and Runelord Hammerers are probably the best melee damage dealer Cities of Sigmar have got, and charactefully also the slowest. If you're going to invest in a unit of 20 or 30, you'll also want to start thinking about ways to make sure they see combat. A surplus of command points to make sure they always run 7" (accounting for the bonus from the unit's musician) is a good place to start, and you may want to further guarantee things with the help of a Soulscream Bridge and/or Ghur Battlemage's Wildform spell. For expensively priced, formerly Toughness 4 former dwarfs Hammerers are also uncharacteristically fragile, with only a 4+ save and single wound each, so make them a priority for your Runelord's Ancestral Shield, and consider supporting them with an amplified Emerald Lifeswarm to bring D6 back a turn. Despite their status as bodyguards I'd also think about giving a more expendable unit the privilege of being a Warden King's Honoured Retinue for the same reason, though still keeping him close to ensure battleshock immunity from the Kinsguard ability. IRONBREAKERS Caught somewhere between Hammerers and Longbeards, with the advantages of neither, Ironbreakers don't bring much extra to the table, trading the Hammerers prestigious combat phase output and Longbeards' inexpensiveness and versatility for an extra point of save and some quirky unit leader weapon options. Their two attacks mean that they're potentially buffable into a decent melee unit with a Runelord or two, but at that point why not just take Hammerers? Probably best suited to units of 10 as screens/objective cappers with a nasty surprise in the Ironbeard's Cinderblast Bomb. IRONDRAKES Irondrakes, like the majority of Cities of Sigmar's ranged units have the frustrating feature of attacks that vastly improve when they haven't made a move in the same turn, meaning that if you want to make the most out of them you're typically going to have to do it getting them around with an endless spell. Thankfully for Cities of Sigmar players, the Amplified Sorceries battle trait massively enhances the already potent Lauchon the Soulseeker and Soulscream Bridge, and so you're spoilt for choice, mainly coming down to if you think you'll want to move a large part of your army with the bridge, or just the Irondrakes with Lauchon. You'll always want to arm a unit's Ironwarden with a destructive Grudgehammer Torpedo, and the payoff between unit sizes is being able to capitalise on a Runelord's Forgefire with a Deathstar of 20 or 30 versus more Grudgehammer Torpedos meaning you'll do more damage unbuffed, and be less worried about getting your Drakeguns into range on the first turn. LONGBEARDS Cousins to the Runelord in battlefield utility, Longbeards are probably my second favourite warscroll in the game, with different weapon options and the ability to complain about various things allowing them to wear a lot of different hats, often over the course of the same battle. Longbeards are so curmudgeonly they've weaponized their complaints into the characterful Old Grumblers special rule, allowing a unit to choose between three different efficiency enhancing complaints in the hero phase. Did you know that in the earliest incarnation of Longbeards' AoS warscroll the player had to complain with them to get the benefits? Better times. The first grumble, 'I thought duardin were made of sterner stuff!', gives +1 Bravery to nearby Dispossessed, and is a solid default when you know neither of the other two are likely to come into play that turn. 'Put your back into it, beardling!' lets nearby Dispossessed (and the Longbeards themselves) reroll 1s to wound, and is up there with the Runelord and Warden King's abilities, making a unit of great axe armed Longbeards into a lethal prospect even on their own. The most situational complaint, 'Too much damned magic flying around these days!' turns the Longbeards into mini Runelords, allowing them to attempt to dispel an endless spell, and can change the course of a game if your Runelords are down or preoccupied. Important warning: Due to Longbeards' semi unique status as a non-hero unit throwing out buff auras and dispels it's very easy to forget to grumble with them during the hero phase, or remember that a unit has grumbled by the time you reach the combat or battleshock phase. I'd recommend counters and/or tattooing it on your hand. Longbeards are affordably pointed enough that they work great both in large blocks on their own, and as 10 strong support units and objective cappers. Special mention has to go to their relationship with Irondrakes, with 'Put your back into it, beardling!' allowing ranged attacks as well as melee to reroll 1s to wound, and a unit of 10 being the perfect screen for a large block of Irondrakes, especially when having just popped out of a Soulscream Bridge. When it comes to choosing between shields and great axes, I tend to throw shields on my 10 strong support grumbler/objective grabber/screeners, and great axes on 20 or 30 strong units likely to cause some damage. Great axes might actually be better on smaller units too, but I'm quite partial to the Longbeards I've modelled up with shields, so they're not getting swapped out in a hurry. A large great axe armed unit makes a solid Honoured Retinue for a Warden King general, both punchy enough to take advantage of his Ancestral Grudge while rerolling wound rolls of 1, and not so costing so many points you don't mind using them as ablative wounds. SUPPORTING THE CLAN As much as they'd probably like to be, Dispossessed are not self sufficient, and often need help from other Cities of Sigmar units, especially when it comes to reaching far flung parts of the battlefield. There are a variety of city specific allegiance abilities that can help with this, detailed in the next section, but right now I'll focus on the stuff available to all Cities of Sigmar armies. The generic command abilities At the Double and Forward to Victory both help a lot with mobility, especially combined with the +1 run and charge modifiers from Dispossessed musicians, but might not be enough on their own. A hard sell to any dwarf, but Cities of Sigmar's wealth of magical means of mobility really do make a massive difference. If it makes it any easier, just think of wizards as tiny Anvils of Doom, accidentally incarcerated in puny human bodies. Battlemages from Ghur have access to a wonderfully zippy little spell called Wildform, but if you're serious about putting a magical band-aid on the Dispossessed's natural failings, then you might want to start looking at spells of the Chinese plastic endless variety. The three travel-friendly endless spells available to Cities of Sigmar wizards are Lauchon the Soulseeker and the Soulscream Bridge (both found in Forbidden Power), and the Chronomantic Cogs (found in Malign Sorcery). Lauchon and the Soulscream Bridge work in similar ways, with the bridge generally being agreed on as more favourable, and allows multiple units to be redeployed at once, meaning that you can protect firing Irondrakes with a wall of charging Hammerers, both backed up with buffs from heroes and Longbeards. Awkwardly cluster any units hoping to travel this way early on within 6" of a bridge shaped hole during deployment. The Chronomantic Cogs (with time sped up) offer a less positioning intensive +2 to run and charge moves to your entire army, but also the same thing to your opponent's and which of the two to opt for really comes down to personal playstyle preference, and whether you have any Irondrakes or not (who the cogs do nothing for and the bridge does everything). If you've reached the point of an endless spell going off being more a necessity than a nice bonus, then you might want to look at a more reliable wizard to cast it, with the Sorceress getting +2 to cast when she sticks a knife in another aelf (not a poor trade off for duardin), and the Celestial Hurricanum giving itself +1 to cast and coming with the added bonus of making your entire army better by merit of just being there. Already mentioned previously, and not an endless spell that does anything for movement, but Emerald Lifeswarm resurrecting D6 single wound models under Cities of Sigmar is a steal when you've got a lot of single wound elite models, especially when able to be dispelled and cast again every hero phase with an assist from a Runelord. If your army's centred around Dispossessed, as well as enhancing their natural movement and threat range with the aforementioned spells, you'll also want to include some very fast moving or flexible deployment units to nab hard to reach objectives while the Dispossessed do all the real work. The most characterful candidates for this are of course Gyrocopters, who's unsurpassed mobility, combined with horde shredding steam guns (brimstone guns, not even once) makes them a great prospect, either flying solo or in discount units of three. Other speedy auxiliaries include Freeguild Pistoliers, Dark Riders incredibly cheap Aetherwings, and even Sisters of the Thorn, who's spell Shield of Thorns plays to the Dispossessed's natural strengths. If you're more into movement shenanigans than range, then Shadow Warriors, and allied Grundstock Gunhaulers and Tree-Revenants may be more your speed. CHOOSING A STRONGHOLD Whether you're planning a Dispossessed focused army and don't know which city to choose, have an existing force established as being from a particular City that you want to include Dispossessed units in, or are just a dirty min-maxing city hopper, then this section has you covered, covering all seven city allegiances and what they can do for the Dispossessed (and vice versa). While Dispossessed can flourish in any city, there are some rather advantageous unique options available. Hammerhal Hammerhal is very kind to the Dispossessed, particularly Hammerers. Banners Held High plays into Dispossessed units' strength of well... having banners, and will give you more command points that you'll ever be able to spend to reroll crucial charges, make 7" runs, and enhance combat, shooting and save rolls with. A Hammerhal Warden King can become a beacon of melee buffs, eliminating the need for Longbeards as anything but an Irondrake screen with Blood of the Twelve and The Twinstone (in its Aqshy Aspect). Righteous Purpose is a bit of a situational command ability owing to how territories are divided in different battleplans, and should probably be seen as something you're lucky to be able to do and not played for; that said, if fortune does smile on you and you're able to get it off and on a sizeable Hammerer block in a key combat, then you've probably won the game. Wings of Fire's a delightful spell, not only giving a minor speed boost, but also able to throw your opponent a curveball when a large block runs or charges through scenery. The Living City Something of a shock (on account of all the trees), but the Living City might just be the best home Irondrakes ever had, with Hunters of the Living Paths allowing them to pop up on the side of the board and double shoot turn 1, and with a little forward planning, the command ability Strike then Melt Away letting them reposition themselves for their next volley after shooting. Who said Dwarf Rangers were dead? Beyond that, the Living City doesn't do a whole bunch for the Dispossessed, but Ironoak Skin would probably suit being cast on a combat block, and Cage of Thorns looks like it's great for slowing stuff down. Greywater Fastness Offering not one but two Dispossessed specific allegiance abilities in Rune Lore allowing a Runelord to enhance a friendly Ironweld Arsenal war machine's to hit rolls, and the command ability Salvo Fire doing the same for Irondrakes, it would seem foolhardy to not have at least a smattering of Dispossessed in a Greywater Fastness list. A Warden King general combined with a Runelord adjutant and the Seat on the Council command trait makes for a rather lucrative command point farm, and if you've not got a behemoth or ranged character to benefit from one of Greywater Fastness' boutique artefacts, then a Warden King planning on getting stuck in could do worse than Ghyrstrike. If you're a budding artillerist, keen to delve into Greywater Fastness in more detail, then check out my recent Lonely Realmsphere Guide on exactly that subject. The Phoenicium With battle traits centred around sacrificing units in combat and clustering them around Phoenixes, the Phoenicium's allegiance abilities don't do a whole bunch for the Dispossessed, who are on the whole too expensive to get killed on purpose and too slow to keep up with a flying monster, meaning they're probably not the best fit. No huge loss to either party, as if you're into gaudily attired aelves flapping around on what look like unfortunate 1:1 scale budgerigars, looking like they've strayed too close to the sofa and been flattened taking the full force of a human rear end, then your aesthetic tastes are probably wildly removed from anything the Dispossessed could hope to offer. Anvilgard Despite being the token 'Dark Elf' city, Anvilgard could be a worse home for the Dispossessed, with access to plenty of spare command points and artefacts, and the city's trademark spell Vitriolic Spray rendering enemy save rolls useless and giving Ironbreakers and Longbeards armed with sheilds a chance to shine. Runelords are a very useful resource to Anvilgard armies, which often rely on the endless spell Umbral Spellportal, needing it to be reliably dispelled in order to be repositioned at the start of each hero phase. For more information on getting the most out of Anvilgard's often derided allegiance abilities, check out my Lonely Realmsphere Guide covering them. Hallowheart Being a decidedly anti magic faction, you might not think the Dispossessed has a huge amount to offer Hallowheart, which essentially runs on spells; however an awful lot of those spells are endless, and while it's probably wasteful to use a leader slot that could be filled with a wizard capable of casting more spells with a Runelord, Longbeards can do the dispel double cast trick too, making it their time to shine in as battleline. Of course the insane casting roll bonuses Avilable to Hallowheart through Arcane Channelling and the Whitefire Retinue battalion don't harm a Dispossessed focused army's chances of getting a Soulscream Bridge off, meaning Hallowheart's wizards could have as much to offer the Dispossessed as the Dispossessed do them. Tempest's Eye Where to start with Tempest's Eye? Alleviating some of the Dispossessed's natural constitutional challenges with Alert and Forewarned and Outriders of the Realms, with the option to do the same for charges with the command trait Aetherguard Captain and artefact Zephyrite Banner; Tempest's Eye also offers a shot in the arm to Irondrakes too, with the command ability Rapid Redeploy at ensuring they'll at least get to shoot on turn 1, and the much vaunted command trait Hawk-eyed adding to their already considerable ability to incinerate stuff, especially when combined with Old Grumblers. Special shoutout to the spell Aura of Glory putting out a +1 Attacks bubble, turning Longbeards into pesudo-Hammerers, and Hammerers into this. To cap it all off Tempest's Eye allows Kharadron Overlords units to be included in your force as non-allies, which combined with Alert and Forewarned and Rapid Redeploy making Dispossessed less reliant on wizards to get around, means that if you you wanted to put together an old-skool Dwarf/all duardin list Tempest's Eye is probably the best city to do it with. And that's a wrap! I hope this article has been informative to veteran Old World Longbeards and beardlings who've just picked up their first start collecting box alike. If you've enjoyed this article and there's another of Cities of Sigmar's constituent factions you'd to see me cover in the same way (though maybe with slightly less experience, having collected Dwarfs in some shape or form for the last 24 years), then let me know in the comments below. View the full article

Instead of visiting a city, The Lonely Realmsphere Guide is taking a different tack today, going deep on a microfaction close to my heart in the Dispossessed (no small courtesy of my not being able to get my head around how to make the Phoenicium work). Read on for an in depth tactical examination of every Cities of Sigmar Dispossessed warscroll, followed by thoughts on how to get the most mileage out of the Faction Formerly Known as Dawi in each of the seven city allegiances, whether you're planning on fielding an army mostly composed of them, or just a few units as part of a more cosmopolitan CoS force. If you're reading this article and planning on, or already include Dispossessed units in your Cities of Sigmar army, then first off congratulations on your great taste. Functioning on the battlefield in the time-honed manner you' fully expect from traditionalist duardin, the Dispossessed hit like a ton of bricks, are about as hard to shift as one, give enemy wizards a hard time, and don't move very fast. Oh boy do they not move very fast; not as self sufficient as I'm sure they'd like to be, Dispossessed units hoping to make it into enemy territory will need to look for a helping hand from allegiance abilities and even *spit* endless spells. While they are reliant on support, and other roles being filled by units from different Cities of Sigmar factions, Dispossessed units become incrementally better the more of them you field in conjunction with another, mostly owed to stacking up on the buffs put out by Runelords and Longbeard units. A solitary Dispossessed unit in a mixed CoS force will perform pretty underwhelmingly, and I'd always back one up with a Runelord. WARDEN KING The first thing you'll notice is about the Warden King is his Ancestral Grudge command ability, significantly upping his subjects' already solid melee game. Beyond that he's got a pretty handy army wide battleshock deflector in his Oath Stone when positioned carefully, and a melee profile that's not to be sneezed at, especially when backed up with the right artefact. Despite the robust buffs the Warden King brings, I'd almost always opt to take a cheaper Runelord and his broader spectrum of buffs and anti-magic first, and would probably reserve the Warden King for army lists with a strong melee core, and at least a couple of large melee units. I've never taken more than one Warden King, but can imagine I'd only do so in games the majority of my army was Disposessed, and I needed to cover all fronts, and a spare in the event of one being sniped off. Being a cornerstone of making a larger Dispossessed contingent work, having 5 wounds, and likely to never be too far from a Runelord adjutant makes the Warden King a prime candidate for army general, with an Honoured Retinue letting him put his melee profile (especially enhanced by an artefact, command trait and/or the Runelord's Forgefire) to good use with less fear for his personal safety than he'd usually warrant. Be warned though, that the Warden King's a very important piece, and even with an Honoured Retinue as soon as your opponent realises this they'll only need to put an average 10 wounds into him to drop him, so be cautious and only commit him to combats you know he can win. Non-general Warden Kings I'd keep out of melee range entirely. RUNELORD For sheer utility alone this guy is my undisputed favourite warscroll in the entire game, offering a choice of offensive and defensive buffs to Dispossessed units, shutting down enemy magic, and when used pragmatically actually helping your wizards get the most out of their endless spells, as well as only getting better taken in multiples. As good as more than one Runelords can be, I'd only go there as part of a sizeable Disposessed contingent, certainly not adding a second before I'd taken a Warden King. Of the Runelord's two prayers, Forgefire is the one most people will gravitate towards first, with the prospect of an additional point of Rend on melee and ranged weapons being a clear no brainer in most circumstances. It's typical to see a Runelord begin the game buffing a unit of Irondrakes' ranged attacks before switching to a frontline melee unit when they make it into combat. Ancestral Shield is an underrated ability, offering only a 6+ change to shrug off wounds that can make it easy to dismiss, but it's better than no chance to shrug off wounds, and is worth considering over Forge Fire not only on turns when your units are unlikely to see combat, but also ones when you just need them to survive. I've lost count of how many games I've won because a unit of Ancestral Shielded Longbeards has been able to save a couple of extra wounds and hold on to a critical objective. The best thing about Forgefire and Ancestral Shield is the fact that they're both stackable (something often overlooked due to the Runelord's pre Cities of Sigmar warscroll not being able to do it), meaning that you can apply as many extra points of Rend to a unit of Hammerers or Irondrakes as you have Runelords able to roll a 2+, and turn a unit into a serious defensive brick with multiple 6+ shrugs. Thanks to Runes of Spellbreaking, Runelords have the best unbinding modifier this side of an unwounded Nagash, so make sure they're always within 30" of enemy wizards to cause no end of frustration to your opponent by cancelling that one critical spell their entire gameplan hinged on. As well as this, the Runelord gets the same modifier to what's essentially a 'free' attempt to dispel an endless spell each turn, which as well as having the obvious application of shutting down anything that looks like it might harm you/help the enemy, also lets you dispel an endless spell your wizards have cast in a previous turn to free it up to be cast again, allowing it to be repositioned and reactivated. Just imagine being able to get 2D6 Hammerers back with an Emerald Lifeswarm in a single battleround. With a melee profile that falls flat, the Runelord's got no reason to even think about going near the front lines outside of battleplans where heroes are needed to capture objectives, and typically you'll want a wall of duardin separating him from the enemy, while his prayers and unbinding abilities are kept well within range. He's also a natural candidate for general's adjutant to a Warden King. HAMMERERS While costly, fighting under a Warden King and Runelord Hammerers are probably the best melee damage dealer Cities of Sigmar have got, and charactefully also the slowest. If you're going to invest in a unit of 20 or 30, you'll also want to start thinking about ways to make sure they see combat. A surplus of command points to make sure they always run 7" (accounting for the bonus from the unit's musician) is a good place to start, and you may want to further guarantee things with the help of a Soulscream Bridge and/or Ghur Battlemage's Wildform spell. For expensively priced, formerly Toughness 4 former dwarfs Hammerers are also uncharacteristically fragile, with only a 4+ save and single wound each, so make them a priority for your Runelord's Ancestral Shield, and consider supporting them with an amplified Emerald Lifeswarm to bring D6 back a turn. Despite their status as bodyguards I'd also think about giving a more expendable unit the privilege of being a Warden King's Honoured Retinue for the same reason, though still keeping him close to ensure battleshock immunity from the Kinsguard ability. IRONBREAKERS Caught somewhere between Hammerers and Longbeards, with the advantages of neither, Ironbreakers don't bring much extra to the table, trading the Hammerers prestigious combat phase output and Longbeards' inexpensiveness and versatility for an extra point of save and some quirky unit leader weapon options. Their two attacks mean that they're potentially buffable into a decent melee unit with a Runelord or two, but at that point why not just take Hammerers? Probably best suited to units of 10 as screens/objective cappers with a nasty surprise in the Ironbeard's Cinderblast Bomb. IRONDRAKES Irondrakes, like the majority of Cities of Sigmar's ranged units have the frustrating feature of attacks that vastly improve when they haven't made a move in the same turn, meaning that if you want to make the most out of them you're typically going to have to do it getting them around with an endless spell. Thankfully for Cities of Sigmar players, the Amplified Sorceries battle trait massively enhances the already potent Lauchon the Soulseeker and Soulscream Bridge, and so you're spoilt for choice, mainly coming down to if you think you'll want to move a large part of your army with the bridge, or just the Irondrakes with Lauchon. You'll always want to arm a unit's Ironwarden with a destructive Grudgehammer Torpedo, and the payoff between unit sizes is being able to capitalise on a Runelord's Forgefire with a Deathstar of 20 or 30 versus more Grudgehammer Torpedos meaning you'll do more damage unbuffed, and be less worried about getting your Drakeguns into range on the first turn. LONGBEARDS Cousins to the Runelord in battlefield utility, Longbeards are probably my second favourite warscroll in the game, with different weapon options and the ability to complain about various things allowing them to wear a lot of different hats, often over the course of the same battle. Longbeards are so curmudgeonly they've weaponized their complaints into the characterful Old Grumblers special rule, allowing a unit to choose between three different efficiency enhancing complaints in the hero phase. Did you know that in the earliest incarnation of Longbeards' AoS warscroll the player had to complain with them to get the benefits? Better times. The first grumble, 'I thought duardin were made of sterner stuff!', gives +1 Bravery to nearby Dispossessed, and is a solid default when you know neither of the other two are likely to come into play that turn. 'Put your back into it, beardling!' lets nearby Dispossessed (and the Longbeards themselves) reroll 1s to wound, and is up there with the Runelord and Warden King's abilities, making a unit of great axe armed Longbeards into a lethal prospect even on their own. The most situational complaint, 'Too much damned magic flying around these days!' turns the Longbeards into mini Runelords, allowing them to attempt to dispel an endless spell, and can change the course of a game if your Runelords are down or preoccupied. Important warning: Due to Longbeards' semi unique status as a non-hero unit throwing out buff auras and dispels it's very easy to forget to grumble with them during the hero phase, or remember that a unit has grumbled by the time you reach the combat or battleshock phase. I'd recommend counters and/or tattooing it on your hand. Longbeards are affordably pointed enough that they work great both in large blocks on their own, and as 10 strong support units and objective cappers. Special mention has to go to their relationship with Irondrakes, with 'Put your back into it, beardling!' allowing ranged attacks as well as melee to reroll 1s to wound, and a unit of 10 being the perfect screen for a large block of Irondrakes, especially when having just popped out of a Soulscream Bridge. When it comes to choosing between shields and great axes, I tend to throw shields on my 10 strong support grumbler/objective grabber/screeners, and great axes on 20 or 30 strong units likely to cause some damage. Great axes might actually be better on smaller units too, but I'm quite partial to the Longbeards I've modelled up with shields, so they're not getting swapped out in a hurry. A large great axe armed unit makes a solid Honoured Retinue for a Warden King general, both punchy enough to take advantage of his Ancestral Grudge while rerolling wound rolls of 1, and not so costing so many points you don't mind using them as ablative wounds. SUPPORTING THE CLAN As much as they'd probably like to be, Dispossessed are not self sufficient, and often need help from other Cities of Sigmar units, especially when it comes to reaching far flung parts of the battlefield. There are a variety of city specific allegiance abilities that can help with this, detailed in the next section, but right now I'll focus on the stuff available to all Cities of Sigmar armies. The generic command abilities At the Double and Forward to Victory both help a lot with mobility, especially combined with the +1 run and charge modifiers from Dispossessed musicians, but might not be enough on their own. A hard sell to any dwarf, but Cities of Sigmar's wealth of magical means of mobility really do make a massive difference. If it makes it any easier, just think of wizards as tiny Anvils of Doom, accidentally incarcerated in puny human bodies. Battlemages from Ghur have access to a wonderfully zippy little spell called Wildform, but if you're serious about putting a magical band-aid on the Dispossessed's natural failings, then you might want to start looking at spells of the plastic endless variety. The three travel-friendly endless spells available to Cities of Sigmar wizards are Lauchon the Soulseeker and the Soulscream Bridge (both found in Forbidden Power), and the Chronomantic Cogs (found in Malign Sorcery). Lauchon and the Soulscream Bridge work in similar ways, with the bridge generally being agreed on as more favourable, and allows multiple units to be redeployed at once, meaning that you can protect firing Irondrakes with a wall of charging Hammerers, both backed up with buffs from heroes and Longbeards. Awkwardly cluster any units hoping to travel this way early on within 6" of a bridge shaped hole during deployment. The Chronomantic Cogs (with time sped up) offer a less positioning intensive +2 to run and charge moves to your entire army, but also the same thing to your opponent's and which of the two to opt for really comes down to personal playstyle preference, and whether you have any Irondrakes or not (who the cogs do nothing for and the bridge does everything). If you've reached the point of an endless spell going off being more a necessity than a nice bonus, then you might want to look at a more reliable wizard to cast it, with the Sorceress getting +2 to cast when she sticks a knife in another aelf (not a poor trade off for duardin), and the Celestial Hurricanum giving itself +1 to cast and coming with the added bonus of making your entire army better by merit of just being there. Already mentioned previously, and not an endless spell that does anything for movement, but Emerald Lifeswarm resurrecting D6 single wound models under Cities of Sigmar is a steal when you've got a lot of single wound elite models, especially when able to be dispelled and cast again every hero phase with an assist from a Runelord. If your army's centred around Dispossessed, as well as enhancing their natural movement and threat range with the aforementioned spells, you'll also want to include some very fast moving or flexible deployment units to nab hard to reach objectives while the Dispossessed do all the real work. The most characterful candidates for this are of course Gyrocopters, who's unsurpassed mobility, combined with horde shredding steam guns (brimstone guns, not even once) makes them a great prospect, either flying solo or in discount units of three. Other speedy auxiliaries include Freeguild Pistoliers, Dark Riders, Sisters of the Thorn, and incredibly cheap Aetherwings. If you're more into movement shenanigans than range, then Shadow Warriors, and allied Grundstock Gunhaulers and Tree-Revenants may be more your speed. CHOOSING A STRONGHOLD Whether you're planning a Dispossessed focused army and don't know which city to choose, have an existing force established as being from a particular City that you want to include Dispossessed units in, or are just a dirty min-maxing city hopper, then this section has you covered, covering all seven city allegiances and what they can do for the Dispossessed (and vice versa). While Dispossessed can flourish in any city, there are some rather advantageous unique options available. Hammerhal Hammerhal is very kind to the Dispossessed, particularly Hammerers. Banners Held High plays into Dispossessed units' strength of well... having banners, and will give you more command points that you'll ever be able to spend to reroll crucial charges, make 7" runs, and enhance combat, shooting and save rolls with. A Hammerhal Warden King can become a beacon of melee buffs, eliminating the need for Longbeards as anything but an Irondrake screen with Blood of the Twelve and The Twinstone (in its Aqshy Aspect). Righteous Purpose is a bit of a situational command ability owing to how territories are divided in different battleplans, and should probably be seen as something you're lucky to be able to do and not played for; that said, if fortune does smile on you and you're able to get it off and on a sizeable Hammerer block in a key combat, then you've probably won the game. Wings of Fire's a delightful spell, not only giving a minor speed boost, but also able to throw your opponent a curveball when a large block runs or charges through scenery. The Living City Something of a shock (on account of all the trees), but the Living City might just be the best home Irondrakes ever had, with Hunters of the Living Paths allowing them to pop up on the side of the board and double shoot turn 1, and with a little forward planning, the command ability Strike then Melt Away letting them reposition themselves for their next volley after shooting. Who said Dwarf Rangers were dead? Beyond that, the Living City doesn't do a whole bunch for the Dispossessed, but Ironoak Skin would probably suit being cast on a combat block, and Cage of Thorns looks like it's great for slowing stuff down. Greywater Fastness Offering not one but two Dispossessed specific allegiance abilities in Rune Lore allowing a Runelord to enhance a friendly Ironweld Arsenal war machine's to hit rolls, and the command ability Salvo Fire doing the same for Irondrakes, it would seem foolhardy to not have at least a smattering of Dispossessed in a Greywater Fastness list. A Warden King general combined with a Runelord adjutant and the Seat on the Council command trait makes for a rather lucrative command point farm, and if you've not got a behemoth or ranged character to benefit from one of Greywater Fastness' boutique artefacts, then a Warden King planning on getting stuck in could do worse than Ghyrstrike. If you're a budding artillerist, keen to delve into Greywater Fastness in more detail, then check out my recent Lonely Realmsphere Guide on exactly that subject. The Phoenicium With battle traits centred around sacrificing units in combat and clustering them around Phoenixes, the Phoenicium's allegiance abilities don't do a whole bunch for the Dispossessed, who are on the whole too expensive to get killed on purpose and too slow to keep up with a flying monster, meaning they're probably not the best fit. No huge loss to either party, as if you're into gaudily attired aelves flapping around on what look like unfortunate 1:1 scale budgerigars, looking like they've strayed too close to the sofa and been flattened taking the full force of a human rear end, then your aesthetic tastes are probably wildly removed from anything the Dispossessed could hope to offer. Anvilgard Despite being the token 'Dark Elf' city, Anvilgard could be a worse home for the Dispossessed, with access to plenty of spare command points and artefacts, and the city's trademark spell Vitriolic Spray rendering enemy save rolls useless and giving Ironbreakers and Longbeards armed with sheilds a chance to shine. Runelords are a very useful resource to Anvilgard armies, which often rely on the endless spell Umbral Spellportal, needing it to be reliably dispelled in order to be repositioned at the start of each hero phase. For more information on getting the most out of Anvilgard's often derided allegiance abilities, check out my Lonely Realmsphere Guide covering them. Hallowheart Being a decidedly anti magic faction, you might not think the Dispossessed has a huge amount to offer Hallowheart, which essentially runs on spells; however an awful lot of those spells are endless, and while it's probably wasteful to use a leader slot that could be filled with a wizard capable of casting more spells with a Runelord, Longbeards can do the dispel double cast trick too, making it their time to shine in as battleline. Of course the insane casting roll bonuses Avilable to Hallowheart through Arcane Channelling and the Whitefire Retinue battalion don't harm a Dispossessed focused army's chances of getting a Soulscream Bridge off, meaning Hallowheart's wizards could have as much to offer the Dispossessed as the Dispossessed do them. Tempest's Eye Where to start with Tempest's Eye? Alleviating some of the Dispossessed's natural constitutional challenges with Alert and Forewarned and Outriders of the Realms, with the option to do the same for charges with the command trait Aetherguard Captain and artefact Zephyrite Banner; Tempest's Eye also offers a shot in the arm to Irondrakes too, with the command ability Rapid Redeploy at ensuring they'll at least get to shoot on turn 1, and the much vaunted command trait Hawk-eyed adding to their already considerable ability to incinerate stuff, especially when combined with Old Grumblers. Special shoutout to the spell Aura of Glory putting out a +1 Attacks bubble, turning Longbeards into pesudo-Hammerers, and Hammerers into this. To cap it all off Tempest's Eye allows Kharadron Overlords units to be included in your force as non-allies, which combined with Alert and Forewarned and Rapid Redeploy making Dispossessed less reliant on wizards to get around, means that if you you wanted to put together an old-skool Dwarf/all duardin list Tempest's Eye is probably the best city to do it with. And that's a wrap! I hope this article has been informative to veteran Old World Longbeards and beardlings who've just picked up their first start collecting box alike. If you've enjoyed this article and there's another of Cities of Sigmar's constituent factions you'd to see me cover in the same way (though maybe with slightly less experience, having collected Dwarfs in some shape or form for the last 24 years), then let me know in the comments below.View the full article

Are they? Neat. I've not head of them, where to they show up?

All undone with minimum ambiguity in the Hamilcar web short Age of Englightenment https://www.doublemisfire.com/2019/12/review-hamilcar-age-of-enlightenment.html

I hope if Felix does come back it's under King and only King. Gotrek on his own is straightforward enough, but other writers never quite managed to get Felix's voice or the duo's relationship down.

Anvils of the Heldenhammer are the only confirmed Stormhost with WFB souls, with the Hallowed Knights having one implied. If I had to give Felix a Stormhost based on personality I'd probably put him in the Hammers of Sigmar, he's affable, has golden hair, and is so scared most of the time that it goes 180° and becomes fearlessness. I'd rather see him turn up a part of an Ossiarch Bonereaper construct mind.

Are there any other units you guys feel should get a points hike? The current selection feels like a wishlist only three very obvious options marked for an increase. 😕

Pls no Stormcast Felix 🤮

Good call @Myrdin, I'll edit it in (though as an 'artillery guy' I'm hesitant to say my favourite units need a point drop )

Despite having never played Anvilgard, I've written a quick guide to getting the most out of them as part of my series exploring the different city allegiances. Let me know if I've missed anything obvious, would love to know what you guys think https://www.doublemisfire.com/2020/02/the-lonely-realmsphere-guide-anvilgard.html

Another city allegiance guide up, and this time for the very much maligned Anvilgard, focusing on capitalising on a couple of hidden gems to bring them to a competitive level. Big shout out to @dekay for helping out and casting an eye over it before it was published: https://www.doublemisfire.com/2020/02/the-lonely-realmsphere-guide-anvilgard.html Feedback very welcome as per

For the next edition of The Lonely Realmsphere Guide, we're visiting Anvilgard, the city commonly cited by Cities of Sigmar aficionados as turned up late when allegiance abilities were being doled out. That Anvilgard is underpowered is a sentiment I hold in contention, and I'd personally argue that the go to city for Dark Elf types who value modesty over metal bikinis has the potential to be CoS's most powerful, outshining even Hallowheart and Tempest's Eye, albeit on the basis of a couple of very powerful gimmicks. Why collect Anvilgard? Either you're a Dark Elf guy waiting for Shadowkin or Warhammer: The Old World to hit who's sensibilities don't extend to monstergirls, big on grimdark pirates, a committed monster masher who saw the battleline options, or just like good a challenge. Irregardless of what brought you to Anvilgard, what will keep you around are the pair of very strong options that when a list is tailored around one or both of them have the potential to delete the most armoured and/or insulated against mortal wounds units you opponent has going as if they were a screen of grots. Anvilgard's allegiance abilities are unique among the Free Cities, in that unlike Greywater Fastness and the Phoenicium's internally balanced array of rather milquetoast options, and the quartet of 'playable' cities having no wrong decisions when it comes to traits, artefacts and spells, Anvilgard's choices range from gamebreaking to dreadful, meaning I'm going to be pretty dismissive of some. As with my previous article on Greywater Fastness, I'll individually run though every unique option and rule available to Anvilgard before I expand on ideas for best utilising and creating lists around the two aforementioned standouts, though unlike Greywater Fastness I don't own or play with an Anvilgard army, so please treat the contents of this article as more theory than practice. Special thanks go out to Dekay (he of Storm-Aelves fame), the TGA Cities of Sigmar forum's resident authority on all things aelf for casting a cursory eye over this article and offering a few extra insights. BATTLE TRAITS We're off to a good start with Illicit Dealings, giving an Anvilgard army to the choice of one of three benefits. Black Market Bounty and Dabblings in Sorcery respectively offer a bonus artefact of power or Drakeblood curse ( mount traits by another name, covered below) each, meaning that if you've got two of either that you're particularly keen to include you don't have to drop 120 points on Anvilgard's sole somewhat rubbish battalion to do so. If you're good for magic items and monster mods, then Hidden Agents allows you to start the game with D3 extra command points, which everyone can use more of. Make an Example of the Weak is a convenient bonus command ability, allowing Anvilgard heroes to perform a Commissar style summary execution on a single rank and file model for an 18" Inspiring Presence bubble, useful if you're running a lot of large units and taking damage on all fronts. COMMAND TRAITS Blackfang Crimelord allows a second Illicit Dealing to be picked, which is handy if you're after two artefacts or curses and want to keep the bonus command points. Slayer of Monsters gives the general +1 to hit and wound against monsters, and as well as being underwhelming (monsters are exactly what you don't want most generals going near) also might not have any use at all in a lot of games, so hard pass. Secretive Warlock either unlocks all three spells from Anvilgard's Lore of Dark Sorcery for a wizard general, or allows a non wizard general to cast one of them (note that a general able to cast a spell this way doesn't become a wizard, gaining the keyword, so no unbinding attempts and no extra wounds from Darkfire Daemonrifts). Probably quite useful to add flexibility to a Sorceress general, or have a Dreadlord on Black Dragon, Freeguild General on Griffon, or Anointed on Frostheart Phoenix, able to fire off the lethal, but relatively short ranged Shadow Daggers. ARTEFACTS OF POWER The Drakefire Cloak is the standout here, giving a 5+ save against wounds allocated, and netting that handy Secretive Warlock Dreadlord on Black Dragon, Freeguild General on Griffon, or Anointed on Frostheart Phoenix a net average 33% more survivablity (not that the Phoenix needs it). By comparison the Venomfang Blade and Asphyica Censer feel like two of those not very good realm artefacts you skim over on your way to the Gryph-feather Charm and Ethereal Amulet. Restricted to Realm artefacts from Aqshy because that's where Anvilgard is, Anvilgard armies can of course use the Thermalrider Cloak to model wings on stuff that wouldn't usually have wings. Other handy Aqshian accessories include mortal wound shrugging Ignax's Scales (though I think I'd rather shrug off garden variety wounds as well with the Drakefire Cloak), the Magmaforged Blade, for a more consistent Venomfang Blade on a Dreadlord on Black Dragon with his command ability up; and the Smouldering Helm to dish mortal wounds back on a 5+ vs units with no rend if you include a second Dreadlord on Black Dragon or Freeguild General on Griffon and equip him with a shield (there's no reason not to outside of Living City lists). All in all though, artefacts available to Anvilgard that aren't the Drakefire Cloak are pretty unexciting, and should probably be forgone for command points or an extra Drakeblood curse. DRAKEBLOOD CURSES Pretty much identical to other allegiances' mount traits, Drakeblood curses allow one of three extra abilities to be handed out to an Anvilgard Black Dragon, Kharibdyss or War Hydra. The first, Acidic Blood, offers a chance to deal mortal wounds after taking damage, and is the weakest of the three. Jutting Bones' reliable chance of D3 mortal wounds on the charge gives monsters a solid shot in the arm, but isn't remarkable enough to go out of your way for. Fell Gaze, bestowing a -2 Bravery aura to it's lucky recipient might shock you to see revealed as the first of the two much hyped gimmicks promised in this article, as battleshock avoidance (and recently outright immunity) feels more like a core mechanic of AoS than battleshock itself. Don't worry though, I'm not crazy, there's another means of exploiting reduced Bravery scores available to Cities of Sigmar players that may not seem immediately obvious that I'll explain and detail the maximisation of in full, as soon as I've finished covering Anvilgard's remaining allegiance abilities. THE LORE OF DARK SORCERY Not everyone's botique spell lore gets a name as cool as Greywater Fastness' Lore of Smog. Sap Strength is a solid spell, offering a -1 to hit modifier that's cumulative with the Sorceress' Word of Pain and Hysh Battlemage's Pha's Protection, giving you multiple, stacking opportunities to force negative hit rolls on whatever enemy unit looks most threatening at the given time. Shadow Daggers has already come up a couple of times, and it's short range devastating payout goes great on a Secretive Warlock Freeguild General on Griffon, Dreadlord on Black Dragon, or even an infantry general like a Warden King or Black Ark Fleetmaster able to hang near the front lines, protected by an Honoured Retinue. Possibly even cast by a Celestial Hurricanum, though in an Anvilgard list packed with units making the best of the city's rather limited hand of advantages it's not likely you'll be able to afford to fit one in. Coming as less of a surprise as the second of my two vaunted gimmicks is the save roll negating Vitriolic Spray. Petrifex Elite? Completed it mate. Obviously ensuring you're able to get Vitriolic Spray off every turn is crucial, and owing to it's high casting value and long range, you'll want a blood sacrificing Sorceress casting it through an (amplified) Umbral Spellportal well out of unbinding range. Much more on Vitriolic Spray and the best units to capitalise on it with below. CHARWIND BEASTRUNNERS BATTALION Not even granting a particularly good conditional bonus against the monsters it may fight against, if this battalion needed a further strike against it, requires an awful lot of Black Arc Corsairs, a melee/missile hyrbrid unit continuing the unfortunate current trend of being mediocre at both. With artefacts, Drakeblood curses and command points available aplenty through Black Market Bounty I regrettably can't think of many reasons to field it, with even reduced drops and Scourgeruner Chariots not seeming like much of an incentive. Cool theme though! GIMMICK THE FIRST: THE TENEBROUS BRAVERY BOMB Easily sniffed at on its own, Fell Gaze's negative Bravery modifier is but one of the rather surprising plethora available Cities of Sigmar, making Anvilgard stand out with more stacking negative Bravery auras than any other army in the game, even the Legion of Grief. I'll run through the warscrolls that do this in a minute, but first I'd like to introduce the unit able to reap the benefits of those negative modifiers. Presenting... Yes, I've used the right image Rules for the Flesh-Eater Courts mercenary company the Tenebrous Court exist in both Forbidden Power and the General's Handbook 2019, allowing any army to run them as allies. Crypt Flayers (the big, flappy ghouls in the image above) have a special shooting attack called Death Scream, that rolls a 2D6 for every model in the unit against the target's Bravery, dealing mortal wounds equal to the difference. Even with a +2 modifier to enemy Bravery when the Crypt Flayers aren't in combat with them, with enough negative mods they can easily snipe characters, and have the potential to average a couple of wounds each on even normally implacable Bravery 10 targets. Crypt Flayers cost 170 points for a unit of three, making two units easy to slot into a 2,000 point game's ally allowance. An auto include in a bravery bomb list, Horrorghast, the endless spell that looks like a Nagash head that's been melted over a heated stove from Forbidden Power is inexpensive, and saps another two points of bravery from nearby units. The Kharibdyss (who can also be given the all important Fell Gaze), Dark Riders and the standing-out-by-not-being-a-Dark-Elf Freeguild General on Griffon all have -1 bravery auras able to stack with each other's, and so you'll want to squeeze in at least one of each. 'Oi, Franz, didn't you get the memo?! We've been on the same side for five years...' Sylvaneth Spite-Revenants have 3" a -1 Bravery aura and a unit of five can be cheekily squeezed into a 2,000 point game's ally allowance alongside two units of Crypt Horrors if you think they'll stay alive long enough to get any use out of it. With so many relatively low wound units integral to to pulling off a bravery bomb you'll probably want to find room for an Emerald Lifeswarm (healing D6 wounds under CoS) to keep them in the game (once those Crypt Horrors are gone they're gone). Fielding a mercenary company means you start the game with one less command point, and so picking Hidden Agents as your Black Market Bounty is probably pragmatic. Obviously if you do chance against an army vulnerable to battleshock then win/win with entire units running away after losing a single model and getting sneezed on. While I personally don't play Anvilgard (if you cut me I'd probably bleed Greywater Fastness), I'd love to see this concept in action on the table, and think that while it would require considerable finesse and practice to pull off, could seriously shake up the scene in the right hands, with very little most armies could stretch to counter it. Crypt Flayers even bear a passing resemblance to the original Dark Elf Harpy models from the 90s, so there's thematic scope to boot. GIMMICK THE SECOND: DEATH BY A THOUSAND UNSAVED CUTS Anvilgard's more popular crutch, Vitriolic Spray is entirely unique, rendering its target's save characteristic irrelevant, and making it ripe for a volley of Damage 1 Rend - attacks. Before building a list of low rend ranged units to fully take advantage, you'll first want to ensure that you can rely on casting it every turn. Even if Vitriolic Spray didn't have a pitiful range of 6", you'd still want to ensure it goes off well out of enemy unbind range, and Cities of Sigmar having endless spells better than everybody else's means you can cast from a corner with an amplified Umbral Spellportal. Vitriolic Spray having a steep casting cost of its own plus requiring an extra casting roll on the Spellportal's part means that you'll want them both cast by Sorceresses blood sacrificing a cheap unit of Bleakswords or Dreadspears. You'll typically be selecting a new target every turn as well, and will need to dispel the Spellportal in order to summon it again, and while a third Sorceress feels tempting in the role, you've only got one chance to dispel it, and so a Runelord with his +2 modifier is better for the job, with the added perk of providing wonderful buffs should you include a unit of Dispossessed. To max out on nonexistent armour saves, you'll want to load up on cheap, high volume Rend free attacks, ideally at range, and Darkshards or Freeguild Crossbowmen are your guys. Keeping consistent with Anvilgard's formerly-known-as-Dark Elves motif, Dark Riders buck the trend as functional melee/missile hybrids also put out a high volume of Rendless attacks and are speedy enough to ensure making it into combat with the unit you target. Despite already having a point of Rend Gyrocopters with steam guns also dish out a high volume of damage against hordes, and a unit of three is likely to wipe out a Vitriolic Sprayed target of single wound models. If you're going to build a list around Vitriolic Spray you're going to need to remember that the spell can only target a single enemy unit, and learn to pick the right one for it every turn, typically coming down to a decision between guaranteeing killing your opponent's linchpin damage or buff dealer, or getting a hard to shift unit off a valuable objective. It's particularly true of Age of Sigmar that games are won or lost on making the right decision at crucial moments, so practice hard and develop a knack for evaluating the payoff between shooting down an impending threat and denying your opponent victory points, being sure to learn from your mistakes in games you've lost having made the wrong choice at one of these junctures. BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER, OR NOT? It's a tight fit to create a 2,000 point list able to utilise both the gimmicks described above in tandem, with all the requisite endless spells needed to support them and the Sorceresses needed to cast those endless spells costing a fair whack, and while definitely manageable with the bravery bomb's Freeguild General on Griffon left at home, it's a very risky proposition, and will leave you with an army unable to do much else, that in the event of its Crypt Flayers being killed and/or an unlucky casting roll aren't worth the warscrolls they're printed on, and so it might be more prudent to play it safe with a list only incorporating one of the two into a more conventional selection of proven Cities of Sigmar units like Scourgerunner Chariots, Phoenix Guard, Dispossessed, and even Evocators. CONCLUDING THOUGHTS A uniquely 'spikey graph' among city allegiances, I maintain the opinion that with the right trait, artefact, curse, spell and most importantly unit selection, and a considerable amount of refinement and practice Anvilgard has the potential to be up there with Tempest's Eye and Hallowheart. Quite how, I'm not exactly sure, but I hope this article collates most of the pieces of the puzzle for a Dark Elf enthusiast willing to put the time in, or at the very least demonstrated to a new or prospective Anvilgard player who's been told their selected city's a write off that they don't have to paint their models blue and white to stand a chance of winning. If you're an Anvilgard player with any insights to add, or an unsentimental competitive type who thinks this article's overly optimistic theroryhammer tosh, then please leave a comment or get in touch, I'd love to hear your insights. View the full article

For the next edition of The Lonely Realmsphere Guide, we're visiting Anvilgard, the city commonly cited by Cities of Sigmar aficionados as turned up late when allegiance abilities were being doled out. That Anvilgard is underpowered is a sentiment I hold in contention, and I'd personally argue that the go to city for Dark Elf types who value modesty over metal bikinis has the potential to be CoS's most powerful, outshining even Hallowheart and Tempest's Eye, albeit on the basis of a couple of very powerful gimmicks. Why collect Anvilgard? Either you're a Dark Elf guy waiting for Shadowkin or Warhammer: The Old World to hit who's sensibilities don't extend to monstergirls, big on grimdark pirates, a committed monster masher who saw the battleline options, or just like good a challenge. Irregardless of what brought you to Anvilgard, what will keep you around are the pair of very strong options that when a list is tailored around one or both of them have the potential to delete the most armoured and/or insulated against mortal wounds units you opponent has going as if they were a screen of grots. Anvilgard's allegiance abilities are unique among the Free Cities, in that unlike Greywater Fastness and the Phoenicium's internally balanced array of rather milquetoast options, and the quartet of 'playable' cities having no wrong decisions when it comes to traits, artefacts and spells, Anvilgard's choices range from gamebreaking to dreadful, meaning I'm going to be pretty dismissive of some. As with my previous article on Greywater Fastness, I'll individually run though every unique option and rule available to Anvilgard before I expand on ideas for best utilising and creating lists around the two aforementioned standouts, though unlike Greywater Fastness I don't own or play with an Anvilgard army, so please treat the contents of this article as more theory than practice. Special thanks go out to Dekay (he of Storm-Aelves fame), the TGA Cities of Sigmar forum's resident authority on all things aelf for casting a cursory eye over this article and offering a few extra insights. BATTLE TRAITS We're off to a good start with Illicit Dealings, giving an Anvilgard army to the choice of one of three benefits. Black Market Bounty and Dabblings in Sorcery respectively offer a bonus artefact of power or Drakeblood curse ( mount traits by another name, covered below) each, meaning that if you've got two of either that you're particularly keen to include you don't have to drop 120 points on Anvilgard's sole somewhat rubbish battalion to do so. If you're good for magic items and monster mods, then Hidden Agents allows you to start the game with D3 extra command points, which everyone can use more of. Make an Example of the Weak is a convenient bonus command ability, allowing Anvilgard heroes to perform a Commissar style summary execution on a single rank and file model for an 18" Inspiring Presence bubble, useful if you're running a lot of large units and taking damage on all fronts. COMMAND TRAITS Blackfang Crimelord allows a second Illicit Dealing to be picked, which is handy if you're after two artefacts or curses and want to keep the bonus command points. Slayer of Monsters gives the general +1 to hit and wound against monsters, and as well as being underwhelming (monsters are exactly what you don't want most generals going near) also might not have any use at all in a lot of games, so hard pass. Secretive Warlock either unlocks all three spells from Anvilgard's Lore of Dark Sorcery for a wizard general, or allows a non wizard general to cast one of them (note that a general able to cast a spell this way doesn't become a wizard, gaining the keyword, so no unbinding attempts and no extra wounds from Darkfire Daemonrifts). Probably quite useful to add flexibility to a Sorceress general, or have a Dreadlord on Black Dragon, Freeguild General on Griffon, or Anointed on Frostheart Phoenix, able to fire off the lethal, but relatively short ranged Shadow Daggers. ARTEFACTS OF POWER The Drakefire Cloak is the standout here, giving a 5+ save against wounds allocated, and netting that handy Secretive Warlock Dreadlord on Black Dragon, Freeguild General on Griffon, or Anointed on Frostheart Phoenix a net average 33% more survivablity (not that the Phoenix needs it). By comparison the Venomfang Blade and Asphyica Censer feel like two of those not very good realm artefacts you skim over on your way to the Gryph-feather Charm and Ethereal Amulet. Restricted to Realm artefacts from Aqshy because that's where Anvilgard is, Anvilgard armies can of course use the Thermalrider Cloak to model wings on stuff that wouldn't usually have wings. Other handy Aqshian accessories include mortal wound shrugging Ignax's Scales (though I think I'd rather shrug off garden variety wounds as well with the Drakefire Cloak), the Magmaforged Blade, for a more consistent Venomfang Blade on a Dreadlord on Black Dragon with his command ability up; and the Smouldering Helm to dish mortal wounds back on a 5+ vs units with no rend if you include a second Dreadlord on Black Dragon or Freeguild General on Griffon and equip him with a shield (there's no reason not to outside of Living City lists). All in all though, artefacts available to Anvilgard that aren't the Drakefire Cloak are pretty unexciting, and should probably be forgone for command points or an extra Drakeblood curse. DRAKEBLOOD CURSES Pretty much identical to other allegiances' mount traits, Drakeblood curses allow one of three extra abilities to be handed out to an Anvilgard Black Dragon, Kharibdyss or War Hydra. The first, Acidic Blood, offers a chance to deal mortal wounds after taking damage, and is the weakest of the three. Jutting Bones' reliable chance of D3 mortal wounds on the charge gives monsters a solid shot in the arm, but isn't remarkable enough to go out of your way for. Fell Gaze, bestowing a -2 Bravery aura to it's lucky recipient might shock you to see revealed as the first of the two much hyped gimmicks promised in this article, as battleshock avoidance (and recently outright immunity) feels more like a core mechanic of AoS than battleshock itself. Don't worry though, I'm not crazy, there's another means of exploiting reduced Bravery scores available to Cities of Sigmar players that may not seem immediately obvious that I'll explain and detail the maximisation of in full, as soon as I've finished covering Anvilgard's remaining allegiance abilities. THE LORE OF DARK SORCERY Not everyone's botique spell lore gets a name as cool as Greywater Fastness' Lore of Smog. Sap Strength is a solid spell, offering a -1 to hit modifier that's cumulative with the Sorceress' Word of Pain and Hysh Battlemage's Pha's Protection, giving you multiple, stacking opportunities to force negative hit rolls on whatever enemy unit looks most threatening at the given time. Shadow Daggers has already come up a couple of times, and it's short range devastating payout goes great on a Secretive Warlock Freeguild General on Griffon, Dreadlord on Black Dragon, or even an infantry general like a Warden King or Black Ark Fleetmaster able to hang near the front lines, protected by an Honoured Retinue. Possibly even cast by a Celestial Hurricanum, though in an Anvilgard list packed with units making the best of the city's rather limited hand of advantages it's not likely you'll be able to afford to fit one in. Coming as less of a surprise as the second of my two vaunted gimmicks is the save roll negating Vitriolic Spray. Petrifex Elite? Completed it mate. Obviously ensuring you're able to get Vitriolic Spray off every turn is crucial, and owing to it's high casting value and long range, you'll want a blood sacrificing Sorceress casting it through an (amplified) Umbral Spellportal well out of unbinding range. Much more on Vitriolic Spray and the best units to capitalise on it with below. CHARWIND BEASTRUNNERS BATTALION Not even granting a particularly good conditional bonus against the monsters it may fight against, if this battalion needed a further strike against it, requires an awful lot of Black Arc Corsairs, a melee/missile hyrbrid unit continuing the unfortunate current trend of being mediocre at both. With artefacts, Drakeblood curses and command points available aplenty through Black Market Bounty I regrettably can't think of many reasons to field it, with even reduced drops and Scourgeruner Chariots not seeming like much of an incentive. Cool theme though! GIMMICK THE FIRST: THE TENEBROUS BRAVERY BOMB Easily sniffed at on its own, Fell Gaze's negative Bravery modifier is but one of the rather surprising plethora available Cities of Sigmar, making Anvilgard stand out with more stacking negative Bravery auras than any other army in the game, even the Legion of Grief. I'll run through the warscrolls that do this in a minute, but first I'd like to introduce the unit able to reap the benefits of those negative modifiers. Presenting... Yes, I've used the right image Rules for the Flesh-Eater Courts mercenary company the Tenebrous Court exist in both Forbidden Power and the General's Handbook 2019, allowing any army to run them as allies. Crypt Flayers (the big, flappy ghouls in the image above) have a special shooting attack called Death Scream, that rolls a 2D6 for every model in the unit against the target's Bravery, dealing mortal wounds equal to the difference. Even with a +2 modifier to enemy Bravery when the Crypt Flayers aren't in combat with them, with enough negative mods they can easily snipe characters, and have the potential to average a couple of wounds each on even normally implacable Bravery 10 targets. Crypt Flayers cost 170 points for a unit of three, making two units easy to slot into a 2,000 point game's ally allowance. An auto include in a bravery bomb list, Horrorghast, the endless spell that looks like a Nagash head that's been melted over a heated stove from Forbidden Power is inexpensive, and saps another two points of bravery from nearby units. The Kharibdyss (who can also be given the all important Fell Gaze), Dark Riders and the standing-out-by-not-being-a-Dark-Elf Freeguild General on Griffon all have -1 bravery auras able to stack with each other's, and so you'll want to squeeze in at least one of each. 'Oi, Franz, didn't you get the memo?! We've been on the same side for five years...' Sylvaneth Spite-Revenants have 3" a -1 Bravery aura and a unit of five can be cheekily squeezed into a 2,000 point game's ally allowance alongside two units of Crypt Horrors if you think they'll stay alive long enough to get any use out of it. With so many relatively low wound units integral to to pulling off a bravery bomb you'll probably want to find room for an Emerald Lifeswarm (healing D6 wounds under CoS) to keep them in the game (once those Crypt Horrors are gone they're gone). Fielding a mercenary company means you start the game with one less command point, and so picking Hidden Agents as your Black Market Bounty is probably pragmatic. Obviously if you do chance against an army vulnerable to battleshock then win/win with entire units running away after losing a single model and getting sneezed on. While I personally don't play Anvilgard (if you cut me I'd probably bleed Greywater Fastness), I'd love to see this concept in action on the table, and think that while it would require considerable finesse and practice to pull off, could seriously shake up the scene in the right hands, with very little most armies could stretch to counter it. Crypt Flayers even bear a passing resemblance to the original Dark Elf Harpy models from the 90s, so there's thematic scope to boot. GIMMICK THE SECOND: DEATH BY A THOUSAND UNSAVED CUTS Anvilgard's more popular crutch, Vitriolic Spray is entirely unique, rendering its target's save characteristic irrelevant, and making it ripe for a volley of Damage 1 Rend - attacks. Before building a list of low rend ranged units to fully take advantage, you'll first want to ensure that you can rely on casting it every turn. Even if Vitriolic Spray didn't have a pitiful range of 6", you'd still want to ensure it goes off well out of enemy unbind range, and Cities of Sigmar having endless spells better than everybody else's means you can cast from a corner with an amplified Umbral Spellportal. Vitriolic Spray having a steep casting cost of its own plus requiring an extra casting roll on the Spellportal's part means that you'll want them both cast by Sorceresses blood sacrificing a cheap unit of Bleakswords or Dreadspears. You'll typically be selecting a new target every turn as well, and will need to dispel the Spellportal in order to summon it again, and while a third Sorceress feels tempting in the role, you've only got one chance to dispel it, and so a Runelord with his +2 modifier is better for the job, with the added perk of providing wonderful buffs should you include a unit of Dispossessed. If you're interested in a more detailed analysis of the Runelord and Dispossessed, then check out my Lonely Realmsphere article looking at them here. To max out on nonexistent armour saves, you'll want to load up on cheap, high volume Rend free attacks, ideally at range, and Darkshards or Freeguild Crossbowmen are your guys. Keeping consistent with Anvilgard's formerly-known-as-Dark Elves motif, Dark Riders buck the trend as functional melee/missile hybrids also put out a high volume of Rendless attacks and are speedy enough to ensure making it into combat with the unit you target. Despite already having a point of Rend Gyrocopters with steam guns also dish out a high volume of damage against hordes, and a unit of three is likely to wipe out a Vitriolic Sprayed target of single wound models. If you're going to build a list around Vitriolic Spray you're going to need to remember that the spell can only target a single enemy unit, and learn to pick the right one for it every turn, typically coming down to a decision between guaranteeing killing your opponent's linchpin damage or buff dealer, or getting a hard to shift unit off a valuable objective. It's particularly true of Age of Sigmar that games are won or lost on making the right decision at crucial moments, so practice hard and develop a knack for evaluating the payoff between shooting down an impending threat and denying your opponent victory points, being sure to learn from your mistakes in games you've lost having made the wrong choice at one of these junctures. BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER, OR NOT? It's a tight fit to create a 2,000 point list able to utilise both the gimmicks described above in tandem, with all the requisite endless spells needed to support them and the Sorceresses needed to cast those endless spells costing a fair whack, and while definitely manageable with the bravery bomb's Freeguild General on Griffon left at home, it's a very risky proposition, and will leave you with an army unable to do much else, that in the event of its Crypt Flayers being killed and/or an unlucky casting roll aren't worth the warscrolls they're printed on, and so it might be more prudent to play it safe with a list only incorporating one of the two into a more conventional selection of proven Cities of Sigmar units like Scourgerunner Chariots, Phoenix Guard, Dispossessed, and even Evocators. CONCLUDING THOUGHTS A uniquely 'spikey graph' among city allegiances, I maintain the opinion that with the right trait, artefact, curse, spell and most importantly unit selection, and a considerable amount of refinement and practice Anvilgard has the potential to be up there with Tempest's Eye and Hallowheart. Quite how, I'm not exactly sure, but I hope this article collates most of the pieces of the puzzle for a Dark Elf enthusiast willing to put the time in, or at the very least demonstrated to a new or prospective Anvilgard player who's been told their selected city's a write off that they don't have to paint their models blue and white to stand a chance of winning. If you're an Anvilgard player with any insights to add, or an unsentimental competitive type who thinks this article's overly optimistic theroryhammer tosh, then please leave a comment or get in touch, I'd love to hear your insights.View the full article

Dispossessed units are also a great fit for Tempest's Eye, with a handy +1 attack spell that plays to their strengths and the extra movement in the first turn going a long way to offset their tiny legs.

Hi @Icefighter, welcome to Cities of Sigmar! You've got great taste The three units you've listed at all stalwarts, and perform pretty well as part of an army from pretty much any city, though Pistoliers become battleline and gain a battalion option with extra special rules in Tempest's Eye armies. Beyond that, just go with the city you like the look/feel/rules of the most, though be warned before going for Greywater Fastness, the Phoenicium and Anvilgard, as the popular view is that Hammerhal, the Living City, Hallowheart and Tempest's Eye are the better/more competitive cities.

Ok, revisiting this thread after it's lain dormant for a while, the most commonly agreed on changes seem to be: Phoenix Guard going up by 10-20 points, possibly losing the horde discount, as they're on a par with Tzangor and much better than the other CoS elite infantry options. Either Freeguild Handgunners going up by 10 points or Freeguild Crossbowmen going down by 10, as both compete for the same spot, and the Handgunners are the more popular/commonly perceived as better unit. Scourgerunner Chariots are universally agreed on as a bit good, and should go up by 10-20. Longbeards and Ironbreakers going down by 10-20 points each, as apparently they're quite immobile and don't do a lot of damage. Dark Riders going down by 10 points to compete for the role they share with Pistoliers and Outriders. Flagellants and Black Arc Corsairs dropping 10-20 points a piece if it doesn't mean too cheap a source of conditional battleline. The Helblaster Volley Gun and Helstorm Rocket Battery both struggle to compete with the same points worth of non artillery shooting (with and without requisite hero buffs), and could either go down 10-30 points a piece or see the price of other shooters pushed up. The Assassin getting a significant points drop, possibly as many as 40, as he's cute, but entirely useless. The Sorceress on Black Dragon and Battlemage on Griffon dropping 20-40 points, as they don't see use over either monster's martial equivalent, or other kinds of wizard. The Whitefire Retinue battalion getting a significant points increase, possibly as many as 80, as it's currently a no brainer for Hallowheart players, and even at 220 points a lot of them would probably still use it. The Charwind Beasthunters, Phoenix Flight, and Viridian Pathfinders battalions dropping by 40 or so points, as they don't see a lot of use, and Anvilgard and the Phoenicum are commonly perceived as two of the weaker city allegiances. Would everyone agree that this is a favourable consensus?