The Cities of Sigmar have felt a little bit neglected after the Old World exploded andGames Workshop’sfantasy wargame becameAge of Sigmar. It’s still Warhammer at its heart, but from the ascension of the angelic Stormcast Eternals as the game’s poster boys to the fractured realms that all peoples inhabit, the setting rapidly changed, and it seemed like regular men had been left behind.
The Cities of Sigmar emerged from the smoking ruins of the Empire. The denizens of the newly erected Stormgates have struggled for identity throughout Age of Sigmar, with the army just being a collection ofOld Worldpeoples who had no home. The Duardin had become Fyreslayers and Kharadron Overlords, Aelves were split between Idoneth Deepkin and Lumineth Realm-lords, and humans, well, they just stuck around with the other outcasts.
Each of the new-look races had far more identity beyond the generic tropes, leaving the old models as part of the Cities of Sigmar range and feeling a little outdated in comparison. Little more than an alliance of obsolete miniatures, there looked like no place for humanity in Games Workshop’s new vision of the fantasy genre.
Along came a knight in grubby, battered armour, taking the incorporeal form of a Cities of Sigmar range refresh. What was once a band of misfits and old models from an outdated version of the game is now a fighting force, a militia that seems both ragtag and organised at once. Most importantly, it’s a cohesive force of brand new sculpts for humanity, and the kits are fantastic.
Games Workshop has been making its kits more progressive for years now, and Cities of Sigmar is no exception. The kits contain plenty of head options, including male and female soldiers, but it’s the bodies that I like the most. Your rank and file troops come in different shapes and sizes, from skinny soldiers to larger legionnaires. It makes your army look like real people, an actual force hastily assembled to defend their city. Every one of your soldiers oozes personality, and swapping the heads and bodies is an easy way to make sure every single model is unique.
“Whether it’s the portly blacksmith manning the Ironweld Great Cannon, or the Fusiliers breaching enemy lines with their rifles and greatshields, the models are packed with personality.”
Cities of Sigmar now have some unique characters, too. Pontifex Zenestra, carried upon a dais by two robed underlings, tells the story of your city through the architecture on her mobile throne. The Freeguild Cavalier-Marsal reminds me of Paul Delaroche’s 19th century oil painting Bonaparte Crossing the Alps, and is probably my favourite character in the range. The Command Corps provides more unnamed characters that subtly tell their own stories, each unique in terms of both design and rules, and who can forget the fact there’s a dude sitting in a crow’s nest transported by an Ogor? If there’s one thing you’re able to say about the new Cities of Sigmar range, it’s that it is not bland.
All of these units are led by Tahlia Vedra, a mighty centrepiece sat atop a mighty manticore mount. I’m not huge on the monsters of Age of Sigmar, but it’s standard protocol that a big fella is included with every army nowadays, and this fits the bill perfectly. If you were getting jealous of everyone else’s Stardrakes and Gargants, you can now field your own beastie thanks to Vedra’s manticore, Infernadine, complete with paralysing scorpion tail.
The real character of Cities of Sigmar comes from its regular troops, though. Whether it’s the portly blacksmith manning the Ironweld Great Cannon, or the Fusiliers breaching enemy lines with their rifles and greatshields, the models are packed with personality. It’s also a range ripe for conversion – I’m planning on making a Knightly House (watch this space for more info on that), and they’d work just as well as a feudal Guard force or a characterful Mordheim warband.
The Cities of Sigmar were neglected for so long, but Games Workshop has pulled out all the stops for the new range of models, to the extent that building them has been one of my favourite Warhammer experiences in years. I was planning on converting all of these models to 40k, but I might have to figure out a colour scheme for an Age of Sigmar force too.
Thanks to Games Workshop for sending us these new models.
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