Age of Sigmar: The Love/Hate Relationship With Cities of Sigmar
The Cities of Sigmar range looks fantastic. So why am I feeling so much existential dread about their release?
If you’ve been avoiding spoilers and haven’t seen them, the rest of the Cities of Sigmar range has been revealed. Overall, I think the range looks awesome and I’m impressed with the new models. And yet I can’t help but feel like something bad is coming to the game…there’s thunder and a black cloud is lingering in the distance. Turns out that’s not so far from the truth. The “cloud” is black — as in black powder weapons! And the sound of thunder is them firing.
Cannons!
With the updates to the Cities of Sigmar we’ve got the return of “empire” cannons and firearms to the game. There are some leaks floating around out there with their rules. I’ve seen them, too. And while they might not look too scary on paper, I’m still not thrilled with them. Specifically because, from what I’ve seen, it’s going to encourage a particular playstyle that I find absolutely yawn-inspiring to play and play against: the gunline.
Look, I get it. Tactically, it makes a ton of sense — load up on guns, bring your friends. It’s fun to (let) lose and to pretend. Just straight blast the enemy as they try to cover ground and get you in melee. Plus, you’ve GOT black powder guns so yeah, it’s kind of a technological leap and it makes the odds of these normal humans more even.
But Not Just Cannons
“But these units existed before and are in the game now, why are they not so bad?” Well, honestly, that’s not really what folks were using Cities of Sigmar for with the old book. Cities is currently a book people use to cherry pick cool units from Old World armies and gather them up in a hodge-podge of special rules.
I even like the cover art!
There’s issues with that and I’m 100% biased here: I don’t like the current rules or how the army works. Now, with the new models, maybe people will build these new style of armies (the gunlines, yawn). Or maybe they won’t…and we’ll get another round of Freeguild combos with cherry picked units that form the AoS version of Voltron again. Yea.
“But the KO have guns.” Yep. They sure do…
Fundamentally, I don’t like either option for the Cities of Sigmar. I find the gunline absolutely unfun to play or play against. It’s a coin-flip as you either get there and crush them or you get shot off the board and the game’s over. Yawn. Or you’re up against an army that feels a lot like it’s some homebrew adventure the other player is making up on the spot. “I’m playing Tempest Eye so all my guys can retreat and shoot in the same turn!” or “I’m playing Greywater Fastness so I get to all out attack three times in the shooting phase!” Those may or may not be made up — and that’s the problem.
The Cities of Sigmar have always felt like they’ve had a certain level of jank to them. I get it. And now they have awesome looking models and people are excited to try the new stuff, too. I also get that. I really love the look of the new stuff. But I’m really hating on their rules right now. And I don’t even think that overall they are that bad. But for me, it’s just a really negative/boring play experience. At least in AoS the Missions and Battle Tactics are going to force them to move if they want to score points.
By Sigmar, don’t get me started on this new GHB’s Battle Tactics…
Love or Hate? Why Not Both?
I know this is coming off as a lot of complaining about a new army that isn’t even officially out yet. But when has that stopped anyone. And I know things probably aren’t as bad as they seem. I’m hopeful that I’m totally wrong about the overall rules of this army and that they will actually be a lot of fun to play against. But I’m not that hopeful. Model-wise they look good. Rules-wise I’m not finding much to get excited about.
That’s just like, my opinion, man…
It’s not my type of army and that’s okay. I know there are folks out there that are really excited about the book. And good for them! I can’t wait to see what folks do in terms of hobbying for this army and I know the community paint jobs are gonna be awesome. But I think it’s also realistic to be happy with the models and not happy with the rules. And that’s just where I’m at right now with the Cities of Sigmar.
How are you feeling about the Cities of Sigmar? Are you excited about the new models? How about the rules?
