This last weekend Fabien Barbusse took Cities to first place at the Cherokee Open. This is the first time this battlescroll that we’ve seen a Cities list place in the top three of any event.
We asked Fabien how the list worked.
Cities of Sigmar
Fearless Exemplars
General’s Handbook 2025-26
Drops: 5
Spell Lore – Spells of the Collegiate Arcane
Prayer Lore – Scriptures of Sigmar
Manifestation Lore – Forbidden Power (20)
Battle Tactic Cards: Intercept and Recover, Master the Paths
General’s Regiment
Fusil-Major on Ogor Warhulk (150)
• General
• Brazier of Holy Flame (20)
• Cosmopolitan Leader (20)
Freeguild Cavaliers (300)
• Reinforced
Freeguild Command Corps (180)
Freeguild Command Corps (180)
Ironweld Great Cannon (110)
Regiment 1
Freeguild Marshal and Relic Envoy (100)
• Heirloom Warhammer
Freeguild Command Corps (180)
Freeguild Command Corps (180)
Regiment 2
Freeguild Marshal and Relic Envoy (100)
• Heirloom Warhammer
Regiment 3
Battlemage (100)
Regiments of Renown
Sky-Port Profiteers (350)
Codewright
Grundstok Thunderers
• 2x Grundstok Mortar or Aethercannon
Grundstok Thunderers
• 2x Grundstok Mortar or Aethercannon
Fabien: Cities right now is not in a great place: the most powerful/effective build (SoG Cavaliers with Zenestra and Cannons) is subpar compared to other armies, and is frankly quite boring to play. That’s why I went with my list (and also because new Tzeentch was not out in time for Cherokee).
This list is fun to play, with a ton of tools but it has 2 mains weaknesses: lack of damage (especially against good armor) and high randomness (hello Command Corps). And the downside of having a ton of tools is that the decision tree is massive, so it’s easier to miss the optimal play, in which case the army will really struggle.
The list plays as a castle formed by the 4 units of Command Corps as screens, around the Fusil-Major, with the remaining heroes and cavaliers safe in the back. The goal is to win on primaries and eventually score enough tactics to win the game, but it’s usually small wins. The KO RoR brings the tools for the list to work: turning off wards (4 of my 5 games were against armies with army wide 5+ ward) and teleporting Command Corps then moving 3″ with the Advance in Formation order (it doesn’t have the MOVE keyword so it works after setup). Finally the Cavaliers are the only source of consistent damage in the list so they need to be protected until they can go into a valuable target.
