The Freeguilds of the Cities of Sigmar march to war in the name of the God-King Sigmar.
The Freeguilds serve as the militia-based military forces of the Cities of Sigmar settled throughout the Mortal Realms in the Age of Sigmar.
Over time, the settlements of Sigmar have become the nexus points of entire nations. Though it took decades of back-breaking labour and no small amount of creation magic to achieve it, the rise of these cities has heralded a new era, and each has grown to earn its own proud heraldry and military history.
The rowing well-criers, minstrels and skalds of Sigmar's realm claim the cities prospered due to their Azyrite benefactors, but the truth is more complex -- the new settlements have drawn on local resources wherever they can. In some places the ruins of ancient cities from the Age of Myth have been reclaimed and built anew, those structures still sound used as foundations or inspirational monuments whilst those unsafe regions are broken down into raw materials and repurposed. In other areas, the scattered tribes that could be saved from the hordes of Chaos have been brought, filthy and starving, into the city limits to found shanty towns, in places doubling the population even before they start their families anew.
The Freeguilds recruit from every stratum of the society of the Cities of Sigmar -- when the city is under attack, military aristocrats from the inner districts and low-born officers command stalwart professional soldiers, ex-criminals and even armed militia, their common humanity uniting them against the horrors they must face. Over time, these melanges of races and creeds have intermingled, forming new alliances and factions thirsty to prove themselves or to avenge their predecessors.
An army or garrison from a Sigmarite city may include a dozen different kinds of footsoldiers, knightly orders, beast riders, proven militia and city guard, all with their own uniforms, traditions and rivalries. Some go to war in resplendent plate armour, others have not even a pair of boots to call their own, but they are rich in spirit one and all. When their hard-won way of life is threatened, they put aside their differences, fighting as one under the steely gaze of a Freeguild general.
Sources[]
- Warhammer Age of Sigmar Core Book (2nd Edition), pg. 141
| Grand Alliance of Order Factions | |
|---|---|
| Free Peoples | Cities of Sigmar (Collegiate Arcane • Darkling Covens • Devoted of Sigmar • Dispossessed • Eldritch Council • Freeguilds • Ironweld Arsenals • Order of Azyr • Order Draconis • Order Serpentis • Phoenix Temple • Scourge Privateers • Shadowblades • Stormcast Eternals • Swifthawk Agents • Wanderers) |
| Aelven Factions | Idoneth Deepkin • Lumineth Realm-lords • Darkling Covens • Daughters of Khaine • Eldritch Council • Lion Rangers • Order Draconis • Order Serpentis • Phoenix Temple • Scourge Privateers • Shadowblades • Swifthawk Agents • Wanderers |
| Duardin Factions | Fyreslayers • Kharadron Overlords • Dispossessed |
| Others | Monsters of Order • Seraphon • Soulbound • Stormcast Eternals • Sylvaneth |