Two brand new Spearhead forces, including the long-awaited Clans Eshin, clash in the streets of the City of Ash. Can the elite Freeguild survive the attentions of the Skaven ninjas?
The Box
City of Ash is a new boxed set for Warhammer Age of Sigmar that features two complete Spearhead forces – from the Cities of Sigmar and Skaven – along with a battlepack of missions and game rules, a city-themed double-sided board, and new terrain.
This set is an excellent way to introduce yourself and a friend into the world of Warhammer Age of Sigmar, and also comes with a full introductory handbook that takes you from building and painting your miniatures to playing games of Spearhead. It’s also a great expansion for Spearhead veterans, packed with brand new miniatures and a whole new setting for your games.
The Skaven
Since the Vermindoom, many of the Skaven Clans have been blessed by the Great Horned Rat with reinforcements, but Clans Eshin have been conspicuous by its absence. Fortunately, skulking in the shadows and making plans is where they excel, and now they are ready to emerge. The bold and vicious Deathmaster Crixxit leads an additional Deathmaster, 10 Gutter Runners, 10 Night Runners, and a pair of bomb rats* to hunt their human prey through the streets.
Tales of Crixxit’s exploits echo through the warrens of Blight City, speaking of a Skaven that can haunt any shadow and slay any target. Most of those stories are of his own invention, but what is true is that he single-handedly brought down an arcane Silver Tower with warpstone bombs while under Be’lakor’s employ, giving his legend at least a measure of credibility.
Now the Deathmaster prowls the streets of Embergard, hunting anyone who shows signs of rallying the city’s remaining defenders. Although perfectly capable of butchering any target himself, he often attracts groups of would-be assassins around him, including teams of devious Gutter Runners.
These servants of the Clans Eshin are hand-picked for their skills in infiltration and ambush, and rank among the more elite warriors available to a Skaven warlord. The Eshin maintain a meritocratic approach to advancement that confuses other Clans who cleave to the more traditional ‘murder your boss’ approach, which tends to result in Gutter Runners of exceptional skill who aren’t quite as inclined to use said murderous abilities on their commanders.
The same cannot be said for the Night Runners that swarm in their wake, who exist at the bottom of the Clans Eshin ladder and are, for the most part, entirely expendable.
Despite their lowly status, Night Runners are still effective troops thanks to the deadly poisons that drip from their blades and shurikens. They are eager to prove themselves in the eyes of watching Deathmasters, and when the chips are down, are better placed than most to escape into the shadows.
Since the nefarious Skaven found themselves in the Mortal Realms, we’ve seen a few warbands of assassins in the underworlds, but these are the first new Gutter Runners and Night Runners units. What’s more, the kit builds both units, so with the City of Ash boxed set, you can build 20 of either type! Whichever you choose, you’ll have plenty of new ways to stab-kill man-things, aelf-things, and tree-things.
The Freeguilds
The Cities of Sigmar forces are led by the debonair, but glory-hungry, Ranger-Colonel Jorvan Kreel, the Heir of the Kraken – a former Wildercorps captain and native of fallen Anvilgard who now roves the Mortal Realms in search of allies to reclaim his home.
With him march a band of valiant Freeguild Gallants who strap on heavy armour and shields to hold ground until their last breaths, a unit of elite Freeguild Grenadiers equipped for close-quarters combat with powerful firearms and heavy bardiches, and a devout Mallus Forgepriest whose inspiring sermons consecrate corrupted ground.**
You can learn all about these new units in much greater detail in our sister article covering a huge deployment of Cities of Sigmar reinforcements. Go and take a look, even if it’s just to see a close-up shot of Jorvan’s awesome ash panther Thexa!
There’s loads more to see from today’s Preview Show, so head back to the hub and see what else has been unveiled.
Warhammer Preview at Adepticon 2026
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* Just light the fuse and watch them scurry away, yes-yes!
** Presumably, the hammer is for consecrating the really corrupted bits.
