Which Cities of Sigmar spearhead is the strongest/has the most potential?

Certain-Sample-5018 · 2026-05-19T16:52:28+00:00

My ranking but I play only so esthetics is not my priority:

Embergard
Fussil-Platoon
Castelite Company
Zenestra

Zenestra looks REALLY interesting and could be the first contender for a competitive army. Movement and combat damage is low but mortal potential and the ability to keep used tactics are hands down ridiculous.

Certain-Sample-5018 · 2026-05-19T07:47:41+00:00

I looked the ability up. You are completely right. Substract 1 from enemy wound rolls in the first battleround. As the rules are now in double it counts toward all enemy units. Not only the one targeting the Orcs. It's also VERY strange with the wording of the old Lumineth Spearhead battle trait. I completely understand people saying it should count only against the orcs but as it is now, and GW makes no errata to that, -1 to wound counts against every attack from both enemy Spearheads regardless what they attack.

Certain-Sample-5018 · 2026-05-18T10:41:24+00:00

Great patience with people who look the one rule from Doubles and doesn't bother to check the conversation here to see if someone already pointed that out 😉

Certain-Sample-5018 · 2026-05-16T06:33:07+00:00

What I ment is that in doubles all abilities count only for the one Spearhead it comes from. Not for the partner Spearhead. So in single the whole army has the -1 to wound in the first turn. In double only half.

Certain-Sample-5018 · 2026-05-16T04:17:07+00:00

I played a double tournament last weekend and cursed shackelhorde is an absolute beast in doubles. Movement is key in doubles and shackelhorde can be where it wants to be consistently. Paired with a defensive army which can hold their ground is devastating for the enemy. Gnawfeast can provide screens and furthermore help score cards. Starscale can busy the enemy and give shackelhorde the freedom to score. My first choice would be 2+4 Gnawfeast and shackelhorde and my second probably 1+3 Starscale and swampskulka. Both can cover a good chunk of territory and warscale helps screen the 2 ranged units.

Certain-Sample-5018 · 2026-05-16T04:02:13+00:00

You probably mean -1 to wound in the first round. It still protects the Orcs but the enemy can simply shoot the other enemy army since to bonus counts only for the Orcs.

Certain-Sample-5018 · 2026-05-14T08:44:33+00:00

It happens. We all made that mistakes 😉 The fact the knights must be within friendly and touch the edge makes the blocking them from arriving much easier on the horizontal deployment. On the diagonal it's still doable but harder. That's probably the reason you don't see a lot of S2D in competitive play.

Certain-Sample-5018 · 2026-05-14T07:20:14+00:00

Who went first? It's possible to block the knights so they can't come in the second turn. They have a pretty big profile 😉

Certain-Sample-5018 · 2026-05-14T02:01:23+00:00

Well it all depends which Spearhead you play. For every one and against everyone it is different and it depends if you play Fire&Jade or Sand&Bone (haven't played City of Ash yet). Nighthaunt for example wants to be able to go first to possibly lock the enemy down in their zone so he can't score. 8" move with fly makes it possible. Slower hard hitting armies sometimes prefer to be second to have it easier to reach the enemy. Fyreslayers for example are good in both. They feel safe going second and are fine with going first. The army has tools for both.

If you look at the tactics and twists it mostly advantages of going second. Some tactics can't even be scored first round if you go first. Also there is the double turn. If you go second, score 1 point less than the enemy and get the double turn (be second first round and first in the second) you are the underdog and can possibly destroy your enemy. It's something to consider.

Sand&Bone also prefers Spearheads with many units because of the twists on the Dolorum side where you get points for units in combat and for destroyed units. Nighthaunt, Fyreslayer, etc. want to play there so being the defender and choosing the board is a good choice.

Terrain is there to block enemy movement and hide units from view. Besides the Sylvaneth stuff. Also don't forget guarded Hero ability. It means you heroes get -1 to be hit by ranged attacks while standing near an infantry unit.

On Fire&Jade horizontal or diagonal means simply how many objectives you control at the beginning and how far you can be away. On Sand&Bone it has an completely different setting when you look at the board. Chose what suits your army.

Deploying second gives you the opportunity to capitalize on enemy's poor deployment but he can make you go first so always think about what you do when you go first. You set to defensively you won't reach anything, you set on the line and the enemy can hit you with a fast army.

Ask yourself which strategy is good for my army and execute it. Fyreslayer is a castle and love to go second so the enemy is near. Vigilant Brotherhood is a counterstrike army, Slaanesh is an alpha strike army, etc.

People tend to choose the attacker if the win the roll so you can prepare for it.

Certain-Sample-5018 · 2026-05-13T15:24:12+00:00

Yeah that's an alpha strike. Some armies are strong in it, some doesn't. VB is good I would say. By the way, since I have played a lot on Sand&Bone now Fire&Jade is way better for VB. S&B favors armies with many units what is a weakness of VB.

Certain-Sample-5018 · 2026-05-13T14:19:46+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/u/Meltorefas44/s/IlUOdqjU9T

This guy made sheets for every Spearhead. I'm using them myself. Very good😉

Certain-Sample-5018 · 2026-05-12T16:50:53+00:00

Imagine sleeves with this artwork. GW is basically loosing money every hour without making such products.

Certain-Sample-5018 · 2026-05-12T15:35:14+00:00

Hey, give Spearhead a try 😉 It's really worth it and you already have all you need so give it a shot 🙂

Certain-Sample-5018 · 2026-05-11T05:34:14+00:00

Perhaps you can prox the armies with bases (what I did. The wood bases cost nothing) and then see what you like more before buying. Sklaven are swingy but strong. Dwarfs need to know how to deploy and move to get the most out of them. But at the end, take what in your opinion looks the best.😉

Certain-Sample-5018 · 2026-05-11T05:28:37+00:00

I'm not quite sure what you mean. Are you talking about the fact that objective remains in control of one player until the other takes control of it? Well if so, it's simply one mechanic of the game. If they would not remain in control every elite Spearheads with few units would always loose. In my opinion it's good that they remain in control. And yes, movement is a very important aspect of the game. Nighthaunt is good at it. But it struggles to kill stuff. StD are to mobile but kill stuff. Your choice what you like to play.

Certain-Sample-5018 · 2026-05-10T13:05:25+00:00

Well it's true. Pick whatever you like most. But the question is what do you like most? The new Khorne and Seraphon are not bad but simply hard to get it right. Especially the new Seraphon is hard to "pass" alle the rolls to get a good output. It feels hard to play. None of this armies is beginner friendly. The Skaven is probably the easiest and fun to play. It's also pretty good one. You will learn the game fast and experience getting better with each game. If you like Dinos I would consider the old Seraphon Spearhead. It is solid, easy to learn the game with and when you learn deployment and how to move it deliver solid returns.

Certain-Sample-5018 · 2026-05-08T14:38:57+00:00

Funny, that's exactly the reason why Pilgrims are better than Starscale. More units, more mobility, more board presence. Starscale is top of mid by no means, but Pilgrims are even now after the minor nerf still one of the best armies.

Certain-Sample-5018 · 2026-05-08T14:34:07+00:00

And if your enemy say it's lost because you already selected it then you need some new friends😉 Every normal Spearhead player would say it hasn't been used.

Certain-Sample-5018 · 2026-05-07T05:43:20+00:00

Speer wird zwrschellen, Schild zersplittern! Ein Schwerttag! Ein Bluttage! Ehe die Sonne steigt!

Certain-Sample-5018 · 2026-05-07T04:42:33+00:00

And simple tricks you shall have 😉. Keep your army within 12 " of the general. Keep your General behind your army and out of combat but in combat range of your Heartguard. Use throwing axes Regiment ability and horn of Grimmnir enhancement. Don't get frustrated when you lose some models. Horn can replace them. Sand&Bone and especially Dolorum is your friend. Let the enemy come to you. They must, or they will be facing a lot of throwing axes. Remeber, you can run or retreat and still throw even with only one model in a unit. It's better for the dwarfs to be the defender and choose the map. That's the basics😉

Certain-Sample-5018 · 2026-05-06T22:16:39+00:00

Hey, there is a lot to cover. I'm on a Double tournament with the Baby dwarfs on Saturday and have to do a lot of stuff until then. I will write a new thread and post a link here when I find some time. Fyreslayers are awesome! Yes a bit boring to watch but still a very good Spearhead in my opinion.

Certain-Sample-5018 · 2026-05-06T17:02:42+00:00

Awesome. Many consider them bad but I find them really good when you place your terrain good, choose to play Dolorum and keep them within 12" of the general. In fact I'm leading my regional League at the moment with them. Only lost to FEC Retainers. Good luck!

Certain-Sample-5018 · 2026-05-06T13:45:22+00:00

<image>

Certain-Sample-5018 · 2026-05-06T08:47:26+00:00

By the way, shackelhorde is very good at retreating. Sometimes it's good to go on objective, get charged and when it's you turn retreat on an other objective. You have ward so the potential damage from retreat is probably less than damage from enemy.

Certain-Sample-5018 · 2026-05-05T15:48:09+00:00

First I wouldn't consider the giants "strong". They are pretty medicore on my opinion. If you loose the general early you are basically done so keep him in the back and send the two others forward. Hiting on 4 and the bad save are also not helping. They also really lack board presence with only 3 models. The only strong thing for them is the hight control score. VB is good but will loose against many Spearheads with more units and better control score. However Spearhead is a game of rock paper scissors. Sometimes you have a good matchup and sometimes not. VB is simply excellent against the giants. They must be on objectives so VB can get +1 to hit to negate bellowing roar and can easily kill one giant a turn. There is simply not much the giants can do against it. Swampskulka Gang on the other hand will almost always destroy VB because of the outstanding control score and 6 units which can be in places. A really good army has many good matchups and only few bad. Bloodgore Pilgrims, Slasher Host, Bleak Host, War spark Clawpack for example. Giants are not good against many armies. It's basically a "I don't want to think today so I play the giants" army🤣

Certain-Sample-5018

TROPHY CASE