The Freeguilds and Clan Eshin face off in City of Ash, the latest Spearhead Battlepack for Warhammer Age of Sigmar. Packed with brand-new models for both factions, a modular terrain set, and a full tutorial experience for newcomers, this box rivals the Age of Sigmar Spearhead starter set. We’ve gone through every sprue in detail with high-res sprue images, so read on to find out what’s inside.
Citiy of Ash will be available for pre-order starting Saturday, 18 April 2026. The pre-order period lasts two weeks, with the official release date set for 2 May 2026. Please note that there will be only one production run, so the box is available only until stocks last, and might sell out fast with independent retailers.
Citiy of Ash unboxing
The City of Ash box contains two complete Spearheads for the Cities of Sigmar Freeguild and Skaven of Clan Eshin, plus the City of Ash battlepack with matching board, terrain pieces, and card deck. The RRP is £134 / €175 / $220.
Included are:
- Jorvan Kreel and Thexa the Ash Panther
- Mallus Forgepriest
- 5 Freeguild Gallants
- 10 Freeguild Grenadiers
- Deathmaster Crixxit
- Skaven Deathmaster
- 20 Gutter Runners/Night Runners and 2 Bomb Rats
- 2 ruined manor terrain pieces plus 5 scatter terrain pieces
- Warhammer Age of Sigmar handbook with lore and a full tutorial
- Spearhead: City of Ash battlepack booklet
- double-sided game board
- a deck of 36 Spearhead cards.
Here I go through all of the box contents, inc. a page-by-page flip-through the books and assembly guides:
Freeguilds Spearhead reviewed
On the Freeguilds side, you get a fairly small force with 18 completely new models in total.
Jorvan Kreel and Thexa the Ash Panther & Mallus Forgepriest reviewed
Leading the Freeguilds is Ranger-Colonel Jorvan Kreel, the Heir of the Kraken. This new named character is a former Wildercorps captain and native of fallen Anvilgard who now roves the Mortal Realms in search of allies to reclaim his home. The kit comes on a small sprue with a 32mm base for Jorvan and a 25mm base for his companion Thexa. Both models are monopose with no build options, but their scenic bases make for an impressive display.
The Mallus Forgepriest comes on a small clampack-sized sprue with a 28mm base. You can choose between a shaved head (part 8) or thinning hair with facial decoration (part 9).
Patreon bonus content: Ultra high-res, uncompressed versions of these sprue images (and backsides of the sprues) can be downloaded here.
Freeguild Gallants reviewed
The Freeguild Gallants are essentially knights on foot, clad in heavy plate armour and carrying shields and hand weapons. Cities of Ash includes 5 models on a three-part sprue with 28mm bases and plenty of build options.
Patreon bonus content: Ultra high-res, uncompressed versions of these sprue images (and backsides of the sprues) can be downloaded here.
The build options:
- Body/pose 1 builds as a Champion, Standard Bearer, or regular Gallant with hand weapon and shield. The Champion uses extra torso and arm parts 5 and 6, carrying a sword and heavy morning star. The Standard Bearer gets a left arm with banner and two banner top options (parts 37 to 41), plus a left arm with sword (42).
- Body/pose 2 builds as either a Standard Bearer or a regular Gallant with hand weapon and shield. Note that the Standard Bearer parts (37 to 42) only appear once on the sprue, so you need to choose whether body 1 or body 2 carries the banner.
- Body/pose 3 builds as an alternative Champion or a regular Gallant. This Champion variant comes with a separate torso and head, wielding a warhammer in each hand (parts 21 to 23).
- Bodies/poses 4 and 5 are regular Gallants with hand weapon and shield.
- Freely interchangeable parts: 6 different bare heads, 5 helmeted heads that combine freely with decorative visors (parts 66 to 70), and 1 additional helmeted head with crest (54 and 55). You also get 8 different right forearms with hand weapons (2 hammers, 4 swords, 2 morning stars) and 5 different shields.
- 3 Gargoylians (76 to 78) can be placed freely on the bases.
A genuinely great, varied kit with plenty of interchangeable parts, optional heads, and alternative builds.
Freeguild Grenadiers reviewed
The Grenadiers are the Freeguilds’ elite fighters, equipped for close-quarters combat with powerful firearms and heavy bardiches. The kit contains a two-part sprue with 10 models on 28mm bases.
Patreon bonus content: Ultra high-res, uncompressed versions of these sprue images (and backsides of the sprues) can be downloaded here.
For build options:
- Body/pose 1 is the leader, who can raise or lower his right arm with pistol (parts 9 and 10), and carry either an outstretched left arm with pistol (8) or an arm with club (11).
- Each of the 10 models comes with one helmeted head and one bare head, all sitting on ball joints and fully interchangeable.
- One optional Gargoylian (part 14) can be added to a base.
As the short list suggests, build options on the Grenadiers are limited. Beyond the cosmetic head swaps and the leader’s arm variants, there are no further weapon options. Perhaps this was meant to be a Warcry warband, considering the eclectic mix of weapons? Either way, what you see on the promo shots is what you get.
Clan Eshin Spearhead reviewed
The Skaven half of the box contains 22 models in total, all new except for the Deathmaster.
Deathmaster Crixxit & Skaven Deathmaster reviewed
Deathmaster Crixxit is a stunning new master assassin sculpt on an expansive 40mm scenic base, and for me it’s one of the standout models in the entire box. The small sprue offers no build options, as Crixxit is monopose. A few seam lines appear here and there, notably on Crixxit’s cloak (parts 5 and 6) and the beam he perches on (parts 10 and 11).
The Skaven Deathmaster is the one older model in the box, but it remains a superb sculpt. The small clampack-sized sprue includes a Deathmaster on a 32mm base, and like Crixxit, it’s monopose with no build options.
Patreon bonus content: Ultra high-res, uncompressed versions of these sprue images (and backsides of the sprues) can be downloaded here.
Gutter Runners and Night Runners reviewed
City of Ash includes 20 Gutter Runners in total, which can alternatively be built as Night Runners. The two-part sprue holds 10 Skaven on 28mm bases, plus one optional 28mm base with Bomb Rats for the Gutter Runners. The sprue appears twice in the box, giving you 20 models in all.
Build options (per 10 model sprue):
- Each of the 10 bodies builds as either a Gutter Runner or a Night Runner.
- Gutter Runners carry more refined weapons such as long daggers and push daggers. One model features push daggers connected to a poison tank on its back (with no extra rules attached). One Gutter Runners carries explosives. You can also build a base with Bomb Rats (parts 68 and 69), and one model builds as a Champion crouching on a scenic post (parts 6 and 7).
- Night Runners are mostly equipped with throwing stars, small daggers, slings, and grappling hooks. One model can build as a Champion with grappling hook, or as a regular Night Runner with sling and dagger. Not that the Night Runner Champion uses a different body from the Gutter Runner Champion.
Patreon bonus content: Ultra high-res, uncompressed versions of these sprue images (and backsides of the sprues) can be downloaded here.
Eshin fans have waited a long time for new models, and this kit makes the wait worthwhile. Like the new Clanrats, the sculpts feel highly individual and full of character, with dynamic poses throughout. That said, the Gutter Runner and Night Runner builds look very similar beyond their weapons, since they share the same base bodies, and even the weapons themselves are quite alike. Telling the two unit types apart on the tabletop at distance will be tricky. Some stronger visual differentiation for the Gutter Runners would have been welcome, for example, longer capes like Skattershank’s Clawpack or blade helmets as seen on the Gutter Runner Champion.
The City of Ash terrain
As with previous Spearhead Battlepacks, City of Ash includes a single large terrain sprue. As is typical for terrain, it’s designed in the UK and made in China, which shows in the slightly different grey plastic and marginally softer casting sharpness. For terrain, though, the quality here is still very good.
Patreon bonus content: Ultra high-res, uncompressed versions of these sprue images (and backsides of the sprues) can be downloaded here.
- The sprue contains 5 smaller scatter terrain pieces (relic markers in City of Ash games) and two corner ruins.
- The ruins are fully modular: both the lower and upper floor sections let you mix and match the left and right side walls freely with the corner piece, and all combinations fit together.
- The upper floor does offer some standing space thanks to support beams, but there’s no proper interior flooring.
It’s a real shame Games Workshop only included one terrain sprue. With just two corner ruins, the board looks quite sparse. The ruins themselves are beautifully designed with varied textures and surfaces in the characteristically angular architectural style of the Cities of Sigmar. Strong Mordheim vibes with a Mortal Realms twist, and hopefully, we’ll see more terrain from this theme in the future.
City of Ash battlepack
Alongside the models, City of Ash delivers a complete play experience. You get a double-sided cardboard game board at the standard 30″ x 22″ size, a 28-page booklet containing the City of Ash battlepack (inc. a mini-campaign) and profiles for both included Spearheads, and a matching card deck with 36 new tactics and twist cards (all shown in the unboxing video above).
You also get a 76-page softcover handbook aimed squarely at newcomers. It covers an introduction to the hobby, assembly guides for the included models, and lore for the Freeguilds and Eshin Skaven. The heart of the book is its tutorial section, which walks new players through four tutorial missions that teach the core concepts of Warhammer Age of Sigmar, before bridging into Spearhead and the Battlepack. A double-page spread rounding out the book gives a broad overview of the Warhammer hobby in all its facets.
Where to get
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I hope you found this review helpful, feel free to leave a reaction or comment below, or post your questions here or discuss on our Discord channel.
8.0 Score
Pros
- All you need to play Spearhead in one box
- Brilliant new Deathmaster model and fantastic glow-ups for the Gutter/Night Runners
- Deep build options on the Gallants, with extensive head and weapon interchangeability
Cons
- Model selections lack a bit of visual variety
- Just one terrain sprue, leaving the board looking rather sparse
- Grenadiers offer very limited build options beyond cosmetic head swaps
Final Verdict
With Cities of Ash, Games Workshop reinvents the Spearhead expansion box by returning to the classic two-player starter set format. Where the Sand & Bone expansion contained only rules, a board, and terrain, Cities of Ash brings back two playable factions and delivers a complete play experience, much like the main starter set for the current edition of Age of Sigmar (which includes the Fire & Jade Battlepack). Both boxes sit at the same price point, too. The starter set does offer considerably more variety in its model selection, though, with winged Prosecutors, mighty Rat Ogres, and a Clawlord on Claw-beast. Cities of Ash has beautiful models of its own, Deathmaster Crixxit above all, but both factions consist "only" of fairly small infantry models and leader characters. The Freeguilds in particular feel a little light on model count compared to the current Spearhead box, which includes 6 more models and a hulking Ogor Warhulk.
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