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How do?

So, the freshly(ish) founded Free Cities, eh? What’s that all about?

Why would you drop the merest sliver of orderly civilisation into Realms which are (literally) damned near to being Chaotic Wastelands?

Surely the constant effort of defending them is just a drain on resources. Now matter how large a given city grows in such environs, it’s merely the merest, meekest clean spot of extremely heavily worn underpants?

I say thee nay.

Yes. Many are doomed from the start, and the Dark Gods will feast upon the hapless inhabitants.

Yet, stand or fall, they’re incredibly useful. If they stand, and as long as they stand, they’re a veritable magnet for marauding Chaos warbands. Come one at a time, or en masse, it handily draws the poison of Chaos to a central, cunningly designed killing ground. And all the time they stand, civilisation spreads.

Yes, it means near constant siege in the worst case scenarios. But you’re still, on sword blade at a time, draining the enemies resources. All the time they’re focussed on a given local city, they’re not off elsewhere fething something else up. And even better, just as man domesticated Wolves produced (lovely, slobbery, idiot) Dogs? So the cities can do to relatively nearby tribes, clans and societies that just want a God to worship. Even the roughest and readies of Barbarian tribes can be saved from the Dark Gods, by seeing a central point of far easier living - given time.

It’s a way to bring order to Chaos. To make your foe predictable, and thus defeatable.

If they fall? There are still lessons in how Chaos operates. How did it fall? What was the weakness? Man, Stone, Money? It can be determined and new plans made to better counter it.

So whilst it might seem the largest folly ever to even try? The Free Cities are a necessary evil to push Chaos back. Many innocent lives may be lost, but this is the Long Game. And what are a few hundred thousand when the souls of untold billions are at stake?

I think of it as roughly analogous to the pacific theater in WW2. Why fight over a stupid little island? Realmgates are of immense strategic use, hence the prequel to the Season of War (in which we first learn of the cities) being the Realmgate Wars.

On a related note, I'm hoping someday they follow this narrative and conceptual theme a little further and have Order incursions into the Realm of Chaos which result in magically "stabilized" beachheads. Chaos being the inviolate inevitable destroyer is honestly a little boring after three game system's worth of lore, over however many editions, army books, and novels.

Good post, have an exalt.

But also: literally the thing Sigmar's trying to do. Every moment of every day that one more mortal lives free of the dark gods is a victory.

Good point, well made.

I consulted a few experts on the matters of grand Cities of Sigmar within the setting, they gave the following reasons for their importance.

Survey Subject 1



Survey Subject 2


Survey Subject 3



The cities most certainly serve a purpose. Sigmar is a God and, like the other Gods, he's quite (very) set in his ways. The Cities are his continual attempt at a perfect ordered vision of the future. A vast display of engineering skill that acts as a focus for trade and power over vast swathes of land. They are also places of safety where the masses can flee the farmlands to hide behind mighty walls safe from the pressure of Chaos and the vast beasts and monsters that roam the Realms.

Like castles of old they are the magical and powerful keeps of the Age. Indeed when you read the descriptions of many of them they are, at their core, more like vast citadels than they are what we would consider a city. Few to none are simple open cities and one gets the impression that not only are people crammed into them; but that building outside of the mighty walls is discouraged to the point where squalor and towering structures are the only way to keep people housed within.

They are indeed a vast poultice upon a wound, but they are also bastions. Vast fortress cities that can weather the storm of Chaos (even though many did fall before when Chaos originally burst through into the Realms). Though they are outnumbered, within those walls they will outlast their enemies. And each city reclaimed pushes the bounds of Chaos further and further back!

The wastes of the realms will be reclaimed; the lands purified with the blood of the chosen and faithful; the most holy purging the people of the taint of corruption and mutation.

I am impressed by the rational viewpoints and objectivity of your sources Overread.

 NinthMusketeer wrote:
I am impressed by the rational viewpoints and objectivity of your sources Overread.

Especially the second group surveyed, for sure. Although the third one's wording was politely regurgitated.

I really hope we see this sort of thing continue in the background.

I mean, Warcry is doing a decent job of showing the Chaos equivalent, in terms of tribes and allegiances and that. So we’ll need ever more cities being founded (and even destroyed) to help flesh things out. Especially as we explore further realms and sub-realms.

Me? I’d love for once to be bothered by Ossiarchs - especially if the Ossiarchs relieve a previously ongoing siege. Really show us how the various factions interact.