City Banner

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City Banners are the battle standards of the proud defenders of the Cities of Sigmar.[1a][2a]

Overview

These battle standards, whether arcane or mundane, serve to inspire and even empower the soldiers that fight under them. Each is marked with heraldry distinct to their city or regiment, to remind the soldiers of the Cities of Sigmar what it is they fight for.[1a]

To be granted the privilege of carrying one of these banners into battle is considered a great honor, granted only to the most faithful of soldiers.[1a]

Many of those banners that have enchantments placed upon them, such as the Goldjacket Banners employed by the Freeguilds of Hammerhal or the Zephyrite Banners employed by the soldiers of Tempest's Eye, grant strength and stamina upon those soldiers fighting within sight of them.[1a][2a]

Usage

Most of those granted the privilege of carrying a City Banner into battle wield it in their off-hand. But those who serve as dedicated standard-bearers will often have fittings placed on the backs of their armour to slide the banner into or have them affixed onto polearms.[1a]

When a City Banner and its wielder remain aloft, the soldiers around them are emboldened against the horrors of the battlefield. Some banners are echanted, granting magical aid to the soldiery around the standard-bearer.[1a]

History

Age of Sigmar

The battle-standards of the Freeguilds of Hammerhal are claimed to be relics once wielded by those tribes of the Realm of Azyr who stood with Sigmar during his earliest travels across the heavens. The soldiers of Hammerhal value these relics above their own lives and to allow one to be taken in battle, damaged, or destroyed is considered is a disgrace beyond compare.[2a]

Only once has such a disgrace befallen a regiment of the Twin-Tailed City, which resulted in the Forlorn Charge in which the disgraced cavalry regiment, the Griffon Spears, charged upon a Greenskin horde eight times their number. The ill-fated and suicidal charge has since become the subject of many folk tales and songs, the event fondly remembered by the Hammerhalians not as a tragedy but a testament to the stubborn pride of the city.[2a]

Notable City Banners

  • Goldjacket Banners: These are claimed to be ancient relics, once wielded in the Age of Myth by those Azyrite tribes that followed Sigmar during his earliest journeys across the heavens. They are made of Hyshian suncloth and are enchanted to imbue those that fight in the presence of the standard-bearer with martial strength.[1a][2a]
  • Kraken Banners: Though Anvilgard was taken by the traitorous Morathi-Khaine and re-dubbed Har Kuron, banners depicting the kraken overlaid ontop of a golden hammer, the sigil of Anvilgard, are flown across the Charrwind Coast. A testament to the endurance of those that survived Morathi's invasion and fight on.[1a]
  • Zephyrite Banners: These banners come from the Free City of Tempest's Eye. No matter the weather these banners flutter as if blown by mountainous gales, a result of the enchantments upon them. Those who fight beneath these banners find their movements quickened and feel rushing winds coming from the banners.[1a][2b]

Sources