Conquest - A New Brand in the World of Wargaming

Tabletop wargames with miniatures are a hobby that can truly consume you. They offer something for tacticians and strategists, as well as for modelers forever covered in glue and paint. This field has been dominated since 1987 by Games Workshop with their Warhammer 40,000 (and later the fantasy iteration Warhammer: Age of Sigmar).

Over the years, many other brands have appeared on the market. We can mention, for example, Warzone from the infamously forgettable world of Mutant Chronicles (which gave us the famous and now successfully dead card game Doomtrooper), Battletech, which is currently celebrating a big comeback, or Star Wars X-Wing.

Shoving polished miniatures across a gaming table has its charm. Especially when very lively communities form around these games. It's a lifelong hobby and let's be honest – it's also a quite expensive one. But it's also a guarantee of many hours of fun. For example, with Warhammer 40K, it's no problem at all to spend several hours on a single turn. And that is exactly what Conquest: The Last Argument of Kings from the Greek studio Para Bellum Wargames is trying to change.

Para Bellum Wargames had some serious bad luck at the start. They began publishing Conquest in 2019. And as we all know, COVID arrived and the world stopped. In general, it was a time that definitely didn't favor gathering at a table over miniatures (Legend Story Studios faced the same problem with their great card game Flesh and Blood). It was all the more necessary to work with the online community, and they succeeded.

Behind Conquest is designer Alessio Cavatore, who has worked on Warhammer Fantasy Battle, Warhammer 40,000, and the Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game. It's clear he's the right man for the job. His goal was to create a fast, action-packed game with simple rules that still provides enough room for advanced players and hardcore strategists to go wild.

Welcome to the World of Eä

600 years have passed since the great Fall – the catastrophe that changed the world of Eä forever. During the following Long Winter, the races of the world fought for mere survival. But this fragile status quo is about to crumble, as old grievances and new ambitions push all the factions of Eä toward conquest, the last argument of kings. And perhaps it will be you who decides their fate.

18 diverse factions are fighting for power. Seven are currently released, and more will follow.

The Hundred Kingdoms

A classic human race that looks like it stepped out of the Middle Ages. They are battle-hardened knights with cavalry, swords, spears, or bows. Thanks to mages, you'll also get a taste of spells. Their strength lies in numbers and cavalry that can easily scatter any enemy. Their units are versatile, so it's no problem to quickly change tactics and surprise the enemy.

The Spires

An ancient race that mastered space travel and is now trying to colonize new worlds. Their armies of biomass clones don't care about ethics and aren't afraid to sacrifice entire armies. Their strengths are flexibility, speed, and the ability to control enemy units.

The Dweghom

A warlike race of dwarves who pass the time between wars with enemies by fighting among themselves. They are masters of elements, fire, and steel. But their power consumes their bodies, so they live and fight in mechanical prosthetics and battle suits. They aren't fast, but they are tough. They go over dead bodies to reach their goal, and when even that isn't enough, they deploy powerful magic.

The Nords

A Nordic nation of descendants who survived an ancient apocalypse. Demigods so powerful they lose control of their abilities and turn into beasts fighting to preserve the remnants of their humanity. They are aggressive, and every wound makes them stronger. They are masters of initiative and have the ability to slow down the deployment of enemy units.

The W'adrhŭn

Under this unpronounceable name hide orcs. And they have tamed dinosaurs. What more could you want?! Their units are aggressive and fast. Thanks to the war chant mechanic, their strength gradually increases, and they gain significant bonuses. And besides, those dinosaurs…

The Old Dominion

An ancient race of undead with Roman/Byzantine elements. The more losses they suffer, the stronger they become. Playing them is slower, but they often manage to break their enemy. Plus, they can summon powerful super-monsters into battle.

The City States

This old race once practiced philosophy, ethics, and education. Their technology allowed them to create minotaurs and powerful colossi that look like they stepped out of old Greek myths. The foundation of their success is elite units and unique game mechanics.

The world of Conquest is constantly expanding. Moreover, the creators try to involve fans. For example, by letting them vote on what the new race will be. After all, the authors try to support and listen to the community very much. Which is a pleasant change compared to the Games Workshop approach. Conquest has a platform for this called Living World. Here, players can get involved in creating the story, collect rewards, or show off their models. Fans thus have a unique opportunity to influence the future of the world of Eä and the game itself.

How do you play Conquest?

The game offers two basic formats - Last Argument of Kings and First Blood. The authors try their best to make it easy for newcomers to enter the game. Just get a starter army, assemble it, paint it if you want, download the free rules, and you can start playing. This is a pleasant change compared to Warhammer, which offers an endless series of manuals and books. Moreover, battles often fit under two hours, so you can try out more tactics or races in one evening.

Last Argument of Kings is the basic game format. In it, individual miniatures are formed into regiments, i.e., groups that form a single whole (this system is also called rank-and-flank). Square bases are used for this, on which the regiments are assembled from the miniatures. The actual army building has its own rules. It's nothing complicated, and a simple web application will help. The advantage is that the application works as a website, so it's no problem to have it translated into your language.

The system of deploying units and their activation is unique. Each unit type has its own action card. At the beginning of the turn, the player chooses the order of the cards in which the units will be activated. The opponent never knows in advance what awaits them and which disaster will befall them first. The authors mention that this simulates the "fog of war," a term denoting the simple fact that a player does not see the entire map and never knows what to expect. This system is appealing and offers a number of tactical possibilities and surprises.

The turn itself is divided into four phases.

Reinforcement: Units in the game are divided into light, medium, and heavy. These are then supplemented by special characters. It is in this phase that dice are rolled to see which units are activated, and if at all. Thanks to this, the game naturally escalates. At the beginning, light units enter the game, and with each round, the probability of heavier pieces getting in increases. This system saves a ton of time on preparation.

Command Phase: At this moment, the order of activated regiments is determined secretly. This is done secretly, so players don't know what to expect and try to guess the opponent's intentions. Players take turns activating units. The entire army is not activated at once, which again has a very good effect on the flow of the game.

Activation: In this phase, everything important happens. The first unit card is revealed, two actions are performed (movement, melee attack, ranged attack, etc.), and the turn is passed to the next player. With the exception of marching, you cannot perform the same action twice. You don't have to ponder for a long time which ability to use and focus only on the current unit.

Victory: In this phase, it is checked whether someone has met any of the game's objectives, such as occupying points on the map and the like.

The actions themselves are performed by rolling dice and comparing rolls according to unit statistics. Visibility and distance play a role. Anyone who has encountered a miniature wargame will surely feel right at home. There is no need to list all the rules here. Everything is available for free on the game's website. Overall, the rules are clearly written and easy to pick up quickly. Which I praise.

The second format of Conquest is First Blood. It is a skirmish format in which you no longer play with regiments, but everything revolves around a single character and their retinue. In its concept, it is closer to a classic Warhammer game with a smaller number of units. In this format, you can use the same miniatures and bases, but the game is supplemented by special rules and character abilities.

What does Conquest look like?

The standard size of miniatures in Conquest is 38 mm (special units and large monsters are of course significantly larger), so they are larger than Warhammer miniatures. Even though Conquest works with common archetypes (humans, dwarves, orcs…), there is always something unique about them, and overall the game maintains an unconventional and appealing style. The technical quality improves with every new set.

The truth is that the first versions of the miniatures weren't very good, and sometimes there was a problem with assembly or molding imperfections. Warhammer is a bit better in this regard, but it also has a "few" years of production head start. Even so, it is impressive how far the Para Bellum Wargames studio has come in such a short time.

What to get to start?

Jumping into Conquest is easy. It doesn't have so many different units and rules to discourage interested parties right at the start. The ideal path is to purchase a Starter Set. Sets for one or two players are available. Just choose your favorite faction and find the right combination of the pack. In the box, you will find all the necessary units, action cards, and rules (the current version of the rules is available in PDF on the manufacturer's website).

If you are interested in the First Blood format, you can use units from the Starter set for the game, but there are also so-called Faction Taster boxes containing a selection of units by faction.

Then it will be up to you how you improve your army. There are already enough special units. To properly build an army according to the rules, use the Army Builder. This again has the advantage that you can have it translated by your browser.

Finally, you will need a pile of classic 6-sided dice. The ideal number is 25 pcs.

Let's go to battle

Conquest captivated us easily and quickly. Simple rules, reasonable game time, and a number of tactical possibilities. We are already planning regular gaming, which we will probably open to the public over time. So if you are looking for a wargame with nice miniatures that won't destroy all your free time and wallet, Conquest is the ideal solution. It is a game that the authors take care of with love, value the fan community, and which has an interesting future ahead of it.

author Karel Krajča