Conquest: Getting Started

*Are the Conquest one-player starter boxes a good way to get into the game?*

By Troy Hill

The first question any player asks when starting a new game is usually along the lines of:

Are the Starter Sets any good? Should I purchase that first?

In most games, the answer is yes.

For Conquest: The Last Argument of Kings, it holds true there as well.

I’ve built almost two starter sets worth of W’adrhun so far, and I’m seeing just how valuable those sets are.

One or Two-player sets?
Para Bellum Games produces both two-player starter sets, as well as the single player starter sets.

A two-player starter set that gives one less unit per side can also be a good way to get into the game. But for this article, I’ll focus on the single-player option. Image from the Para Bellum website.

Because Conquest comprises two different games under its umbrella, I’d suggest that two-player sets are great investments to dip a toe into the system, especially if you’re mostly interested in the First Blood (Skirmish) level of the game. Their The Last Argument of Kings (TLAOK) game is rank and flank, and where our local gaming group seems to be focussing their energy.

So, for this piece, I’ll keep my focus on the Single Player starter sets, that are geared towards TLAOK factions.

Single Player Starter Sets

My first foray into the game was building the W’adrhun up to about 1500 points.

*Both the older (left) and 5th Anniversary one player starter sets for the W’adrhun faction.*

Yes, I bought a starter set. Then I purchased another. That was the first piece of advice I received from the online community at Conquest’s discord server. Since the game standard is to play at 2,000 points per force, having a starter box or two is a great beginning.

Para Bellum has been smart in their single-player starter sets. While I haven’t pointed out each faction’s set, they seem to be around 700-ish points from box to box. A few are higher, a few lower.

What they all give is a character model, and three to four basic regiments that are generally used for the included character’s warband.

Assembling a warband

Let’s talk army construction for TLAOK.

In TLAOK, each character can add up to four units to their warband. You have multiple characters in your army, each with up to four regiments. One of those characters is designated as the Warlord of the entire force. Para Bellum has a great army builder app on their website, or for your mobile device.

The first set I picked up was the older W’adrhun single player starter, but they’re tough to locate. Para Bellum has replaced all the old single player sets, with their updated 5th Anniversary sets. The old set includes: One Predator character figure, one regiment each of: Hunting Pack, Raptor Riders, and dual kits to make one basic regiment each of Blooded/or Braves, and one of Slingers/or Hunters.

The Hunting Pack (lizard swarms) and the Raptor Riders are basic builds. Each has a battlefield role, and they move fast.

The downside to this boxed set is that all but one of the units you will build, counts as light units. So, they cannot hold objectives. They can contest them, but in TLAOK rules, they don’t get to hold them. Only the Blooded or Braves regiment are considered Medium, which allows them to take and hold objectives.

But, which of the multi-sets should I build?

*Blooded from the Para Bellum online store*

The first regiment I built was the Blooded. This was a solid core of two-weapon warriors with decent attack and resolve (morale) characteristics. At the time I built them, Braves had some negatives (auto charging the closest enemy unless you made a check not to).

But, W’adrhun just got the rules-refresh treatment from Para Bellum’s game designers. Braves lost their downside. They’ve got slightly better defense than Blooded, and slightly worse number of attacks per stand. They’re basically Blooded, with a shield replacing one weapon.

*The Blooded regiment. M = Move, C=Clash (roll to hit), A= number of attack dice to roll per stand, D=Defense (roll to save) Remember: Low Rolls are good in Conquest.*

The Braves regiment. M = Move, C=Clash (roll to hit), A= number of attack dice to roll per stand, D=Defense (roll to save) Remember: Low Rolls are good in Conquest. Their Support 2 means that any stand in a rear rank adds two dice to the attack pool instead of just one.

Current meta for the two units really depends on style of player. I tend to be more defensive. So an extra pip on the Braves with their shield isn’t bad, and they’re slightly cheaper per additional stand (a stand is a 65mm square containing multiple models.) A single dude fits on a round base. Multiple dudes fit on a stands. The values in the images above are per stand. Not per figure.

Since I’ve already built one unit of Blooded, I’ve got a second set ready to assemble and paint (this one from the 5th Anniversary box). These are going to be built as Braves.

Slingers vs Hunters

Next, I turned my attention to the Hunters vs Slingers dilema. Which one to build?

*Slingers: V= Volley, the number rolled needed to score a hit. Barrage is the number of dice rolled per stand firing in a Volley action, Range = Maximum range. Effective range is half that value.*

*Hunters: V= Volley value, number needed to score a hit. Barrage is the number of dice rolled per stand firing in a Volley action, Range = Maximum range. Effective range is half that value.*

Again, this is a decision of what best fits one’s play style. Two special rules impact the decision. Hunters get Loose Formation (think skirmishers, although their bases stay in standard formation). Enemy Volleys targeting the regiment, halve the number of shots coming in. Armor Piercing 1 lowers the opponent’s defense by one. Deadly Shot

The slingers get Singing Bullets and Torrential Fire. Torrential fire gives Slingers an uptick on offensive capabilities. For every two hits they score with a volley action at half-range or less, a third hit is scored. Combine this with their Chanting The Warcry special ability, where they get to extend their effective range out to their max range instead of just half-range, and they can be deadly. But, you’ll only get a few barrages off via the Chanting special ability because it is dependent on having enough chant tokens ready to use when this unit activates.

*Slingers with their awesome array of sticks and feathers.*

The Slinger models are some of the best looking in the range, but they are also the widest. With their rack of sticks and feathers on their savage backs, these models do not fit four on a stand. Fortunately, there are three figure stands via STLs available free online. I’ve started using these for most of my regiments in Conquest TLAOK. The Wadrun were designed with some great sculpts for seven-foot tall orc-like brutes. And most of their regiments just don’t fit four to a stand. If you do make them fit, they often hang off the side of the stands so much that you can’t legally rank up your stands into formation. Or, they interfere so much with another unit closing into Clash with your unit, that you’ll be plucking models to let the opposing unit contact your unit.

(Tourney rules may require four per stand. Check with your TO. You might be able to run 3/stand and keep the fourth model off to the side to prove you meet the condition.)

*The Hunters, which can also be built from the Slingers set. Image from the Para Bellum online store.*

So, for my next unit of Slingers/Hunters, I’m going to build Hunters. They fit with my play style better. However, those Slinger models are gorgeous once painted.

So, how did this box point out?

Six hundred and eighty points with no artifacts or masteries that could add more points. That’s about 1/3rd of a full army. For roughly $150 US, that’s a good value. However, this set is difficult to find. So, let’s look at the currently available 5th Anniversary starter set.

I didn’t lead with this set, because you’ve got an odd unit in the set, that is not currently fieldable with just the one character that comes in that box. When the faction got it’s major rules update this summer, the Raptor Riders were no longer viable for the Chieftain’s warband. They’re fine to field under several other characters in the force. But, not with the character included in the 5th Anniversary set. Don’t worry, you’ll have pleanty of slots to take them if you field other characters.

Here’s the breakdown of the legal list build from the 5th Anniversary set:

The one regiment of Raptor Riders adds another 180 points to the total. They’re still fieldable, but under other characters. Even without the Raptor Riders in the points total, that’s still a sizable chunk of points towards the goal of 2000.

Thunder Riders all pimped out ready to charge and stomp on the enemy.

For me, combining these two boxed sets gives me just under 1500 points without magic items or upgrades.

The cost for the old starter set was about $140 when I found it online. The 5th anniversary set retails for $160. To purchase each unit separately in just one set would run over $250 US.

Yes, the one-player starter boxes are a great beginning, at least in the W’adrhun army. I haven’t done the math on the other factions, but I strongly suspect you’ll see similar results.

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