One thing all wargamers have in common is their love to sit down and build army lists for their favorite games. Undoubtedly, all of us have spent more time on our phones (or with pad and paper if you remember those days) adding and subtracting the units we want to include in our armies than we have actually playing the wargames we love. In Para Bellum’s Conquest building an army list is slightly different than some games, but it still has all of the appeal that makes gamers sit for hours theory crafting which units will work best with their overall army plan.
Para Bellum Army Builder- First, it will be useful to mention Para Bellum has a completely free army builder over on their website that you can use to build any size of Conquest army you are looking for. The builder supports First Blood, as well as Last Argument, and can save lists as PDFs or print them out as needed. You can find this army builder by going over to Para Bellum Games’ website, going to “The Game” menu, and selecting the army builder.
Warbands- Army building in Conquest starts by selecting a Character from your army list that will be the leader of a warband. In The Last Argument of Kings certain characters unlock specific Regiments in your army list that can be selected as Mainstay, or Restricted options. You will need one Mainstay option for each Restricted, and each Character cannot select every unit in the Army Roster to be added to their Warband. So, select which Characters you want to use in your army carefully since they will determine the Regiments you can actually field! Also, before buying any Conquest models from the FLG webstore, make sure the Regiments you buy can be added to your Character’s Warbands.
Character Customization- One of the best parts about Conquest is how in depth the Character customization is. Most of us are familiar with magic items that characters can take in almost all wargames, but Conquest takes it to another level by adding Masteries, Retinues, and even character specific ability upgrades. Retinues represent advisors your character has with them that have real game impacts and come in a tiered system covering Combat, Tactical, and Arcane Retinues. Each tier you purchase for a character gives them a stacking bonus to one of the three categories which can be extremely useful in game. For example, taking Combat Tier 2 on a Noble Lord will give him +1 Attack and +1 Wound. Very useful for a combat character. If retinues are hangers on that give your character additional abilities for being included, Masteries are skills your character has gained throughout their life of war on Ea. Masteries represent specific abilities you can purchase for your characters that give them additional special rules within your games. Staying with the Noble Lord example, for 10pts a Noble Lord can take the Disorienting Strikes Mastery which gives opposing Characters -1 to hit the Noble Lord in duels. Along with magic items, Retinues, and Masteries, some characters have their own character-specific upgrade. In Conquest 2.0 these upgrades are generally free, and they can further customize your character so they can better perform the role you plan for them to fulfil on the battlefield. This in-depth level of character customization is a huge part of why I love the game of Conquest, and it can really lead to a lot of amazing combinations on the battlefield.
Regiment Customization- Regiment customization in Conquest is not nearly as in-depth as the options available to customize characters, but there are still some things you can purchase for Regiments during army building that will affect the games you play. Most Regiments can purchase a Standard Bearer that allows the Regiment to re-roll failed charges, as well as giving them a bonus inch of movement on their second March action during an activation. Some Regiments can purchase Officers which have widely different effects on their Regiment depending on the Officer selected. For example a unit of Spire’s Vanguard Clones can take a Ward Preceptor or an Assault Preceptor Officer upgrade. The Ward Preceptor gives the regiment Bastion 1 making their defense higher when the unit activates, while the Assault Preceptor gives the regiment +1 to their Attacks characteristic. Selecting different Officers for a Regiment can change the unit’s role on the tabletop immensely!
Hopefully, this guide to army building for Conquest The Last Argument of Kings will help some newer players out there get building their armies a little faster for this amazing game. If you are just starting out the in-depth Character customization, along with the Warband system, can be a little confusing. It would be a real bummer for a newer player if they purchased a Regiment not knowing the characters they own have no place for a Regiment in their Warband. Thankfully, Para Bellum’s starter boxes come with one Character and a full Warband of Regiments that can be fielded in game legally! If you are looking for more Conquest content feel free to check out my YouTube Channel ConquestofEa for faction specific breakdowns of the new 2.0 rules.