Conquest: The Last Argument of Kings

Conquest: The Last Argument of Kings
Wargame published by Para Bellum Wargames
No. of Players	2+
Session Time	1-2 hours
Authors	Alessio Salvatore
First Publication	2018

"Ultima ratio regum."

– Cardinal Richelieu

"War is simply the continuation of political intercourse with the addition of other means."

– Carl von Clausewitz

"I am a king an I have won last argument."

– King Fredrik "The Great" of Brandengrad

The game

Conquest: The Last Argument of Kings is a Rank and Flank tabletop strategy game in the style of Kings of War and Warhammer Fantasy, with the rules written by who else but Alessio Cavatore. I guess the guy has a type. Conquests' concept is basically fix fantasy so it isn't an outdated overcomplicated mess rules wise. While also actually encouraging strategy outside of listbuilding.

The game has a few unique mechanics that create an experience which makes it quite different from other Fantasy and Rank 'n File games.

First: Alternating activations, the good shit. After a regiment activates, your opponent gets to activate one of theirs, its basic stuff but makes the game less of a "oops i killed your whole army on my turn" affair that is unfortunately present in other games.

Second: The command deck. You pick the order your regiments will activate at the start of the turn, then you stick to that order (Unless you're a cheating Spire motherfucker) via the command deck. This creates an element of prediction to the game, sometimes its better to activate a unit that might not be obvious first because you know your opponent's response is likely deep in their deck, and you could take advantage of that knowledge.

Third: Regiments have 2 actions. Your dudes get to pick from a list of actions (Move, Charge, Shoot, Reform are the basic ones) you can use these in any combination, you just can only use 2 unless a special rule is allowing you a third.

Fourth: Dynamic Deployment, your furthest forward unit creates a line, you can deploy units on the edges of the battlefield as far as this line goes. Meaning giving your opponent lots of ground can be very dangerous, UP YOURS GUNLINES! However you can counter this by moving units past their line, which pushes their line back that far

Fifth: Unit weight classes. Lights, Mediums, and Heavies. Your scouts actually matter! You don't start out with any of your army on the table actually, you start rolling for reinforcements turn 1, Lights can come on as quick as turn one or as late as turn 3, while heavies might not show up into the 5th turn. However because of this your Light units are usually either cheap scouts or very expensive special forces dudes. Mediums are line holders or pushers generally, while Heavies are line breakers and usually a bit undercosted due to them taking forever to get to the battle.

These things add up into what is a unique experience in wargaming, with listing building, positioning, and prediction equalling being important factors.

The Lore

Genesis of the World & the Four Horsemen

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The Exiles

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The Fall

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The Dragons and the Dweghoms

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The Nords awakening

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Factions & army list

The Hundred Kingdoms

Created after the Long Winter and the fall of the Old Dominion, the Hundred Kingdoms are, well, hundred kingdoms! Their territory is a mosaic of cultures, people and cities gathered around strong nobles, religious leaders and remnants of the fallen empire. They do not possess the destructive magic of dweghom, the monsters of the Spires nor the powerful warriors of the Nords, but they have a better versatily and are good for battlefield control.

Spires

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Dweghoms

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Nords

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Notes, pictures and trivia