Continuing on with our series of Conquest The Last Argument of Kings we’ll be looking at the best way to get started with your army and get playing as quickly as possible. 

If you’re new to the game and didn’t see our first article, we covered what the game is. If you missed it, here’s the short version: Conquest is a rank-and-flank fantasy game with alternating activations that plays faster than most tabletop games. Today we’re looking at the starter sets available for The Last Argument of Kings and how to start playing.

The Basics of Army Building

We’ll be going into further depth later on about how to build an army and many of the options around that but there are some basics that are very useful to know about.

First off is that Para Bellum has a free army builder that is kept up to date and gives you all of your unit’s stats and rules. When I put a list together I’ll print off the PDF and use it as a quick reference. It’s usable equally on mobile and on a desktop even!

Second is that the only upgrade to really think about right now are banners and leaders. You can take 1 of both in just about every unit. Leaders, when available, come with the unit automatically and generally add an extra attack to the unit’s command stand. Banners give 1″ extra move on the second march a unit makes each turn as well as a re-roll on all charges, it’s worth taking almost always. Even then, if you want to give each unit of 3 stands a banner and later decide to run them together in a larger no one should bat an eyelid at it; just kill off the spare banner model first, it will die.

To make an army you first take a Character and have to take 1 unit and up to 4 units in its warband – if you’ve played 40K, think of these as detachments. Each Character has a list of Mainstay and Restricted units available to them, this list will be different for each Character. That means that not all units are available to all Characters. You must take at least 1 Mainstay unit and can only take 1 Restricted for each Mainstay.

One of your Characters must be the army’s Warlord and comes with a Supremacy Ability which is either a one-use ability or an “always active” type ability that buffs your army. Only your Warlord gets to make use of their Supremacy Ability so if you have multiple Characters think about which you’d like to use.

Two Player Starter Set

The main, and most obvious, way of getting into Conquest is with the Two Player Starter set. It’s a great set to have two factions for yourself or to split with a friend, it even comes with two printed rulebooks so if you do split it there’s no awkward “who gets the rulebook?” like with many other games. This set comes with the beginnings of a Nords army and a City States army with units that you’ll always make use of, not just for getting started; there’s really no waste in this set. Before delving into upgrades this set gives you 555 points of City States and 660 points of Nords. For your first couple games don’t worry about this discrepancy or try and right it too much with upgrades! Just learn the basics and add those in later.

If you’re brand new to Conquest and there’s not much of a local scene then this is going to be the best way to get started, it comes with a lot of miniatures for its cost and gives you two playable factions to start roping friends in to play with. If you were to buy these kits separately it’d come to €334.92 but the box set only costs €179.99 giving a 46% saving. For the experienced wargamer a sizeable saving is expected in a start set and if the either of these are a faction you want to collect this is the box you should get.

One thing to note here is that the two heroes included are specific to this box. While you can buy a Konungyr and Polemarch as separate models those are different sculpts to these; you can only get these sculpts in this box set.

City States Half

In this half you get:

• Polemarch (the hero leading the force)
• 24 Hoplites/Phalangites (dual kit)
• 3 Minotaur Thyreans/Haspists (dual kit)

One thing you’ll notice if you read on is that I’ll continue to recommend building one each of the units available from the dual kits. So in this case you’ll be making up 12 Hoplites and 12 Phalangites so that you get 1 unit of each to use. The Minotaurs are either better armoured or better at hitting things, realistically though the difference is minor enough where you can build either unit depending on how you think they look: neither is bad by any means!

Up next adding a second hero like an Aristarch means you can take more units as they’re released. Adding more Hoplites and Phalangites won’t be a bad choice, ever, and taking some Minotaurs as auxiliaries in existing units will add some more punch to your otherwise defensive units.

Nords Half

For the other side you get:

• Konungyr (a King of the Nords)
• 12 Bow Chosen
• 12 Huskarls
• 1 Mountain Jotnar

This side is simpler in that you really do not get any choices, at all, these are straight up single purpose kits that only make up these units. Very solid units that you’ll definitely always be using in a Nord army too!

For your next buy the One Player Starter is a great pick-up, we go into depth about it below. Otherwise, the next thing you’ll want to pick up will be a second hero. The Jarl will let you add more human units to your army, a Shaman adds some magic forces and lets you field a Sea Jotnar, or the Blooded which adds the more mythical units to your force such as Trolls, Ugr, and Fenr Beastpacks. None are a bad choice but personally I like the Blooded best as a second character in a unit of Trolls with a unit of Ugr backing them up. Adds a lot more punch to your army with quite a lot of Cleave attacks and regenerating Trolls making them hard to take off the table.

One Player Starter Sets

Para Bellum have also made single player starter sets which are good for both new and experienced players. You save a bit of money as opposed to buying all the kits separately and get a printed version of the rulebook but it is best to use the rulebook online as it can change. If you’re not interested at all in either the Hundred Kingdoms or Spires then one of these wouldn’t be a bad choice to start with. Remember that all faction rules and core game rules are free to download. Be mindful that there are rules for units and characters that don’t have models yet.

Adding one of the Kingdoms or Spires one box sets to a two player starter gives you an extremely solid base of an army to expand from at a good price, which is especially appreciated because both factions tend to put a lot of bodies on the table.

These boxes all have a €149.99 RRP that come with a saving over buying the kits separately. In each box you get 1 Character and 4 units and buying these separately would cost you €185.95, saving you about 21% by getting the box set. Except for Nords which gives you a slightly better saving of 25% thanks to the Ugr being a bit more expensive than infantry units.

Hundred Kingdoms

This really is the jack of all trades army. That really is a good thing too as it means no two armies will really look the same. You get to build it around your own playstyle and make it work for you – there really isn’t a “must-have” unit that you need multiples of to do well. If you want it to be more elite field more heavy infantry and knights, more like a horde just means more militia and longbowmen. A great army for new players.

• Noble Lord (on foot)
• 3 Household Knights
• 24 Militia (or Militia Bowmen)
• 12 Household Guard (or Gilded Legion)

Just over 500 points with choices below. 

Other than the knights, the kits in this set are dual-kits so you have a choice which unit you want to build. You’ll likely want to build 12 Militia, 12 Militia Bowmen, and 12 Household Guard from the options you have. This will give you a legal warband straight out of the box without need of another character. If you do want to build and use the Gilded Legion you’ll need an Imperial Officer to take them; this is the only character in the Hundred Kingdoms army that can take them.

A Noble Lord’s Supremacy Ability is always active and instead of buffing your Knights specifically gives off a nice aura for your units to re-roll 6’s on Defence rolls and also on rolls to hit in melee. Put him in a unit of Household Guard for a unit that’s harder to kill and puts out more damage.

What to get next?

Hundred Kingdoms characters are best off without many (or even any) upgrades to them, keeping them cheap so you can field more units. As above you can really pick and choose which units you want to suit how you want to play this army. An Imperial Officer as Warlord brings your units onto the table faster and allows you access to more units such as Steel Legion and Gilded Legion; both are great heavy infantry units that can get stuck into a fight and cleave their way through more heavily armoured enemies.

The Spires

While you are able to build a Spires army to be very elite with Highborns and Avatar and Abominations the bulk of the army usually relies on lots of clones and drones; it’s definitely the horde army in this game and the starter set reflects that. The army relies heavily on combinations between characters and units to work at full potential and makes them trickier to pilot, not the best army for a new player.

• High Clone Executioner
• 12 Marksmen Clones
• 12 Vanguard Clones (or Vanguard Clone Infiltrators)
• 24 Force Grown Drones

Just under 600 points with choices below. 

The High Clone Executioner is exactly what it sounds like – a duelling and combat monster in the army. His supremacy ability is a once per game effect that allows you to play the top 3 cards from your command deck one after another before your opponent plays any. Having 3 of your units activate without your opponent intervening can cause an incredible amount of damage without fear of losing models or units between; learning to time this right will take some practice.

If you build the Force Grown Drones as 2 units of 3 stands (you should) then you can build either Vanguard Clones or Vanguard Clone Infiltrators depending on which unit you’d rather have: another ranged unit for more shooting or a melee infantry unit for your Executioner to join. Marksmen Clones are a fantastic ranged unit with longer range and more shots than most ranged units in the game.

What to get next?

If you didn’t start off with a two-player starter set then picking up an Abomination is never a bad idea along with the same advice as before: Lineage Highborn and Avatara to trend towards a lower model count army or simply more drones and clones to flood the table with units.

Nords

The other human faction has much more than just humans in it. Nords are a more aggressive and more glass-hammer type army eschewing armour for attacks. With access to heavier non-human units like Trolls, Ugr, and Jotnars (giants) as well as beast packs like Fenr. The goal is always the same for the Nords: get on the table before your opponent, take control of the battlefield and only make the charges you want.

• Jarl
• 3 Ugr
• 12 Huskarls
• 24 Raiders

Just over 600 points with choices below. 

All of these are units that you’re going to want for a Nord army, easily. For a Jarl all of these units are Mainstay actually and are all very useful to have. As a Supremacy ability the Jarl makes enemy reinforcement rolls more difficult while he’s on the table, so you want him part of a Light unit like Raiders to come on as soon as possible. In later turns he can Seek New Escort to join a heavier unit for longevity.

Ugr are a Brute unit and really do hit hard and are a pretty tough unit too. Huskarls are like a bodyguard for characters for the Nords, they want to get stuck in to combat and whittle down enemy units while taking a beating back thanks to their shields.

For the Raiders it’s best to go with 2 units of 3 stands like the others above, they’re a cheap and fast little unit with surprising damage potential thanks to re-rolling all failed hits in melee but fall apart fairly quickly – they’re not really wearing armour after all!

What to buy next?

This gives you a solid foundation of infantry and you likely won’t need any more Raiders ever either. A second set of Huskarls however would be great, with some of their unit upgrades they can become a difficult unit to kill. Adding a ranged unit of Stalkers or Bow Chosen will give you some early damage from range as your units flood the table giving them easier targets to pick off. You’ll want to add a Blooded Character next giving you access to more units like Trolls and Fenr Beastpacks while being a real combat monster in his own right. Both Mountain and Ice Jotnars are never bad in an army either and are some of the coolest models in the range; you won’t regret having either or even both.

Dweghom

The dwarfs of Conquest. They play how you expect a dwarf race to play in a game: they’re more heavily armoured so arrive to the table a bit slower than other armies, are very tough to take off of the table, and have an assortment of close and long ranged weapons. Given their toughness the units tend to be a bit more expensive to take making this army more elite with high defence and resolve stats. Very forgiving if you make mistakes and a great first army for newer players.

• Hold Raegh
• 24 Dragonslayers (or Hold Thanes)
• 24 Hold Warriors (or Hold Ballistae)

Just over 700 points with choices below. 

A Hold Raegh is an absolute beatstick of a character. Great in combat with attacks that will slice right through armour and high Defence like most of this army he’s a great pick for any Dweghom force. His supremacy ability makes your Hold Thanes tougher all of the time and gives you easier reinforcement rolls for Heavy units (like Dragonslayers).

The rest of the box are two different dual kits so you have a fair amount of choice here. I’d recommend building one of each of the unit options giving you a unit of 3 stands each of: Dragonslayers, Hold Thanes, Hold Warriors, and Hold Ballistae. Starting off this gives you a wide array of units including a ranged unit (the Ballistae). This gives you a legal warband with the only restricted unit being the Dragonslayers.

Dragonslayers and Hold Thanes are both solid combat units while Hold Warriors are tough with a rule that lets you ignore the first failed save each time the unit makes Defence rolls. Hold Ballistae are important to the army to get a unit on the table early (being Light) and start dealing damage as early as turn 1.

What to buy next?

What the Dweghom generally lack is early board presence – many units are either Medium or Heavy. A unit of Inferno Automata are a Light unit so can arrive from turn 1 and are the fastest unit in the army list filling another niche. As a second Character either an Ardent Kerawegh or Tempered Sorcerer would be a good choice, depending entirely on the units you want to field since their warbands are different. If you want Flame Berzerkers to sprint across the table and wreak havoc early on then go for the Kerawegh; if you’d rather have heavily armoured Fireforged with shoulder mounted cannons and a Hellbringer Drake then the Tempered Sorcerer is for you – and who doesn’t want a massive dragon with cannons? There’s not a bad unit in the army list either so you can pick and choose the units you want pretty easily, just remember to check which Character you’ll need to take them.

W’adrhŭn

As far as Orc factions in games go this actually tends towards a more elite fighting force with elite hard-hitting infantry as a base supported by fast flanking cavalry units and massive dinosaurs. Not a good pick for a new wargamer as the army relies heavily on activating units in specific orders and pulling off complex combo plays. It is not a forgiving army if you make mistakes but when you do pull it off it is incredibly satisfying.

• Predator
• 24 Blooded (or Braves)
• 24 Slingers (or Hunters)

Just under 600 points with choices below. 

Both infantry sets here are dual kits and the units you can make from either are actually identically costed to each other so you could build 24 instead if you wanted to. We do recommend building 1 unit of each however to give you a more rounded list as each does have a place. Regardless of how you build these kits you will end up with a legal warband so that’s not a concern.

As a Warlord the Predator gives a once per game charge bonus to all units and is a solid character at range with a crossbow that can deal serious damage. Join with a unit of Slingers to sit back and rain down death on your enemy while your Blooded and Braves close in for melee attacks. Blooded are better at charging in a dealing a large amount of damage in one hit while Braves with their shields will survive a few more rounds of combat while dealing damage back to enemy units.

What to buy next?

The answer is of course some dinosaurs. Raptor Riders and Hunting Packs add fast units that you can use to flank around enemy lines with high volume of attacks to take down lighter enemies with ease. Let’s be honest though the Apex Predator is likely to be the sole purpose you want to play this army, and very understandably too. You can take it as part of your Predator’s warband or as part of a Matriarch Queen’s. The second hero we recommend would be a Scion of Conquest or a Matriarch Queen depending on how you want to play: the former gives you a Priest with access to great spells while the latter

Old Dominion

The undead faction of the game that’s really good at…staying alive. Old Dominion units are much tougher than other units because they never take morale or suffer wounds from it, so to make up for that they’re more expensive in points making them a pretty hefty elite force, even when you’re taking as much infantry as you can. They do require a little book keeping and the use of some abilities at the right time but making a few mistakes won’t lose you a game outright; they’re a middle tier army in terms of difficulty for new players, not the worst but not the most straight forward.

• Archimadrite
• 24 Kheres (or Moroi)
• 24 Legionnaires (or Praetorian Guard)

Just over 700 points with choices below. 

Another box with a lot of dual kit options. Once again it’d be best to build one of each unit here to give you a full breadth of options later on and to have a legal warband to field. The Archimadrite’s supremacy ability allows itself to cast 2 spells per turn instead of the normal 1 and once per game allows itself to re-roll dice when spellcasting as well.

Both Moroi and Kheres are also spellcasters able to choose from a couple different spells each which can cause more damage at range or allow the Moroi extra movement to get them across the board and into combat against the units you want even faster and easier. Kheres are shockingly durable for ranged units, and given they can cast their attack spells in melee have surprising punch at close quarters.

Legionnaires are your basic infantry unit for the army and always a good, solid choice. Praetorian Guard are a Restricted choice for the Archimadrite and are a more elite unit that are even tougher to kill. Neither are particularly good at killing but that’s why you’ll have other units in the army, it’s just not their job.

What to buy next?

For your second hero we’d recommend the Strategos for two reasons: his supremacy ability allows your army to reach Tier 4 Dark Empowerment (the army’s main ability, we’ll cover this in the faction focus later but it is a good thing) and gives you access to Kataphraktoi, the army’s cavalry unit. With these characters you can also take Bone Golems, an even tougher unit with a fantastic attack to cut through enemy ranks quickly.

It’s very hard to ignore the literal Monster of the army too: The Fallen Divinity. This unit adds an incredible amount to your army and is a Light unit so even turns up to the battle pretty early. That said it’s also a bit tricky to use, so maybe save for a later purchase/add on.

More Kheres and Legionnaires will always do you well!

Where to go from here…