Warhammer alternative Conquest: the Last Argument of Kings is releasing a new two player starter set with armies from the game’s two most recent factions, the City States and the Sorcerer Kings. The set costs $189.99, and is set to release on May 31.
We previewed the Sorcerer Kings range when it was revealed: inspired by the mythology of the Indian subcontinent, it’s a mixture of trained human troops and elemental spirits. The new starter contains 12 elemental Ghols, 12 professional Rajakur soldiers, a sorcerer, and three Djinn. They’re facing off against 12 Thorakites, 12 Hoplites, three companion cavalry and a horse-mounted Ipparchos from the Hellenistic City States.
If you’re not familiar with Conquest, it’s a rank and flank fantasy wargame similar to Warhammer: The Old World – players maneuver large, unwieldy blocks of infantry and cavalry, attempting to get favorable positioning before they commit to combat.
It’s less crunchy than classic Warhammer, using a simpler combat resolution system in which units only make melee attacks during their own activation, which will be familiar to anyone who’s played Kings of War.
Released in 2019, it does have some very modern ideas. It uses a neat alternating activation system, in which you’ll start your turn assembling a stack of order cards that lock in the sequence your units can activate during the turn.
Not all units start the game in play, and the more powerful a unit is, the more likely it is to be delayed in arriving on the battlefield, leading to staggered unit deployment – similar to the system Games Workshop has revealed for the Age of Sigmar 4th edition Spearhead game mode.
Wargamer has received review samples of two armies for Conquest but we haven’t tested the game properly yet. The miniatures are huge – not only are the models in the very large 38mm scale, the range is full of massive monsters. This gives the range incredible presence on the tabletop, but building and painting miniatures is proportionately slower. Our impression of the rules is that they’re crunchier than Kings of War, and simpler than the Old World – once we’ve tested it we’ll let you know if it’s found a sweet spot in between.
If you’re put off Games Workshop by recent news of Warhammer price rises, why not check out the rest of the Conquest range?