Building Your First Army – Para Bellum’s Conquest Army Builder for Noobs

Para Bellum Wargames – Conquest: The Last Argument of Kings Where You Forge an Army

You’ve decided that you want to play Conquest: The Last Argument of Kings by Para Bellum Wargames. Now, what do you do? Build your first army, of course! The Army Builder can seem daunting if you’ve never played a wargame. It is still daunting to me. To help, I reached out to the Vanguards over at the Conquest Discord for some tips.

Before you rush out and buy something from your Friendly Neighborhood Gaming Shop (FNGS), you may want to explore some of the lore and tactics of the factions. Para Bellum Wargames keeps updated rules, army lists, and changelogs available for free on their website. Vanguard Darkfine on Discord suggests finding one character that you fall in love with, and everything will fall into place.

“I try to envision what I aim for that unit to accomplish and what they need to do so. For example, if I’m bringing a mounted Noble Lord, he will need some Household Knights, and their job is to smash apart weaker units and do flank charges. I then kit out the regiment appropriately with a standard-bearer extra stand or two for greater survivability. Once I’ve figured out their missions, I will choose the army rule that best helps the majority fulfill their missions.”

Wylie Caras Tier 2 Vanguard Iowa (Audun54 on Discord)

Create interesting formations in this game system of mass and skirmish battles

An army has one Warlord, while the Warlord will have his Warband. There are many character options from which to choose and many styles available. As point values grow, to say a 1500p army, the player needs to have additional characters and warbands. Each Warband must consist of one character and up to four regiments. Many like to split mainstay with restricted regiments to spread power and acquire balance.

There are three types of units: light, medium, and heavy. A reinforcement roll will decide whether your forces come onto the battlefield. Light units have a higher chance of coming in sooner whereas heavier units have a hard time until later rounds. Also, heavy units can only come in behind the reinforcement line of a unit that is of the same type of one type lower. Example: My heavy Dragonslayers will have to come in behind my medium unit of Hold Thanes.

Whether it’s a human Imperial Officer or The Abomination, there are powerful abilities and aesthetics for every fantasy-loving customer. Five factions including The Hundred Kingdoms currently inhabit the world of Eä, with a sixth (The Old Dominion) coming in April.

Vanguard Vanvan is a competitive gamer that could only choose a build after research on styles of play from YouTube and Discord. I’d never played a wargame, and I decided to go the “Fall in Love” route.

I chose the Dweghom, slow but fierce. I initially decided based on the process of elimination. However, once exploring their lore, I have grown quite fond of my “Beefy Boys.” The Dweghom are Para Bellum’s dwarves turned revolutionaries.

My first character was Hold Raegh, which dictated quite a few of my other choices. Mainstays were Hold Thanes, Warriors, or Ballistae, but my restricted unit could be Dragonslayers. This elite fighting force will not likely strike first blood but, if appropriately deployed, can deliver game-winning blows.

I also fell in love with an Inferno Automata paint kit with one model in it. An Inferno Automata is a trapped demonic spirit waiting to unleash its rage. The only character that can wield such powerful creatures would be the Tempered Sorcerer. You can see where the points start to pile up. I’m currently marking up that fancy PDF that Para Bellum puts out for everyone to use and slowly counting up my forces.

Vanguard Zarail suggests finding your local Vanguard to walk you through your options and even run you through a game to see what you like. I didn’t have that luxury and decided to become a Vanguard for others. Now, I can ask the experts and get the answers straight to players.

Para Bellum’s Conquest Army Builder Alternative Spreadsheet and PDF Template

Here is a section of the template you can download and write on with your phone, tablet, and PC.

Everyone has a style of play once they get going. Since I’m still very new, I decided to go for glorious Aghm and deploy as fast as possible to do as much damage as I can before arrows fly my way.

Once you’ve created your list, it’s time to assemble your troops and annihilate the enemy units. Place objective markers on the board for every secondary objective you’ve accomplished with your quality miniatures.

Once You Have That Down, Try the Army Builder

There’s an app for that. So, why didn’t I suggest just going to the builder first? It’ll be harder to fully comprehend what your army can do whether Foot Soldiers or Force Grown Drones. This game is only as fun as the grasp you have on the rules. The builder is meant as an aid, not a teacher.

So, get out there and build your first army for Conquest: The Last Argument of Kings!