I wanted to write a piece about something I’m passionate
about, however with any original piece comes the questions of topic. Just being
passionate about something isn’t always a reason to write about it, what in
particular should I write about in the focus of a particular topic? I decided
to focus on card games as a broad topic, something I’ve done for many years now
and will continue to do for the foreseeable future I would hope. However with
so many games that I have played or currently play it’s hard to select just 1
to really focus on, I mean I’ve played Yu-Gi-Oh, Raw Deal, Vs System, Game Of
Thrones LCG, Duel Masters and currently Warhammer 40,000 Conquest LCG.
I’ve decided to go with Conquest, mainly because it’s the
most frequently played card game that I currently get involved in. When it was
first announced I was rather cautious because despite the fact I am
occasionally interested in 40K it doesn’t mean I want to invest in yet another
card game. Yet when I asked my “play group” about it there was some real
interest in the game, so I came up with a plan to make the game a little
cheaper, by dividing up the core set and war packs we could really cut the
price of the game. The game has 7 (soon to be 9) factions so could easily be
divided up between us and that means the cost of playing would be greatly
reduced, something that enticed even the most cautious of us into getting
involved. The factions currently are Chaos, Orks, Astra Militarium, Tau, Eldar,
Dark Eldar and Space Marines, these factions can also be teamed up based on the
alliance wheel, allowing certain armies to team with each other.
The mechanic of the game is very unique, as I mentioned
I’ve played a few card games and none have been like conquest and this made for
an interesting learning experience. The main idea of the game is to win via 1
of 2 methods, the primary method is to gain control of 3 planets with the same
icon, there are 3 different icons and you get 7 planets in the game (randomly
selected out of 10 planets) to conquer. The other method is the beat your
opponent’s warlord, a character card who is kept separate from the main deck
and is charged with “leading” your forces, each faction has a unique warlord in
the core set and each faction is getting more with each warlord pack having 1
new warlord in it for a various faction. Each warlord has effectively 2 lives,
you need to beat their full power version first (version that has an ability)
and then their “bloodied” version after (found by turning the full power
warlord over), this version of the warlord loses power and abilities so is
generally a little easier to overcome. Beating the warlord is my personal
favourite way of winning a game, sometimes you just can’t get the planets so
having a character you can bully for the win is quite funny.
One issue I have with the mechanic of the game is that
it’s difficult to practice for games outside of playing the game itself because
of the random planet allocation each game and the rewards each planet offers
for winning the command struggle there or the battle ability triggered for
actually wining a battle there. These things make it difficult to know how each
game will play out but do add a good layer to the game, it allows for the tide
to turn in a game given the right deployment and this just adds to the
enjoyment while playing. Also playing against all the factions is a great idea when
practicing as you can then adapt your deck for the different play styles your
likely to encounter, however you should also still play to the strengths of the
deck you’re playing. Each game begins by deciding initiative (who goes first),
the deciding initiative changes at the beginning of each game turn giving a back
and forth feel between both players, this
can influence your choices for deployment during the game.
I have built 3 decks and the one I use the most is my
Dark Eldar deck, lead by the warlord “Packmaster Kith” who has a great ability
to call upon token units when she deploys to a planet, this combined with her
signature squad who can all call tokens as well, means you can flood the field
with token units to help bolster your numbers. The main weakness of this
strategy is “area effect” units that can hit every unit on your opponents side
of the planet play area, with such weak defence on most DE units, including
tokens, with one attack your opponent could clear out most if not all your
units at one planet. I’ve had a lot of really good games with the DE, I do
however team them with some of their Eldar cousins as allowed by the alliance
matrix. This gives me access to the card “DOOM” which is every opponent’s least
favourite card and also gives you a minor psychological advantage in games as
it allows you to kill off every non unique character in all players HQ area,
obviously a big blow hitter for any player. I do use other cards but “DOOM” is definitely
the most critical.
Up to this point my tournament experience has been limited having only playing in 1 local store championship at Guys-That-Game in Fenton, when I won 4 and lost 2, of which I am rather proud and played some really tough decks, luckily the 2 guys who beat me were the 2 finalists, one of which wrote a review online and said I was one of his toughest opponents throughout the day, rather happy with that. With the 1st cycle of warlord packs nearly at an end I’m happy to say I do like where the game is heading, they have given every faction a new warlord and some really cool new cards hinting at what is to come for the factions moving into the next cycle. If you do fancy getting into a new card game, I would highly recommend Conquest, its layered mechanic teamed with a fun play style; Warhammer 40,000 Conquest is a well worth investing in.
You can follow me on twitter @bigboss010 or on instagram
@bigbosstp010. You can also follow my good friends over @siteofshite and also
subscribe to their YOUTUBE channel – SOSGames. Also check out their Amazon
affiliate shop, plus their own SPREADSHIRT shop for Site of Shite themed items
plus some new Big Boss items that I will be adding in for me.
You can also check out Guys-That-Game on Instagram @guysthatgameuk or on their website www.guysthatgame.co.uk and even on Facebook, www.facebook.com/gtggames
Thanks for reading.
I’ve been Big Boss and I’m out.... Peace.
