Classic Game Deck Review: Warhammer 40,000 Conquest – Packmaster Kith

Was sitting at home enjoying the weekly Throwback Thursday live stream posted by Team Covenant on YouTube, if you are into card / board games, I would recommend checking them out on their channel. This week’s stream was a throwback to an LCG which hasn’t long been out of production and that’s Warhammer 40,000 Conquest by Fantasy Flight Games.

Now anyone who knows me, knows how much I was pumped for this game to be released. I’m not the biggest fan of the 40K table top, but the storylines in the back, I’ve always enjoyed and the chance to get those stories in a format I could enjoy, was well received. The game started with 7 factions initially and added 2 more over the life span of the game, which sadly was only a couple of years as Games Workshop and Fantasy Flight parted ways.

The aim of the game was simple, you had to fight for victory on multiple planets until you obtained 3 symbols of the same kind which were located on each planet (3 symbols to choose from) or kill your opponent’s Warlord. Both plans are great fun to try and accomplish and some decks are more focused on one of those win conditions than others.

My favourite deck going into the game was the Dark Eldar faction starter commander, Packmaster Kith. Eventually she would be the top tier Warlord and take home multiple national, local and world championships. Each deck was able to take 1 of 2 sets of allies, Dark Eldar could take either Chaos or Eldar allies as part of their deck construction. An interesting element of Conquest was that each Warlord had to take a set of 8 cards specific to them before any other cards could be added to the deck, when listing the decks I’ll put a * next to those.

I originally went with Eldar as my allies, they had a couple of really good board control cards which would allow you to win Command Struggles pretty consistently, with Command being the way you get your extra resources and additional cards. From a thematic angle, I don’t believe Chaos and Dark Eldar would team up, they kind of have conflicting goals. Yet, before I went to the Midlands regional event for Conquest, I had spoken with my mates who play and a few folks who were on the online forums and they convinced me that Chaos allies were going to be better overall to give me slightly more firepower.

On the back of that, I changed to the deck and went to the Regional event. I went 5-0 in the swiss rounds and then got past the quarter finals to the semis, where sadly, my day ended and I came in 3rd. However, this deck was so consistent throughout the day and I felt so much more confident with how it played in comparison to the previous incarnation. So without further delay, please see the list below.

 

Packmaster Kith

10x Khymera Tokens

 

Army - 27

4x Kith’s Khymeramasters *

3x Rogue Trader

3x Void Pirate

3x Klaivex Warleader

3x Murder of Razorwings

3x Sllyth Mercenaries

3x Chaos Fanatics

3x Bloodied Reavers

3 x Incubus Warriors

2x Syren Zythlax

 

Events 12

3x Archons Terror

2x Pact of the Haemonculi *

3x Gut and pillage

2x Raid

2x Warp Storm

 

Attachments 6

1x Agonizer of Bren *

3x Promotion

2x Suffering

 

Supports- 3

1x Khymera Den *

2x Archons Palace

So a pretty box standard list for Kith at this stage, I would imagine there would be very little difference in any Kith deck if you did any research into it. So I’ll go into a breakdown of what the cards are needed / used for.

Pack Master Kith

This Dark Eldar warlord has 6 hit points, 2 attack power and the ability to deploy a Khymera token to the same planet she commits to during the commitment step. This is where each player sends their warlord to a planet they wish to have a combat round on. This ability means you get 2 units for 1 when she commits, which is never bad and when a warlord arrives on a planet, unless there is another warlord there, they will automatically win the command struggle on that planet. If there is another warlord there, it’s based on how many command icons are at that planet instead.

Kith gets a reputation as the best Dark Eldar warlord, which isn’t without merit and following the game being discontinued, you’d be not far off saying she had more big tourney wins than any other warlord. A couple of times at the Midlands regional event, when my opponents saw who I was playing, they just sighed. *sorry guys*

Compulsory cards – (cards with * by them)

Khymera tokens

This token is mini card which is kept separate from the main deck and will appear on the field when certain card effects activate. It’s got 2 attack and 1 hit point, so won’t be around for long, but should do some damage in that time or at least provide fodder so your other units can fight. No token cards in Conquest supplied Command icons, so contributed nothing to the command phase.

Kith’s Khymeramasters

This card is Kith’s signature unit, when its deployed to the field it brings a Khymera token with it. To put this into context, Kith spams these Khymera tokens to bolster the decks weak overall attack. This unit only has 1 attack and 2 hit points and provides 1 command hammer, which is better than nothing and will help secure the command win in some instances.

Agonizer of Bren

This attachment provides the attached unit +1 attack for each Khymera token you have out. Now that sounds great, but it can’t be attached to your warlord, which is crazy. If I’m honest I only ever used this card for its shield value. So this card can block 3 damage when discarded from your hand when damage is dealt to a unit you control, hence “shield”. Most events / attachments have shield icons, which can be used to help your units in combat.

Khymera Den

This support or “location” is a massively useful piece of the Kith arsenal. Once per turn you can exhaust this card to move any number of Khymera tokens from any location to 1 location. Now when you have built up a massive force of tokens on 1 of the planets and you need reinforcements on another, this card brings them.

Pact of the Haemonculi

This card for ages didn’t feel right in the set, for the cost of 2 resources and sacrificing one of your units, you get to draw 2 cards and discard a random card from your opponent’s hand. However, when this deck gets going, the aim is to restrict the number of cards your opponent is drawing during Command, so they have little to no options on their turn. So this card does assist in that, on top of that, when using Murder of Razorwings, the discarding effects mount up. This also gives 1 shield icon, should you need it.

So that’s the Warlords compulsory card pool. It brings a nice flavour to the build and gives a base for the deck to develop into a command heavy and control heavy deck. If you read my last Classic Game Deck Review (https://bigboss010-genesisblog.blogspot.com/2020/05/classic-game-deck-review-vs-system.html) you’ll know that control builds are a favourite of mine, only this time, instead of giving my opponents loads of cards they can’t use, I want to stop them getting cards outside of the standard draw phase each turn.

So lets take a look at how that tactic comes together. First I’ll look at the command cards, these are the cards that allow me to win the command struggles on each planet during the game.

Chaos Fanatics

This 2 cost unit, has 2 hit points and 1 attack. So is a cheapish unit with an ok amount of health, but more importantly, it has 2 command icons. Although it has no ability, the 2 command icons will go far when determining who wins the command on the planet this unit is deployed to.

Void Pirate

This is a 1 cost, neutral unit, so this unit can go into any deck, other than Tyranids from what I can remember. This unit has 1 hit point and 0 attack, however provides 1 command icon and if this unit is present when you win command at the planet, you get to draw 1 card. So as an example, if you win command at a planet which gives you 1 extra card and 1 extra resource, this card will increase the card value by 1, so 2 cards instead. Not a bad thing to have when you are trying to get those combo cards.

Rogue Trader

This is the same as the Void Pirate, however, this unit will give you an extra resource instead of a card. So again, not a bad thing to have when you are needing to spend resources to get out those combo pieces. 

Promotion

This 0 cost neutral attachment, can be placed onto any Army unit (non-token or warlord) and it bestows 2 additional command icons. Add this to your Rogue Trader or Void Pirate to boost its ability to win command or any other unit in fact if it’s the difference between you winning a planet’s command and losing it.

Sllyth Mercenaries

This is the last card in my “Command” card package. This Dark Eldar unit costs 1 to bring out, it has 2 command icons, 2 attack and 2 hit points. I know, what could possibly go wrong. Well. They are mercenaries, so as an Action, any player, can pay 2 resources, to move these guys to their side of the board. Although I think I’ve maybe seen someone do that once or twice, it’s never been an issue. This would be your last card played in a round, to ensure your opponent can’t buy it or when your opponent doesn’t have the resources to buy it. So overall, you’d play the previous cards first, but this is a great back up plan or final card each round.

 

So those are the Command cards in the deck. They form the groundwork for the deck to work, they allow you to win Command, while stopping your opponent from doing so and in some ways, that’s actually more important to the overall plan.

This deck relies on disruption, to stop cards being played and to make sure Command struggles are being won. So the deck has a couple of little tactics in that department, so they are up next.

Archons Palace

This Support card is amazing in this build and really is key for reducing the command wins your opponent may get during the game. Its 2 cost and when your opponent wins a Command struggle on a planet, you can cancel either the card rewards or the resource rewards obtained from that command win. This deck will focus on the cards being drawn, the less cards your opponent has, they less they can play and the less they can shield during combat.

Murder of Razorwings

This 1 cost unit brings 1 attack and 1 hit point to the table. It has 0 command icons, however, its ability forces your opponent to discard a random card from their hand. This fits in nicely with the Pact of the Haemonculi card and the plan overall, if the opponent has 3 cards in hand, discarding even 1 can be critical to you winning.

Raid

Now this doesn’t fit exactly into the above in terms of stopping card draw, but this 0 cost event allows you to steal 1 of your opponent’s resources if they have more than you. Because this deck focuses on stopping the card draw, your opponent can be left with a heft amount of resources. With you being able to spend all yours, being able to nab 1 or 2 of your opponents, massive help. This card also supplies 2 shield icons, which is never a bad thing.

Archons Terror

Again, another card that doesn’t directly fit into the mould regarding stopping your opponent draw, but this 2 cost even allows you to rout an opponent’s army unit. Routing is where you exhaust the target unit and move it from the planet it’s on, to the opponent’s HQ, where it is out of action till next turn. So if you’ve choked your opponent’s card draw enough they can only get 1 or 2 units out in a turn, this card can massively impact their plans and help you pick up the win.

So I think that covers it for “disruption” cards or the cards that loosely link to that plan. The next step is our combat package, it’s great to be able to disrupt your opponent to a point they can’t do anything, but in this game, you need to get combat wins either to take planets or to kill the opposing Warlord. Dark Eldar are a little bit of a glass cannon, they hit hard, but they cannot take a punch back.

Incubus Warrior

This card pulls a bit of double duty, it’s a 2 cost army unit which has 2 command icons, 3 attack and 1 hit point. So it’s not only one hell of a hand in combat with that 3 attack, but it’s got 2 command icons to help with that all important command phase.

Bloodied Reavers

This little 2 cost unit has 2 attack, 2 health and 1 command icon. Its ability is where it shines, as when it’s on a planet with a Warlord, yours or the opponents, it gains 2 extra attack. So very handy when you’ve got that big fight on a planet, and with 2 hit points, you are more likely to keep this guy around longer than an Incubus warrior. Plus in the right situation, its got more attack than them too.

Syren Zythlax

This unit is a little star in its own right. It’s a 3 cost unique army unit, which means is has a certain level of protection from a lot of card effects. It’s got a nice 2 attack and 3 hit points. A solid 2 command icons and its ability is one of my personal favourites. When an opponent deploys a unit to the same planet as the Syren, it exhausts. Which means it’s useless in the first round of combat and it doesn’t get counted towards the command struggle. So I guess this also slips slightly into the disruption bracket too.

 

Klaivex Warleader

You want a unit that’s worth every penny, this is it. Its 4 cost, 3 attack, 3 defence and 2 command icons. Its ability allows you to automatically kill a target unit which already has damage when it enters play, on top of that, it has the Ambush keyword. This means you can pay to deploy this unit from your hand, during the combat phase and that is what makes this unit the MVP of the deck. All you need to do is hit that big unit for 1 damage elsewhere and then drop this guy to finish it off and still get an attack out of it. 5* card.

 

Warp Storm

I’ve left this till last as it’s the only real combat event. This combat action is 3 cost, has 1 shield icon and allows the player to deal 2 damage to every unit (which hasn’t got an attachment on) at a planet, or at a HQ. So this card, played carefully can really hurt an opponent’s forces. I’d never play it on a planet where you have units, but targeting an opponent’s HQ at the end of the combat phase, can result in a lot of units being killed.

 

That leaves just the left over cards. I guess these are utility cards, they have their own benefits which can really help you over the course of the game.

 

Gut and Pillage

This 0 cost event has the ability to net you 3 resources should you win combat on a planet that has a RED icon (don’t ask me what their actual names were). So with some pricey cards in the deck, you need to make sure you’re getting the resources to pay for them. Between this and Raid, you’ve got the tools you need. With 1 shield icon, you can also use for a little bit of protection too.

 

Suffering

Now this attachment is used for 1 reason, it has 2 shield icons. That’s it. Its ability is to lower the attached units attack by 2 and costs 1 resource. However, the ability is useful in certain situations, but I’ve never used it for anything else than a shield.

Packmaster Kith was the character that caught my eye and got me interested in Warhammer 40,000 Conquest, I never knew it would become the Phenom that it was in tournament play, but that never bothered me. I love this character, the art work, the cards and the decks I built with them. Even when the released the next 2 Dark Eldar warlords, I just never got into them in the same way and it’s because of just how cool this character was.

The game itself was a very good game, mechanically and thematically. It’s just a shame it got cut short before they were able to balance out the board. Chaos and Dark Eldar were just large and in charge by the time the game ended. Yet I felt Space Marines and Tau were really catching up. The Necrons also hadn’t long been released, so they had very little support by the end, which is also a shame because they had great potential.

If you want to see the game in action, I managed to get myself on YouTube when playing online and the video is still there at this link: https://youtu.be/vsjwlOI1ks0

This is right up there with the original Vs System in terms of games I truly miss and I still have all my cards, play mats, covers and tokens for this game. I’ve rather enjoyed delving back into these out of print games, I do have another couple in the back and I’m going to get something written about them too.

You can keep following all the action on Cheap Shot Entertainment on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. There is the YouTube channel and BlogSpot too. Also check me out on BlogSpot (I posted a link to that above, but just in case, https://bigboss010-genesisblog.blogspot.com)

I’m Big Boss….. I’m Out……. PEACE! 

Twitter @bigboss010 and Instagram at Bigbosstp010.

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