While the Warhammer 40,000 universe is filled with grim grit and despair it has a distinct streak of humour, both goofy and morbid, running through it. No faction better embodies this humour than the Orks. Orks are hoards of boyz, ramshackle looted trukks, and various other strange sights, all held together solely by belief. In the Warhammer 40,000: Conquest Living Card Game these themes are carried through to create some hilarious and distinct game play. In my first Buying Guide - The Basics, I discussed the LCG format and made suggestions for initial purchases. In this article I’m going to delve into Conquest’s fungal green skinned hooligans, the Orks.

General

Orks are a motley crew to be sure. As a faction the green skins can focus on swarms of little runts or bully their opponent with giant nobz and ramshackle trukks. They focus on brutal and indirect damage, and to a lesser degree cost reduction, support manipulation, and readying. New players will enjoy Orks if they enjoy aggressive strategies, playing fast and loose, and don’t mind incuring a bit of collateral damage in the process.

The Threat Beyond (Warlord Cycle)

Orks get a lot of interesting tools in the core set but probably two of their ost important army units come in the Threat Beyond. Snakebite Thug and Evil Sunz Warbiker both provide powerful 2 cost units. They fill out the faction’s cost curve and are versatile options that can be used in any of the Ork warlords. You will also get Mork’s Great Heap which can really boost your deck depending on the strategy you’re using.

The Scourge (Warlord Cycle)

Almost every pack in the Warlord cycle included at least something decent for Orks but one of the best packs was definitely the Scourge. Starting out with Kustom Field Generator Orks get a tremendous support that works as an excellent defensive tool. The faction gains access to Attack Squig Herd and Iron Guard Recruits which are utilitarian units for combat and with Dakka Dakka Dakka! which helps players control swarms of opposing units in addition to being a double shield card.

Zogwort’s Curse (Warlord Cycle)

The last War Pack I would recommend a new player to consider grabbing for Orks in general is Zogwort’s Curse. Not only does this War Pack come with an Ork Warlord that opens up new play style opportunities but it comes with several great Astra Militarum cards you can supplement your decks with. Tallarn Raiders is another cheap but strong unit that can be used for both combat and command. Staging Ground provides a tool for mid combat tricks, being especially powerful with options like Snakebite Thugs and Evil Sunz Warbikers. Finally Steel Legion Chimera is a defensive unit that can be utilized to shield your boyz.

Nazdreg

Ork’s first Warlord, Nazdreg, is a strong Warlord that focussed on the Brutal mechanic and generally aggressive play styles. Nazdreg is likely one of the warlords that fairs best with only 2 core sets, especially once a few War Packs are added. Generally this warlord favours aggressive cards like Tellyporta Pad and works best with high health units.

Threat Beyond & The Scourge

Like for the faction in general these War Packs are filled with excellent tools for Nezdreg. Snakebite Thug’s self damage turns into extra Brutal fuel, and Kustom Field Generator allows players to spread damage out and more effectively benefit from Nazdreg’s ability.

Boundless Hate (Planetfall Cycle)

The third War Pack I would recommend to a new player unterested in using Nazdreg specifically is Boundless Hate. One of this warlord’s main weaknesses is being targeted directly, something that Front Line ‘Ard Boyz helps protect against. Additionally Rok Bombardment further allows Orks to control large groups of units while allowing Nazdreg’s units to sometimes gain the benefit of extra Brutal power. And finally Sacaellum Shrine Guard is another cheap unit to help fill out your cost curve.

Zogwort

The second warlord given to Orks is the Weirdboy Old Zogwort. A seemingly bizarre warlord at first glance, Zogwort is actually reasonably powerful due to his token creation ability. Because of his self contained ability Zogwort is a good starting point for a wide variety of strategies.

Zogwort’s Curse & The Threat Beyond

For a player interested in the old Weirdboy, Zogwort’s Curse is an easy sell since it is the War Pack he comes in. Along with Zogwort himself, both Zogwort’s Curse and The Threat Beyond come with all the great cards I’ve talked about this warlord benefitting from.

What Lurks Below (Planetfall Cycle)

The final War Pack I would recommend for a player interested in getting started with Old Zogwort is What Lurks Below. In this War Pack Zogwort can make use of Smasha Gun Battery by applying the damage to produce snotling tokens from Zogwort’s Runtherders or powering up other Ork units. Skrap Nabba is a command body that helps smooth resource gain but also can contribute to combat. Last but not least Orks get the very strong event Outflank’em, which arms Orks with the means to completely warp combat.

Gorzod

The third warlord for the Orks released during the Planetfall cycle, if Gorzod. This warlord changes the conventional deck construction rules letting you include common Astra Militarum and Space Marine Vehicle army units in your decks. To balance this Gorzod cannot include events, support, attachments, or non-Vehicle army units unless they are neutral or Ork.

Deadly Salvage (Planetfall Cycle)

Like Most other warlord the most important purchase for Gorzod is the War Pack he comes in, Deadly Salvage. Unfortunately this War Pack doesn’t include any Space Marine or Astra Militarum cards that he can include.

The Scourge & The Threat Beyond

Gorzod is no exception among the Ork warlords and benefits greatly from the several staple cards that come in both The Scourge and in The Threat Beyond. Even though Snakebite Thug andEvil Sunz Warbiker are both not Vehicles but still fill vital positions. Among the other cards Kustom Field Generator also helps greatly, allowing you to further potect your already tough units.

In the Warhammer 40,000 universe the Space Marines represent the poster children of humanity but the true might of the Imperium of Man comes from the Astra Militarum. The countless soldiers of the Militarum are numerous and expendable, a theme that is carried over well into the Warhammer 40,000: Conquest Living Card Game. In my first article, Buying Guide - The Basics, I talked about the LCG format and how to get started in general, today I’m going to focus on getting started with Astra Militarum in particular.

General

As a Faction the Astra Militarum rely on the many cheap units they have, bolstered by their excellent supports and powerful multi card combos, to wear down opponents. Many card abilities trigger when guardsmen leave play leading to great potential from the loss of a single unit. While AM aren’t the simplest to play, new players will likely enjoy the faction most if they have experience with other card games, enjoy attrition focussed play styles, or wantto have powerful multi-card combos.

Zogwort’s Curse (Warlord Cycle)

The thirs War Pack of the Warlord cycle, Zogwort’s Curse brings three excellent cards for any AM warlord to use. Steel Legion Chimera exemplifies the faction’s attrition warfare making all of your infantry last that much longer. Tallarn Raiders is one of the staple cheap units giving a great and efficient option for both combat and command. Finally Staging Ground adds an opportunity to deploy units only when needed to surprise your opponent.

Boundless Hate (Planetfall Cycle)

The second War Pack of the Planetfall cycle, comes with three more great options to include in your decks. The first, Sa’caellum Shrine Guard, is another staple cheap unit. Like the Tallarn Raiders this army gives a good combat and command option for minimal cost. Troop Transport is another support that allows for great mid combat utility. Lastly Front Line ‘Ard Boyz is a common Ork card that increases your defensive capability.

The Threat Beyond (Warlord Cycle)

The third War Pack I would suggest to purchase is The Threat Beyond. This War Pack comes with the second Astra Militarum warlord, Torquemada Coteaz. As a play style Coteaz exemplifies the AM combo play style, and leans toward more aggressive strategies. He is a somewhat difficult warlord to use though and I wouldn’t recommend new players bring him to competitive play with getting a good feel for the game and this warlord first. The pack also includes great ally options in the way of Snakebite Thug, Evil Sunz Warbiker, and Firedrake Terminators.

Colonel Straken

The Core Set warlord, Colonel Straken, was one of the least popular warlords released in the box. At this point Straken is still reasonably unplayed but he has a lot of possible combos waiting to be built into a great deck by an enterprising player. Style wise the Colonel focusses on buffing his troops and persistent attrition. Combining him with Space Marines opens up the damage prevention and attrition aspects of his signature squad, while using Orks leads to a much more aggressive builds.

Boundless Hate & Zogwort’s Curse

Like I discussed previously both Boundless Hate and Zogwort’s Curse provide a number of staple cards for Astra Militarum, this is no exception for Colonel Straken. His buff ability is most efficient when used on large numbers of low cost units and both the Tallarn Raiders and Sa’caellum Shrine Guard are great for this. Additionally the Steel Legion Chimera and Front Line ‘Ard Boyz are great defensive card that increase Straken’s ability to take a beating.

Deadly Salvage (Planetfall Cycle)

The third War Pack of the Planetfall cycle comes with several great options for your Straken deck. Deadly Salvage includes Death Korp Engineers and Vanguard Soldiers, both well costed units with good stat lines and strong abilities. Additionally the pack has Inspirational Fervor which allows aggressive Astra Militarum decks to carry their momentum through the game.

Torquemada Coteaz

The second warlord released for Astra Militarum is the Inquisitor Torquemada Coteaz. He is a far less straight forward warlord than most in the game and I would generally not recommend him to a player who is completely new to competitive card games. That said, in the correct hands he is a force to be reckoned with and an ambitious newbie shouldn’t shy away from him but needs to be ready for a steep learning curve. A player might find Coteaz interesting if they enjoy multi card combos and aggressive play styles.

The Threat Beyond

This War Pack is a bit of an obvious choice if a player is interested in Torquemada. Not only does it come with the warlord and his signature squad, but it also has Snakebite Thug and Evil Sunz Warbiker both cheep and very effective units.

Zogwort’s Curse

Much like for Straken and the faction in general, Zogwort’s Curse is excellent for Coteaz. Tallarn Raiders and Steel Legion Chimera are as good for Coteaz as they are for any other AM warlord, but Staging Ground has extra utility in his decks. Being able to hold units in hand and deploy them as needed in combat assists players in using this warlord to the fullest.

Gift of the Ethereals (Warlord Cycle)

Another excellent War Pack for Astra Militarum in general Gift of the Ethereals has several great tools to use with Coteaz. Mystic Warden a unit that has limited use in most decks is excellent for our inquisitor as a cheap target to sacrifice. The other notable AM card, To Arms!, is an excellent option for both the two shield icons and the powerful combo potential with cards like Catachan Outpost. The War Pack also comes with Ammo Depot, White Scars Bikers, and Crushing Blow, all great cards depending on your ally and battle plan.

Broderick Worr

The newest Militarum warlord, and quite possible the most competitive so far, Broderick Worr excels at decks using mostly or only Astra Militarum units. Worr is a very flexible about what AM units he uses and his play style in general, and as a result is probably the best AM warlord for a new player to use. Worr excels at buffing his own units, applying consistent pressure, and unit efficiency.

Decree of Ruin (Planetfall Cycle)

This War Pack is a must as it includes Broderick Worr himself along with his signature squad. Unfortunately because this warlord uses mainly AM units there really aren’t any additional cards worth using.

Boundless Hate & Zogwort’s Curse

I’ve covered both of these War Packs already and most of what I’ve said hold true for Worr also.

Space Marines are more or less the poster children of the Warhammer 40,000 universe and that has held true with the Warhammer 40,000 Conquest Living Card Game. In my first article, Buying Guide - The Basics, I talked about the LCG format and how to get started in general, today I’m going to focus on getting started with Space Marines in particular.

General

Space Marines are possibly the easiest faction to pick up and play as a new player. They have sturdy units, good damage prevention, solid combat tricks, and great options available in their ally factions. New players will find Space Marines exciting if they enjoy long lasting units, the ability to deploy units on the fly, and minor control abilities.

Core Sets

In general Space Marines have an exceptional selection of cards right out of the game’s first box. I think the best recommendation to make if Marines are your faction of choice is to start out with a full set of 3 core sets. This will give you a really wide breadth of the factions best options.

Howl of Blackmane (Warlord Cycle)

The core set provides so many excellent options the jumping right into the next warlord is actually very easy to do. This War Pack will give you the signature squad for Ragnar Blackmane and let you experiment with a new play style.

Cato

Captain Cato Sicarius is the faction’s core set warlord. Style wise Cato is generally quite good at almost any strategy you want to take. His ability means you can afford to play a slightly more expensive deck than most other warlords. His signature squad has a variety of powerful control effects that apply to a number of circumstances. All told he makes an excellent starting point.

Core Sets

Since Cato is great at playing a variety of styles the core set really helps you fill out those options. I would say that owning 3 core set boxes is a top priority for this warlord.

Gift of the Ethereals (Walord Cycle)

If you aren’t quite ready to go all in with 3 core sets or if you already have and you’re ready to expand further my next suggestion would be Gift of the Ethereals. This War Pack brings with it one of the most powerful Space Marine events, Crushing Blow. You also get White Scars Bikers, an excellent 3 cost unit expanding out the variety of options to use with Drop Pod Assault in the core set. There are also a few other cards to expand your deck building options

Descendants of Isha (Warlord Cycle)

The last War Pack of the Warlord Cycle, Decendants of Isha fills a lot of holes that were remaining in each of the factions. For Space Marines this includes Space Wolves Predator and Primal Howl. Cato himself provides a reasonable number of resources over the course of a game and since most warlords will have no qualms taking Cato face on you can use often use Primal Howl to fill in your card draw. Space Wolves Predator on the other hand is a great big toy that lets you bully opponents. These of course aren’t the only new options you’ll get, the pack comes with more options both in faction and from allies.

Ragnar

Space Marines second warlord, Ragnar Blackmane, was released in the first War Pack of the Warlord cycle. His style is much more aggresive than Cato’s, allowing Ragnar to bully and sometimes even assassinate opposing warlords. Even with this he can work quite well with very similar decks to Cato, as well as radically different focusses.

Howl of Blackmane (Warlord Cycle)

This War Pack is a bit of a no brainer if a player is interested in playing Ragnar as it is the product he comes in. Fortunately if you already have a couple core sets this is all you will need to get started with our Fenrisian Space Marine.

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Gift of the Ethereals (Warlord Cycle)**_

This War Pack provides much of the same benefit to Ragnar as it does for Cato. Ragnar though is likely to make much greater use of both White Scars Biker and Crushing Blow. Because Blackmane is able to bully and threaten a warlord kill, both cards become much more versatile.

Zogwort’s Curse (Warlord Cycle)

In my oppinion the most effective ally to Ragnar is the Astra Militarum, and one of the best packs for AM is Zogwort’s Curse. For Blackmane the Tallarn Raiders provide an excellent 1 cost army that adds to your command prescense and your combat pressure. Staging Ground also comes in the War Pack and add to the surprise and flexibility of the deck. Finally the War Pack comes with several other cards that, while not the most competitive cards, will add variety to your deck building options.

If there is one thing about Warhammer 40,000: Conquest that new players miss, it is the importance of the Command Struggle.  Sure, you can try to dump all your units at planet 1 each turn and hope to win by brute force, but after a turn or so you’ll look across the table and say “Hey, why do I only have 4 resources and 2 cards while my opponent has 10 resources and 7 cards?”.  The reason?  The Command Struggle. The Command Struggle is the most subtle part of Conquest, but if you ask me, it is easily the most important part of it.  Even if the first three planets share an icon and your opponent won the first two, with more resources and cards at your disposal you can pick and choose your battles and overwhelm your opponent where necessary.  The Command Struggle requires many small choices to maximize your returns and minimize your losses.  So the question is, how do you maximize your gains from the Command Struggle, while not letting your opponent win the game by planet icons?  As you all know, whichever player has more command icons on their units at a planet after Warlords have committed will receive the card and resource bonus from a planet.  Leaving Warlords out of it for now, let’s discuss the basics.

Units

What is a command unit?  I would classify a unit as a command unit if it costs between one and two resources and has at least as many command icons as its cost.  Units like the one cost two command icon Biel-Tan Guardians and the two cost two command icon Iron Guard Recruits are good examples of command units.  What is a combat unit? A combat unit is a unit that costs three or more which has some decent attack and hit point stats or abilities intended for combat.  In general, you do not want to play out a combat unit for command.  Why pay three for the same number of command icons you can get for one resource, right?  There are situations where it is useful to play a combat unit out for command, which we will discuss later. What is a versatile unit?  There are other units such as the one cost one command Tallarn Raiders or Vior’la Marksman which can help out in a battle, but also are cheap and can be played at a planet to win command.  Still more examples would be more expensive units that have a way to move into combat during the combat phase, such as mobile units, Wildrider Squadron, or Boss Zugnog.  Having some of these more versatile units can help you strike the balance between command and combat.

Tips and Strategies for Command

Spread out your command icons. While it is tempting to deploy a Leman Russ Battle Tank with its whopping four command icons to planet five to lock down command there for most of the game, it is terribly inefficient to play a five cost unit for command that is meant for battle.  You could spend those five resources on three to five different units and spread your icons across the planets, making it much more likely to win multiple command struggles. Stall as much as you can before deploying units.  The longer you can wait until you start deploying your units, the less information your opponent has when they have to deploy theirs.  If you can play out some supports or take other actions that use up your deploy turns first, you are both gathering more information for yourself and denying it to your opponent.  Save two command icon units for later in the deploy phase. This point is related to the point above.  While it is tempting to play out your Void Pirate in your first deploy turn, your opponent could then play a two-command icon unit out at that same planet, surpassing your command at that planet.  If you can wait until your opponent has played a one command icon unit out to a planet, you can then play out your two command icon unit to surpass it.  Play units that have resource or card bonuses out to less desirable planets.  As a general rule, I like to play my Void Pirate and Rogue Trader out to Iridial and Y’varn, the planets that have a single resource or card bonus.  Your opponent will be less likely to fight you for command at these planets because in doing so he will get a smaller bonus than he would at a planet with some combination of two command rewards.  Try to win command on planets that reward you with what you are missing.  If you have a lot of resources and not many cards, then focus your command units on planets that give card bonuses, and vice versa. Take a look at the big picture of the planet layout.  If you look at the planets you may notice a balance between cards and resources.  At times you will look at notice that there is a very large surplus of one type, it can be as extreme as seven resources and only two cards.  If this is the case, then evaluate your current holdings of cards and resources and decide whether you should focus on these rarer rewards. If possible, try to choke your opponent.  While there are times where you may be frustrated and want to take me literally, I am not condoning violence against your opponent!  Choking your opponent involves winning command in such a way that you stop them from gaining something they are short on already.  If your opponent has one card and eleven resources, try to win planets that have card bonuses.  If you cannot do that, then tie command on those planets.  As long as your opponent is not getting the cards or resources that they need, the choke is effective.

Cards to be Careful of

There are a few cards that can really put a wrench in your command game so I wanted to list them below so you know what to watch for. [whc]Archon’s Palace[/whc]  This card can only be played by a Dark Eldar opponent.  It allows your opponent to turn off the card or resource bonus of a planet that you win command on.  If you are playing against Dark Eldar, I would focus on the planets that give one card and one resource first before the planets with two of a single reward.  When you win command on a one and one planet your opponent can only shut down half of your reward.  Also, avoid playing a Rogue Trader to a planet which rewards two resources, as they can shut down all three.  Try to play your Void Pirates and Rogue Traders so they are at planets which give them the opposite reward that they provide. [whc]Sowing Chaos[/whc]  This card can be played by Chaos, Dark Eldar or Orks.  This card destroys all units that cost two or less at blue planets.  Sowing Chaos is a game changer if you are not careful.  If you see your opponent is playing Chaos or allied with Chaos, be careful of sending your command units to blue planets.  If there are non-blue planets in play, focus command on them.  If you notice that your opponent has lots of units that are vulnerable to Sowing Chaos in play, it is less likely that they will play it because it would hurt their board state as well. [whc]Rotten Plaguebearers[/whc]  This card can be played by Chaos, Dark Eldar or Orks, notice a pattern here?  It is a two cost unit with a command icon that has an ability which allows it to exhaust to do one damage to a unit at the same planet.  If you put out a command unit with low hps opposite this guy, your opponent can use his action to try to kill your unit, causing you to use shields to keep it alive. [whc]Atrox Prime[/whc]  This is a planet whose battle ability deals one damage to all enemy units at an adjacent planet.  If the command unit you want to play has only one hp, be mindful when deploying it at a planet adjacent to Atrox Prime.  If your opponent triggers a battle at Atrox Prime, or a battle at Carnath and triggers Atrox Prime’s ability, you can lose your unit.

Warlord Commitment

Your warlord has a super saiyan giant hammer that trumps the command of all enemy units at the planet he or she is committed to, save for the enemy warlord.  Committing your warlord to a planet requires many considerations, but I would like to touch on a few command-specific decisions.  Don’t send your warlord to a planet that you’re winning command on.  Let us say that you’re winning command on two planets and your opponent is winning on the other three.  In general, sending your warlord to one of the planets you are already winning on is a suboptimal play.  You were already going to get the command rewards from that planet.  Sending him to a planet that your opponent is winning command on not only denies your opponent those rewards, but also grants them to you.  There are exceptions to this general rule of course, such as if you are trying to choke your opponent, or know that they want to exercise the battle ability of that planet, in which case you may choose to send your warlord to that planet to block your opponent. If you plan to send your warlord to a planet, don’t bother deploying enough units there to win command.  If you see a planet whose battle ability you want to win or where you want to drop off all the units in your HQ, you are likely going to send your Warlord there.  If your opponent has a Void Pirate sitting at it, rather than deploying a two command unit out to win command there, put that unit somewhere else.  Your warlord is going to trump the Void Pirate anyways, so those resources are better spent elsewhere. Don’t always follow the two above rules.  This may sound strange, but you see these two rules above?  Don’t follow them 100% of the time.  If you do your commitments will be more predictable and your opponent will be able to decide where you are most likely to go and potentially stop you there.  They are both ways to ensure that you get more out of your command struggle, no doubt, but sometimes you need to make suboptimal commitments just to keep your opponent guessing. Thanks for reading, I’ll see you in the next article! John “Wigg” Gobeil John “Wigg” Gobeil is a veteran Conquest LCG player based out of Toronto, Canada. He contributes to the community as a tournament organizer for events in his area, a moderator for the Conquest LCG Facebook community, and a regular guest on a number of podcasts and other Conquest LCG media. Notably he is considered to be the scourge of many Toronto players who curse his regular high tournament placings and soul crushing. The Tactical Squad curses you John.

When the Wahammer 40,000: Conquest Living Card Game was released in 2014 the core set included 7 playable factions. However, the rulebook stated that there would be a total of 9 playable factions. In 2015 the first of those two additional factions - the Tyranids - was released. In my first article, Buying Guide - The Basics, I talked about the structure of the Living Card Game format and game a general overview of some good starting purchases. In this article I’m going to talk about getting started with the Tyranid faction.

General

Someone who hasn’t seen much of the 40k universe in the past would might think of the movie Starship Troopers the first time they see the Tyranids. The comparison would be apt and one can imagine that Robert Heinlein’s original novel served as inspiration for Games Workshop back in the day.  The Tyranids are a swarm based faction that can combine a press of tiny bodies with the brute force of some enormous units. Mechanically, these space bugs focus on generating and buffing tokens, infesting planets to gain additional benefits, and start out with a unit that acts as a second pseudo-warlord.

Starting out, Tyranids are actually one of the fastest and cheapest way to get into Conquest and be competitive. You can have almost everything you could ask for with just a single core set and the Great Devourer deluxe expansion. The expansion is chock full of Tyranid goodness, including two warlords - each with their signature squad, five synapse units, and a host of army units, events, attachments, and supports. The core set provides you with the rulebook, tokens, planets, and the neutral cards needed to supplement your deck. Because there aren’t many War Packs released to date that include Tyranid cards there isn’t much more to say beyond the recommendations I’ve already made. As more of the Planetfall cycle is released there will be a greater selection and thus more options to choose from.. We’ll revisit this recommendation towards the end of the cycle, so come back and take a look again in a few months.

The Warhammer 40,000: Conquest Living Card Game by Fantasy Flight Games was released at Gencon in 2014. Since its release the game has seen its card pool grow continuously and the community has developed along with it. While this is exciting, it means that the game may be more daunting and expensive to enter. This buying guide will introduce prospective players to the Living Card Game model, explain what comes in different products, and give suggestions about what products will give players a good selection to get started with.

The LCG Model

For players new to the Living Card Game model created by Fantasy Flight Games the selection of available product can be somewhat confusing. This is the model used for most of their card games, including Android: Netrunner, Lord of the Rings: The Card Game, A Game of Thrones, and more. Product is generally released as set packs of cards with no randomness involved. As a result players collect more like a board game with expansions than a Trading Card Game.  If you know what you are getting in a pack then there is no “chase” and no need for an expensive secondary market.

The base card pool in the Warhammer 40,000: Conquest LCG is available in the Core Set. This box includes enough cards for two players to play a game, all the tokens and components you will need, a Learn to Play Guide, and a Rules Reference Guide. There is only one copy of most of the cards provided in the core set, with a small selection of cards that come with two copies. After owning a core set the most common way to expand your card pool are War Packs. These are packs of 60 cards, most often a warlord and the 8 accompanying cards of their signature squad along with three copies of 17 different cards. These are grouped in cycles of 6 packs that follow a number of shared mechanics or narrative themes, and release one pack at a time over the course of 6 to 8 month

s. Finally, players can also expand their collection with Deluxe Expansions. These are less frequent releases, usually only one or two a year, and include 155 cards along with inserts detailing any new rules and any additional tokens or components you may need for those rules and abilities. At this point it is hard to tell what will be in these but it seems that each will predominantly be cards for a single faction.

How Many Core Sets?

So now that you know how the LCG model works for the Conquest LCG you’re probably wondering what you need to get started. Well, this mostly depends on what kind of experience you are looking for. If you just want a fun game to play casually I would recommend just starting with a single core set. The selection of cards available offers really simple deck building and is enough to sit down and have an enjoyable board game experience with a friend. I would really suggest players start here is they are unsure about collecting the game. It is a great game, but you don’t need every expansion to have a great experience. For a player who is more certain that they want to play this game in a more dedicated manner, I would suggest starting with two core sets. The core set is  excellent to crack open and get started right away, but unfortunately it provides only basic deck building options. If you’ve played other card games then you will know that the more copies of a given card you have in your deck the more consistent your play experience will be. Unfortunately there is only a single copy of most cards in the box, meaning a second core set is required to get creative or begin to compete with players with larger collections. Finally, for someone who is interested in jumping right into competitive play, then 3 core sets is strongly recommended. A lot of the strongest cards in the game come in the core set and for complete deck building options a third box is needed.

After the Core Set

Now that you know how many core sets you are going to get, how can you expand your collection to start building new and interesting decks? Well that depends. Are you interested in playing a certain faction? Do you want a bit of everything? If you are looking for some variety I will give you a few suggestions below, but I would also encourage you to peruse the cards in each pack at ConquestDB or CardGameDB. If you’re interested in a specific faction I would suggest you check out my other articles for each specific faction as they become available on this site.

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Decree of Ruin_** (Planetfall cycle)

The first War Pack of the Planetfall cycle, this pack offers a number of new mechanics that add more interest to your game! It includes two versatile and interesting warlords to expand your options and great cards for almost every faction. This pack has the added bonus of a lore insert which is the first installment of a six part story narrating the events of the cycle. This pack is also the latest pack at the time of writing, so it offers the opportunity to enjoy the experience of following along as new packs are released.

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Zogworts Curse**_ (Warlord cycle)

This War Pack comes with the Ork warlord Old Zogwort, a strange but straight forward warlord. He is very fun and doesn’t require any cards in particular to work well. You also get three great common Astra Militarum cards that are great for use in Militarum, Space Marines, and Orks. Tau, Chaos, and Dark Eldar also get some staples for use in their respective factions. Review

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The Scourge**_ (Warlord cycle)

The second War Pack of the Conquest LCG’s first cycle of expansions, The Scourge introduced a second Chaos warlord in the way of Ku’gath Plaguefather. This curious warlord opens a whole new playstyle, different anything else we have. Along with the powerful new warlord the War pack includes several key cards for Orks, along with some major options for Astra Militarum, Tau and Dark Eldar. Review