Table of Contents

Tournament Organizer’s Manual

for Skirmish and Mass Battle
Version 2.0


Introduction

This document contains all the information you need in order to participate and organize a Conquest (TLAOK): The Last Argument of Kings Tournament or Conquest: First Blood! The information contained within, discusses how an official Conquest Tournament is held and what are your responsibilities as a participant towards the Tournament Organizer (T.O.) and fellow players. 

A Conquest Tournament runs best when 6 or more players are involved, with our Organized Play (O.P.) kits ensuring that all participants are rewarded for their involvement in the Tournament. The contents of this document including all Tournament regulations, pairings systems etc. are not set in stone, this is a living document and we reserve the right to amend the rules to ensure fairness and a pleasant experience for all players. 

 

Participating in a Conquest Tournament

When participating in an event you are required to have everything you need to play with you, that includes your own Models, dice, Command Cards, measuring tools, a printed copy of your Army List and other miscellaneous tokens. Furthermore, you may use any other game accessories you find useful as discussed below:

Models

The most important part of any Army is, well the soldiers themselves! You are required to bring all your own Models and correct size Stands for each Regiment. The Models need to accurately represent each entry in your Army List and so they have to abide by the following rules in regards to conversions and painting. A player may use all models that have been officially released either as a product or as part of a promotion. e.g. The Season 0 kit of the Organized Play program, awarded players with an alternative version of the Tempered Sorcerer. That model may be used in an official Tournament even though it has not been officially released to retail.

You are free to use 3rd party Stands and bases as long as they are the correct size, that is the size of the Stands and bases included in the boxed set of that Regiment. You are also free to customize and decorate your Stands as much as you want, as long as it remains clear what Models are on each Stand. You may also use any accessories or system of moving Stands and bases on the battlefield that a) does not change the footprint of the Regiment and b) does not obstruct play.

Character, Command and Regiment Stands

Each Stand in an Army must come with the appropriate amount of Models on it as described in the Regiment’s Army List entry. Furthermore, a Regiment’s Command Stand must include all Officers/Command Models included in the Army List.

To ensure smooth gameplay we would encourage you to avoid gluing Models on to their Stands and magnetize them instead. Character and Command Stands do change quite often based on the upgrades you take on those Stands, therefore Models will have to come on and off regularly. Regular Stands are designed so the Models can rotate on the spot and allow Regiments to come into contact flush with one another. By gluing the Models on their Stands, the Models cannot rotate therefore making it harder for two Enemy Regiments to properly engage.

Finally Character Stands must come with the Character Model and a Model for each Retinue Tier selected.

Painting

Painting is an important part of our hobby and the way we paint our armies is an integral part of their story. Therefore, an army is expected to be primed and painted at a 3-color minimum as well as based. By basing models we refer to both Stands and Bases. After all it’s your Army that wins battles, not just any Army, it should be decorated with your colors!

Conversions

Conversions are an integral part of our hobby. Much like painting, converting helps tell a story of where the army is coming from and allows for your unique ideas to manifest. It is important however for the Regiment’s to remain identifiable by your opponent so as to not cause any misunderstandings during the game.

Therefore, when converting at least 75% of the miniature should include Para Bellum Games ltd. plastic or resin parts. Furthermore, it is important to include features of the miniature that allows it to be identifiable e.g. when converting a Regiment of Household Guard make sure they are using halberds instead of pikes so as to not confuse them with the Gilded Legion. Ultimately, the army and the story behind it is yours and we are looking forward to seeing all of your fantastic ideas on the table!

Should you contain any converted miniatures in your Army you are required to point them out to your opponent before the game starts. In case of extended conversion work for which you are unsure whether it follows these rules, make sure to check with your T.O. they will review such conversions and will accept or deny them on a case-by-case basis.

Founder’s Exclusive Models

Every year we let our artists and sculptors go crazy with innovative and awesome designs that are simply too cool not to produce for the world to see! So we don’t blame you for wanting to collect all of them and more importantly to want to include them in your Army. These models are legal for competitive play and wherever it is not entirely clear you can find exactly what each model represents in the list below:

Hundred Kingdoms
  • The Joust: The miniatures can be played as Mounted Noble Lords and/or Tourney Champions.
  • Parade: The kit contains one Imperial Officer and a Hundred Kingdoms Tactical Retinue.
  • St. George and The Dragon: The miniature can be played as a Mounted Noble Lord or as a Priory Commander.
W’adrhun
  • The Brood of Omgorah: The model can be used to represent a Mounted Predator or a Matriarch Queen, Predator or Chietain with the Brood of Omgorah Artefact.
Dweghom
  • Eruption: The kit contains one Tempered Sorcerer and a Dweghom Arcane Retinue
  • The Mountain Stands: The kit contains one Hold Raegh (Riding the Dragon Skull), a Flame Caster (shoulder cannon), Ardent Kerawegh (flaming arm and sword) and two Exemplars (two-handed weapon and weapon chained to arms).
Nords
  • Raid: The kit contains one Blooded and a Nord Tactical Retinue.
The Spires
  • Legacies of the Ark: The kit contains a Lineage Highborne.
  • Twisted: The model can be used to represent a Biomancer or Pheromancer with the Avatar Projection Mutation.
The Old Dominion
  • Heavy Metal: The Kit contains one alternative Strategos (crown and seathed sword), a Hierodeacon (hood and staff), a Xhiliarch (Varangian Uniform and two Swords) and an Optio (mask and drawing sword).
The City States
  • Last Stand: The Kit contains one Minotaur Thyrian Leader and that may also be used as a Thyrian Auxiliary, an Aristarch (horned helmet), Dorylatis (spear) and Polemarch (non-horned helmet).
Seasonal and Exclusives
  • Jolly and Mean: The kit contains one St. Nick Claus that may be used as a Theist Priest and one Seu-Grin that may be used as a Biomancer.
  • Angry Chicken: The kit contains two angry chicken that may be placed in an Infatry Regiment’s Command Stand to signify its Leader. Similarly the Models may be used as a Regiment’s Leader in First Blood. When Angry Chicken models are used as Leader’s in First Blood they may only be the Leader’s of one type of Infantry Regiment to avoid confusion.
  • Crackken: The kit contains one Crackken that may be placed in an Infatry Regiment’s Command Stand to signify its Leader. Similarly the Model may be used as a Regiment’s Leader in First Blood. When Crackken models are used as Leader’s in First Blood they may only be the Leader’s of one type of Infantry Regiment to avoid confusion.

Command Cards

Command Cards are an important part of Conquest and therefore are absolutely crucial to have with you when playing a game. You are required to have enough Command Cards to represent all entries in your Army List, as per TLAOK and First Blood rules.

You are allowed to use Command Cards with alternative art whether that is official product, promotional material or even your own creative designs. Any non-official Command Card needs to portray an image that is reminiscent of the kind of Regiment or Character it represents and mention its name. The name on each Command Card is necessary in order to determine what is eligible to activate with that card.

For example, you may have 3 Men-At-Arm Command Cards each with a different design on their card, representing 3 Regiments in your Army List. As long as the Regiment name on the Command Card clearly states that it’s for a Men-at-Arm Regiment you may use that Card to Activate any one of the 3.

There are other cases in which the name might not be exactly the same as the Army List entry but it clearly alludes to it. A great example would be the Apex Queen sculpt, which is a Matriarch Queen riding the Apex Predator (with the Apex Master Mastery). In that case the Command Card affectionately calls the Character an “Apex Queen” however, the artwork clearly represents a Matriarch Queen and therefore this Card may Activate any one of your Matriarch Queens currently in play and eligible to Activate. You will also notice that the QR code of the Apex Queen also scans as a Matriarch Queen in our Army Builder.

It is necessary for all Command Cards to have the correct QR code on them. This is important as in the case of a dispute the T.O. will scan the code to verify which Army List Entry the Command Card represents. Furthermore, should you be using custom Command Cards, then all cards used during the game must be sleeved so as for all cards to look identical when in a Command Stack.

Measuring Tools and Other Accessories

When playing a game of Conquest TLAOK or Conquest FB, the rules require you to accurately measure distances for purposes of Marching, Volleying etc. To do so it is necessary that you have a measuring tape with you, marked in inches. You are also required to have with you three additional Infantry or Brute/Cavalry sized Stands and bases to serve as Objective Markers where needed. These can be customized and decorated as you like as long as their dimensions remain the same.

Furthermore, you may use any other accessory official or 3rd party, such as measuring widgets, Line of Sight (LoS) tools or laser markers etc.

You are also free to use tokens that allow you to keep track of Special Rules, Draw Events, Reinforcement lines, Wounds etc. When using tokens to keep track of certain things, you are required to keep track of how many game effects, statuses or wounds a Stand/Regiment has received, not how many are remaining.

E.g. A Stand or Model with a Wounds Characteristic of 10, takes 4 Wounds during the game. The Player will mark that the Stand/Model has taken 4 Wounds not that it has 6 Wounds remaining.

This is to ensure that every token and marker in the game represents a status that has been applied to a Regiment thus adding to the overall legibility of any given in-game situation.

In any case, the use of accessories needs to not interrupt the flow of the game and be removed should they obstruct play. It is good practice to remove from the battlefield any measuring tool you are not actively using at that moment in order to declutter the battlefield.

Army Lists and other Rules References

In order to participate in a Tournament you are required to have finalized one Army List and have it sent to the T.O. in which the composition of the Army as well as all individual point costs are clearly stated. The Army List must be contain the following information in this particular order [Player Name][Faction][Living World PIN]. In case you do not have a Living World PIN you may skip it however you will not be able to gain Aghm for that event.

Only Army List entries that have been officially released may be included in these Army Lists. The only exception being all Retinue Models and unreleased Officers who may be included in the Army following all rules for converting Models.

The total points cost for your Army may not exceed the Army point size chosen for that event by the T.O. and must have used at least 95% of the available points.

For example, In a 2,000 point TLAOK event, lists cannot exceed 2,000 points and at least 1900 points must have been used.

For the duration of the Tournament you must play all games using the same Army List without changing the Army composition, upgrades etc. in any way. You are required to have at least three printed copies of your Army List. One will be submitted to the T.O. on site and the other two will be used for your reference and your opponents’ perusal.

In order for you to submit your Army List it must be recorded in either one of two ways. You may either present the list in a clear written form, or have your Army List exported through the official Conquest Army Builder. Choosing the latter will also allow you to have a handy rules reference as well as the detailed breakdown of your force, minimizing the amount of documents you may potentially be carrying with you.

You may find the Web Army Builder here: https://armybuilder.para-bellum.com

You can also download our free Conquest Companion App!

Finally, you may bring with you any printed or digital official document for you to reference rules, or any other form of documentation that is of help to you. Please keep in mind that when an opponent asks you about a rule you are using it is your responsibility to have an up-to-date version of the rules with you, whether in physical or digital form.

In-and-Out of Game Decorum

Conquest Tournaments are a great opportunity for you to test your strategic and tactical skill against your opponents in a competitive setting. However, adhering to the game’s rules, being fair and polite is of the utmost importance for everyone to have fun. The Conquest Community is an all inclusive, safe and respectful environment in which players are free to explore the world of Ea and all its mysteries whilst socializing and sharing their passion for the hobby with others. We want our Tournaments to reflect these core values that we so dearly hold close to our hearts.

Therefore, you are required to follow the game’s and event’s rules, answer your opponent’s questions with complete honesty before or during the game and to ensure that rules are accurately executed. It is important however to note, that although you are required to truthfully answer any and all questions you are not obliged to reveal your entire plan to your opponent. It is important for both Players to ask the right questions when assessing a tactical situation.

E.g. during the Command Phase, before Command Stacks are finalized and Supremacy Abilities are declared, you may ask your Opponent what is the entirety of a Regiment’s potential Charge Range. Your Opponent would have to truthfully answer that when taking into consideration a potential March, a Charge and let’s say the effects of an Officer, this Regiment could threaten an Enemy Regiment X” away.

During the Supremacy phase however, your Opponent declares their Supremacy ability that greatly lengthens the Regiment’s Charge distance. Similarly, during the Action Phase your Opponent could have utilized a Spell to similar effect.

Your Opponent in this case has not violated any rules. When asked the potential Charge Distance of a Regiment they answered truthfully mentioning all rules and abilities that applied to that Regiment at that moment, they did not have to disclose their tactical plan for that Round.

However, if you were to ask your Opponent: “Can your Supremacy Ability do X?” or “Do you have a Spell that could lengthen the Regiment’s Charge Distance?” and they said no, and yet throughout the course of the game they did in fact employ such an ability then they would not be honestly answering your questions.

Furthermore, players are not to intervene in other player’s games and are to respect other players’ requests for any viewers of their game to remain discreet and not loud.

There will be situations where a disagreement between two players cannot be resolved between them or there may simply be a rules question none of which knows the answer to. When that happens, you may resort to the T.O. or any judge appointed by the T.O. to make a final decision on how that particular situation should be handled. You are to respect and accept the final decision of a T.O. or judge. Objecting to the T.O.’s/judge’s final decision or disrespecting them will result in immediate disqualification from the event.

If a Player is dissatisfied with a ruling then once the event is over, they are free to direct their questions to rules@para-bellum.com and share their thoughts/questions. However, no matter the answer the outcome and final standings of the event will not be affected and placements will not be revisited.

Furthermore, a T.O. maintains the right to disqualify a player for any incident that goes against the core values of our Community. That is, a player may not engage in offensive or abusive conduct, bully, cheat, consistently debate rules during a game, stall, play improperly or act in any other inappropriate way. A player that is disqualified, loses any claims to any awards or prizes they have not yet received, may not be reimbursed if they paid any fee to participate in that Tournament and are barred from further participating in this event or any related events at the T.O’s discretion.

Intentionally attempting to circumvent or exploit rules clearly goes against the core values of the event and will lead to a warning or disqualification, at the discretion of the T.O. Examples of this type of behavior include, intentionally incorrect measurements, intentionally incorrect tracking of in game statuses or Wounds, illegal manipulation of the Command Stack etc.

Conceding a Battle and Leaving the Event

Even though conceding is not encouraged, as there is always a chance of winning, occasionally there are circumstances that will prompt a player to concede a game during an event or voluntarily leave the event entirely.

When a player concedes during a game, their opponent is granted a Victory and the game goes on for the winning player to score as many Victory Points as the Round limit and/or other factors would allow. The player counts as having participated in this Round normally and is still eligible for prizes. The conceding player receives a loss and counts as having scored no Victory points. A Player cannot pre-emptively concede a Round, they need to have played at least three Rounds of a game before conceding.

A player conceding two games in a row is followed by a warning and the T.O./Judge will be assessing the situation whether conceding those games was done in an unsporting manner. Conceding three battles in a row constitutes a disqualification from the event. A T.O. maintains the right to disqualify a conceding player from an event even after conceding once, if the concession is deemed to be unsporting. e.g. A case of intentionally conceding to help another player score a Victory. 

A Player leaving the event entirely, is not eligible for a refund, whether that is partial or whole, in the case where the event had an entry fee. Furthermore, a Player leaving the event does not participate in the subsequent raffles and has no claim over the event’s prize pool as described in the “Winners and Prize Support” section of this Tournament Pack.

Organizing a Conquest Tournament

This section of the Tournament pack, contains all the necessary information needed to organize and run a Conquest Tournament. The T.O. may, encouraged even, modify any guidelines or rules found in this document to accommodate the specific needs of their Community and players.

Tournament Announcement

Given the realities of organizing and hosting a Tournament, let alone one of the more complex regional events we have planned further down the line, the T.O. should announce the date of the Tournament no less than 7 days before the Tournament takes place for local Tournaments and 1 month for larger convention events. This will provide adequate time for players to prepare their Army Lists, submit them successfully and even finish up that last model or two before the event starts. A Conquest Tournament can be based on either the Conquest: The Last Argument of Kings or Conquest: First Blood game systems.

Rounds and Scoring

The amount of Rounds a Tournament has is determined by the number of participants. The larger the pool of players the more rounds need to be played before determining the winner of that Tournament. For your ease and quality of life when running an event through the Conquest Companion App, the Rounds are automatically calculated based on the number of Players.

The amount of Rounds is calculated as follows:

  • An 8-player or less Tournament consists of 3 Rounds.
  • A 9-16 player Tournament consists of 4 Rounds
  • A 17-32 player Tournament consists of 5 Rounds
  • A 33-64 player Tournament consists of 6+ Rounds

At the end of each Round, each winner will gain 2 TP (Tournament Points), while the defeated will receive 0 TP. In case of a Draw, both players will gain 1 TP. At the end of each Round, the TO (Tournament Organizer) will note for each player: their TP and their VP (Victory Points) amassed during the game. The Players are then sorted according to their TP score, then according to their VP total (as a tiebreaker); this is called “Standings”.

For subsequent Tournament Rounds, no player may be paired with an opponent they have already played again during this event*. To assign pairs after the first Round, the T.O. will base the pairings on the player’s Tournament Point totals. Sort the player’s Tournament Record Sheets into piles based on the amount of players’ total TP. Then randomly assign the pairs from each pile.

*In the rare occurrence where the total number of participants has changed due to players dropping the event, the T.O. might be forced to pair players that have played each other before. The T.O. is to adjust pairs in such a way that only match-ups whose result will not place a player in the top half of the rankings, can be set that way.

If a pile has an odd number of players, pair the last player in the pile with the highest number of Tournament Points against someone from the pile with the next-highest Tournament Points. A player should not be paired with opponent’s from a different pile more than once per event if it can be avoided. Once pairings are final, players are given their Tournament Record Sheets back and once again write their opponent’s name and all necessary information similar to what happened in the first Round. 

Rounds and Time

Rounds should take anything between 1 and 2.5 hours depending on the Conquest system the Tournament is taking place for.

  • First Blood Rounds should last between 1 hour and 1.5 hours.
  • The Last Argument of Kings Rounds should last between 2 hours and 2.5 hours.

Players should have a 30-minute break between Rounds in which they need to timely submit their game results to the T.O. or any judge appointed by the T.O. to undertake that task. Once a day, one of the breaks in between Rounds should last between 60 and 90 minutes to allow enough time for players to rest and eat.

Ultimately the exact duration of Rounds and breaks is left to the discretion of the T.O. as every event is different.

Odd Number of Players

During an event it is very likely that an Odd Number of Players are participating. It is also very likely that throughout the event a player might have conceded, left early or even disqualified. This means that one randomly selected player will not participate in that Round and will instead be held in “Reinforcements”. When a player is held in “Reinforcements” they receive a Victory (2 Tournament Points). If the Scenario required a player to score a specific amount of Victory Points in order to win, then the player counts as having scored exactly that amount of Victory Points. If the Scenario’s winning condition was to score as many Victory Points until the end of the game, then the player counts as having scored the average amount of Victory Points, rounded up to the nearest whole number, between all players during that Round.

Should an Odd Number of Players occur during the first Round, then the T.O. will assign one player at random to be held in “Reinforcements” before determining pairings. Should that occur during any Round after the first, then a player from those with the least amount of Tournament Points will be randomly selected to be held in “Reinforcements”. A player cannot be held in “Reinforcements” more than once per event.

A player cannot voluntarily choose to remain in “Reinforcements” during a Round as a result of Odd Number of Players. Selection needs to be random, all rules considered, so as to ensure noone is unfairly benefited from the automatic Victory. However, the T.O. may allow a player to voluntarily sit out if this Victory does not affect the top half of the standings or this automatic Victory does not place the player in the top half of the standings.

Scenarios

Scenarios will not necessarily be revealed at the time the Tournament will be announced and it is entirely up to the T.O. ‘s discretion if they want to keep the Scenarios secret until the start of the Tournament. As a matter of fact, announcing the Scenarios at the beginning of the event is preferable as participants focus more on creating well-rounded lists rather than focusing their list building to the exact parameters of the event’s Scenarios.

It is also good practice for the T.O. to have selected the Scenarios in advance as it ensures that they will have all the necessary materials, objective zones, markers etc. , to run the event. No Scenario should be played more than once during the event.

Scenarios can be selected from either the Conquest The Last Argument of Kings Tournament Scenario pack or the Conquest First Blood pack depending on which game the Event is for. It is possible for a Tournament to select Scenarios from another official Tournament Pack set, however this will be clearly mentioned in the event’s description.

Setting up the Battlefield

Terrain is an important part of Conquest, as your forces interact with their environment either by taking cover in dense forests or garrisoning vantage points. Each table’s Terrain pieces should be pre-arranged by the T.O. and the layout will not change throughout the course of the Event. In the case where terrain placement conflicts with any rules, e.g. a Terrain piece being placed on an Objective Zone Marker, then the players call the T.O. or a judge and they re-adjust the Terrain placement.

Terrain follows all normal rules found in Conquest TLAOK’s and Conquest FB’s Core Rules. In addition each game may have additional terrain placement rules found in each game’s Tournament Scenario Pack.

You may find the Tournament Scenarios for both game systems here!

Organized Play TLAOK Additional Terrain Rules

Zonal Terrain Rule: Obstructing

Zonal Terrain with this Special Rule does not allow Line of Sight to be drawn through it. Stands that are on a piece of Obstructing Zonal Terrain can draw Line of Sight to Enemy Regiments and vice versa.

Fighting a Battle

Players can ask to see their Opponents list as well as scan any Command Card currently on table at any time. A player cannot ask their Opponent to scan a card that is currently in the Command Stack and instead must use the Army Builder, Faction Army List or their Opponent’s Army List to reference that Regiment’s rules. It is important however, that players do not stall or disrupt the game as a result of this.

When Activating a Regiment make sure to leave its Command Card close to the Regiment, in a way that does not disrupt play, as a reminder that the Regiment has Activated and to be easily accessible by both players in case they want to scan the card.

Winners and Prize Support

We pride ourselves that no matter if one wins or loses, all Players have a great Organized Play experience! To ensure that, the top 3 Players are awarded for their battlefield accomplishments with commemorative prizes relevant to their position in the final standings. Commemorative prizes are not products, they can be trophies, coins, medals, plaques or certificates, exclusive to Organized Play events winners.

Once the top 3 players have received their prizes, the last Player selects one item from the prize pool followed by the first Player. Then all other prizes are raffled to players that have not received a prize so far. Only Players that participated in all Rounds of the Event are eligible to receive prizes. If a Player does not get to play during a Round because of Odd Number of Players they still count as having participated in that Round.

In the case where the number of prizes is higher than the amount of players, raffle prizes making sure that every player has received a prize. Once all players have received prizes the T.O. will initiate a new raffle for the rest of the prizes.

Although events may have variable prize pools, we encourage T.O.s to reward participation above all else, whilst making sure to take photos and announce to your local Communities the winners of the events. The joy of our Organized Play events is to come together as a Community and the experience should be more important than the Tournament itself.