Assistance with Tactical Tips for Game and Scenario Control

In recent times, I've received numerous messages from players seeking help, particularly when it comes to playing against Dweghom. Fondly referred to as Dreckhom in Bremen and Lübeck. A common issue that arises is the tendency of many players to focus solely on beating up the opponent, which is never the most promising approach, especially when scenarios and points are not taken into consideration. In this article, I want to provide you with 5 practical tips.

Why the scenarios are crucial

Conquest: Last Argument of Kings is not just a simple clash between armies but a tactical game based on scenarios. Each scenario presents different objectives and challenges to overcome. By focusing solely on combat, we often neglect the actual goals of the game and risk losing valuable points. Even in scenarios where we can earn points for destroying enemy regiments, there are usually two to four zones where we can score, which often are mathematically more valuable than a dead regiment on the opponent's side. Whoever understands and masters the scenario wins the game, even if their army is later wiped out. Seriously, if your goal is just to beat up your opponent, then play Dweghom or Old Dominion; they have to do that but also address the scenario later on. Without focusing on the scenario, you simply lose the game here.

I. Strategic Planning for Success

Overall, the importance of balanced strategic planning is undeniably crucial and can be summarized as "know the damn scenario" well. Especially in encounters with challenging factions like Dweghom and Old Dominion, it's crucial to maintain control over the scenarios and gain strategic advantages. Planning, in this case, refers to the army list, and I've written something about writing army lists before, from which I'll pick up or nudge individual points again.

With the current scenarios, we always have 2 to 6 zones where we want to score points. This means that we should also pack a corresponding number of selections that can do so. For most armies, these are medium and heavy regiments, and a few have access to spells or abilities that allow even light regiments to score points.Furthermore, we should ensure that these regiments are available at the right moment. I often see fast armies like Nords, Wadrhun, etc., simply packing heavy regiments without options to hold a zone. For this purpose, one usually wants to deploy cheap regiments that just stand there. Therefore, a good mix of medium and heavy regiments is usually a good idea, especially since heavy regiments sometimes participate very late in the game. I've also written something about this in the article "Army Lists in Conquest Last Argument of Kings."

Every faction in the game has a way to get to zones on the centerline in round 2 if their center is not more than 12" away from the edge of the board. For this, you need a few things, such as a regiment with Movement 6 and Vanguard to move the Reinforcement Line forward to about ~13", or other plans. Then, a regiment that is two stands wide (important, because otherwise the pivot is too expensive), with Movement 7 and a standard or Movement 5 and Vanguard, can run into this zone with one stand. Simply nice and convenient from the side, and presto, we have a few points. And yes, this is not optimal for fighting, and we have to spend an action later to make a reform action, but we get points for it.

Here's a diagram for it:

But please don't think that this alone will win you the game, and don't do it if, for example, 5 Berserkers are already drooling in front of the zone. Try to do it with your last activation, and if it's too risky, abandon the plan. It may also be that your opponent knows what you're doing.

Furthermore, there are situations where scoring points is too expensive for you or what you have to invest for it. Always remember that ten rounds are played, and most scenarios can be won if you score alone from round 7 onwards.

II. Exploiting Mobility and Exerting Control

Know the movement ranges of the opposing regiments. Fast regiments could exploit the limited flexibility of other regiments against them. By placing your units outside of their range, preferably at the edge of the zones, the opponent must move. The more zones we have, the better, because slow regiments will then have to divide, generating unfair fights. By "unfair," we mean breaking into the flank with one regiment and into the front with another. Usually, double the points can kill an enemy quite reliably. Especially against Dweghom, it's very easy to stand just outside their range, as none of their regiments can advance beyond 14" from the rear edge of the battlefield and therefore cannot directly score most zones.

If we want to keep our distance, we hold a zone approximately like this:

If we don't want the opponent to be able to enter the zone, we hold the zone like this:

Why do we do this? Because the opponent, after a Charge Clash, usually ends up right in front of the zone and typically doesn't have a third action to move into it. If there's ideally a counter unit behind, even better.

This way, we can usually force the opponent to march towards us with an early focus on zones and thus points. If there are four or more zones, they'll have to divide further. If they don't do that, we simply win because they can't catch up with the point deficit.

Tactical Suicide

It may be necessary to sacrifice some resources to keep the opponent in check. This may mean concentrating units on one side to confront the opponent there with overwhelming force. Alternatively, it may involve deliberately placing weaker regiments in the path of the opponent to restrict their movement options. The latter is very common and highly effective for maintaining your lead or redirecting the opponent.

For this approach, size-1 regiments that are as cheap as possible are much more suitable than size-2 regiments because they can be concealed. Otherwise, there is a risk that the opponent will shoot over their models and your sacrificial unit will die without fulfilling its purpose. Ideally, place the sacrificial regiment just 1" in front of the opponent, so they cannot place another regiment between them and must use the entire action of the blocked regiment to kill your troops with Move Charge, without making any real progress in the scenario.

III. Dealing with Death Zones

In some lists, magic and ranged attacks dominate, and there are strategies aimed at making your life difficult with overlapping fire corridors. The Dweghom, in particular, excel at this, and it's important to know the realistic ranges your opponent can control and how much damage they can inflict.

Let's consider the example of the Dweghom again, who have ranged attacks at 14, 16, and 18 inches, with the dangerous ones featuring Armor Piercing 2 at 14 and 16 inches and only Volley 2. This means we are safe as long as we stand outside of this range plus the opponent's movement. This is usually only possible in the early rounds of the game, as we then want to engage in the scenario, but it's also crucial there. I can't count how many times people have placed their regiments within Aim Shoot range of my crossbows and wondered why stands were being removed.

Eventually, we naturally have to move into the zones and get close to the opponent. It's important that regiments wanting to move forward are activated late and already plan for the next round. This means either using our own regiments to block sightlines to narrow down fire corridors or choosing our position so that the opponent has to move and doesn't get a target bonus. Especially with six or more shooting regiments, this is not so easy, but under no circumstances should you send individual regiments in early unless they can make a good trade safely. The keyword here is target overload. In deck building, characters are then placed high, and we essentially only send our army into the throat of hell, uh, the death zone after three or four activations. It's helpful if you can tempt the opponent to move to be able to attack them meaningfully in the next round. But the main purpose of this simple trick is to prevent the opponent from focusing their fire on individual regiments and taking them out completely.

IV. Close Combat and Target Selection

Unfortunately, there comes a point where we have to face the opponent, preferably on our own terms and with the right tools. It's important to keep in mind what's happening on the battlefield and how to defeat each unit. In the current "meta," the answer is usually "Value of Attacks," but there are, of course, regiments where higher Cleave values make sense. Evil as it may sound, mathematics can help us determine what is effective and what is not. Simply estimate in your mind how many wounds you cause, remembering that "Cleave" corresponds to 50%. For example, if you have 12 attacks on a 3+ and your opponent has D3 R3, then on average, that results in 4 lost hit points. If the opponent has just one more armor, it's only two hit points lost. I always calculate conservatively, subtracting one for every five hits, and that almost always works.

Free yourself from the notion that my big block / monster has to kill the important enemy figure. Seriously, I cannot stress enough how often I've seen an Apex charge into five Dragonslayers and wonder why hardly any damage was dealt and the Apex had to retreat. For those who don't know, an Apex has Cleave 2 and Terrifying 2, while Dragonslayers have Hardened 2 and with the Apprentice, they are fearless. So, the Apex has 11 attacks on 4+, and the Dragonslayers stoically endure it with D3 R4 W6 and then strike back. Look at the stats and abilities of the Dragonslayers in the Army Builder and feel free to write down below the likelihood of the Apex winning this fight. I'll take a guess and say 2%.

In my opinion, it's almost always better to take a card from the opponent by killing an inferior regiment with the great units. Sure, it's not a fair fight, but you tend to lose fair fights, so you should try to slowly tilt the balance in your favor. If you position the regiment outside the sensible threat range of the opponent and keep dancing around, even better. Preferred targets here are medium regiments that just want to score alone or light regiments with characters. Card advantage is a relevant point in a game with alternating activations.

V. Self-reflection and Attitudes

Currently, I play about 15 games per month, and whether in defeat or, especially, in victory, I take the time to reflect on the game and my decisions. In doing so, I consciously ignore factors such as luck with dice or the perceived superiority or inferiority of my army. These are often the first reasons that come to a tabletop player's mind to hide from their own mistakes.

Instead, I ask myself: Which of my tactical decisions were not optimal, and how could I have made them better? Even I rarely make flawless moves, and sometimes the desire to do something cool simply outweighs wisdom. That's rarely smart, and in most cases, my mistakes involve misjudgments in attacks, deck building or placement errors, or the movement of my units. Especially for less experienced players, recognizing tactical errors or identifying alternative moves can be challenging. However, this ability develops over time and through a lot of playing. Like most things in life, practice makes perfect. When in doubt, discussing moves openly with your opponent can help. Just ask them what they find most troubling and why. In my practice games with Nino, this is common practice, and there are always options that I hadn't seen or considered.

Another important point is the influence of thoughts and attitudes on the gameplay. If a player is already convinced that they will lose before the game even starts, it has no positive effects. On the contrary, it leads to less effort being put into their strategy and not fully utilizing the potential of their own army. Additionally, players often overlook tactical mistakes by their opponents because they see them as part of a supposed master plan. I observe this particularly often in players who play against certain list variants, factions, or good players and have already mentally given up instead of focusing on their weaknesses and developing a plan. Again, communication is key. When in doubt, consider the whole experience as practice to have a better response next time.