There comes a time when you are the newbie in any hobby, so rather than try to give advice based on what others have said or our own experiences with other miniature games, we've decided to jump in at the deep end and purchase our first Warband forPara Bellum Games Conquest II: First Blood.
Now as you've probably guessed the first option is to see which one speaks to you. Having spent a hell of a lot of time going through each army, falling in love with them all, I narrowed it down to two that I really wanted to start with. These two choices were:
The City States:
While the rest of the world crumbled under the might of the Fall, the City States were flourishing, picking through the greatest secrets of the old Dominion and delving into the secrets of archemy and divinity. Today, they are the greatest repositories of knowledge and the inheritors of the glory that was once the Humanity’s Dominion. At least that is what the Locutors of the City States would have one believe. While the City States were founded on the highest principles of philosophy, ethics and education available to mankind, the vision of their founder was tarnished soon after its birth. Today, the City States stand split among the Demagogue, Militarist and Academic Councils, wielding their glorious heritage and advanced technology to challenge each other; and any who might threaten them for supremacy.
The W’adrhŭn:
Orcs on Dinosaurs! Enough said…
On a more serious note, the W’adrhun were created by the Spires when they tired of spawning their armies and sought instead to breed them. Driven by their own sense of superiority and perfectionism, initial failures led the Spires to create the Primes: W’adrhun bodies powerful and perfect enough that they could be animated by the Primordial Aspects of War, Death, Famine and Conquest. Prematurely unleashed upon the Dweghom during the Fall, Conquest, the living goddess of the W’adrhun orchestrated their escape and survival even as her siblings each perished in the conflagration. Bred for war and baptized in the flames of battle, the W’adrhun have nonetheless struggled to find their own path in the world, seeking to shape their own culture away from the overwhelming influence of their own tailored creation.
And by the closest of margins the winners were The City States, purely because, I've been painting a ton of Orc figures recently for Warhammer 40K and I wanted something a little different. I will be doing a W’adrhŭn Army, but that's on the back shelf for now.
So now that I've picked where I'm going where do I start? Well, thankfully Para Bellum Games has that in hand. I'm going with the Warband, the best place to start with some mini's to get going with.
Warband:
4x Thorakites / Agema (Leader)
4x Selinoi / Satyroi
4x Sacred Band
1x Companion Cavalry
3D Terrain (includes 2 pieces at random from a series of 6 structures)
Pack of 6 Dice
Measuring Tool
First Blood Quick Start Guide
License Card.
Reinforcements (Available 28th August 2026)
After I have that done, my next purchase is going to be the Reinforcement box which looks like this and breaks down as:
4x Thorakites with Leader (Dual Kit Option Available)
4x Agema (Dual Kit Option Available)
x4 Companion Cavalry
x4 Command Cards
2 sets of 3D punch out Terrain (randomly assorted)
x1 License Card.
Leader: Persenia the Gorgon (Aristarch) (Released 28th August 2026)
x1 Resin Miniature
x1 Infantry Base and Stand
x1 Command Card
x1 License Card.
So thats my current purchase list, however the way I'm going to do it is buy one, then get it done, then the second and finally finish the third before I start adding other bits.
Obviously currently we're just going to order the Warband (as the others aren't out yet.) But its a good solid start to entering into the Conquest Hobby without a massive layout as each part is designed to build upon what has gone before to a greater whole. (Which is something I think is a great way to go as anyone you play with a warband will have an equally balanced force, and likewise with each addition)
This also means that you get to game and learn how your forces work best so you know which strategy you can employ for each part of your boxset without having to absorb too much too soon, or worrying about having to buy x so you can do y only to learn small parts of the game without getting the full experience. Likewise you don't end up with a ridiculous sized army to paint with nothing done.
On the whole I am getting pretty excited to start and looking forward to getting on with it, so I'm going to be scheduling box openings, painting tips etc as I go along. I'm not an expert, I'm not an award winner, I'm all about painting them to the best of my ability and getting them on the table to play with.
The only thing that I'm going to critique for this that stops this from being my ultimate force is rather than utilising human cavalry, what would have made it epic would have been Centaurs in Greek Armour. Likewise, for the future, I'd also love to have Harpies for zipping about the board as this set does engage deeply into the whole mythos (with us having Satyrs and also Minotaurs.)
So join us for the journey (and hopefully its going to be legendary), and we hope that we'll inspire you too, to pick up a set and give this game a go.
All the best,
ThunderMouser
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