I started war gaming when I was in high school because I was always interested in military history. I’ve also wondered about the “what if” scenarios of different battles. My interest in the subject just stayed with me through college and even into the Navy. I remember while I was at the anti-submarine warfare base in San Diego, California, my barracks room mates and I used to push our bunks out of the way and play General Quarters, metal warships and all. So when they wanted someone to review the War and Conquest rules book, I just had to jump at the chance to do it.

First off, this is a really beautifully made book. It is hardbound and very sturdy. These pages aren’t going to fall out on you with a lot of game play. The book has 176 pages with lots of glossy pictures of nicely painted figures showing the troop movements; instead of the old school way of showing black and white box diagrams. I found myself taking a lot of time just admiring the troop models. War and Conquest is a tabletop game designed for two or more players using model armies of medieval soldiers, dice, and terrain. There are also rules that incorporate cavalry and engines of war. Sounds exciting, doesn’t it? The dice used are your standard 6 sided dice, so the game doesn’t bog down while you are trying to see where you laid that specialty dice like so many other game systems have.

War and Conquest is divided into 15 sections.

1. Preparing for War
2. Movement
3. Charge
4. Terrain
5. Shooting
6. Combat
7. Resolution
8. End Phase
9. Personalities of War
10. Strategy Intervention Points
11. The Armoury
12. Skirmish Intervention Points
13. Chariots, Artillery and Elephants
14. Battle Begins
15. Rearguard

I really can’t say enough about this book. It is written by Rob Broom and the design and layout were done by Pete Borlace, both of whom worked at Games Workshop on some of the Warhammer projects. As a result, they know what they are talking about when they put these rules together. Another thing that I especially like was how everything is supported on their website. You can buy the books or sets with soldiers and rules, go to the forum and communicate with other players on battles, or get worksheets and things that other players have done to help with the flow of the game.

Thanks to Tara Lichterman from Casemate Publishing for making this book available for review and to IPMS for letting me be the one to review it.