Welcome back to my mini-series on the smaller skirmish form of Conquest: First Blood. Through this, I’m going over how the game plays and each faction that you can place on the table, their strengths and weaknesses, and how to field them. Today we take a look at the first and arguably most unique faction in Conquest First Blood. Where many fantasy settings have their own spin on what the ‘elf’ faction is, Conquest did it differently. Their ‘elf’ faction comes from the race that’s not even from this planet! 

Space elves from beyond the rift is certainly a faction that I did not expect when I picked up a fantasy game! The Spires are one of the first two factions that Parabellum released for Conquest and their Giger-y aesthetics alongside some very strong Japanese influences make this ‘elf’ faction stand out compared to rest.

They are blamed for most of what’s happening in Eä, from the outcomes of their experiments to breed out a super organism to survive in extreme climate (W’adhrun) to their attempts to genetically select a race of super soldiers to survive the apocalypse (Nords). The Spires are enigmatic as they are unique, featuring synergistic gameplay across their entire entry.

While at a glance, the Spires might look fragile, with some of their components costed more expensive than their equivalents in another faction, the synergy from the characters can truly bring these creations into a far more superior version of themselves on the battlefield.

Strengths:

• Synergistic gameplay based on their powerful buffs and chain activation
• Access to powerful healing
• Mimetic Assassin

Weaknesses:

• Average stat-line if not buffed
• Overcosted regiments compared to others
• No strong ranged gameplan

Army Abilities

Purity of Purpose

The text for this special rule is basically a nothing burger. It just denotes that each of the models has their own little subfaction belonging to either dronekind, clonekind or superior creation. Some abilities in the Spires repertoire will affect models with this special rule.

Now, what is interesting is the little bit of text at the end of the rule. The ability to chain activate a unit after being targeted by a special ability that targets a certain subfaction? This allows for a lot of activation flexibility. Buffing a unit and then immediately activating them to gain their full benefits? Ensuring your units are in their right place? There are a lot of applications here for crafty commanders.

Masters of Behaviour and Form

Another special rule that basically explains how pheromancy and biomancy work. Hint: they are not spells. This rule merely denotes that there are certain actions called pheromancies that can be performed by pheromancers, and biomancies by biomancers. The ‘it’s not a spell’ clarification means that they cannot be interfered with by enemy spellcasters and they also do not contribute to spell interference either.

The Perfect Tool

This special rule explains that you can bring a mimetic assassin in your list. There will be a longer explanation later of why mimetic assassin should be the first model included when you are making a Spires list. In short, always bring them. 

Character

Awfully frail is the best description of the stats of Spire characters. Their ‘spellcasters’ have some of the worst defensive stats in the game, and make the Hundred Kingdoms’ chapter mage look like a tank in comparison. Their combat-oriented character – the High Clone Executor – also is quite frail, but with the saving grace of having a very good offensive stats. However, the avatara line characters have some of the best stats for a character, making them better at supporting your troops in the front line. 

Biomancer

The Biomancer and Pheromancer represent two ways of impacting the battlefield – each has their own flavour of buffing their units so that they can function at a higher level comparatively. But each has a key difference!

Synaptic Communications allows a clonekind unit to upgrade to a standard bearer at six models instead of the usual twelve. When combined with Sensory Receptors to ensure that each unit with standard bearer can be within the Biomancer’s command range, that means your clonekind units will gain the benefit of using Biomancer’s resolve characteristics plus able to be buffed even though the Biomancer is further away.

Mend Flesh is a heal for a clonekind unit, Rapid Revitalization is a heal for a dronekind unit and Heightened Senses allows a unit to be sent into ‘reserve’ to be activated later – useful for setting up so that they can be healed after taking damage.

A little drawback of the Biomancer’s biomancy ability is that it will impart a decay debuff to the unit that is given the biomancy. Decay will require you to roll that amount of dice at the end of the unit’s activation. For every roll of 5 and 6, they will take 1 wound. Should you be brave enough to bear the cost, Virulence gives a dronekind or clonekind unit deadly blade or shot – making their attack roll of 1 counts as two hits. Establish Perimeter makes a clonekind unit counts as double for the purpose of securing. Amplified Biogenics improves a stats from march, clash or volley. That blob of force grown drones your opponent is ignoring? They are now clash 3! Lastly, all those decays you are taking can be applied to the enemy with Entropic Transfer.

While all of this sounds like it will take plenty of action, the Biomancer also has the Twisted Genius ability, so they have three actions per round compared to the standard two. 

Pheromancer

The key difference between the Pheromancer and the Biomancer is that Pheromancer would like to be in the thick of things. Not by choice – he simply doesn’t have the tools to operate from safety away like the Biomancer.

But if Biomancer’s kit is catered towards a more sustained dismantling of their enemies, the Pheromancer brings a more offense-oriented approach towards victory.

Pheromone Burst allows an infantry regiment to gains +2 march AND a free march. This is useful in many ways to get your alpha strikers in, to reposition to reclaim another objective, or to get away from the ranged of a volley. Catalytic Strength adds 1 attack to EACH model in a dronekind regiment. So that one block of 12 drones suddenly hits an extra 12 dice. Yes please!

But wait – there’s more.

Aggressive Compulsion gives said dronekind regiment an additional clash action. And suddenly your (hopefully ignored) block of force grown drones can output 48 dice within one activation. If aggression isn’t the name of the game and you wish to hold back a little, Territorial Instinct makes one dronekind count as two for the purpose of seizing objectives and Recuperate tops off any dronekind with a heal of 4 wounds.

High Clone Executor

Taking away the fancy pheromancy and biomancy, we get a little bit more traditional with the High Clone Executor. Spires are cloned from the original exiles and some of these clones can ascend into a great status by their deeds. The High Clone Executor is given the privilege of continuing their lines by making clones of their own.

What we have here is a fairly durable warrior model that can fight quite well in the front-lines thanks to the unique combination of parry, counter-attack and flawless form, meaning that if enemy rolls badly on their attack, the Executor could potentially hit them back instead.

As the name suggests, the Executor works best with clonekinds. Suppress gives a clonekind flurry; simple but effective at making sure that they can land their hits accurately. Advanced Combat Tactics gives reposition, which basically means that they can get a free ‘pile-in’ move. A niche ability, but useful in the right corner cases. Reclamation Directive gives terrifying 1 for clonekind that are nearby an objective zone – increasing their damage just by a little bit more if the enemy has bad resolve. Just don’t use them against Old Dominion! And lastly, On my Orders gives any infantry regiment a free march. A simple ability, but one should never underestimate a free movement ability.

The Executor also has an unique ability that will incentivize him for being in the thick of things. The unique action Attracting Pheromones will double up the seizing power of any clonekind regiment that are within the same ‘marked’ objective. 

Lineage Highborne

One of the most privileged positions that an exile can have is to fight on the battlefield without actually being on the battlefield. Safely tucked behind their spire, these bio-constructs kitted with personal flair and glories tower over lowly creations.

Stats-wise, these lithe unit are some of the best in the Spire arsenal: high attack with high enough clash to land the attack accurately without the help of flurry, 8 wounds with a decent defensive stats at 4 each, and 2 evasion on top of it!

The Highborne also comes with a unique ability: Sovereign’s Directive. This ability scores an additional victory point if a unit with superior creation is scoring the same objective as the Highborne. Talk about trying to impress your superiors. That 1 extra VP can be game-breaking and it can snowball relatively quickly if opponents do not respond to it immediately.

They also have some very powerful command abilities on top of that already powerful frame. Pheromantic Overdrive gives a regiment a march action, a common ability to most Spires it seems; Self Repairing Tissue is a heal to any friendly regiment regardless of what subfaction they are from; and lastly Superiority gives an additional impact for that extra damage.

Lineage Prideborne

And to those who prefers a slightly less hands-on approach to combat, the frame of the Prideborne comes with a longbow. While this ranged attack might look rather weak considering that the Prideborne has 6 attacks, the Prideborne has ways to self-buff themselves.

Marksmen Creation tracks the number of casualties that the Prideborne has caused. For each casualty token, they gain an additional barrage. This means that the Prideborne is best at dealing with infantry at the start to ‘farm’ those tokens. Once they have sufficient barrage, they can start going for the big targets like brutes or monsters. It’s a cool ability but often times you might not get any tokens if the enemy rolls really well or if they are carrying lots of brutes and monsters.

Graceful Hunters is a ‘jump-shoot-jump’ ability that we all know too well. Unparalleled Hunters makes the Prideborne able to function away from their army because they always count Leonine Avatara and Centaur Avatara to be within their command range. Plus they also gain flank.

The command abilities are all similar to the Highborne, giving them the same suite of sustain that the Highborne has.

So why should we take the Prideborne over the Highborne? It’s a slightly small difference, but the Highborne can operate in melee better than the Prideborne. Prideborne works as more of a solo unit, plucking away at key targets while the Highborne operates around their army.

Mimetic Assassin

As I’ve mentioned earlier, Mimetic Assassin is the first purchase that you need to make for your Spires army. This 90 points solo terror can deal so much damage to your enemy they will fear wherever the assassin lands. Let’s talk damage potential: they have a base attack of 6 with 4 clash and flurry. If they are inspiring, that means that they will only miss on a roll of 6. Retracting Claws inflicts two wounds instead of the one from a failed defense test. In a magical gnome-Christmas land scenario: a Mimetic Assassin has the potential to one-shot any target in the game because it can potentially deal 12 wounds from attacking plus 12 wounds from failed resolve tests. One can dream!

Realistically speaking, the Mimetic Assassin should always be treated as a fire and forget missile to target your opponent’s key regiment. And the defensive kit that the assassin has geared them to perform such a task. Chameleonic Epidermis makes sure that any stray ranged attacks cannot hit them if they are not within 12”. Moreover, Unnatural Reflexes will force enemy to re-roll successful volley hits anyway. Leap is a free ‘teleport’ if they require a better angle at engaging the enemy or to get out of sticky situations. 

The only drawback to the assassin is their On a Mission ability which disables their ability to seize objectives. This means if the assassin does not return their points in kill then it becomes a detriment to the rest of the army. 

Infantry Units

Force Grown Drones

Humble expendable meat walls; the Spire classic. On their own, they are probably the worst unit in the game in terms of stats. A flat 1 to each of their stats line outside of movement, wound and evasion (evasion is 0). But they have two good things going for them.

One, we must not discount the capabilities of the Spire support characters to buff them beyond their point cost. As explained above, we can literally turn a full regiment of force grown drone into a dice rolling machine. Secondly, they are cheap. A full compliment of force grown drone will cost you only 140 points. 

They sit well at objectives just because of how cheap they are and you can dedicate more of your points for more expensive units. I will always bring at least 1 minimum sized force grown drone regiment in my list!

Onslaught Drones

Built on a similar chassis as the force grown drone, the onslaught drone is geared towards the offensive capabilities, with a baked-in flurry to re-roll their attacks and a burnout draw event to potentially make them a living missile (a common theme for Spire it seems). Keep in mind also the potential buffs it can get from Pheromancer.

Desolation Drones

This short range drone unit has a few interesting things in their kit. Desolate punishes enemy units that are contesting the same objective zone as this unit, making them automatic hits at the end of the round. If the enemy decides to engage, Lethal Demise can punish the attackers by dealing damage back to them. And if the enemy doesn’t engage, then they will take a torrential fire shot with armor piercing and deadly shot. 

It’s a unit designed to create an interesting decision to the enemy. Engage and potentially have said unit explode in their face, or ignore them and risk them outputting some damage.

Vanguard Clones

A clone needs to spend time on the battlefield or on the arena to stand out above the rest. They start out as basic infantry of the Spires, marching side-by-side, often the second line of troopers to be sent after the drones.

Stats wise, they represent the most elite infantry that the Spires have access to. Two attacks each and just enough defensive stats to make them more durable than the drones. You need to keep these protected until they can be unleashed on an enemy weak position to exploit the flank.

Vanguard Clone Infiltrators

Once a clone has enough experience and prestige, they may be picked for specialized training. Armed with a twin crossbow, these clones can fight both in melee and in ranged. They cost 10 points more than the long ranged option of Marksmen Clone but have a better defensive stats-line. These clones are good at operating near the frontline, showering the enemy with some shots before the line clash.

Marksmen Clone

The Spires have a few ranged options and this one is tied to the infantry body. Volley 2 with barrage 2 means that the clones often have to take aim to hit their target. A unit of eight will set you back 220 points, but that means you get 16 shots each round before the line clashes. You really want a lot of these guys if you’re going to threaten anything. 

Stryx

Another living missile profile! Again, the Spires have a lot of this going on. Speed 9 and lethal demise makes these birds are a nightmare for archer units. Tie them up and punish whoever decides to hit them back? A perfect unit for you to screen the rest of your troop up. 

Bound Clones

Bound Clones sits at an awkward spot for the Spires. In a way that they are designed to be better than the Drones (double their stats, wow) but far less below the Vanguard Clones. The cost seems to reflect their middling statsline – so if you have some spare points to upgrade the Drone, you can pay a little bit extra so that your expendable meat wall can survive for a turn or two longer. 

If anything, you purchase them for their retinue option. Three wounds is surprisingly hardy and can enable plenty of aggressive play with your character.

Cavalry / Brute

Brute Drones

“Awfully straightforward” is the best explanation that I can give to this grotesque creation. Flurry and unstoppable means that this brute is designed to crash into an enemy front and output plenty of damage. Though lacking in cleave, flurry and 5 attacks ensures that they can reliably land 3-4 hits easily per model. Their high Resolve stats also make them less prone to running away once they are hit back.

Avatara

The equivalent of a battlesuit in the world of Conquest. The Directorate operators sit in their spire, connected through a neural link to pilot these war machines. These lithe fighters are often decorated by paraphernalia of the operator, to showcase their prestige and wealth as they tower over other Spire creations. 

Stats wise, the avatara are not the best brute model in the game; middling attack stats and defense (outside of their good evasion 2) make them unable to stand blow-per-blow against another enemy brute. However, with the appropriate buffs, these avatara can even stand against the infamous Crimson Towers. 

Centaur Avatara

To those Directorate operators who prefer straightforward action, the centaur frame is more than capable of serving those needs. A parody of the gallant knight, this towering monstrosity is the equivalent of those in all but name. Brutal Impact 2 and Impact 3 creates a very compelling package to remove armor on the charge. Even without them charging, 5 attacks with defense 4 and resolve 4 will stand on its own. 

Leonine Avatara

To those who wish to hunt their enemies from afar, these feline battlesuits are the choice. 

The Leonine Avatara can fight both in melee and ranged; they have good offensive stats in both forms and have the survivability to fight in close as well. Their only downside is their costly 160 points – almost as much as a unit of eight marksmen clones. They can deal 16 shots from afar compared to Avatara’s 3.

The comparison of course will fall flat once they are engaged and have to rely on the defensive stats. It’s a choice for players on what they wish to bring. 

Incarnate Sentinels

A nightmare laden piñata, courtesy of the twisted mind of the Directorate. And oh boy, they are also a nightmare on the battlefield.

Five attacks with cleave 2 will make any armored foe nervous coupled with their resilience at wound 5 defense 4 and resolve 3. Not only that, they also have access to the unique ability of Overcoming the Limits of Flesh that disables any impact attacks against them. Put these monstrosity ahead of the army as a screen against cavalry, and then dish back damage against them with your high cleave value.

Officers

Assault Preceptor

Five attacks at clash 2 with flurry to re-roll miss? On top of that a reroll on six with the Assault Directive ability? A very solid officer to be added on into any regiment that could use the extra hitting power (hint: most Spires regiments). 

Ward Preceptor

Almost the reverse of the Assault Preceptor, with emphasis on their defensive capabilities rather than offense. Defensive Directive ensures that the preceptor takes the hit before their regiment, which is useful when escorting vanguard clones before they can unleash their full attack on the enemy regiment. 

Catabolic Node

This unique attachment turns any regiment that they are attached to into a living bomb. Self Destruct is a command that gives 7 auto-hits to all regiment (friendly or enemy) within 5” of the model. While this most likely will also kill the regiment that this officer is attached to, it can potentially cripple plenty of enemy regiment caught in the explosion.

Monster

Abomination

The humble Abomination is the cheapest monster points wise in First Blood, and oh boy they suffered from it. Lackluster stats across the board with a high speed being their strength. Certainly 10 attacks with Cleave 1 and Flurry will deal plenty of damage on the charge, but the Abomination isn’t exactly built to take any damage back. 

Siegebreaker Behemoth

The Siegebreaker is what one would call a specialized monster. Their Smite ability effectively turns off any kind of armor in the regiment it’s punching (of course you can still roll an evasion) – meaning the Siegebreaker works best against a list that specializes in plenty of high defense units. They have a fairly low number of attacks at 8 without any flurry – meaning that accuracy will be their biggest detriment when fighting. That said, if the enemy invests in a lot of expensive well-armored regiments, the Siegebreaker is what you need to break the enemy’s siege (I’ll see myself out).

Building a First Blood Spires List

The ‘classic’ Spires build is of course the one that takes advantage of its plentiful cheap options. Certainly you can pad out the activation count by taking a minimum sized regiment of Force Grown Drones so you can invest more in the elite options. 

The other way of looking at Spires list-making is to load up on the -drone, -clone or Superior Creation subfaction to take advantage of the buffs that each of the characters can give. High Clone Executor wants a healthy amount of clone units, Pheromancer and Biomancer want plenty of Drones, and the Highborne/Prideborne wants plenty of Superior Creations. 

Of course with everything in the Spires, you want Mimetic Assassin – I cannot stress this enough.

Consider the following as a ‘guideline’ for a Spires list:

• 2-3 Objective holders: Force Grown Drone, Avatara, Bound Clones
• 0-1 Missile Troops: Marksmen Clone, Leonine Avatara
• 1 Mimetic Assassin
• 2-3 Heavy Hitters: Incarnate Sentinels, Centaur Avatara, Siegebreaker Behemoth

Sample The Spires list:

=== First Blood ===

Mass Biomass! [1000/1000]

The Spires

 * Pheromancer [0]: 

 * Mimetic Assassin [90]: 

 * Force Grown Drones (12) [140]: Standard Bearer

 * Force Grown Drones (12) [140]: Standard Bearer

 * Incarnate Sentinels (1) [140]: 

 * Incarnate Sentinels (1) [140]: 

 * Marksman Clones (8) [220]: 

 * Vanguard Clones (4) [130]: 

 

Two blobs of Force Grown Drones backed by the Pheromancer is as classic a list that Spires can have. Form a wall of expendable meat while your Marksmen Clones pepper the enemy from afar with their shots. The Mimetic Assassin can and should be used to kill a high value target while the sentinels provide the counter-charge options. This is a very grindy list that is very good at brawling.

Conclusion

The “greater than the sum of their parts” adage rings loudly for the Spires, a very character-centric faction where each of the unique characters provide something different for the rest of the army. You can build tall with the Avatara and Incarnate Sentinel or you can build wide with the drones and clones to take advantage of numbers and healing. 

You want to effectively plan your buffs with Spires otherwise you have to be content with a sub-par unit against an opponent’s regiment. Take advantage of the activation advantage so your buffed units can move first – but be careful not to over-extend otherwise your pieces will start to fall, and like an organism losing a limb or two, the Spires will start to falter.

You always need to ask the question of how many units can potentially benefit from a buff and where the best place is to give them that buff. Plan ahead, as befits of the sneaky, manipulative Spires.

And when in doubt, you can always throw more Force Grown Drones into the mix!

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