Para Bellum Games revealed their brand new Conquest: First Blood Warbands that you can pre-order right now, ahead of the launch of the new edition. First Blood is a great entry point or companion game from Para Bellum for their mighty armies that take to the battlefield in Conquest: The Last Argument of Kings.

Hundred Kingdoms - First Blood Warband // Conquest

Leading the way, we have one of the first factions to ever grace the battlefields of Conquest, the Hundred Kingdoms. They have a great range of miniatures in this set that showcase the evolving state of the miniatures for Conquest and how far the range has come since those initial releases.

This set comes with a Mounted Noble Lord, four Men-at-Arms with Crusaders (as a dual kit option), four Household Guard with Gilded Legion (dual kit) and four Longbowmen with Hunter Cadre (dual kit). You also get a Knight of the Order of the Sealed Temple.

Arrayed against them, you also have their nemesis since the very beginning, the deadly Spires!

Spires - First Blood Warband // Conquest

This force comes with a High Clone Executor, six Force Grown Drones, four Marksmen Clones, one Incarnate Sentinel and four Vanguard Clones. You'll note that this set (and every one of the new First Blood Warbands) also comes with a bunch of extra accessories to get you going right away.

This includes your Command Cards for the force of your choice, some Battle Ready Terrain, a pack of dice, a measuring tool and the First Blood Quick Start Guide. This means that you and a friend could pick up separate First Blood Warbands and start playing immediately once you've assembled the miniatures.

If you'd prefer to throw your lot in with the dragon-slaying Dweghom, then they also have a new First Blood warband.

Dweghom - First Blood Warband // Conquest

This set comes with a Hold Raegh, six Hold Warriors or Hold Ballistae (dual kit), four Warbands or Initiates (dual kit), one Found or Lost (dual kit) and the Steelforged.

I am tempted by the Dweghom but I also really like the Nords as they have some absolutely fantastic miniatures in their collection too!

Nords - First Blood Warband // Conquest

The Nords set contains one Volva, four Trolls (yes!), four Valkyries, four Stalkers and one Werewarg. Again, as one of the earlier factions to grace Ea with their presence, it's nice to see a mixture of some of the older kits and the new ones brought together into these First Blood warbands.

This also gives you a taste of what First Blood offers to someone new to Para Bellum's world. You get a slice of the faction to collect, build, paint and play with, testing them out to see if you want to commit to a bigger force. Coming in at around £50, that's not a bad starting point.

The W’adrhŭn are not to be left wanting with the addition of more awesome dinosaurs into the mix!

W’adrhŭn - First Blood Warband // Conquest

This set features a Predator, four Slingers/Hunters, four Blooded/Braves and a Thunder Rider. A real mixture of the standard foot infantry and some of those mighty dinosaurs. You couldn't have the faction with dinosaurs not show up with any, even for a skirmish game!

If you prefer Roman-inspired undead, how about the Old Dominion?

Old Dominion - First Blood Warband // Conquest

Shambling forward in an ever-encroaching legion, we have the Mounted Strategos, six Legionnaries/Praetorian Guard, four Varangian Guard/Athanatoi, four Cultists/Hashashins and one Karyatid. You could have a lot of fun with the painting of the Old Dominion, bringing together that former glory and shining armour with hundreds of years of crypt dust!

If Fantasy Greeks are more your thing then how about the City States?

City States - First Blood Warband // Conquest

The City States set comes with an Aristarch, four Thorakites, four Selinoi/Satyroi, four Sacred Band anda Minotaur Thyrean/Haspist. Even though I was all about the Nords and the Dweghom before, there is something awesome about the Ancient Greek-inspired City States, especially in that armour!

Turning to the magical, you could also call on the power of the Sorcerer Kings if you prefer.

Sorcerer Kings - First Blood Warband // Conquest

The Sorcerer Kings bring together imagery and design from the Middle East and South Asia with the Raj, four Rajakur, four Mahabharati Initiates, one Windborne Djinn/Steelheart Djinn and one Efreet Sword Dancer/Efreet Flamecaster. A great mixture of the mortal and the magical to inspire you to paint in a different, bright and colourful way.

We now get to the newer factions for Conquest and the impressive, Japanese and Far East-inspired Yoroni.

Yoroni - First Blood Warband // Conquest

Want to run an army of brutish monsters and dancing, delicate mythical killers? The Yoroni are for you with their demonic samurai and dangerous creatures from myth and legend. This set comes with a Kitsune Onmyoji/Kitsune Bakasu, one Oni Ayakashi, one Kami Ayakashi, one Tengu Ayakashi/Tengu Bushi and a Kappa Bushi.

Last but not least, we have the new kids on the block, the fae Weaver Courts.

Weaver Courts - First Blood Warband // Conquest

Focus your fighting on one of the seasons or embrace all of them and try and bring the courts together to create the perfect blend of nature-based brutality. This set comes with one Seanchas Sidhe, four Kern Skirmishers, four Scathach Hunters, one Crann Guardian and one Scaile Dancer. Another impressive set of miniatures for you to have a punt at painting in all sorts of different colours.

All of these miniatures can be pre-ordered HERE from the Para Bellum Games website, plus I'm sure they will begin to pop up online and with your friendly local gaming stores, too. There is a release date of late March so you've got plenty of time to plan.

Even More Releases!

In addition to all of the warbands above, Para Belluym has also put together some neat bonus bits and pieces to help. You can get a set of Battle Ready Terrain for example.

Battle Ready Terrain // Conquest

This set comes with a full set of six printed foam board sheets that can be assembled into a complete terrain collection for use in First Blood. It can be used to make seven buildings, three fences and twelve objective markers. Perfect for your games of First Blood.

You can also get a set of themed First Blood Dice as well!

First Blood Dice // Conquest

A nice set of blood red dice with the Conquest symbol marking the spot for the one. A great option for someone who wants to jazz up their collection just a bit more.

Find Out More About First Blood

If this has intrigued you, make sure to check out the First Blood Section of the Para Bellum website, as they have loads of blog posts about the new edition and the changes to the game.

New First Blood // Conquest

As you can see, more is going to be unveiled on 27th February over on Twitch, so if you'd like to learn more about the game, that's the place to be! All of the newest First Blood information is also posted HERE.

Could this be your chance to dive into the world of Ea with a Conquest skirmish game?