Conquest-To the victor go the spoils! (Fun IRC/Web Game)

[ChaosLord]

Conquest is a fun little text-based IRC strategy game that eventually expanded onto the web. Started in 1993 it is set in dark ages England more or less. There are three "continents" you can go to; Normandy, Wales, and Scotland. Your starting location and race (Norman, Saxon, or Gaelic) is determined at random. After that you can quest for magical items, begin
attacking your neighbors to build an empire, or visit the mystic in hopes of determining hero names or artifact locations. As you progress in gaining land, peasants, and honor you will get the ability to promote to the next level and gain more abilities. Once you become a level 3 (Champion) Fighter you are given the ability to seek out a new class or stick with the noble one you started with. The six classes are as follows.


First is Fighter, the class you start with and the the more traditional of the classes. They get Renegades, Soldiers, Archers, Knights, Bloodguard, Catapults, with Corsairs and BladeLords for mercenaries. They can support 100 troops per Castle and as they progress in level get abilities to strengthen their troops, enlist temporary defense in the event of attack, and joust with other Fighters or Clerics for land and glory. They also posses the ability to blockade an entire continent with their fleet and prevent anyone from leaving once they have been crowned King.


Second are the Barbarians, the savage beast that a Fighter becomes once he /rebels/ against the Emperor. They get Peons, Grunts, MountedArchers, Warriors, Chieftains, Ballista, with Berserkers and WarLords as their mercenaries. Barbarians can support 150 troops per Outpost and get a horde of barbarians to join them in each battle. In addition to this horde they can
loot cities so long as the gates are open, and besiege them to force open the gates. They posses the ability to drive their trrops into a berserkers frenzy and unleash them upon a foe. As they are honorless scum they can also attack further below their level then the honorbound classes can. The mightiest ability of the barbarian lies when he has been declared WarLord.
Once there he can summon forth the barbarian hordes from all over the land to do battle.


Third are the Clerics, the holy defenders of the faith that is available to a Fighter once he takes the sacred /vocation/. They get Fanatics, Crusaders, Monks, Templars, Zealots, Trebuchets, with Arbalesters and Lancers as their mercenaries. Clerics can only support 75 troops per Temple and can only possess 25,000 copper per level but posses many abilities that can affect other warriors. First among these is the power of divination, the divine sight that lets them see someones land and army. Next is the ability to grace someone with honor, to help them be worthy for promotion in the eyes of the Emperor. A Cleric may grant Sanctuary to a kingdom, preventing further attacks on this.

They can also resurrect fallen troops to serve again, or seek out the name of the accursed vampire and turn his army and even slay the foul creature outright with a holy word. Clerics can excommunicate a Fighter, turning him into a savage Barbarian. Even more they can revive a fallen hero with their power. But beyond all these abilities are two most powerful. First the Crusade, once a Cleric has been declared Arch-Bishop he can call apon his fellow warriors to take up arms and attack a choosen foe. And lastly the rite of divine intervention, with this prayer the Cleric brings about a new season for those who follow the faith.


Fourth are the Magi, the arcane wielders of power a Fighter can become if he /devotes/ himself to study of the mystical arts. They get Apprentices, Battle Magi, MindFlayers, Necromancers, Golems, StormThrowers, with Elementals and FireDrakes serving as their merecenaries. Magi can support just 50 troops per Citadel but should not be understimated. For where they lack in martial power, they more then make up for it with their book of spells. Magi have a spell for just about every occasion it seems, with the spells to conjure forth undead hordes, earthquakes, to wish things into being just a few examples. All of these spells rely upon components to be cast however, which the Mage must seek or manufacture himself. The greatest among the
spells of the Magi are the ones to advance time and bring about a new season and finally the words of power that alter reality itself.


Fifth are the Rangers, the forest dweller a Fighter becomes once they have sworn to /serve/ Nature and the Forest Lords. They get Scouts, Centaurs, MasterArchers, Treants, Guardians, Battering Rams, with BladeDancers and Wyverns as their mercenaries. Rangers can only support 75 troops per Fort and can only possess 30,000 copper per level. Rangers posses many abilities to control the land they inhabit. The simplest of these is the vision, sight granted by friendly animals to the Ranger so he might view his enemies lands and troops. Next is Preservation, the arts of keeping his food fresh to feed his troops. A skilled Ranger can prevent food from spoiling entirely. They can also tend the land itself and urge it to give a more bountiful harvest.

With sufficent rank a Ranger can summon forth animal hordes to aid him in battle, call forth the winds to shield his arm, or even commune with the Forest Lords to change the weather. A Ranger can also seek out the Vampires true name, but do not possess the ability to slay him. Lastly when a Ranger reaches the level of Hunt-Master he can bring all the warriors of a continent to his table to feast under the banner of a ceasefire, during which noone may attack another.


Sixth and last are the Vampires, these twisted things are born when Fighters seek out an ancient /vampire/ and willingly give themselves over. They get Zombies, Skeletons, Ghouls, Skeletal Knights, Wraiths, Scorpions, with Nosferatu and Lich Dragons as their mercenaries. Vampires can support 100 troops per Mausoleum but do not need to feed their undead armies. They possess many sinister abilities, first among these is a guise. An unholy creature concerned only with feeding and his own survival the vampire will take the image and name of another warrior for his own to protect him from those who would seek him out.

Next is accursed ability of pestilence, with this the vampire conjures up rats to consume an enemies food stores. After that comes the art of charm, through black magic and poisonous allure a vampire can convince someone to do their bidding. But beyond all these is the dark ritual. With this the vampire summons the powers of the Dark Lord himself to wreck havoc on the
continent he resides.
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Combat is mostly a numbers game in Conquest, each troop having attack(damage it deals) and defense(damage it takes) ratings as well as abilities at times. The abilities are as follows.

xN(xNumber of attacks, troops with this can attack multiple times per round.)
amb(Ambush, troops with this can attack in the first round only reguardless of formation.)
rgn(Regenerate, troops with this regenerate 10-15% of damage taken each round.)
rng(Ranged, troops deal their damage on first round of combat but may misfire doing no damage.)
shd(Shield, troops with this take 20-40% less damage from ranged attacks.)
swm(Swarm, troops with this when fighting in groups of over 500 gain an extra attack every other round.)

Some items/heros/artifacts/class abilities will add to troops attack/defense ratings or grant further abilities. Formation also plays a role in combat, with it you determine which row your troops fight in. Ranged troops will deal damage no matter the row their in, and Siege Engines are always in the last row. Formation is useful for shielding your weaker troops so they don't all get wiped out on the first round before they can do their damage. There is also a set surrender percentage you determine before going into battle, once reached your troops will flee. When going into combat it is important to bring along siege engines as you won't be able to capture enemy strongholds otherwise.
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Theres more then this, each continent has its own cities with a secret magical city existing on Normandy. Each city has its own market that might buy/sell food, and sell troops for a few classes. You'll need to look around when constructing your army. Each continent has a coastal city with docks to support ship building. You can have at most eight ships in your fleet, ranging from rafts to warships.
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I got back into this game after some years away from it and fell in love again, its a great way to kill time and it hasn't been commerialized like so many other online strategy games. Theres no clicking ads for more moves, premium accounts, or any of that nonsense. The game is a labour of love by its creator and has kept fans who've played it for ten years or more. Right now we don't have alot of players, probably ten on Conquest, and ten-fifteen on ConquestAdv. I'd recommend starting on ConquestAdv since you get more moves to play with and their are computer players to attack, easier to get the feel of things. If you feel like trying it out just come by channel #Conquest on any Undernet.org server or go to the website at www.conquestgamesite.com but be warned the information there is out of date. Ingame is updated however, and theres always players in the channel willing to answer any questions

Oh, and please forgive any typos or bad grammar in this, I wrote it up in Notepad.