Conquest (play-by-mail game)

Conquest was a computer-moderated play-by-mail game.[1][2]

Players assumed the role of a feudal lord. The setting comprised ten provinces of five towns each. Players started with one province and needed to control all ten to win.[1] Finances and combat were the two primary elements of gameplay. For finances, towns generated revenue for players every turn, in varying levels.[1] Expenses included "troops, spies, counterspies, emissaries, fortifications, agricultural investment, and feeding your people".[1] For combat, players could hire up to six troop types every turn, "ranging from Levies to Heavy Cavalry", with varying costs and effectiveness.[1]

According to reviewers Stephen and Stewart Wieck, "Conquest [was] a game of rapid action and aggressive tactics. There [was] little room for diplomacy and interplayer communication."[1]

Conquest had "no turn deadlines or schedule".[1] It used the Instantreply system: reviewers Wieck noted that Earnshaw Enterprises would process turns received and mail them out the following day.[1] They suggested that if a player processed turns quickly, it could give an unfair advantage.[1]

Stephen and Stewart Wieck reviewed Conquest in the February–March 1990 issue of White Wolf Magazine, noting that

Conquest is a great game for beginners, since it has low complexity and relatively low cost. Experienced players will enjoy the speed of the game and its processing efficiency. Between the computer moderation, fantastic Turn Sheets, and consistent service, Conquest is a very smooth running game which doesn't require much busy work from its players. Despite its shortcomings in realism, it's a fun game to play which, in the end, is really all that matters.[1]

Overall they rated it a 3 out of a possible 5.[1]

• List of play-by-mail games

• "Gameline: Earnshaw Enterprises". Paper Mayhem. No. 36. May–June 1989. p. 22.