About game plus historical detail:

Conquest and Consequence brings the well-known Triumph & Tragedy system to the Pacific/East Asia theater during the same 1936-1945 time period. Like its predecessor, it is designed for three players, maintaining the three-sided dynamic that adds so much variety and intrigue to the system. And as you know, a dedicated, balanced and tense game for a 3 players is a rarity!


So what are the sides?

  • Militaristic Japan, the first Asian power to modernize, which seeks to replace the European colonial empires in East Asia with a true “all-Asian” empire, with itself as the natural leader.
  • The Communist Soviet faction, which is comprised of the Siberian USSR and the Red Chinese revolutionaries.
  • The Capitalist USA faction, which consists of the United States, the British Empire, and the struggling regime of Nationalist China.

The game begins in 1936 with the Militarists in control of Japan and expansion on the agenda. Their industry is well-developed, but it is weak in population and particularly resource – which definitely hits production potential of Empire. Its battle-hardened army has easily overrun resource-rich Manchuria, and a weak China awaits.


Japan (like Germany in T&T) has the early initiative due to its well-prepared military. Japanese aggression in China will likely irritate the sleeping giant that is the USA, but it is far away across the wide Pacific, and Japan has special naval abilities that allow it to compete at sea. The Soviets will probably prefer to stay in hiding, gradually rebuilding the power base in China but open conflict is always a possibility.

Would you stand-up to the task and manage to prevail against odds, leading the Japan, US or Soviets to the final victory?

Number of players:

This is truly great 3-player game. It balances very well the weak-points in such set-ups (like two players ganging up on third) and implements a lot of mutually conflicting spots and areas between all the factions. There is also a 2-player variant, which seems plausible (Soviets are not playing) – but I still need to try it for full evaluation.

Playing time:

Like in many sandbox games, “that depends”. The initial games can easily take up to 6 hours – with all the rules checks, etc. Once you get more familiar with that title, that easily reduces to about 3-4 hours – provided no sudden death happens much earlier.

Complexity:

This title is definitely not overly difficult – the game flow is easy to grasp, although I admit the rulebook could be more straightforward. In your first game you will be checking some of the specifics pretty often – each nation has its own. Also, make sure to understand victory conditions of others so you can react in time!

What I like:
  • Theme & historical background – WWII and Pacific Theater is something very interesting for us here in Europe. What is more, rarely any game puts so much stress on one of the most forgotten theaters of war: China. In that case the struggle between Communist’s and Nationalists is depicted in pretty much detail, providing so much needed narrative to the game – and one of key victory conditions!
  • we have a good, balanced game for 3 players. Not so often we are getting such titles so this is worth underlying – and the more you play the more you appreciate the design!
  • Components quality and graphical game depiction – of course, GMT is very well known for its superb products; this is another great example of fantastic production!
  • Replayability – there are so many options and so many ways to play this game – a true sandbox experience! I really like that each game unfolds slightly different – last time I had such an experience when playing Cataclysm game.
What I do not like or would like to see in the game:
  • as for the balance, I need to play more although there are voices it is hard to win as Japan; well, that would be quite historically accurate!
For whom?

First and foremost, for the fans of Triumph & Tragedy! Also, if you liked Cataclysm or other sandbox games you will have tons of fun with this title. Probably not the best place for new wargamers to start, but if you already have some experience with such titles, you should not be afraid to tackle that one!  

More about the game:


And now let us have a look at the components – all from my actual plays:

The full rules walk-through
Close-up on map and main units.
Surprise at Pearl Harbor.
Overview of the game map at the end of one of my games.

VERDICT:

I like the sandbox games – we have so many titles with pretty pre-scripted histories that getting such as Conquest & Consequence, Triumph & Tragedy or Cataclysm is always a refreshing experience. And additional plus of this game is that we have here a great, balanced, 3-player game – a rarity.

I can wholeheartedly recommend that game – make sure of course to have a dedicated group, as this position will shine only after couple of games, once you all know what to expect. More reviews to come!