Well, it's on the list of reasons why Dwilight was a mistake - it brought in too many people who are used to expansionist games. BattleMaster isn't one.
I think that is false on every front.
Battlemaster is definitely a game of conquest. Not absolute and total conquest, but definitely conquest. Maybe not for everyone, but thats an integral part of the game; indeed, its founding purpose was to run battles and provide a functional setting for SpellMaster, wasn't it?
And did you seriously just say "brought in too many people"? I thought we wanted more people?