Exploration of the phase structure of $SU(N_c)$ lattice gauge theory with many Wilson fermions at strong coupling

We explore aspects of the phase structure of SU(2) and SU(3) lattice gauge theories at strong coupling with many flavours $N_f$ of Wilson fermions in the fundamental representation, including the relevance to recent searches for a conformal window. The pseudoscalar meson mass, the quark mass and other quantities are observed as functions of the hopping parameter, and we find deviations from the expected analytic dependence, at least for sufficiently large $N_f$. Implications of these effects for the phase structure and for the existence of a (first order) bulk phase and the Aoki phase are discussed in the case of $N_f/N_c gg 1$.