The Board Is Set: How to Play Capture and Control

Good morning gamers,

Today's article addresses the final scenario in Pool 2: Capture and Control. This scenario was one of the original 12 scenarios provided in the MESBG revamp in 2018 and has similarities to both Domination and Breakthrough with a few key differences. If you're running a tournament at a low points level and want a good objective-based scenario, I think this one (and Hold Ground) are your best options. We'll get into the scenario specifics in a minute, but before we do, we're going to review what the distinctives of the Pool 2 scenarios are (though you can click here to skip to the scenario-specific section if you're already familiar with how these scenarios work - or if you've read the previous articles).

Pool 2: Objectives Are Everything

Pool 2 isn't the only pool with objectives that you need to control - we've already viewed Hold Ground (one objective in the center of the board) and the Heirloom becomes a kind of objective if no one is holding it in Heirlooms of Ages Past. The quadrants in Command the Battlefield aren't exactly "objectives," but they function in much the same way - just as really, really BIG objectives.

There are two other scenarios that have objectives as well: Divide and Conquer (three objectives) and Storm the Camp (like Command the Battlefield, there are two pretty big "objectives"). We'll cover both of these scenarios when we get to Pool 5 in a few months, but it should be clear that in these two scenarios (and the three from this pool), we have 1-4 objectives that you get points for controlling.

In Pool 2, we have 4-5 objectives - and no matter which scenario you're playing, 9-10 VPs of the 12 VPs up for grabs are tied to who controls them. While the scoring rules are different for each scenario, the baseline assumption you can make is that the scenarios will give you 1 VP for having more models than your opponent around an objective or 2 VPs if you have sole control of the objective. This means that where your models end up when the clock runs out or the victory conditions are met matters a lot - as does how many models you have left at the end of the game.

It's generally considered true that if you know Pool 2 is in the mix, you want to have a pretty high model count. Low model count armies can still win a game from Pool 2, but it often requires a lot of skill, a lot of patience, and a lot of Heroic Combats (to thin out the ranks or get the extra movement you need to reach a lightly-guarded objective). If one were to generalize, factions that have an abnormally large numbers of models have a distinct advantage in these scenarios, since they can break and STILL have more models than their opponents (especially if they've been able to bring their larger numbers to bear and kill some of the enemy models).

In all three scenarios, players can deploy their warbands up to the centerline of the board, which means that armies that want to get up into your face can do so very easily. Melee-heavy/archery-lite lists will often try to start as far up as possible and start scrumming right away, especially since there will be 1-3 objectives on the center line at the start of the game. If you're a skirmish-heavy list, it's very tempting to start further back in your deployment zone, but beware of sitting back and "castling" on a rear objective or two - if the other player has control of more objectives than you, there isn't a lot of VP ground you can regain by breaking him without being broken or killing his army leader.

Finally, because so many points are wrapped up in the objectives, players will usually receive no bonus VPs for breaking the enemy without being broken or receive bonus VPs for killing the enemy army leader (usually 1 VP for breaking the enemy and 1 VP for dealing at least one wound to the enemy army leader). This means keeping your army leader safe is not as necessary as it is in other scenarios (or at least, not from a VP perspective) and if you're facing one of those difficult-to-kill army leaders (like Smaug, Sauron, or the Balrog), you really just need to get 1 wound in and then you can do your best to avoid them (focusing on killing off any friends they brought along).

We've already seen how these principles are applied to Domination and Breakthrough, so today let's tackle the third scenario in this pool, Capture and Control . . .

Capture and Control

Capture and Control has five objectives (like Domination) that are set up in the center (like Domination) and orthogonally (like Breakthrough - 12" to the north/south/east/west of the center of the board). Unlike both scenarios, each objective is worth 2VPs to the player who claims it (not 1-2 depending on who controls them - or more than that, like we saw in Breakthrough last time). The fact that 10 VPs are tied up in the objectives means that like Domination, there's only 1VP for breaking the enemy (nothing extra for breaking without being broken) and 1VP for wounding the enemy army leader (nothing extra for killing the leader instead).

The second distinctive of this scenario is that this is the only MESBG scenario where objectives can be tagged and then abandoned and still count as claimed by your side. If a model ends its movement touching the objectives and no enemy models are touching the objective at the end of the round, the objective is "captured" by the model's side and the model can subsequently leave. If models from both sides are touching the objective, then it's set to neutral (or remains neutral if it hasn't been captured yet).

This tag-and-leave element of the game makes this the best Pool 2 scenario for low points levels (where model count is likely to be low) and can make for some very interesting strategies since objectives don't have to be guarded (a fast hero who uses a Heroic Combat to break away from the action can race to an unguarded captured objective and suddenly the tempo of the game changes). I've had many an exciting game of Capture and Control - especially when the points levels are low.

The third distinctive is that while both Domination and Breakthrough end when one side is quartered, this scenario has a random game end condition after one army is broken (on the roll of a 1-2 at the end of each round). While you can count models remaining on the board to know whether or not the game will end early or not, this scenario requires you to be in a good place once the other side breaks - or get there very quickly! While you certainly can win the other two scenarios by breaking and running while still holding more of the objectives, this sceanrio REALLY rewards armies that can start in control of a lot of objectives, break themselves, and then see the scenario end right away.

The three of these distinctives together make preparing for a Capture and Control game a lot different from the other two scenarios in Pool 2 - while both of the others can be won by having clusters of models in the right places, this scenario is probably the best scenario for an army that wants to ball up in one or two places, so long as it can prevent the opposing force from racing around them to the objectives they've already claimed. Let's take a look at a few strategies you can employ in this scenario . . .

Strategy #1: Rolling Tide

This has been the strategy that I've seen work the best in Capture and Control: present a strong front line, tag-and-leave the objectives behind you, and then don't let your opponent get past your line. It works particularly well when wielded by shieldwall lists against skirmish lists, since skirmishers generally don't want to get locked in against a shieldwall and will be deployed off their center line, ceding four of the objectives at the start to the other force. Unless they manage to work their way around the shieldwall, they've likely lost.

Shieldwall lists that have a lot of heroes play this strategy particularly well, especially if you have three big heroes who can be deployed on the centerline near all three of the centerline objectives. If you have one lone guy who can race back to grab your starting objective, you can rely on those other heroes smashing holes in whatever defense your opponent presented and drive them away from the objective (which you then claim). If you can start the game with an 8-0 lead, you will force your opponent to take chances and push where he can - and if you just keep the pressure up, you'll be okay if you happen to break and still have control of four of the objectives.

Super-hordes can run this strategy pretty well - deploying an overwhelming number of models on the centerline, wrapping-and-trapping whatever enemy models start on the center, and then always contesting or controlling each objective to retain their VP lead. They may even be able to ambush some models near the enemy's starting rear objective, which is rude on several levels. Yes, there are some armies that can employ this strategy better than others, but most factions can at least attempt to play this way.

If you're a cavalry-heavy list, you may find this strategy to be difficult to implement. If so, you may want to try . . .

Strategy #2: Hit and Fade

While not as effective as the Rolling Tide approach, the thing about this scenario is that all five of the objectives are worth the same number of VPs (just like in Domination), so WHERE you choose to claim objectives doesn't matter. In fact, you can run from objective to objective if you want, losing VPs in one place while picking up VPs in another. A fast army can work the objectives all around the board, swinging its forces to wherever the enemy is weakest, tagging that objective, and then abandoning it if the opponent sends a strong conginent of models to reclaim it. 

Naturally, to stay ahead in the VP count, you'll need to use your cavalry to race to wherever your opponent is weak, which will probably require calling a lot of Heroic Combats (and using the extra speed to move out of danger and towards a vulnerable objective, NOT to kill more guys). Yes, if you can mop up the last members of an attack force with a Combat, you should do that instead - but your primary goal is to saturate the board with threats and have most of the objectives by the time you (or your opponent) breaks.

This strategy isn't as reliable as the Rolling Tide method, but it's probably the best method for fighting against a shieldwall army if you don't have a shieldwall of your own, since it doesn't try to fight in once place (which shieldwalls like) and forces the enemy to split up their forces (which shieldwalls don't like). If you have a shieldwall, but a smaller/more elite one than your opponent, you might want to consider a third strategy . . .

Strategy #3: Hedge On The Center

We talked last time in our discussion of Breakthrough how the center of the board has a lot of value - it is within striking range of all of the objectives on the board, and the distance from the center to those objectives is a known quantity. If you have a hero-heavy list and a very small number of models, you can't possibly contest and hold three objectives - so you don't try at the beginning of the game to do that. Instead, you circle up on the middle (and maybe have a few guys who can tag your rear objective and skirmish with the enemy a bit) and hold the center at all costs, waiting for an opportunity to Combat through the enemy lines and make a break for one other objective (or two if you're about to lose your starting objective).

If you're playing with the Fellowship (the army list or the Breaking of the Fellowship Legendary Legion), this is a perfectly viable strategy - many of your heroes are strong (and your other heroes are vulnerable), so having them all work in one area (maybe with Legolas and your choice of Merry/Pippin sitting at your rear objective) and pressing hard to keep control of the center is a solid plan for starting the game. If you can use Heroic Combats from Aragorn, Boromir, and Gimli (and possibly Sam) to keep your forces alive in the center, your opponent will either have to cede the center to you and try to work around the edges while distributing his defense around all four of the outer objectives or potentially get to a breaking point trying to crunch your army in the center. It's a risk either way, since you can pivot from the center to a different objective (or intercept an attack on your rear objective) from where you start.

If you're playing a hero-heavy but not all-hero list (like an Erebor Reclaimed or Isengard list that sports 4-6 heroes), you can do a similar strategy, knowing that you have much better numbers than the Fellowship (and better profiles than those Hobbits have), which gives you some play at contesting other objectives or holding the center if it's not challenged right away. This is by far and away the most risky strategy, but it also capitalizes on the known locations of the objectives and also allows you to concentrate most of your army's mass in one area (which will be daunting for most armies to tackle with only part of their army).

Conclusion

Of all the scenarios in Pool 2, this one is probably my favorite (though I like them all). I have struggled to succeed in winning this scenario a lot at our TMAT tournaments in recent years (mostly because random game end scenarios never seem to end until they've had seven or eight turns pass by). Oh well - 'tis the nature of the scenario. When we return to this series, we'll be diving into Pool 3, where we've got three oddball scenarios that are roughly grouped together because they involve objects. If you have thoughts on this scenario (or any of the other scenarios from Pool 2), let us know in the comments below. Until next time, happy hobbying!