The Board Is Set: How to Play Domination

Good morning gamers,

Today begins our three-part series in the second pool of scenarios from the MESBG Matched Play Guide. We've already viewed the three scenarios from Pool 1 (the Maelstrom of Battle scenarios) and today we're focusing on my favorite set of scenarios: the ones with all the objectives. These games are often quite fun and can give players the opportunity to pull out a win or a draw at the very last minute, even when their dice are quitting on them and their guys are dying. While I've struggled to win these scenarios when I've played them in our tournaments, they're always fun. Let's look first at how the pool of scenarios works and then we'll look at the particulars of the first of these scenarios: Domination (and if you've already read this section, you can skip it here).

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).

Okay, let's dig into the specifics of Domination . . .

Domination

In Domination, one objective is placed in the center of the board. Players then roll and begin to alternately place objectives on the board beyond 12" of any already-placed objectives. This is done BEFORE board halves are determined, so players could choose to clump objectives near each other, but they're likely to get into trouble if all the objectives are on one side of the board . . . and then they get the other half. While the other scenarios in this pool have their objectives evenly distributed on the board, this one has the potential for one player to have a distinct advantage over the other with regard to starting with VPs - but if you're an aggressive army that doesn't want to leave units behind, it's probably fine if your opponent starts with more objectives, so long as you can punch through his forces.

Domination rewards each player at the end of the game with 1 VP for each objective that they have the majority control of (more models within 3") and 2 VPs for each objective that they have sole control of (the only models within 3"). It's very common to see 1-2 warriors sitting around on an objective (usually with bows - or hiding behind a fat rock) and "doing their part" by holding an objective. Your army isn't likely to be fighting on all five objectives at once - in all likelihood, you'll be contesting one or two objectives and sitting back on a third one. If you gain sole control of three objectives, you can win the game just by breaking the enemy army (or getting a lucky scratch on the enemy army leader).

It's certainly possible to contest all five objectives as the game progresses - and if you want a higher tournament score, you probably need to do this. There is the danger of over-stretch, however, where an enemy warband on one objective defeats whatever token defense force you have and then starts walking to an objective that's scarcely defended. It's in these moments that reserves are quite handy - as is getting dominance over the middle of the board, where you can probably redeploy quickly to wherever your opponent tries to fight.

One final note: because the objectives might be very spread out (though they certainly don't have to be), it's very rare that you'll have one warband that can defend or contest each objective. As such, it's good to identify a handful of units in each of your warbands that can start between their warband captain and the objective they need to hold so they can walk there (or at least towards it) on the first turn, without slowing down the advance of the rest of their warband. You don't have to hold the objectives on the first turn - you just need to be there when the game ends. Fast troops can help with this - especially cavalry archers.

The last thing to say about Domination is that it ends when one side has been quartered - and this means that it ends after one side has to start taking break tests. For most armies, heroes won't be sitting back on objectives - and the vast majority of armies in the game have no way of getting auto-passing courage tests on all their units. As a result, if you HAVE some expendable (and perhaps slightly durable) high Courage units in your list, these might be great models to sit on rear objectives where your heroes are unlikely to be. 

If you have to start testing for Courage and the one or two guys you have defending a deep objective suddenly decide it's better to grab lunch instead of stick around, the VP swing of losing that objective could easily cost you the game. It's often a good idea to see if you can drift a hero between two objectives so that the models holding those two objectives can drift a little closer (while still being within 3" of the objectives they're manning) and pass their Courage tests via the hero's Stand Fast! This will likely put the hero in an exposed position, but you don't want to lose those objectives!

Okay, let's talk about some strategies you can use to win a game of Domination . . .

Strategy #1: Mob the Middle

This scenario allows you to deploy on the center, and while you can't predict before the game where four of the objectives will be, you can know one thing for sure: one of them is going to be in the middle. If you have a list that wants to get locked in fast, deploying right on the center line (or just outside of your opponent's control zones if the opposing force deploys a warband before you and is right on the center line) allows you to get started quickly at contesting (and hopefully securing the control of) the center objective. Since you have the power to place two of the objectives, placing one (if not both) of them just outside 12" of the center can give you access to two (or three) of the objectives pretty easily without knowing where exactly you're going to deploy.

If you intend to use this strategy, it's a good idea to place your objectives so that they are evenly distributed on the board - don't place them both on one table half in case you don't get them in your deployment zone. The more this board looks like Capture and Control (a scenario we'll talk about in two weeks time), the better for you - you want the distances you need to travel to be predictable and reliable.

Exemplar factions: Any shieldwall with 6" or 12" synergy buffs is going to want to play this way, as will hero-hammer factions that rely on infantry heroes instead of cavalry heroes. Examples would include most Erebor Reclaimed builds, the Halls of Thranduil, most Fiefdoms builds, and the Host of the Dragon Emperor LL.

If you don't play armies that like this play style, I'd recommend you try . . .

Strategy #2: Spread Things Out

This is the opposite approach - place your objectives as far away from the middle as possible. Shieldwall armies LOVE having objectives close together, but skirmisher armies want to force shieldwalls to split up and travel a bit. By making your opponent "work the table," you can take parts of his army apart (see what I did there?) and then make your way to less-defended objectives - or just shoot the models sitting on those objectives off of them.

Two styles of armies like this approach: shooting-heavy lists (that want to start by sitting back on 1-2 objectives and shooting - though they can't do this all game) and fast armies (cavalry-heavy or fast-infantry/sudden-arrival armies). If you have ability to reach out and touch far away objectives with shooting attacks - or can race there on a mount - you're in a good place. If you try to do this with a shieldwall army, it can work, but it'll be a lot harder.

Exemplar factions: any shooting-heavy lists that don't want to engage right away, such as the Rangers of Ithilien/Mirkwood LL, horde-focused Serpent Horde lists, and skirmish cavalry lists (like the Riders of Eomer LL or Rivendell Knight spams), but also lists that field a lot of throwing spears and don't feel good about crushing the enemy right away (like the Theodred's Guard LL and some Men of the West LL builds).

All-cavalry lists have another approach that they can try, which is far less dependent on where you put your objectives and far more about how you use your mounted units . . .

Strategy #3: Cat and Mouse

In general, Pool 2 scenarios are good for high model count lists and bad for low model count lists. The vast majority of all-cavalry armies are going to be low model count lists, since Might points are super important for making sure that your Cavalry models get the charge (and because deploying 18 cavalry models within 6" of a mounted Hero of Legend can be . . . challenging).

Since cavalry models want to be charging when they have to fight, they can't "park" on an objective and just sit there like most infantry models can do (since infantry don't really benefit from making a charge over being charged, besides getting good positioning or a good match-up). As such, armies that have leaned entirely or almost entirely into cavalry want their cavalry moving to and fro from objective to objective, smashing up the infantry that are left behind, and working around larger infantry formation blocks (or smashing through them with heroes who declared Heroic Combats) so that they float from one objective to another. If they're facing an infantry spam list, chances are good that most of the enemy models will be between objectives, not on objectives - and that can even the playing field considerably for an army that might start with half of the models of the other side.

Exemplar factions: shock-cavalry lists like the Riders of Theoden LL, most Iron Hills Goat Rider spam lists (usually in Erebor Reclaimed where there's a greater diversity of mounted hero options), Far Harad camel-spams, and Minas Tirith/Fiefdoms cavalry-heavy lists (are those a thing outside of doubles games?). You can also do this strategy with fast infantry lists that can't make a traditional shieldwall, such as the Lurtz's Scouts LL.

There's one last strategy that I'd like to cover today - and it's really hard to pull off (and very chancey), but if both armies have low model counts, it can work pretty well . . .

Strategy #4: Clear and . . . Leave?

A few years ago for our annual THRO tournament, we did a Good vs. Evil matchup where everyone brought two lists (one Good, one Evil) and had two randomly-assigned opponents followed by two power-matched rounds. The first round of the event was Domination - and Rythbyrt had a Grey Company Legendary Legion list that contained Aragorn, Halbarad with his banner, Elladan, Elrohir, and three Rangers of the North - seven models in total.

In preparation for the event, he played about a dozen Domination games with this list and never lost. His strategy in this scenario with his seven-man infantry army was simple: quarter the enemy as quickly as possible and get to an objective or two if you have time. For his force, holding the objectives was going to be really hard (since outnumbering him would be easy), so instead of sticking around on objectives, he'd usually clear them and abandon them so he could have all of his heroes crushing the enemy. At the tournament, he played against a Balrog-double-Dweller list (there were also 10 Goblins larking about) and he won 2-1 having wounded (actually killed) the Balrog and quartered the enemy, while his side was outnumbered in the middle but not doubled.

Now lest you read this and think, "Well, I would have just kept people outside of range of the objectives and swept in at the last minute, this game was over in less than 30 minutes - I believe there was one turn between the Moria army breaking and the game ending, so moving to the outer objectives was simply impossible (especially for an army of Goblins without access to March). While certainly an unconventional approach, you CAN win games of Domination with a small number of units . . . and not sitting on the objectives. If you have 20 models in your army, you might camp on one objective or even two, but you might be forced to clear an objective and leave it in order to force the enemy off of another objective (or at least reduce him to 1 VP instead of 2 VPs for that objective). Having a power unit sitting on an objective is usually not a good plan - so know when to cut 1-2 VPs in losses and just move on.

Conclusion

So that's Domination - it's one of my favorite scenarios in the Matched Play Guide, though I think it's best when the points levels are high, since you kind of need a decent model count to be able to sit on up to five objectives. Next time, we'll see what happens when the center objective disappears, when the other objectives are set up in established places, and the value of certain objectives changes based on whether you started with the objective in your deployment zone or not - this scenario is called Breakthrough for a reason! It's another great scenario next time - until then, happy hobbying!