The Board Is Set: How to Play Destroy the Supplies

Good morning gamers,

Today is our last post in Pool 3 of the Matched Play Guide and we're looking at my personal favorite scenario from that pool: Destroy the Supplies. Games of Seize the Prize can be massively mismatched and games of Retrieval can end in a grinding draw, but every game of Destroy the Supplies has been a harrowing experience for me - and they're always a lot of fun (unless camels are involved - I hate Mahud-ridden camels so much).

So what is it about this scenario that makes it so different from those other ones? And how do you need to change your game plan if you happen to play it? Well, let's look at some general principles for Pool 3 and then we'll see how they apply to Destroy the Supplies specifically (and as we've done throughout this series, you can skip ahead to the Destroy the Supplies section by clicking here).

Pool 3: Coveting Precious Things

When I looked at the scenario pools when they were first presented in the Matched Play Guide, I was like, "Pool 6 is the the eclectic pool that the oddballs go in." Months later, Evan Iverson from the Unexpected Podcast summarized that pool of scenarios as the "hero killing" scenarios - which is an accurate way of summing up the VPs you can get from Assassination, Fog of War, and Clash by Moonlight.

The actual "oddball" pool is Pool 3 - the unifying factor of these three scenarios is that the scenarios listed here have "objects" in them, but this summary is both broadly vague as well as unexclusive. We've talked previously about Heirlooms of Ages Past (from Pool 1), which clearly has an "object" in it that contains half of the VPs available in the game to one player, which would make it a good candidate for Pool 3 . . . if it weren't for the maelstrom of battle deployment rule (which is why it's in Pool 1).

Similarly, the "objects" in the Pool 3 scenarios differ in VP weight as well as in number. Seize the Prize has only one object that gives 3-7 VPs to the player that has it at the end of the game, giving more VPs based on whether the objective is on the controlling player's side of the board, on the opposing player's side of the board, or gets off the opposing player's board edge. Retrieval has not one but two objectives - one held by each player - and like Seize the Prize, you're trying to get VPs by moving it (but it's 1-7 VPs in this case - and these points are available to both players, not just one). Destroy the Supplies has three objectives for each side, each worth 2VPs if the other player can touch it without fighting/shooting/doing anything. While this means 6-7VPs in any game are tied to the object/objects, how you get these VPs differs greatly from scenario to scenario.

When you look at deployment, this is the first of our scenario pools where your deployment can change between scenarios. In Pool 1, all warbands walk onto the board from randomly-determined board edges. In Pool 2, both armies have the option to start on the center line. In Pool 3, two of the scenarios have the players start within 12" of their board edges, which means you're going to need some speed in your list to get 24" across the board to the three objectives in Destroy the Supplies or 36" across the board to the enemy board edge in Seize the Prize. These paths are very rarely straight lines . . .

Retrieval is different though: a diagonal line is drawn from one corner to its opposite corner and players can deploy up to 3" away from that line. Each player's "flag" is a certain distance from their starting corner and this scenario also requires you to do quite a bit of walking - more walking than the other two if you want max VPs because you have to a) get to the enemy flag, and then b) get it back off one of your deployment zone board edges (beyond 3" of the center line). This allows armies to start more in each other's faces if they want to, but it's still going to be a walking trip.

Perhaps that's the unifying factor of these scenarios: you have 1-6 objects in each scenario, but you have to do a lot of walking with them. There are other scenarios that require a lot of travel (we'll look at those when we cover Pool 5), but any model in your army can do the walking in those scenarios. In these scenarios, where one particular model (or several models in Destroy the Supplies) goes is what's really at stake. These scenarios can be a bit of a frustration - especially for new players or slow armies - but they also require you to flex different muscles than most of the other scenario pools.

Okay, let's talk about the oddball scenario in this group: Destroy the Supplies.

Destroy the Supplies

In Seize the Prize, both players are fighting over one object (and in most cases, whoever grabs it first will win). In Retrieval, both players have a "flag" that they're trying to protect while snagging the other player's flag - this game usually has more play in it, but can also lead to draws if neither team can punch through/outmaneuver the other. Destroy the Supplies is different in several key ways from both of these scenarios - specifically in how many objects there are, how the objectives are handled, and how the VPs are distributed.

The first big difference between Destroy the Supplies and the previous scenarios is that there are six objective points (three for each player) that are worth 2VPs each to the opposing player (if they can have a model end their move in base contact and not fight/shoot while standing in contact with it). This means that instead of having to get to one place or having to guard one place and get to another place, there are six spots where VPs can be decided. Furthermore, like Retrieval, the VPs that one player gets for these objectives is not an all-or-nothing proposition for the other player - each player can get 0, 2, 4, or 6 VPs based on whether they can get to the enemy supply points, which is particularly great for newer players who want options.

The second big difference is that unlike Seize the Prize and Retrieval, you don't have to take the supply markers anywhere - you just have to touch them. While some scenarios of Retrieval will see you happy if you just get to the enemy flag (let alone move it somewhere) - and some games of Seize the Prize won't see you having the opportunity to hold the Prize at all - there's always the possibility that you will be able to move into contact with one of the supply markers and score your team a few VPs. Once again, I think this is great for newer players who don't want to face a game with a losing proposition (though getting across the board can take a long time or be impossible).

Third, the victory points in this scenario are diversely distributed - 6VPs are contained in the supply markers, 1-2VPs are awarded based on breaking the enemy, 1-2VPs are awarded for wounding/killing the enemy army leader, and 1-2VPs are tied to whether one or both sides have a banner on the board at the end of the game. Like Retrieval, this means that if you don't get around to actually scoring from the scenario-specific gimmick, you can still get a few VPs if you can break the enemy without being broken yourself (and ideally kill the enemy army leader while keeping a banner on the board).

Despite the fact that you can get 6VPs without clearing a single supply marker, it still pays in this scenario to have some speed. Like the other scenarios we've seen here in Pool 3 (and much like the scenarios we'll see in Pool 5), there's still a good bit of travel required in this scenario. Each side can begin up to 12" away from their board edge and their supply markers are placed at 12" intervals across that 12" line - so the minimum possible distance between your models and the enemy objectives is about 24" (slightly less because the objectives will extend almost half an inch past your deployment zone). If you walk there with infantry in a direct line and meet absolutely no resistance, it'll take you 4-5 turns (depending on the speed of your units) to get there - so with resistance, you're probably talking about 5-7 turns minimum to get to the enemy supplies with 5-6" move infantry. Heroic March, cavalry/faux cavalry/flyers, and Heroic Combats are invaluable for actually getting to the enemy supply points - and frankly, forcing the enemy to spread out to defend their supplies from a break-away attack squad can be really useful in helping you defend your own supply points.

Speaking of defending your supplies, the greatest struggle for most armies in this sceanrio is finding a way to balance attacking the enemy supply points and defending your own. On the one hand, denial of VPs is great for you and bad for your opponent - but not scoring VPs can make you lose a tight game (if your enemy breaks you and has a banner, you kind of need to break your opponent's force/kill the enemy army leader or you're going to lose). While clearing all three supply points can be excellent, you will often be better off threatening a single supply marker and rely on whoever clears that supply marker to hop over to the next supply point (instead of having to commit another warband/hit squad to get across the board).

Finally, one of the best things about this scenario (I love this scenario - can you tell?) is that the spread-out nature of the objectives means that there are lots of ways in which players can show off their tactical acumen by managing their match-ups against the enemy. For most infantry-heavy lists, reallocating troops to attack or defend supply points is going to take time - so a player who can use a big hero to sweep in on one flank and then deal a decisive blow to an enemy formation can have a major impact on how the game goes. Whether that's sling-shoting a cavalry warrior towards an objective, using a Heroic Combat to slingshot the hero with a few friends, or just crushing a band of defenders so an infantry formation can race past and flood an objective, this scenario can have big plays turn the game - and it can happen right up until the last turn of the game. It's always an exciting time!

Okay, let's wrap this up by talking about some strategies you can employ to win Destroy the Supplies . . .

Strategy #1: Divide By Six

Let's be honest here - very, VERY few factions can actually pull off this strategy. Still, if you're a super-horde and have 60+ models in your army, you can reasonably split your army into six parts and have each part assigned to attack or protect a supply marker. Obviously, a 60-model force could leave 7 models to guard each of their objectives while sending three squads of 13 models to attack the enemy - and it's quite possible that the model count will be about the same in each of those engagements, though the quality of models in the super-horde is likely to be weaker - but you get the idea: have a big swarm of models that can cover all of the objectives.

Chief among the factions that can play this way are Goblin-town, the Defenders of the Shire LL, and Goblin Mercenary allies to Azog's Hunters/the Dark Powers of Dol Guldur or fielded in Azog's Legion - these factions can bring models onto the board in unexpected (or totally expected) places and can require more elite armies to spread themselves thin. With countless games under my belt against Goblin-town and fewer games against Goblin Mercenary allied armies (but a few - and they weren't fun), I can say from experience that any scenario where you can find a host of enemy models threatening a weak part of your line is a bad day - but particularly so in this scenario.

But there are other armies that can do this too - horde lists from Minas Tirith, the Serpent Horde, and even Erebor Reclaimed (which you wouldn't think is a horde list until there are 40+ D8 Dwarves on the other side of the board) can be a nightmare to play against, since they can just throw more models than you can into a gap - and if they can shoot some of your models on the way in (all three are pretty good at shooting), it'll be even worse for you. All of these lists tend to be infantry-heavy lists, however, so they still require good tactical play to actually get to your objectives (though admittedly, Goblin Mercenaries and Maggot's warband in the Defenders of the Shire list if he's the one you ambush - and he should always be the warband you ambush - require a lot less walking than the rest).

If you're running a more traditional model count, you can't rely on this approach at most points levels - so instead, you probably want to use a strategy like . . .

Strategy #2: Flank and Sweep

Most factions can get fast units without building an Impossible Alliance (literally only Sharkey's Rogues can't do this - and a handful of infantry-only Legendary Legions). As a result, one of the options that most lists have at their disposal is to have a handful of fast units that will attempt to flank the enemy and sweep into the enemy supply markers. If you only have 3-4 mounted models, where the flanking maneuver will happen is likely to be obvious, but here's the thing to keep in mind: any models your opponent leaves in their backfield to guard against an onslaught of cavalry are models that aren't trying to clear your supply markers. Super-hordes can afford to do this more than most factions, but it's still a boon for you.

If you're going to attempt to sweep around the enemy lines, Heroic Combats with a mounted hero (and ideally a mounted friend) are golden - you should try to get these off as much as you can. Heroic Combats have always been great heroic actions (especially back when Moves, Shoots, and Combats were all there were in the game), but in scenarios where you need to get somewhere, getting a full move in the Fight Phase (that doesn't require you to stay near someone) is really, really useful. The main thing to keep in mind is what the job of the hero calling the Heroic Combat is - while someone like Elessar or Helm Hammerhand might be a great killing piece, clearing two objectives will give you as many VPs (possibly more) than breaking the enemy and killing the enemy army leader. While slashing through the enemy might be these guys' game, clearing objectives is by far and away more important - and if they're your army leader (they usually are), getting them clear of the fray and headed towards an objective might simultaneously deny your opponent some VPs . . . something to keep in mind.

One final note: one of the best models in the game at this strategy is the Spider Queen. With broodlings that she can summon at any point in her Move Phase (and no restriction on her not having just charged someone), the Spider Queen can send out minions to exert control over enemy objectives like almost no other fast hero in the game. She's also pretty punchy on offense (with S6/Monstrous Charge - and F6 base), so if she spawns Broodlings who then join her fight and she declares a Heroic Combat, she and her horde of babies can literally swarm objectives . . . and if she was able to side-step your best heroes, you may not be able to challenge her at all. And if she brought along a big bad friend from Mordor or Moria . . . yeah, she's a nasty fiend to have to fight.

Okay, if you don't have a super-horde and you don't have fast troops (or your only speed is limited to Heroic March), you might want to consider this third strategy . . .

Strategy #3: Hold Two, Take Two

While it may seem like a good idea to try to hold all three objectives and defend all three objectives, in practicality, most factions can't do that. Like, at all. Trying to do so will only mean that your army is spread thin and faster or larger armies will be able to rip past your forces and get to your supplies while denying you access to their own. It's a recipe for defeat.

If you have the numerical minority in model count and don't have a lot of speed . . . don't try to defend all three of your objectives. Sure, have some archers or something that can shoot at the third objective you can't reasonably defend (probably while guarding your center supply marker), but don't waste soldiers on defending there. If you want to slow the enemy's approach to that objective, have a strike force that's focused on advancing on the enemy supply marker on that side - but don't waste troops slinking down to cut off/catch up to the enemy that's racing for that objective. Instead, focus your firepower on attacking so as to distract enemy troops from your own objectives.

Similarly, try to hold your two objectives with a decent force and make sure that wherever you choose to attack (my recommendation is to focus those efforts on the side of the board that you're not trying to defend), you have a fast model or two whose job is to race to get not only the close objective, but to branch off suddenly to threaten another objective. This could be a fast hero or a couple of elite mounted models - but give yourself the option to clear 2 supply tokens from the enemy and hold 2 of your own. If you can have a 4-2 lead with a banner and a safe army leader, you can win the game if you break the enemy . . . so go for that.

Conclusion

This scenario is hard to win, but also gives you a lot of options for playing against your opponent. We're taking another quick break from this series to answer some readership mail, but in two weeks, we'll kick off what has become my least favorite pile of scenarios: Pool 4. In theory, they're the simplest - just kill things - but they're also some of the most one-sided scenarios you'll play . . . and call me crazy, but I find one-sided scenarios to be a bit unfun. Find out what there is to like (and what concern should be had) with these scenarios then - and until next time, happy hobbying!