The Board Is Set: How to Play Reconnoitre

Good morning gamers,

We're wrapping up the discussion of Pool 5 today - and it involves more walking than any other scenario in the game: Reconnoitre. The idea of this scenario is simple - but there are a LOT of complications from how you "deploy" to the incentive to actually score the main point of the scenario that make a lot of players shy away from it. So, as we've been doing, we're going to unpack what Pool 5 is all about (which you can skip by clicking here if you've already read this part) and then we'll dive into Reconnoitre and how to actually have a good time playing it (and possibly even win it).

Pool 5: Going Places (And Usually Far-Off Places)

Pool 1 scenarios have odd deployment rules which can make your army show up all over the board (sometimes that's good and sometimes that's bad). Pool 2 requires you to control (or at least contest the control of) 4-5 different objectives. Pool 3 involves reaching one or more objects somewhere on the board (and in two of those scenarios, there's some element of offense and defense that needs to be played). Pool 4 scenarios are about how much killing your army (or your army leader) can do.

Pool 5 is about getting places, which means that it's very similar to Pools 1, 2, and 3. In Pool 1, most models will be walking onto the board from the board edges and will need to make their way to some part of the board (the center of the board in Hold Ground or to various quadrants/objective markers in the other two scenarios). Pool 2 doesn't need to require traveling far if you start on the center, but depending on your army's play style, you might be walking a lot (usually to play keep-away from an enemy shieldwall or spam horde). Pool 3 has all kinds of things that require you to travel a quarter of the board length or half of the length of the board.

Pool 5 is a very different story - if you're playing any of these scenarios, moving over half the board length is going to be common and required for maximum scoring. In two of these scenarios (Divide and Conquer and Storm the Camp), you'll have one or two table corners that your force will deploy in and you'll be trying to get to the middle of the board (Divide and Conquer) or to the other player's table corner (opposite yours in Storm the Camp). In Reconnoitre, your models don't even start on the board - they walk on from your board edge and you're trying to get at least a few of them off your opponent's board edge . . . yeah, legging it is hard in these scenarios.

The scoring for these scenarios is, however, pretty standard - the scenarios will give you 1-2 (or in one of them, 1-3) VPs for wounding/killing the enemy army leader and will give you at least 1 VP for breaking the enemy (two of them will give you 3 VPs for breaking the enemy without being broken). This means that even slow armies stand a chance of getting a few VPs if they can just do the killing thing. This is good for us Dwarf players - though even Dwarf players should try to bake in ways to get the movement they need to score more than 3-5 VPs in a game.

The majority of the VPs up for grabs are based on getting more models off the enemy's board edge (up to 7 VPs in Reconnoitre), having more models in both player's deployment corners (up to 6 VPs in Storm the Camp), and having more models than your opponent around three objectives (cumulatively worth 9 VPs, but split up into 2/2/5 VPs for the side/side/center objectives in Divide and Conquer). The player who actually plays to the scenario and doesn't settle for just making things a killing fest will win - usually (there is one scenario that serves as an exception to this).

But this underscores something big about these scenarios: if no one has a fast enough army (or enough time) to actually DO the scenario requirements, the VP scores will often be low and draws are very common. If you're trying to get to the enemy camp or if you're trying to get models off the enemy board edge, you may just run out of time to reach your destination and you'll be left with minimal if any points to show for it. This is the primary driver for why two of these scenarios are not well loved amongst most players.

We've already viewed Divide and Conquer and Storm the Camp - let's look at what is technically the longest walk of any of the scenarios in this pool (and really, the entire game): Reconnoitre . . .

Reconnoitre

First off, most players simplify this scenario name to "Recon" - so we will do that too (though I've left plenty of references to the long name for the Google Search optimization algorithms to find - you're welcome, Google overlords).

In both Divide and Conquer and Storm the Camp, we had corner deployments (either one corner or alternating our warbands between two opposite corners) and in both scenarios, we're trying to control certain areas of the map (either having more models within a certain radius of three points near the center of the board or within the deployment zones of both players). In this scenario . . . we're not using a corner deployment or trying to get our models near a certain place (well, we sort of are) . . .

Instead, players start the game by determining which player gets to pick their board edge and on the first turn of the game, the players roll for each warband to determine if it can walk onto the board this turn or if it needs to wait for another turn. This works a bit like the maelstrom scenarios from Pool 1, except that a) it's harder to get on the board on the first turn (4+ required), b) your warband walks on from your board edge and not any board edge they choose, and c) as the game goes on, you get +1 modifiers to your rolls, so you will eventually arrive (whereas a warband that is led by a hero without Might might never arrive if it always rolls 1s . . . oh, and see what I did there with "might"? Golly, I love that joke . . .).

The VPs for this scenario are actually pretty simple: 1-2 VPs for wounding/killing the enemy army leader, 1-3 VPs for breaking the enemy/breaking them without being broken yourself, and 3-5-7 VPs for getting more models/at least two models and at least double the enemy models/at least three models and at least triple the enemy models off the enemy's board edge. While the 0-5 VPs for the army leader and breaking is pretty standard stuff in MESBG, getting models off the enemy board edge - any number of them - can be a tall order for most army lists. As a result . . . this scenario isn't much liked by newer players and veteran players alike.

However, like we talked about last time, these requirements aren't a big deal if you plan for them in the army list creation stage. While not all factions have access to cavalry, all Good factions can ally at least conveniently with the Elven factions (well, Grimbeorn's Beornings can ally Historically with the Halls of Thranduil if Thranduil is in the list and Impossibly with the Halls of Thranduil if he's not in the list) and all three of THOSE factions have elite cavalry choices. For Evil, all but two factions are convenient allies with Moria, which has access to at least Bat Swarms and Warg Marauders, if not Spiders/Wargs if they include certain heroes. The two that aren't allies with Moria (Barad-Dur and Sharkey's Rogues) either have cavalry options innately in the list (Barad-Dur) or . . . well, have some very creative impossible alliance options that can make up for this.

There is a bit of caution required in this scenario: you don't want all of your models to get off the enemy board edge. You see, this scenario ends when one side has been quartered - but models that escape off the enemy board edge (e.g. your scoring units) don't count as casualties. As a result, if you have an all-cavalry list with 24 models and all of them escape off the board edge . . . you won't be quartered and your opponent has the remainder of the time to get ALL of his models off your board edge . . . oops. Similarly, if you have the same 24-model list and 6 of them get off the board edge . . . well, everyone besides the six that escaped will need to die before the game can end. Did you leave any heroes behind on the board? They'd better two-hand or Feint if you did so they die quickly . . .

A more strategic approach is to get some models off the enemy board edge and have the others (more than three-quarters) stick around to hedge off the enemy and slow them down. While not breaking would be a good thing, breaking and ending the game before the enemy has a chance to get anyone off the board is a pretty good strategy (especially if you've already gotten a handful of models off the enemy's board edge) - but more on this later.

As I discussed in the first article in my Bare Necessities series, having four fast units is really great in a lot of different scenarios - but particularly this one. We've already seen that it pays to be able to get somewhere fast in Pools 1, 2, 3, and now 5 - so that's two-thirds of the scenarios where having something fast (or a lot of fast things) can be really, really helpful. In this scenario, though, having four fast models is the magic number for maximizing on the VPs if you can also stall out your opponent from getting anyone near your board edge.

Why four you ask? Well, we'll answer that by looking at some strategies . . .

Strategy #1: Four Fast Models (Including Your Army Leader)

As I talked about in that inaugural Bare Necessities article, getting one model off the board is only going to get you 3 VPs - and if your opponent gets one model off the board, you'll get no VPs. Getting two models off the enemy board edge is better, since it gives you 5 VPs so long as your opponent gets off 0-1 models - but if he gets two across, you've again got no VPs to show for it.

Three models is much better, not only because it gives you 7 VPs if your opponent gets off 0-1 models, but it also guarantees that you'll get 3 VPs if your opponent gets 2 models off and only denies you VPs if the opposing army gets 3 models off. While I haven't really addressed this yet, your opponent will need to get 6 models off the board edge in order to get 5 VPs against you, which is pretty good odds against most match-ups.

But four models is the best goal for an army that wants to limit its investment in fast units - you'll get 7 VPs if your opponent gets off 0-1 models, 5 VPs if your opponent gets 2 models off, and 3 VPs if your opponent gets 3 models off. In order to double you, your opponent will need to get 8 models off - and naturally, your opponent will need 12 models to escape in order to triple you. For the vast majority of lists, this is impossible to do without also preventing themselves from being quartered.

Additionally, if you can manage it, it's best if your army leader is a fast model. Whether that means allying in Gwaihir as a Hero of Legend into your list (and avoiding taking heroes like Denethor or the Master of Lake-town who have to be your army leader - see a recent errata for changes to the Master's profile) or allying in the Witch-King/Suladan/the Spider Queen, you can deny your opponent VPs for killing your army leader if you can just get them off the board edge. Yes, this usually means that one of your best killing pieces is off the board for whatever's left of the game, but it also means that if you can get 7 VPs for getting models off the enemy board edge, your opponent can at best score 3 VPs . . . in most tournament settings, that's going to be a Major Victory right there - even if you break and everyone else dies/flees.

Sometimes, you can get 4 models off the board edge rather sneakily - for example, let's say that a Bat Swarm and a War Marauder are taken in a Moria list for 60 points. If the Bat Swarm flies off the board edge, it counts as one model - but if a Warg Marauder stops right next to the board edge and has all three of its Goblin riders dismount, then each of these Goblins will count as models that can escape. With the Bat Swarm, that's four models. It gets even better, though, if the Warg (who has 1 Attack) passes its Courage test to stick around after it becomes a "loose mount," since it can then move off the board edge on the following turn (once you have models dismounting, it can't move). Slick, huh?

There are also a few lists that can spawn models on the board - models that get to walk onto the board from any board edge (like the Goblin Warriors summoned by the Goblin Scribe) have to choose their own board edge (that would be SO gross if they could walk on from a side board edge and walk straight off the enemy board edge - or heck, cross over and double-back from the enemy's board edge), but warbands that get to arrive in different terrain pieces are absolutely allowed to do so, so beware those Goblin Mercenaries, those Defenders of the Shire LLs, and most of all, any Azog's Legion list that features the Signal Tower (possibly with a warband of Goblin Mercenaries) . . .

While you can certainly plan on having your units get killed off so you're quartered suddenly (Orcs are particularly good at this strategy), this strategy also works well for armies that want to be tough as nails and hold out against the enemy while a handful of their friends race for freedom. It is possible to break the enemy AND get a few of your models through. Stalling out the enemy can be pretty tricky (its a wide board, after all), but an infantry horde that surges for the midfield, huddles up, and intercepts the enemy can certainly delay them long enough to let their fast models (maybe aided by a Heroic Combat on one turn and a Heroic March on the following turn) get into a good scoring position before the enemy can get there.

Now if you want to be able to keep the enemy from scoring with a more flexible approach, I'd highly recommend you try . . .

Strategy #2: LOTS of Fast Models (But At Least 16 of Them)

The rule of 16 is simple here - we want to be able to quarter ourselves while still getting at least 4 models off. Armies that run all-cavalry (especially Rohan lists) probably have a handful of heroes with Might to make sure their cavalry are getting the charges that they want (or dancing away from danger, commonly referred to as "kiting"). These lists can maneuver very quickly around terrain to catch models that are making a break for their board edges while also giving themselves lots of options to slingshot their models towards the enemy board edge. If facing an enemy shieldwall, a cavalry-heavy, shooting-heavy list is likely to have an advantage (especially if the shieldwall has little to no shooting to support it).

As with any game of MESBG, patience is certainly a virtue with this kind of list - charging in straight away and getting surrounded/crushed could mean that you don't have a channel to pass through to the enemy's side of the board, while simultaneously picking up heavy losses that could threaten to end the game early. Even if your opponent doesn't get anyone across, you can still lose if your models die too quickly. This leads us into a third strategy . . .

Strategy #3: Just Break 'Em

You can't get 6+ VPs in this scenario without getting anyone across the board - but for some armies, getting even a single model across the board might seem like a bit of a pipe dream. Whether that's because decisions were made in the list building phase to avoid taking fast allied options for lists that have no innate fast troops or if you've chosen to take a Legendary Legion that doesn't have any fast units (and doubly so if you skipped the Heroic March hero options that most Legions have), you might find yourself in a position where you just won't have the time to walk a model across the board (especially if the "straight line" approach is not going to work). 

Whatever the reason, if you find yourself without fast options, it'll take no fewer than 8 turns of hard walking (it might be less if you can get in a lucky Heroic Combat or two for some extra movement) - and it's a perfectly reasonable plan to try to a) break the enemy, b) kill the enemy army leader, c) not break, and d) keep your army leader alive and unwounded. A 5-0 victory might be either a Major or a Minor, depending on your tournament setup - but a win is still a win. If ties are broken by VP differential, a 5-point differential isn't bad and honestly, your opponent might be trying to do the same thing because . . . well, not everyone brings fast units (or if the only fast units on the enemy side are army leaders/heroes, your opponent might forget how to win the scenario and get caught up in killing stuff).

This isn't a great option - and honestly, if you can avoid being forced into this position, you should try to avoid it - but it's also pretty common. If you like having big shieldwall blocks and don't see the point in having cavalry or fast infantry, I can totally understand why this might not seem like a good scenario. But cavalry aren't that expensive and it usually pays to have a few of them . . . so, give them a try and you won't find yourself cursing the tournament organizer for picking this scenario. :)

Conclusion

That's it for Pool 5! Hopefully you're enjoying this series - it's been kind of a shock to us that we've never covered this in any of our articles to date, so it's been fun pouring over old games for these scenarios and figuring out what actually matters. Next week we have a not-thematic-list-building post (but I'm really excited to see what you all think about it), but after that, we're going to kick off Pool 6 and look at one of the best (and most beloved) pools of scenarios in the game. Until next time, happy hobbying!