--- id: disposition-matchup/purge-the-foe--vs--reconnaissance kind: matchup-analysis lang: en title: "Purge the Foe vs Reconnaissance — Consecrate / Triangulation" subjects: - gdm:disposition/purge-the-foe - gdm:disposition/reconnaissance - gdm:primary/purge-the-foe/consecrate - gdm:primary/reconnaissance/triangulation sides: side0: disposition: purge-the-foe card: gdm:primary/purge-the-foe/consecrate scoringCheckpoint: mixed holdWindow: 0 side1: disposition: reconnaissance card: gdm:primary/reconnaissance/triangulation scoringCheckpoint: mixed holdWindow: 0 ratings: - metric: edge value: 11 confidence: medium basis: theory rationale: "Cadence, not totals. Triangulation banks 14 VP a turn from its own half against Consecrate's 4, but it is capped at one action per turn and cannot start before round two, so a single denied turn drops the ladder a whole band (29 to 22). Consecrate has no rate limit and can score from round one, and needs only to touch an objective rather than control it. The Purge player sets the clock." - metric: ceiling side: 0 value: 15 confidence: medium basis: theory rationale: "6 VP for three consecrated objectives, 8 VP a round of hold lines and a 5 VP finish." - metric: ceiling side: 1 value: 18 confidence: medium basis: theory rationale: "10 VP a turn at three triangulated objectives plus a 10 VP end-of-battle bonus." - metric: floor side: 0 value: 14 confidence: medium basis: theory rationale: "The hold and parity lines pay every round without any special condition." - metric: floor side: 1 value: 10 confidence: medium basis: theory rationale: "One triangulated objective is only 3 VP; the card is worth little until the tiers stack." - metric: tempo side: 0 value: 10 confidence: medium basis: theory rationale: "Consecration checks at the end of your turn, the hold lines at your Command phase." - metric: tempo side: 1 value: 15 confidence: medium basis: theory rationale: "Triangulation and the finish both reward acting late on your own turn." - metric: complexity side: 0 value: 9 confidence: medium basis: theory rationale: "Track consecration and objective parity." - metric: complexity side: 1 value: 14 confidence: medium basis: theory rationale: "Tiered triangulation plus a hard four-objective finish demands planning several turns out." - metric: exposure side: 0 value: 13 confidence: medium basis: theory rationale: "Consecration and objective parity both need presence, and the end-of-battle line asks you to reach the enemy home objective." - metric: activationCost side: 0 value: 13 confidence: medium basis: theory rationale: "Consecrating competes with fighting for the same activations." - metric: exposure side: 1 value: 14 confidence: medium basis: theory rationale: "The tiers need presence at several objectives at once, and the 10 VP finish is a wide late land grab into contested space." - metric: activationCost side: 1 value: 13 confidence: medium basis: theory rationale: "Triangulating spreads the army thin at exactly the moment it needs mass." claims: - type: engine-note side: 0 phase: whole-game text: "Consecrate pays 4 VP for holding one or more objectives and another 4 VP for holding more objectives than the opponent — parity is half the card." - type: engine-note side: 1 phase: whole-game text: "Triangulation is tiered and steep: 3 VP for one triangulated objective, 6 VP for two, 10 VP for three — and 10 VP at the end of battle for controlling four or more objectives." - type: engine-note phase: whole-game text: "The Reconnaissance 10 VP finish requires breadth, and breadth is exactly what feeds the Purge parity bonus — taking objectives early costs the Reconnaissance player 4 VP a round." - type: cost side: 0 phase: whole-game text: "This card moves its checkpoint during the game, so the same grab costs a full enemy turn early and nothing late — price the grab accordingly before committing a unit to it." - type: cost side: 1 phase: whole-game text: "This card moves its checkpoint during the game, so the same grab costs a full enemy turn early and nothing late — price the grab accordingly before committing a unit to it." - type: terrain phase: deployment text: "Measured across all 45 transcribed layouts: a central objective can be held from a spot only 4.6% of the enemy deployment zone can see (best board 0%), while taking an enemy home objective means standing where a median of 47.7% of their deployment zone has line of sight, rising to 91.7% on the most exposed board. Cards that pay for enemy home objectives are charging you that difference, and the board decides the price." refs: - rule:13.08 - rule:14.02 - type: disruption side: 0 phase: whole-game text: "Their finish is 10 VP for holding four or more objectives at the end of battle. Deny the fourth and you have taken a fifth of their score with 1 unit. Their tier scoring is checked at the end of their turn and needs objectives triangulated — so contest the marginal one rather than fighting for the ones they already own. And every objective they grab early feeds your parity bonus, so let them spread: it costs them 4 VP a round." - type: list-building side: 0 phase: list-building text: "Purge the Foe needs: Enough board presence to stay 1 objective ahead every round — that is 4 VP a round for free. Consecration units that can operate without stopping your army fighting. One denial unit held back for round 5, aimed at their fourth objective. Something that can reach their home objective late for the 5 VP finish." - type: disruption side: 1 phase: whole-game text: "Their biggest line is 4 VP a round for more objectives than you — which means every objective you take early is 4 VP denied as well as gained. But do not over-spread before round 4, or you hand them the parity they want. Their consecration lines need objectives held; contest one and the 6 VP tier drops to 3. Their home-objective finish is worth 5 VP, so a screen at home from round 4 pays for itself." - type: list-building side: 1 phase: list-building text: "Reconnaissance needs: Speed and reserves for a single round-5 land grab — the 10 VP finish is worth more than 2 rounds of anything else. Units that can triangulate without committing to holding, since the tiers do not care about control. A home screen for the last 2 rounds. Patience: the card is designed to be behind until it is not." - type: layout phase: deployment text: "All three boards for this pairing are transcribed and measured. Layout 1 (bands on the short edges) reads 3/20 for openness, Layout 2 (diagonal across the short axis) reads 8/20 for openness, Layout 3 (diagonal across the long axis) reads 5/20 for openness. Taking a home marker off the opponent costs 47.4% deployment-zone exposure on Layout 1 and 65.6% on Layout 2 — the same play, priced very differently. Central markers stay the safest ground on all three, bottoming out at 0% on Layout 1." listRequirements: - side: 0 role: "Enough board presence to stay 1 objective ahead every round" count: 1 trait: - objective-control phase: list-building why: "Enough board presence to stay 1 objective ahead every round — that is 4 VP a round for free." - side: 0 role: "Consecration units that can operate without stopping your army fighting" trait: - objective-control phase: list-building why: "Consecration units that can operate without stopping your army fighting." - side: 0 role: "One denial unit held back for round 5" count: 1 trait: - objective-control phase: list-building why: "One denial unit held back for round 5, aimed at their fourth objective." - side: 0 role: "Something that can reach their home objective late for the 5 VP finish" count: 5 trait: - reach phase: list-building why: "Something that can reach their home objective late for the 5 VP finish." - side: 1 role: "Speed and reserves for a single round-5 land grab" count: 5 trait: - deep-strike - speed phase: list-building why: "Speed and reserves for a single round-5 land grab — the 10 VP finish is worth more than 2 rounds of anything else." - side: 1 role: "Units that can triangulate without committing to holding" trait: - objective-control phase: list-building why: "Units that can triangulate without committing to holding, since the tiers do not care about control." - side: 1 role: "A home screen for the last 2 rounds" count: 2 trait: - screening phase: list-building why: "A home screen for the last 2 rounds." - side: 1 role: "Patience" trait: - objective-control phase: list-building why: "Patience: the card is designed to be behind until it is not." dependsOn: corpus: "2026-05-09 23:42:21" gdmPack: "GDM" status: draft sources: [] --- ## The matchup in a nutshell Steady against explosive. Consecrate banks a reliable 8 VP a round from two Command-phase lines; Triangulation pays almost nothing early and up to 20 VP late. The tension is beautiful: the Reconnaissance finish needs 4 objectives, and taking objectives early hands the Purge player 4 VP a round in parity. Slight edge to the steadier card. | | Purge the Foe | Reconnaissance | |---|---|---| | Card | Consecrate | Triangulation | | Scores at | mixed | mixed | | Hold window | 0 enemy turns | 0 enemy turns | | Exposure | 13/20 | 14/20 | | Activation cost | 13/20 | 13/20 | A hold window of zero changes where the fight is. Nobody has to survive anything: you walk on, the turn ends, you get paid. Which means **there is no window to shoot them off the marker afterwards** — by the time it matters, they have already banked it. Denial on this card happens before the grab, not after. You are not buying reactions. You are buying space. ## Playing Purge the Foe *Your card: Consecrate. Scoring checkpoint: mixed. Hold window: 0 enemy turns.* ### How you score 3 VP for one or two consecrated objectives, 6 VP for three or more. At your Command phase, 4 VP for holding anything and 4 VP for holding more objectives than they do. Plus 5 VP at the end of battle if their home objective is consecrated. ### What it costs you Consecrating competes with fighting for the same activations, and the end-of-battle line asks you to reach their home objective. The parity half, though, is nearly free. Exposure 13/20, activation cost 13/20. ### How you break them Their finish is 10 VP for holding four or more objectives at the end of battle. **Deny the fourth** and you have taken a fifth of their score with 1 unit. Their tier scoring is checked at the end of their turn and needs objectives triangulated — so contest the marginal one rather than fighting for the ones they already own. And every objective they grab early feeds your parity bonus, so let them spread: it costs them 4 VP a round. ### What your list needs - Enough board presence to stay 1 objective ahead every round — that is 4 VP a round for free. - Consecration units that can operate without stopping your army fighting. - One denial unit held back for round 5, aimed at their fourth objective. - Something that can reach their home objective late for the 5 VP finish. ## Playing Reconnaissance *Your card: Triangulation. Scoring checkpoint: mixed. Hold window: 0 enemy turns.* ### How you score 4 VP at your Command phase for holding anything. Then the tiers, at the end of your turn: 3 VP for one triangulated objective, 6 VP for two, 10 VP for three or more. And 10 VP at the end of battle for holding four or more objectives. ### What it costs you Triangulating spreads the army thin exactly when it needs mass, and the finish demands a wide land grab into contested space in the last turn. Exposure 14/20, activation cost 13/20. ### How you break them Their biggest line is 4 VP a round for **more objectives than you** — which means every objective you take early is 4 VP denied as well as gained. But do not over-spread before round 4, or you hand them the parity they want. Their consecration lines need objectives held; contest one and the 6 VP tier drops to 3. Their home-objective finish is worth 5 VP, so a screen at home from round 4 pays for itself. ### What your list needs - Speed and reserves for a single round-5 land grab — the 10 VP finish is worth more than 2 rounds of anything else. - Units that can triangulate without committing to holding, since the tiers do not care about control. - A home screen for the last 2 rounds. - Patience: the card is designed to be behind until it is not. ## The three layouts Purge the Foe vs Reconnaissance is played on one of three boards, and they are not the same game. All three are transcribed and measured below. | Board | Deployment | Openness | Centre exposure | Cost to raid a home marker | No-man's-land | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | Layout 1 | bands on the short edges | 3/20 | 0% | 47.4% | 0% | | Layout 2 | diagonal across the short axis | 8/20 | 44.3% | 65.6% | 0.4% | | Layout 3 | diagonal across the long axis | 5/20 | 10.8% | 58% | 0% | - **Layout 1** — bands on the short edges, openness **3/20**. The middle is free real estate: there is a legal spot within range of a central marker that only **0%** of the enemy deployment zone can see. Raiding a home marker costs **47.4%** exposure — real, but payable with one screened unit. No-man's-land markers sit at **0%**. Almost anywhere you stand near a marker (85% of legal spots) can be put fully out of sight. - **Layout 2** — diagonal across the short axis, openness **8/20**. The middle is contested ground — the best holding spot on a central marker is still visible to **44.3%** of the enemy deployment zone. Home markers are a fortress: taking one means standing in front of **65.6%** of their deployment zone. No-man's-land markers sit at **0.4%**. Almost anywhere you stand near a marker (95% of legal spots) can be put fully out of sight. - **Layout 3** — diagonal across the long axis, openness **5/20**. The middle is contested ground — the best holding spot on a central marker is still visible to **10.8%** of the enemy deployment zone. Home markers are a fortress: taking one means standing in front of **58%** of their deployment zone. No-man's-land markers sit at **0%**. 63% of the legal holding spots can go fully out of sight — pick the spot, not the marker. If your plan needs enemy ground, **Layout 1** is where it is cheapest (47.4% exposure against 65.6% on Layout 2) — the same raid can be a bargain or a suicide depending on which board you drew. Numbers are measured on the transcribed sheets: every legal spot within control range of each marker is tested, and the best one is reported — the way a real player looks for the safest place to stand, not the middle of the marker. ## Decision points - Round 3 — Reconnaissance judges whether 4 objectives are reachable and holds reserves accordingly. - Round 4 — Purge the Foe picks which objective to deny; the one they need fourth is worth 10 VP. - Round 5 — the grab happens on their turn, so the denial must be in place before it.