Matchup analysis → Purge the Foe vs Reconnaissance
Purge the Foe vs Reconnaissance — Consecrate / Triangulation
Warhammer 40,000 11th edition · GDM 2026 matched play · primary mission matchup
Purge the Foe holds the slight edge here.
| Force disposition | Primary mission card | Edge |
|---|---|---|
| Purge the Foe | Consecrate | 11 |
| Reconnaissance | Triangulation | 9 |
- The matchup in a nutshell
- Playing Purge the Foe
- Playing Reconnaissance
- The three layouts
- Decision points
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.
Ratings and why
Every score is an integer out of 20. For edge, 10 is dead even and the score is given for side 0; the other metrics are absolute, per side. How these are derived →
| Metric | Score | Confidence | Basis | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| edge (for Purge the Foe) | 11/20 | medium | theory | 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. |
Purge the Foe
| Metric | Score | Confidence | Basis | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ceiling | 15/20 | medium | theory | 6 VP for three consecrated objectives, 8 VP a round of hold lines and a 5 VP finish. |
| floor | 14/20 | medium | theory | The hold and parity lines pay every round without any special condition. |
| tempo | 10/20 | medium | theory | Consecration checks at the end of your turn, the hold lines at your Command phase. |
| complexity | 9/20 | medium | theory | Track consecration and objective parity. |
| exposure | 13/20 | medium | theory | Consecration and objective parity both need presence, and the end-of-battle line asks you to reach the enemy home objective. |
| activationCost | 13/20 | medium | theory | Consecrating competes with fighting for the same activations. |
Reconnaissance
| Metric | Score | Confidence | Basis | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ceiling | 18/20 | medium | theory | 10 VP a turn at three triangulated objectives plus a 10 VP end-of-battle bonus. |
| floor | 10/20 | medium | theory | One triangulated objective is only 3 VP; the card is worth little until the tiers stack. |
| tempo | 15/20 | medium | theory | Triangulation and the finish both reward acting late on your own turn. |
| complexity | 14/20 | medium | theory | Tiered triangulation plus a hard four-objective finish demands planning several turns out. |
| exposure | 14/20 | medium | theory | The tiers need presence at several objectives at once, and the 10 VP finish is a wide late land grab into contested space. |
| activationCost | 13/20 | medium | theory | Triangulating spreads the army thin at exactly the moment it needs mass. |
Playbook
Playing Purge the Foe
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Playing Reconnaissance
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Applies to both sides
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Frequently asked
Is Purge the Foe or Reconnaissance favoured in this matchup?
Purge the Foe holds the slight edge here.
How do you stop Reconnaissance scoring when you are playing Purge the Foe?
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 units does a Purge the Foe list need against Reconnaissance?
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.
How do you stop Purge the Foe scoring when you are playing Reconnaissance?
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 units does a Reconnaissance list need against Purge the Foe?
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.
How do the Purge the Foe and Reconnaissance primary mission cards score?
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. 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. 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.
Related matchups
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Provenance
- Status: draft — ratings carry their own confidence and basis above.
- Written against the GDM 2026 matched play data snapshot pinned as
2026-05-09 23:42:21. - Subjects analysed:
gdm:disposition/purge-the-foe,gdm:disposition/reconnaissance,gdm:primary/purge-the-foe/consecrate,gdm:primary/reconnaissance/triangulation. - Machine-readable: JSON · Markdown source