{
  "id": "disposition-matchup/reconnaissance--mirror",
  "kind": "matchup-analysis",
  "lang": "en",
  "title": "Reconnaissance mirror — Gather Intel",
  "subjects": [
    "gdm:disposition/reconnaissance",
    "gdm:primary/reconnaissance/gather-intel"
  ],
  "sides": {
    "side0": {
      "disposition": "reconnaissance",
      "card": "gdm:primary/reconnaissance/gather-intel",
      "scoringCheckpoint": "mixed",
      "holdWindow": 0
    },
    "side1": {
      "disposition": "reconnaissance",
      "card": "gdm:primary/reconnaissance/gather-intel",
      "scoringCheckpoint": "mixed",
      "holdWindow": 0
    }
  },
  "ratings": [
    {
      "metric": "edge",
      "value": 10,
      "confidence": "high",
      "basis": "theory",
      "rationale": "Mirror: identical cards."
    },
    {
      "metric": "ceiling",
      "side": 0,
      "value": 19,
      "confidence": "medium",
      "basis": "theory",
      "rationale": "7 VP per unit completing Extract Intelligence is the largest per-event number in the matrix and it scales with how many units you can spare."
    },
    {
      "metric": "ceiling",
      "side": 1,
      "value": 19,
      "confidence": "medium",
      "basis": "theory",
      "rationale": "Mirror: both players hold this card, so the profile is identical on each side."
    },
    {
      "metric": "floor",
      "side": 0,
      "value": 8,
      "confidence": "medium",
      "basis": "theory",
      "rationale": "If no unit is free to act, the card collapses to a flat 4 VP hold line."
    },
    {
      "metric": "floor",
      "side": 1,
      "value": 8,
      "confidence": "medium",
      "basis": "theory",
      "rationale": "Mirror: both players hold this card, so the profile is identical on each side."
    },
    {
      "metric": "tempo",
      "side": 0,
      "value": 14,
      "confidence": "medium",
      "basis": "theory",
      "rationale": "Actions and the round-1 central grab resolve at the end of your own turn."
    },
    {
      "metric": "tempo",
      "side": 1,
      "value": 14,
      "confidence": "medium",
      "basis": "theory",
      "rationale": "Mirror: both players hold this card, so the profile is identical on each side."
    },
    {
      "metric": "complexity",
      "side": 0,
      "value": 15,
      "confidence": "medium",
      "basis": "theory",
      "rationale": "Action economy, unit count and marker placement all trade against each other every turn."
    },
    {
      "metric": "complexity",
      "side": 1,
      "value": 15,
      "confidence": "medium",
      "basis": "theory",
      "rationale": "Mirror: both players hold this card, so the profile is identical on each side."
    },
    {
      "metric": "exposure",
      "side": 0,
      "value": 15,
      "confidence": "medium",
      "basis": "theory",
      "rationale": "An acting unit must be alive at the end of the turn to score, so the 7 VP is only banked if it survives in place — and it cannot shoot back."
    },
    {
      "metric": "activationCost",
      "side": 0,
      "value": 18,
      "confidence": "medium",
      "basis": "theory",
      "rationale": "Every 7 VP costs a whole unit-turn of doing nothing else; this is the most activation-hungry card in the matrix."
    },
    {
      "metric": "exposure",
      "side": 1,
      "value": 15,
      "confidence": "medium",
      "basis": "theory",
      "rationale": "An acting unit must be alive at the end of the turn to score, so the 7 VP is only banked if it survives in place — and it cannot shoot back."
    },
    {
      "metric": "activationCost",
      "side": 1,
      "value": 18,
      "confidence": "medium",
      "basis": "theory",
      "rationale": "Every 7 VP costs a whole unit-turn of doing nothing else; this is the most activation-hungry card in the matrix."
    }
  ],
  "claims": [
    {
      "type": "engine-note",
      "phase": "whole-game",
      "text": "Extract Intelligence pays 7 VP per completing unit and is uncapped in the card text, so the mirror is decided by how many units each army can take off the board for a turn."
    },
    {
      "type": "threat",
      "phase": "whole-game",
      "text": "An opponent who kills your action units before the action completes denies 7 VP with a single activation — action units need cover or distance, not just spare bodies.",
      "refs": [
        "rule:13.09"
      ]
    },
    {
      "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": "Kill the actor before the action completes — 7 VP denied for one activation, the best exchange rate on the board. You do not even need to kill it: forcing it to move, charging it, or making it worth its while to fall back all cancel the action. Hunt the cheap unsupported units, not the scary ones. And keep them off the centre in round 1: that first 6 VP is worth a full round of their engine."
    },
    {
      "type": "list-building",
      "side": 0,
      "phase": "list-building",
      "text": "Reconnaissance needs: Bodies you are happy to waste. Three or four cheap units whose only job is standing still and acting. One fast unit for the round-1 central grab. Reach: something that can threaten an isolated action unit anywhere on the board, because they will hide them in ruins. Enough of a real army left over to hold 1 objective all game."
    },
    {
      "type": "layout",
      "phase": "deployment",
      "text": "All three boards for this pairing are transcribed and measured. Layout 1 (diagonal across the short axis) reads 4/20 for openness, Layout 2 (bands on the short edges) reads 9/20 for openness, Layout 3 (diagonal across the long axis) reads 6/20 for openness. Taking a home marker off the opponent costs 38.9% deployment-zone exposure on Layout 3 and 91.7% on Layout 2 — the same play, priced very differently. Central markers stay the safest ground on all three, bottoming out at 0.4% on Layout 1."
    }
  ],
  "listRequirements": [
    {
      "side": 0,
      "role": "Bodies you are happy to waste",
      "trait": [
        "expendable-bodies"
      ],
      "phase": "list-building",
      "why": "Bodies you are happy to waste."
    },
    {
      "side": 0,
      "role": "Three or four cheap units whose only job is standing still and acting",
      "count": 3,
      "trait": [
        "expendable-bodies"
      ],
      "phase": "list-building",
      "why": "Three or four cheap units whose only job is standing still and acting."
    },
    {
      "side": 0,
      "role": "One fast unit for the round-1 central grab",
      "count": 1,
      "trait": [
        "speed"
      ],
      "phase": "list-building",
      "why": "One fast unit for the round-1 central grab."
    },
    {
      "side": 0,
      "role": "Reach",
      "trait": [
        "reach"
      ],
      "phase": "list-building",
      "why": "Reach: something that can threaten an isolated action unit anywhere on the board, because they will hide them in ruins."
    },
    {
      "side": 0,
      "role": "Enough of a real army left over to hold 1 objective all game",
      "count": 1,
      "trait": [
        "objective-control"
      ],
      "phase": "list-building",
      "why": "Enough of a real army left over to hold 1 objective all game."
    }
  ],
  "dependsOn": {
    "corpus": "2026-05-09 23:42:21",
    "gdmPack": "GDM"
  },
  "status": "draft",
  "sources": [],
  "body": "## The matchup in a nutshell\n\nThe card pays **7 VP per unit** that completes Extract Intelligence. That is the biggest single number in the entire matrix, it is per unit, and it is uncapped. So this mirror is not about objectives at all — it is an arithmetic contest over how many units each of you can afford to take out of the fight for a turn.\n\n| | Reconnaissance (side 0) | Reconnaissance (side 1) |\n|---|---|---|\n| Card | Gather Intel | Gather Intel |\n| Scores at | mixed | mixed |\n| Hold window | 0 enemy turns | 0 enemy turns |\n| Exposure | 15/20 | 15/20 |\n| Activation cost | 18/20 | 18/20 |\n\nA 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.\n\n## Playing Reconnaissance\n\n*Your card: Gather Intel. Scoring checkpoint: mixed. Hold window: 0 enemy turns.*\n\n### How you score\n\nRound 1 pays 6 VP for a central objective at the end of your turn — reach it and take it. From round 2, hold any 1 objective for 4 VP and then convert every spare unit into 7 VP of intelligence. Two acting units a turn is 14 VP; the hold line is a rounding error by comparison.\n\n### What it costs you\n\nAn acting unit does not shoot, does not move, and must be alive at the end of the turn or the action scores nothing. Every 7 VP is a whole unit-turn of doing nothing else, which is why this is the most activation-hungry card in the game. Exposure 15/20, activation cost 18/20.\n\n### How you break them\n\nKill the actor before the action completes — 7 VP denied for one activation, the best exchange rate on the board. You do not even need to kill it: forcing it to move, charging it, or making it worth its while to fall back all cancel the action. Hunt the cheap unsupported units, not the scary ones. And keep them off the centre in round 1: that first 6 VP is worth a full round of their engine.\n\n### What your list needs\n\n- Bodies you are happy to waste. Three or four cheap units whose only job is standing still and acting.\n- One fast unit for the round-1 central grab.\n- Reach: something that can threaten an isolated action unit anywhere on the board, because they will hide them in ruins.\n- Enough of a real army left over to hold 1 objective all game.\n\n## Playing Reconnaissance\n\n*Your card: Gather Intel. Scoring checkpoint: mixed. Hold window: 0 enemy turns.*\n\n### How you score\n\nRound 1 pays 6 VP for a central objective at the end of your turn — reach it and take it. From round 2, hold any 1 objective for 4 VP and then convert every spare unit into 7 VP of intelligence. Two acting units a turn is 14 VP; the hold line is a rounding error by comparison.\n\n### What it costs you\n\nAn acting unit does not shoot, does not move, and must be alive at the end of the turn or the action scores nothing. Every 7 VP is a whole unit-turn of doing nothing else, which is why this is the most activation-hungry card in the game. Exposure 15/20, activation cost 18/20.\n\n### How you break them\n\nKill the actor before the action completes — 7 VP denied for one activation, the best exchange rate on the board. You do not even need to kill it: forcing it to move, charging it, or making it worth its while to fall back all cancel the action. Hunt the cheap unsupported units, not the scary ones. And keep them off the centre in round 1: that first 6 VP is worth a full round of their engine.\n\n### What your list needs\n\n- Bodies you are happy to waste. Three or four cheap units whose only job is standing still and acting.\n- One fast unit for the round-1 central grab.\n- Reach: something that can threaten an isolated action unit anywhere on the board, because they will hide them in ruins.\n- Enough of a real army left over to hold 1 objective all game.\n\n## The three layouts\n\nReconnaissance mirror is played on one of three boards, and they are not the same game. All three are transcribed and measured below.\n\n| Board | Deployment | Openness | Centre exposure | Cost to raid a home marker | No-man's-land |\n|---|---|---|---|---|---|\n| Layout 1 | diagonal across the short axis | 4/20 | 0.4% | 55.6% | 3.3% |\n| Layout 2 | bands on the short edges | 9/20 | 4.6% | 91.7% | 20.4% |\n| Layout 3 | diagonal across the long axis | 6/20 | 4.1% | 38.9% | — |\n\n- **Layout 1** — diagonal across the short axis, openness **4/20**. The middle is free real estate: there is a legal spot within range of a central marker that only **0.4%** of the enemy deployment zone can see. Home markers are a fortress: taking one means standing in front of **55.6%** of their deployment zone. No-man's-land markers sit at **3.3%**. Almost anywhere you stand near a marker (92% of legal spots) can be put fully out of sight.\n- **Layout 2** — bands on the short edges, openness **9/20**. The middle is free real estate: there is a legal spot within range of a central marker that only **4.6%** of the enemy deployment zone can see. Home markers are a fortress: taking one means standing in front of **91.7%** of their deployment zone. No-man's-land markers sit at **20.4%**. 46% of the legal holding spots can go fully out of sight — pick the spot, not the marker.\n- **Layout 3** — diagonal across the long axis, openness **6/20**. The middle is free real estate: there is a legal spot within range of a central marker that only **4.1%** of the enemy deployment zone can see. Raiding a home marker costs **38.9%** exposure — real, but payable with one screened unit. Almost anywhere you stand near a marker (90% of legal spots) can be put fully out of sight.\n\nIf your plan needs enemy ground, **Layout 3** is where it is cheapest (38.9% exposure against 91.7% on Layout 2) — the same raid can be a bargain or a suicide depending on which board you drew.\n\nNumbers 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.\n\n## Decision points\n\n- Round 1 — can you reach a central objective? 6 VP is worth over-extending for exactly once.\n- Every turn — how many units can act AND survive? An interrupted action is worth nothing.\n- Round 5 — 10 VP of end-of-battle marker scoring is often easier than one more action. Plan the marker positions 2 turns out.",
  "url": "https://hive-perdita.vercel.app/analysis/reconnaissance--mirror/"
}