--- id: disposition-matchup/take-and-hold--mirror kind: matchup-analysis lang: en title: "Take and Hold mirror — Battlefield Dominance" subjects: - gdm:disposition/take-and-hold - gdm:primary/take-and-hold/battlefield-dominance sides: side0: disposition: take-and-hold card: gdm:primary/take-and-hold/battlefield-dominance scoringCheckpoint: mixed holdWindow: 1 side1: disposition: take-and-hold card: gdm:primary/take-and-hold/battlefield-dominance scoringCheckpoint: mixed holdWindow: 1 ratings: - metric: edge value: 10 confidence: high basis: theory rationale: "Mirror: both players hold the same card, so the edge is decided by army and execution, not by the mission." - metric: ceiling side: 0 value: 17 confidence: medium basis: theory rationale: "3 objectives including home pays 3x3 + 2x2 = 13 VP per Command phase, the highest sustained hold rate in the matrix." - metric: ceiling side: 1 value: 17 confidence: medium basis: theory rationale: "Mirror: both players hold this card, so the profile is identical on each side." - metric: floor side: 0 value: 13 confidence: medium basis: theory rationale: "Home alone still pays 3 VP per round with no action, kill or marker requirement." - metric: floor side: 1 value: 13 confidence: medium basis: theory rationale: "Mirror: both players hold this card, so the profile is identical on each side." - metric: tempo side: 0 value: 5 confidence: medium basis: theory rationale: "The whole engine scores at the end of YOUR Command phase, so what matters is what survives the opponent turn, not what you grab on yours." - metric: tempo side: 1 value: 5 confidence: medium basis: theory rationale: "Mirror: both players hold this card, so the profile is identical on each side." - metric: complexity side: 0 value: 6 confidence: medium basis: theory rationale: "One clean rule to track (objective count plus the home rider); the difficulty is board control, not bookkeeping." - metric: complexity side: 1 value: 6 confidence: medium basis: theory rationale: "Mirror: both players hold this card, so the profile is identical on each side." - metric: exposure side: 0 value: 11 confidence: medium basis: theory rationale: "The engine pays rent on your own home objective, which is the cheapest square on the board to occupy — but every other objective must be physically held through an enemy turn." - metric: activationCost side: 0 value: 13 confidence: medium basis: theory rationale: "Objectives are held by parked units; the rider on home means 1 unit is committed there for the whole game and never fights." - metric: exposure side: 1 value: 11 confidence: medium basis: theory rationale: "The engine pays rent on your own home objective, which is the cheapest square on the board to occupy — but every other objective must be physically held through an enemy turn." - metric: activationCost side: 1 value: 13 confidence: medium basis: theory rationale: "Objectives are held by parked units; the rider on home means 1 unit is committed there for the whole game and never fights." claims: - type: engine-note phase: whole-game text: "Battlefield Dominance is the only primary card that pays for your own home objective (3 VP), and holding home also unlocks +2 VP for every other objective you hold." - type: threat phase: whole-game text: "Losing home is a double hit: minus 3 VP for home itself and minus 2 VP for every other objective held. A three-objective player who loses home drops from 13 to 6 VP per round." - type: counter phase: rounds-2-3 text: "Raiding the enemy home is the highest-leverage play in the mirror even though the card pays nothing for holding it: contesting it alone erases their rider." - type: pitfall phase: rounds-4-5 text: "Trading your home garrison away to grab a fourth objective is usually VP-negative once the rider is lost." - 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: "Go for their home. You score nothing for holding it, and it does not matter — contesting it deletes their rider. A three-objective opponent drops from 13 VP a round to 6 the moment their home is contested. One cheap fast unit parked in their back line is worth more than any objective you could take instead. Do it by round 3, before they have spare bodies to clear it." - type: list-building side: 0 phase: list-building text: "Take and Hold needs: A cheap, tough home garrison you are happy to never move — objective control matters more than damage here. Two mid-board units that can survive a full enemy turn standing on a marker; wounds and saves beat damage output. One fast, expendable unit whose entire job is to reach the enemy back line by round 3 and refuse to die. A screen against deep strike: your home objective is worth 5 VP a round to them if they take it from you." - type: layout phase: deployment text: "All three boards for this pairing are transcribed and measured. Layout 1 (diagonal across the long axis) reads 6/20 for openness, Layout 2 (diagonal across the short axis) reads 5/20 for openness, Layout 3 (diagonal halves) reads 6/20 for openness. Taking a home marker off the opponent costs 63.2% deployment-zone exposure on Layout 2 and 88.7% on Layout 3 — the same play, priced very differently. Central markers stay the safest ground on all three, bottoming out at 0.5% on Layout 2." listRequirements: - side: 0 role: "A cheap, tough home garrison you are happy to never move" trait: - expendable-bodies - durability - damage phase: list-building why: "A cheap, tough home garrison you are happy to never move — objective control matters more than damage here." - side: 0 role: "Two mid-board units that can survive a full enemy turn standing on a marker" count: 2 trait: - durability - damage - objective-control phase: list-building why: "Two mid-board units that can survive a full enemy turn standing on a marker; wounds and saves beat damage output." - side: 0 role: "One fast" count: 1 trait: - expendable-bodies - speed - reach phase: list-building why: "One fast, expendable unit whose entire job is to reach the enemy back line by round 3 and refuse to die." - side: 0 role: "A screen against deep strike" count: 5 trait: - deep-strike - screening phase: list-building why: "A screen against deep strike: your home objective is worth 5 VP a round to them if they take it from you." - side: 0 role: "A reactive threat that makes the approach cost something" count: 1 trait: - reactive-deterrence phase: rounds-2-3 why: "This card checks its hold at the Command phase, so every grab has to live through a full enemy turn. Heroic Intervention, Fire Overwatch and Counter-Offensive make that survivable by taxing the commit instead of answering it after the fact — cheaper than buying enough wounds to tank it." dependsOn: corpus: "2026-05-09 23:42:21" gdmPack: "GDM" status: draft sources: [] --- ## The matchup in a nutshell Both of you hold the only card in the game that pays rent on your **own** home objective — 3 VP a round for a unit that never moves, and it unlocks +2 VP on every other objective you hold. Nothing separates you but armies and nerve. The whole mirror comes down to one question: whose home breaks first. | | Take and Hold (side 0) | Take and Hold (side 1) | |---|---|---| | Card | Battlefield Dominance | Battlefield Dominance | | Scores at | mixed | mixed | | Hold window | 1 enemy turn | 1 enemy turn | | Exposure | 11/20 | 11/20 | | Activation cost | 13/20 | 13/20 | A hold window of 1 cuts both ways, and most players only think about one of them. It means your grab has to survive a full enemy turn before it pays — but it also means **you get a whole turn to shoot theirs off the marker before they bank it**. Denial is not a side quest on this card; it is half the card. ## Playing Take and Hold *Your card: Battlefield Dominance. Scoring checkpoint: mixed. Hold window: 1 enemy turn.* ### How you score Garrison home and never let go. With home in hand every other objective is worth 5 VP instead of 3, so 2 objectives pay 8 and three pay 13. That is the entire card. Round 1 and 2 also hand you 2 VP for simply being ahead on count, which is free if you took home first. ### What it costs you Your scoring checkpoint is your Command phase, so everything you grab has to live through a full enemy turn before it pays a single point. You are not taking objectives, you are renting targets. Budget for a unit that can eat a round of shooting, not one that merely reaches the marker. Exposure 11/20, activation cost 13/20. ### How you break them Go for their home. You score nothing for holding it, and it does not matter — **contesting** it deletes their rider. A three-objective opponent drops from 13 VP a round to 6 the moment their home is contested. One cheap fast unit parked in their back line is worth more than any objective you could take instead. Do it by round 3, before they have spare bodies to clear it. ### What your list needs - A cheap, tough home garrison you are happy to never move — objective control matters more than damage here. - Two mid-board units that can survive a full enemy turn standing on a marker; wounds and saves beat damage output. - One fast, expendable unit whose entire job is to reach the enemy back line by round 3 and refuse to die. - A screen against deep strike: your home objective is worth 5 VP a round to them if they take it from you. ## Playing Take and Hold *Your card: Battlefield Dominance. Scoring checkpoint: mixed. Hold window: 1 enemy turn.* ### How you score Garrison home and never let go. With home in hand every other objective is worth 5 VP instead of 3, so 2 objectives pay 8 and three pay 13. That is the entire card. Round 1 and 2 also hand you 2 VP for simply being ahead on count, which is free if you took home first. ### What it costs you Your scoring checkpoint is your Command phase, so everything you grab has to live through a full enemy turn before it pays a single point. You are not taking objectives, you are renting targets. Budget for a unit that can eat a round of shooting, not one that merely reaches the marker. Exposure 11/20, activation cost 13/20. ### How you break them Go for their home. You score nothing for holding it, and it does not matter — **contesting** it deletes their rider. A three-objective opponent drops from 13 VP a round to 6 the moment their home is contested. One cheap fast unit parked in their back line is worth more than any objective you could take instead. Do it by round 3, before they have spare bodies to clear it. ### What your list needs - A cheap, tough home garrison you are happy to never move — objective control matters more than damage here. - Two mid-board units that can survive a full enemy turn standing on a marker; wounds and saves beat damage output. - One fast, expendable unit whose entire job is to reach the enemy back line by round 3 and refuse to die. - A screen against deep strike: your home objective is worth 5 VP a round to them if they take it from you. ## The three layouts Take and Hold mirror 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 | diagonal across the long axis | 6/20 | 1% | 84% | 0.4% | | Layout 2 | diagonal across the short axis | 5/20 | 0.5% | 63.2% | 3.8% | | Layout 3 | diagonal halves | 6/20 | 0.9% | 88.7% | 1.7% | - **Layout 1** — 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 **1%** of the enemy deployment zone can see. Home markers are a fortress: taking one means standing in front of **84%** of their deployment zone. No-man's-land markers sit at **0.4%**. Almost anywhere you stand near a marker (92% of legal spots) can be put fully out of sight. - **Layout 2** — diagonal across the short axis, openness **5/20**. The middle is free real estate: there is a legal spot within range of a central marker that only **0.5%** of the enemy deployment zone can see. Home markers are a fortress: taking one means standing in front of **63.2%** of their deployment zone. No-man's-land markers sit at **3.8%**. Almost anywhere you stand near a marker (94% of legal spots) can be put fully out of sight. - **Layout 3** — diagonal halves, openness **6/20**. The middle is free real estate: there is a legal spot within range of a central marker that only **0.9%** of the enemy deployment zone can see. Home markers are a fortress: taking one means standing in front of **88.7%** of their deployment zone. No-man's-land markers sit at **1.7%**. 70% of the legal holding spots can go fully out of sight — pick the spot, not the marker. If your plan needs enemy ground, **Layout 2** is where it is cheapest (63.2% exposure against 88.7% on Layout 3) — 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 1 — home first, count second. The 2 VP for being ahead is nice; losing home to grab it is not. - Round 3 — if their home is still unraided, you are playing for a draw. Send something. - Rounds 4-5 — count objectives at the END of their turn, not yours. That is when your score is locked in.