Mission Setup: Key Positions

The Core Set comes with 4 different Objective Cards. Understanding these cards is of paramount importance since whoever plays the objective better wins. Below are thoughts on Key Positions.

Key Positions

Setup: Starting with the blue player, players alternate placing objective tokens on the battlefield until 3 tokens have been placed or no more tokens can be placed. Each token must be placed on a piece of terrain that is completely outside all deployment zones.

Victory: At the end of the game, for each terrain piece with an objective token, the player who has the most unit leaders in base contact with that terrain piece gains 1 victory token.

This objective is somewhat unique in that a maximum of only 3 tokens can be scored; perhaps even fewer depending on the deployment zone and terrain positions. This isn't a time sensitive objective, as tokens are only gained at the end of the game. If your army emphasizes offensive firepower over large numbers of troopers, you prefer digging in rather than clever maneuvering, or you're simply confident you can outlast your enemy in a battle of attrition, then you might find this objective favorable.

It also confers a notable advantage to the blue player, as they will get to place 2 out of the 3 objective tokens. If there are 2 pieces of terrain close to the blue player's deployment zone(s), then they may be able to take up a strong defensive position which the red player will have to assault. If you are the red player, you might want to eliminate this objective early to prevent this from happening; or you might try pushing for a deployment card like Disarray that could disrupt such a plan.

If you are the blue player, placing your second "key position" close to the first will allow your units to support each other as they defend them both. Pairing this objective with the Hostile Environment Condition Card can be a real pain for the red player.

When selecting terrain pieces to mark with an objective token, consider the following questions:

• How far is it from any previously placed objective markers?
• How many turns will it take your units to get into base contact with this terrain? How many turns will your opponent's units take to get into base contact?
• Will it offer heavy cover (Cover 2), only light cover (Cover 1), or will it grant no cover at all? 
• Does it or any nearby terrain block line-of-sight entirely? In other words, can your opponent's troopers approach without exposing themselves to any fire?
• Are there terrain pieces that your opponent can use for cover during their approach?
• Is the terrain piece so large that enemy units can make base contact without getting too close to any dangerous but shorter-ranged weapons you might have?

The ideal terrain piece for a "key position" should be closer and easier for your units to reach, should offer your units as much cover as possible, and should have as little cover as possible between it and the enemy deployment zone(s). Enemy units moving to contest the objective should be forced to enter overlapping fields of fire from your own army in order to do so. And in the perfect situation they should be slowed down by having to either cross or go around difficult terrain as well.

If you are the red player, you will need to contest at least 1 "key position" that the blue player will be able to reach first. While your opponent may have a positional advantage, a well-equipped army can overcome this using units with the Steady keyword, weapons with Blast or Spray, or speeders that can flank and hit enemies from angles that avoid cover. When it's your turn to select a "key position" look for a spot that can support an assault against whichever terrain piece your opponent has already marked. 

As the red player, you should probably avoid playing this objective with Hostile Environment, as it can make assaults against defensive positions even more difficult. On the other hand, Limited Visibility or Rapid Reinforcements can help you close the distance to enemy controlled "key positions" while taking fewer casualties.

No matter which player you are, remember that you only need to control 2 of the 3 marked terrain pieces to gain more victory tokens, and that control depends on having more unit leaders in base contact with the terrain piece. If you can easily control any of the "key positions" far away from your opponents main force, then you should probably send your weakest, least impactful trooper unit. Then you can concentrate the rest of your forces to assault or defend a second, more vulnerable objective.

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