--- id: disposition-matchup/purge-the-foe--mirror kind: matchup-analysis lang: en title: "Purge the Foe mirror — Meatgrinder" subjects: - gdm:disposition/purge-the-foe - gdm:primary/purge-the-foe/meatgrinder sides: side0: disposition: purge-the-foe card: gdm:primary/purge-the-foe/meatgrinder scoringCheckpoint: mixed holdWindow: 0 side1: disposition: purge-the-foe card: gdm:primary/purge-the-foe/meatgrinder scoringCheckpoint: mixed holdWindow: 0 ratings: - metric: edge value: 10 confidence: high basis: theory rationale: "Mirror: identical cards, so the mission contributes nothing to the differential." - metric: ceiling side: 0 value: 16 confidence: medium basis: theory rationale: "Kill 3 VP plus trade differential 5 VP plus enemy home 5 VP is 13 VP a turn on top of the hold line." - metric: ceiling side: 1 value: 16 confidence: medium basis: theory rationale: "Mirror: both players hold this card, so the profile is identical on each side." - metric: floor side: 0 value: 11 confidence: medium basis: theory rationale: "The hold line is a flat 4 VP and the kill rider is nearly free, so 7 VP a round is the realistic floor." - metric: floor side: 1 value: 11 confidence: medium basis: theory rationale: "Mirror: both players hold this card, so the profile is identical on each side." - metric: tempo side: 0 value: 15 confidence: medium basis: theory rationale: "Most of the card scores at the end of your own turn, so alpha strikes and late grabs convert immediately." - metric: tempo side: 1 value: 15 confidence: medium basis: theory rationale: "Mirror: both players hold this card, so the profile is identical on each side." - metric: complexity side: 0 value: 13 confidence: medium basis: theory rationale: "The trade differential compares this turn kills against last turn losses, which forces you to plan 2 turns ahead." - metric: complexity side: 1 value: 13 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: "The recurring 5 VP for the enemy home objective is the most expensive real estate measured: taking it means standing where up to 74% of their deployment zone can see you." - metric: activationCost side: 0 value: 9 confidence: medium basis: theory rationale: "One expendable unit for the kill rider, one raid package; the rest of the army fights normally." - metric: exposure side: 1 value: 15 confidence: medium basis: theory rationale: "The recurring 5 VP for the enemy home objective is the most expensive real estate measured: taking it means standing where up to 74% of their deployment zone can see you." - metric: activationCost side: 1 value: 9 confidence: medium basis: theory rationale: "One expendable unit for the kill rider, one raid package; the rest of the army fights normally." claims: - type: engine-note phase: whole-game text: "Meatgrinder pays a flat 4 VP for holding anything, so holding a second or third objective adds nothing — the VP live in kills, the trade differential and the enemy home objective." - type: engine-note phase: whole-game text: "Controlling the opponent home objective pays 5 VP at the end of EVERY turn from round 2, not once at the end of battle — it is the single most repeatable line on the card." - type: pitfall phase: whole-game text: "Spreading onto 3 objectives is a trap: it does not raise the hold line and it feeds the opponent trade differential." - 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: "Two levers, and both are cheap. First, screen your home from round 2: their single most repeatable line is worth 5 VP a turn, and it dies if they cannot get enough OC within range of the marker. A screen that denies the approach is cheaper than an OC contest — but if they do get a body there, matching their level of control is enough, because equal totals mean neither of you holds it. Second, stop feeding the kill rider — the card counts *units*, not points, so a lone cheap unit left in the open is a free 3 VP for them. Keep everything either out of range or behind terrain, and remember that infantry in a ruin that has not shot is Hidden and cannot be seen past 15\"." - type: list-building side: 0 phase: list-building text: "Purge the Foe needs: One expendable unit that can reliably kill something on turn one — fast, enough damage to finish a target, cheap enough that losing it does not hurt. A delivery package for their home objective by round 2: deep strike, or speed plus durability. Sustained damage that is still alive in rounds 4-5. Alpha-strike lists run out of card exactly when the trade clause pays most. A cheap home screen. Two of them if their list has reserves." - type: layout phase: deployment text: "All three boards for this pairing are transcribed and measured. Layout 1 (diagonal halves) reads 3/20 for openness, Layout 2 (diagonal across the long axis) reads 5/20 for openness, Layout 3 (diagonal across the short axis) reads 5/20 for openness. Taking a home marker off the opponent costs 32.8% deployment-zone exposure on Layout 3 and 36% on Layout 1 — the same play, priced very differently. Central markers stay the safest ground on all three, bottoming out at 8.9% on Layout 3." listRequirements: - side: 0 role: "One expendable unit that can reliably kill something on turn one" count: 1 trait: - expendable-bodies - damage - speed phase: list-building why: "One expendable unit that can reliably kill something on turn one — fast, enough damage to finish a target, cheap enough that losing it does not hurt." - side: 0 role: "A delivery package for their home objective by round 2" count: 2 trait: - deep-strike - speed phase: list-building why: "A delivery package for their home objective by round 2: deep strike, or speed plus durability." - side: 0 role: "Sustained damage that is still alive in rounds 4-5" count: 4 trait: - damage phase: list-building why: "Sustained damage that is still alive in rounds 4-5." - side: 0 role: "A cheap home screen" trait: - screening - expendable-bodies phase: list-building why: "A cheap home screen." - side: 0 role: "Two of them if their list has reserves" count: 2 trait: - deep-strike phase: list-building why: "Two of them if their list has reserves." dependsOn: corpus: "2026-05-09 23:42:21" gdmPack: "GDM" status: draft sources: [] --- ## The matchup in a nutshell Two killers, one card. Holding pays a flat 4 VP whether you own 1 objective or four, so board control is almost irrelevant — the points live in bodies, in the trade differential, and in a 5 VP-a-turn bounty on the enemy home objective. This mirror is decided by whoever gets a durable unit into the other's back yard first. | | Purge the Foe (side 0) | Purge the Foe (side 1) | |---|---|---| | Card | Meatgrinder | Meatgrinder | | Scores at | mixed | mixed | | Hold window | 0 enemy turns | 0 enemy turns | | Exposure | 15/20 | 15/20 | | Activation cost | 9/20 | 9/20 | 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: Meatgrinder. Scoring checkpoint: mixed. Hold window: 0 enemy turns.* ### How you score Kill something every turn (3 VP), hold any 1 objective (4 VP), and win the trade comparison — more enemy units dead this turn than friendly units lost last turn (5 VP). Then the big one: 5 VP at the end of **every** turn you control their home objective. A unit that lands there in round 2 and survives to round 5 is worth 20 VP on its own. ### What it costs you The home bounty is the most expensive real estate on the table, and the trade clause punishes over-commitment a turn late. Spend a quiet turn before your big one — losses you take now poison next turn's comparison. Exposure 15/20, activation cost 9/20. ### How you break them Two levers, and both are cheap. First, **screen your home** from round 2: their single most repeatable line is worth 5 VP a turn and dies to one screening unit in the way. Second, stop feeding the kill rider — the card counts *units*, not points, so a lone cheap unit left in the open is a free 3 VP for them. Keep everything either out of range or behind terrain, and remember that infantry in a ruin that has not shot is Hidden and cannot be seen past 15". ### What your list needs - One expendable unit that can reliably kill something on turn one — fast, enough damage to finish a target, cheap enough that losing it does not hurt. - A delivery package for their home objective by round 2: deep strike, or speed plus durability. - Sustained damage that is still alive in rounds 4-5. Alpha-strike lists run out of card exactly when the trade clause pays most. - A cheap home screen. Two of them if their list has reserves. ## Playing Purge the Foe *Your card: Meatgrinder. Scoring checkpoint: mixed. Hold window: 0 enemy turns.* ### How you score Kill something every turn (3 VP), hold any 1 objective (4 VP), and win the trade comparison — more enemy units dead this turn than friendly units lost last turn (5 VP). Then the big one: 5 VP at the end of **every** turn you control their home objective. A unit that lands there in round 2 and survives to round 5 is worth 20 VP on its own. ### What it costs you The home bounty is the most expensive real estate on the table, and the trade clause punishes over-commitment a turn late. Spend a quiet turn before your big one — losses you take now poison next turn's comparison. Exposure 15/20, activation cost 9/20. ### How you break them Two levers, and both are cheap. First, **screen your home** from round 2: their single most repeatable line is worth 5 VP a turn and dies to one screening unit in the way. Second, stop feeding the kill rider — the card counts *units*, not points, so a lone cheap unit left in the open is a free 3 VP for them. Keep everything either out of range or behind terrain, and remember that infantry in a ruin that has not shot is Hidden and cannot be seen past 15". ### What your list needs - One expendable unit that can reliably kill something on turn one — fast, enough damage to finish a target, cheap enough that losing it does not hurt. - A delivery package for their home objective by round 2: deep strike, or speed plus durability. - Sustained damage that is still alive in rounds 4-5. Alpha-strike lists run out of card exactly when the trade clause pays most. - A cheap home screen. Two of them if their list has reserves. ## The three layouts Purge the Foe 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 halves | 3/20 | — | 36% | 4.8% | | Layout 2 | diagonal across the long axis | 5/20 | — | 34.5% | 0.4% | | Layout 3 | diagonal across the short axis | 5/20 | 8.9% | 32.8% | 12.9% | - **Layout 1** — diagonal halves, openness **3/20**. Raiding a home marker costs **36%** exposure — real, but payable with one screened unit. No-man's-land markers sit at **4.8%**. Almost anywhere you stand near a marker (99% of legal spots) can be put fully out of sight. - **Layout 2** — diagonal across the long axis, openness **5/20**. Raiding a home marker costs **34.5%** exposure — real, but payable with one screened unit. No-man's-land markers sit at **0.4%**. 84% of the legal holding spots can go fully out of sight — pick the spot, not the marker. - **Layout 3** — 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 **8.9%** of the enemy deployment zone can see. Raiding a home marker costs **32.8%** exposure — real, but payable with one screened unit. No-man's-land markers sit at **12.9%**. Almost anywhere you stand near a marker (96% of legal spots) can be put fully out of sight. 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 — position for a guaranteed round-2 kill rather than reaching for objectives. - Round 2 — commit the raid. Every turn you delay is 5 VP gone. - Round 4 — if the raid failed, farm the cheapest targets available; the card counts units, not value.