Matchup analysis → Take and Hold vs Priority Assets
Take and Hold vs Priority Assets — Inescapable Dominion / Secure Asset
Warhammer 40,000 11th edition · GDM 2026 matched play · primary mission matchup
Priority Assets holds the slight edge here.
| Force disposition | Primary mission card | Edge |
|---|---|---|
| Take and Hold | Inescapable Dominion | 9 |
| Priority Assets | Secure Asset | 11 |
- The matchup in a nutshell
- Playing Take and Hold
- Playing Priority Assets
- The three layouts
- Decision points
The matchup in a nutshell
Two flat cards, so neither of you scales with board control — this is a game of thresholds, not accumulation. Take and Hold needs 2 objectives and a lead on count for a dependable 9 VP a round. Priority Assets needs 1 objective, an action every turn, and exactly 3 markers for its second bonus. Reliability favours the holder.
| Take and Hold | Priority Assets | |
|---|---|---|
| Card | Inescapable Dominion | Secure Asset |
| Scores at | mixed | mixed |
| Hold window | 1 enemy turn | 1 enemy turn |
| Exposure | 12/20 | 13/20 |
| Activation cost | 12/20 | 14/20 |
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: Inescapable Dominion. Scoring checkpoint: mixed. Hold window: 1 enemy turn.
How you score
4 VP any turn you hold three or more objectives; then at your Command phase, 5 VP for holding two or more and 4 VP for holding more objectives than your opponent. A flat, dependable 9 VP a round that asks nothing of your army but standing still. Plus 5 VP at the end of battle for their home objective.
What it costs you
Low. 2 objectives on safe ground and a count advantage can be built without ever exposing much — the only risky play on the card is the late home raid, and that is optional. Exposure 12/20, activation cost 12/20.
How you break them
Their second bonus needs exactly 3 objectives, so denying their third is worth 4 VP to them and 4 VP to you at the same time — contest, do not expand. Their other half is the asset action, so kill the carrier: a unit performing an action is not shooting back and usually not moving. And note that your count bonus is checked at your Command phase, so they can take an objective on their own turn and still deny it — count at the right moment.
What your list needs
- Two durable holders. That is the whole engine.
- 1 unit dedicated to contesting their third objective — it does not need to hold it, only to deny it.
- Threat on their asset carrier: reach, or something in reserve.
- One late raider for the 5 VP finish; you will have units spare by round 4.
Playing Priority Assets
Your card: Secure Asset. Scoring checkpoint: mixed. Hold window: 1 enemy turn.
How you score
4 VP any turn a unit secures the asset, 2 VP for killing an enemy that started near a central objective, and at your Command phase 4 VP for holding anything plus 4 VP for holding three or more.
What it costs you
The asset carrier spends its turn on the action, and reaching 3 objectives against a dedicated holding army means committing bodies you would rather keep. Half your card depends on an action completing. Exposure 13/20, activation cost 14/20.
How you break them
Their card is flat: 5 VP for 2 objectives, 4 VP for being ahead on count. So matching their count denies 4 VP for free — you do not need to out-hold them, only to tie. Their 5 VP finish wants your home objective, so screen it from round 4. And the fourth objective is worth nothing to them, which means anything they commit beyond two is a unit you can ignore.
What your list needs
- Two or three cheap units able to perform the asset action on rotation, so a kill does not stop the engine.
- Just enough board presence to reach 3 objectives — not four.
- A home screen for the last 2 rounds.
- Shooting that can reach models sitting on central objectives, for the 2 VP rider.
The three layouts
Take and Hold vs Priority Assets 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 | 11/20 | 19.7% | 63.9% | — |
| Layout 2 | bands on the short edges | 3/20 | 0% | 41.1% | 0% |
| Layout 3 | diagonal across the short axis | 7/20 | 17.3% | 60.8% | 8.4% |
- Layout 1 — bands on the short edges, openness 11/20. The middle is contested ground — the best holding spot on a central marker is still visible to 19.7% of the enemy deployment zone. Home markers are a fortress: taking one means standing in front of 63.9% of their deployment zone. Almost anywhere you stand near a marker (100% of legal spots) can be put fully out of sight.
- Layout 2 — 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 41.1% exposure — real, but payable with one screened unit. No-man's-land markers sit at 0%. 83% 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 7/20. The middle is contested ground — the best holding spot on a central marker is still visible to 17.3% of the enemy deployment zone. Home markers are a fortress: taking one means standing in front of 60.8% of their deployment zone. No-man's-land markers sit at 8.4%. 72% 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 (41.1% exposure against 63.9% on Layout 1) — the same raid can be a bargain or a suicide depending on which board you drew.
Take and Hold and Priority Assets must survive a full enemy turn before banking a grab, so Layout 2 (openness 3/20) is the board where that plan is cheapest, and Layout 1 (11/20) the one where it bleeds.
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
- Rounds 2-3 — Priority Assets goes for the third objective or settles for actions.
- Round 4 — Take and Hold releases a unit for the home raid; Priority Assets screens home.
- Round 5 — the count bonus is checked at the Take and Hold Command phase, so a last-turn grab still denies 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 Take and Hold) | 9/20 | medium | theory | Both cards run flat hold lines and both project 25 VP past the cap, so the cell is decided by who can score without moving: Secure Asset banks 12 VP a turn from its own half and the centre against Inescapable Dominion's 9, and its action pays without the ground having to survive to the end of the turn. The count bonus that looks like the Take and Hold edge is the clause that obliges it to leave. |
Take and Hold
| Metric | Score | Confidence | Basis | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ceiling | 13/20 | medium | theory | Flat lines cap the card: 9 VP a round plus a 4 VP stretch and a 5 VP finish. |
| floor | 16/20 | medium | theory | 2 objectives and a lead on count is the whole card, and it needs nothing else. |
| tempo | 7/20 | medium | theory | The engine is a Command-phase checkpoint. |
| complexity | 5/20 | medium | theory | 2 objectives, stay ahead on count. The simplest card in the matrix. |
| exposure | 12/20 | medium | theory | 2 objectives and a count lead can be built from safe ground; only the late home raid puts a unit somewhere hostile. |
| activationCost | 12/20 | medium | theory | Flat thresholds mean you commit exactly enough and no more — the cheapest holding plan in the matrix. |
Priority Assets
| Metric | Score | Confidence | Basis | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ceiling | 14/20 | medium | theory | 8 VP a round when holding three, plus the asset action and a kill rider. |
| floor | 12/20 | medium | theory | The 4 VP hold is safe, but half the card depends on completing the asset action. |
| tempo | 11/20 | medium | theory | The asset action and the kill rider both resolve at the end of your turn. |
| complexity | 11/20 | medium | theory | Action timing against a three-objective threshold. |
| exposure | 13/20 | medium | theory | Securing the asset and reaching 3 objectives both require forward presence held through an enemy turn. |
| activationCost | 14/20 | medium | theory | The asset carrier is a dedicated unit, and 3 objectives need three garrisons. |
Playbook
Playing Take and Hold
- Inescapable Dominion does not scale: 5 VP for two or more objectives and 4 VP for being ahead on count is a hard 9 VP a round, so the fourth objective is worth nothing.
- Denying the opponent third objective is worth 4 VP to the Take and Hold player (the count bonus) — denial and scoring are the same action.
- 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 second bonus needs exactly 3 objectives, so denying their third is worth 4 VP to them and 4 VP to you at the same time — contest, do not expand. Their other half is the asset action, so kill the carrier: a unit performing an action is not shooting back and usually not moving. And note that your count bonus is checked at your Command phase, so they can take an objective on their own turn and still deny it — count at the right moment.
- Take and Hold needs: Two durable holders. That is the whole engine. 1 unit dedicated to contesting their third objective — it does not need to hold it, only to deny it. Threat on their asset carrier: reach, or something in reserve. One late raider for the 5 VP finish; you will have units spare by round 4.
Playing Priority Assets
- Secure Asset pays 4 VP for holding anything and another 4 VP for holding three or more, so the Priority Assets player has a real threshold at exactly 3 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 card is flat: 5 VP for 2 objectives, 4 VP for being ahead on count. So matching their count denies 4 VP for free — you do not need to out-hold them, only to tie. Their 5 VP finish wants your home objective, so screen it from round 4. And the fourth objective is worth nothing to them, which means anything they commit beyond two is a unit you can ignore.
- Priority Assets needs: Two or three cheap units able to perform the asset action on rotation, so a kill does not stop the engine. Just enough board presence to reach 3 objectives — not four. A home screen for the last 2 rounds. Shooting that can reach models sitting on central objectives, for the 2 VP rider.
Applies to both sides
- Both players lose VP by over-committing to a fourth objective: neither hold line pays for it.
- 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 11/20 for openness, Layout 2 (bands on the short edges) reads 3/20 for openness, Layout 3 (diagonal across the short axis) reads 7/20 for openness. Taking a home marker off the opponent costs 41.1% deployment-zone exposure on Layout 2 and 63.9% on Layout 1 — the same play, priced very differently. Central markers stay the safest ground on all three, bottoming out at 0% on Layout 2.
Frequently asked
Is Take and Hold or Priority Assets favoured in this matchup?
Priority Assets holds the slight edge here.
How do you stop Priority Assets scoring when you are playing Take and Hold?
Their second bonus needs exactly 3 objectives, so denying their third is worth 4 VP to them and 4 VP to you at the same time — contest, do not expand. Their other half is the asset action, so kill the carrier: a unit performing an action is not shooting back and usually not moving. And note that your count bonus is checked at your Command phase, so they can take an objective on their own turn and still deny it — count at the right moment.
What units does a Take and Hold list need against Priority Assets?
Take and Hold needs: Two durable holders. That is the whole engine. 1 unit dedicated to contesting their third objective — it does not need to hold it, only to deny it. Threat on their asset carrier: reach, or something in reserve. One late raider for the 5 VP finish; you will have units spare by round 4.
How do you stop Take and Hold scoring when you are playing Priority Assets?
Their card is flat: 5 VP for 2 objectives, 4 VP for being ahead on count. So matching their count denies 4 VP for free — you do not need to out-hold them, only to tie. Their 5 VP finish wants your home objective, so screen it from round 4. And the fourth objective is worth nothing to them, which means anything they commit beyond two is a unit you can ignore.
What units does a Priority Assets list need against Take and Hold?
Priority Assets needs: Two or three cheap units able to perform the asset action on rotation, so a kill does not stop the engine. Just enough board presence to reach 3 objectives — not four. A home screen for the last 2 rounds. Shooting that can reach models sitting on central objectives, for the 2 VP rider.
How do the Take and Hold and Priority Assets primary mission cards score?
Inescapable Dominion does not scale: 5 VP for two or more objectives and 4 VP for being ahead on count is a hard 9 VP a round, so the fourth objective is worth nothing. Denying the opponent third objective is worth 4 VP to the Take and Hold player (the count bonus) — denial and scoring are the same action. Secure Asset pays 4 VP for holding anything and another 4 VP for holding three or more, so the Priority Assets player has a real threshold at exactly 3 objectives.
What are the common mistakes in this matchup?
Both players lose VP by over-committing to a fourth objective: neither hold line pays for it.
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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/take-and-hold,gdm:disposition/priority-assets,gdm:primary/take-and-hold/inescapable-dominion,gdm:primary/priority-assets/secure-asset. - Machine-readable: JSON · Markdown source