The upcoming Grand Tournament Mission Pack 2021 is bringing a host of changes to Matched Play battles. As one of the key ways to earn victory points and pull ahead in your games, secondary objectives have received a lot of scrutiny this time around. We asked three experienced playtesters to talk about their favourite updates and how they’ll be shaking up the Matched Play scene.
Mike Brandt
The Grand Tournament 2021 Mission Pack focuses on the core secondary objectives, replacing some and bringing a greater degree of parity throughout the various categories. Overall, it represents a different type of change from the ‘first turn mechanic’-centric ones seen in the January mission update.
Of particular note, there were quite a few secondaries that were difficult to achieve from a timing perspective, despite being interesting choices. An example of this is the change from Investigate Sites to Investigate Signal.
Previously, Investigate Sites could only begin at the end of your Movement phase if the centre of the battlefield was devoid of enemy units. This presented a real problem. As long as your opponent got at least one model within 6" of the centre on their turn, you could never score it since you generally can't destroy enemy models before the end of your Movement phase.
Now, you can start to perform the action if enemy units are within 6" and score if you can clear the centre by the time the action completes at the end of your turn. These sorts of changes can appear subtle, but they have major impacts on the breadth and depth of scoring opportunities presented across the game.
Nick Nanavati
With the new rules update comes the opportunity to explore fresh strategies, tactics, and unit choices. One of my favourite changes is the new secondary objective No Prisoners, which replaces Thin Their Ranks.
No Prisoners counts the Wounds characteristic of destroyed models as long as they aren’t a Vehicle, Monster, or Character. This gives so many options when fighting against the tougher armies out there, like Adeptus Custodes and Death Guard, which offer more kill points for each model removed from the table.
The new version of Deploy Scramblers, the evocatively named Retrieve Octarius Data, is also great for opening up more possibilities. Getting extra points for completing the objective in multiple table quarters is more reliable than the previous all or nothing proposition, but also requires a greater degree of coordination and strategic thinking.
Fast-moving, low wound count skirmish units such as Swooping Hawks and Pteraxii go up in value with the larger emphasis on completing actions. Vehicles and Monsters are also on the rise since they no longer provide kill points for No Prisoners. The meta is ripe for innovation as new possibilities emerge.
Stephen Box
The new Grand Tournament 2021 Mission Pack has some incredible changes, upgrades, and new rules that will bring about more competitive and balanced games. In particular, this update helps those armies that don’t yet have their own secondary objectives by giving them much better options within the main core rules.
The changes to the objectives now make selecting the right secondary a much harder decision. This has been achieved by updating the less frequently picked options, due to their difficulty to score or ‘all or nothing’ nature, and replacing them with new objectives that are more achievable and granular.
This allows players to build multiple mission objectives and have a better selection at the table. These updates will reward those players who understand how their army list can operate and the role of every unit they put onto the table. Being able to build an army that can score consistently in every match-up and mission is going to be vital.
A mix of mobile infantry units, objective secured troops, and units that can be used to remove their opponent from their objectives through combat are all key to victory. The new No Prisoners and changes to Bring It Down also mean characterful armies made up of Tyranid Monsters, Astra Militarum tanks, or Ork Vehicles are more viable, so might start to see more of these on the table as the meta adjusts.
How will these objective changes affect your Matched Play armies? Make sure you pick up the Grand Tournament Mission Pack 2021 when it arrives for pre-order on Saturday. It also includes the Munitorum Field Manual Mk II which contains the latest updates to points costs for all Matched Play armies.