Quadrant Control ITS 2016 Mission Break Down

It’s time to get aggressive, today we are talking about the 2016 ITS mission: Quadrant Control. For more articles like this check out the Tactics Corner.

Situation

It’s not often you get to say this in Infinity, but leave the specialists at home and grab all the big guns you can carry- we’ve got ground to take and hold! The idea behind this mission is simple, have more points in a quadrant than your opponent to control it. Have more quadrants than the other player and you score more points than they do. The only things that don’t count for points are unconscious models, hidden troops, and troops not on the board.

This mission will be your standard deployment with 12” deployment zones. Make sure to pay attention to where your deployment zone is and where your half of the table to have a good mental picture of where the quadrants lie since you don’t get to mark them out until the end of the game turn.

INTELCOM CARD: At the beginning of the game you can choose to use the points listed on your Classified Objective card at the end of the game as points in a quadrant you have active models. If you choose this you won’t be able to use the card to score a Classified Objective.

Mission

Dominate (aka have more points in) the same number of quadrants as your opponent = 1pt per turn

Dominate more quadrants than your opponent = 3pts per turn

1 Classified Objective = 1pt

This mission is pretty straight forward and so is the scoring for this mission. The one question a lot of people are going to ask is “Do I keep my Classified Objective or take the points?”

The answer to this is = take the points. Always.

There are three different scenarios that can happen during this mission, and the points will be far more useful in each of them: You get blown out, it’s a close game, you blow the other person out. Let’s talk about each of these:

Let’s say your opponent has scored 6 points in the first two rounds and you are down 0-6. The four possible things that can happen are: You score a Classified Objective and now have 1 point. Your opponent gets another 3pts. You tie the last round. You score 3 pts in the last round. In terms of points scoring a tie and getting a Classified Objective are the same and even if you get both you still end 2-7 giving your opponent a major victory. If your opponent dominates again even if you score your Classified Objective it ends 9-1 – once again a major victory to the person who isn’t you. The only way you can avoid a major loss is if you can dominate in the last round. It won’t be easy but it is possible to give you a 3-6. It’s still a loss but it’s a minor one. It’s possible you could score your Classified Objective AND dominate giving you a 4-6 loss but that just isn’t realistic given how the game has gone up to that point. Getting rid of the Classified Objective and going for points gives you the best ability to score as many points as possible.

If the game is close, either in a series of ties or each player dominating one turn then you need to dominate in the last round. Your Classified Objective will net you 1pt, but your card will help you net 3.

The final scenario, is that you are blowing out your opponent. This is really just the reverse of the first situation, however you have to be careful of your opponent trying to use their INTELCOM card against you, so you will need yours to try and mitigate what they are doing.

The only time you could make an argument for keeping the Classified Objective is if you were trying for a full 10 pts. Considering the huge point swings in this mission’s scoring 10 points is a risky proposition. I would much rather have a better chance of scoring 9 pts than a risky chance at 10. But I’m pragmatic like that.

Execution

• No surprise here, go second if possible due to scoring based on objective control. But what if you can’t go second? If you are forced to go first you need to deploy yourself aggressively. You COULD just try to take the two quadrants in front of your deployment zone, but you need to really plan on taking three so that your opponent has to root you out of two separate quadrants instead of just one.
• Your deployment zone is worth zero points, so keeping even a single unit in place there is a waste. Build your army/deploy with the intent of getting everyone up forward of your deployment zones turn one. By committing your entire list you are forcing the opponent to commit their entire list and if they aren’t prepared for that you have an innate advantage.
• Obviously forward deployment, infiltration, AD Combat Jump, and any other ability to deploy outside your deployment zone should be considered. Don’t be afraid to bring your AD combat troops on early in the game to help tip the scales in your favor and keep momentum on your side.
• Inferior infiltration is actually quite useful here since it will allow you to control a far away quadrant early on… provided you stick the landing. It might not be wise to invest heavily in them, but one or two troops is worth consideration.
• Specialists… your first instinct is to skip them since there aren’t buttons to push, however medics and engineers are useful in reviving unconscious troops since unconscious don’t count towards domination. Hackers are great defensively as well. So maybe don’t invest heavily in them, but don’t dismiss them immediately.

Sustainment

In the end, Quadrant Control is a mission that awards being aggressive just short of reckless. You want to throw your army up the board early on and push your active turn to kill enemy troops. (Can’t dominate if you’re dead!) I think the jury is hung on bringing your TAGs here, they can be an amazing way to hold a single quadrant, but tie up a lot of points in one area making it tough to hold down several places. What do you guys think? Have another view on INTELCOM cards? Comment below! And as always, Frontline sells Infinity products at up to 25% off every day.