Objectives

Objectives are the contested points that most missions build victory around, and controlling them turns board position into score. This page covers how objectives are placed, how you work out which player controls one using Objective Control, and what it means for an objective to be secured.

Terrain objectives

If a mission uses objectives, it tells you where they sit, usually by marking several points on a deployment map. Each of those points lines up with a terrain area, and that terrain area becomes the objective, called a terrain objective. Whenever you measure a distance to or from an objective, use its nearest part as the reference point at both ends.

A model is within range of a terrain objective whenever it is within that terrain area. There is no separate range value to check: occupying the area is what matters.

Level of control

At the start of the battle no objective is controlled by anyone. Control is decided by the OC (Objective Control) characteristic printed on your models. To contest an objective you need one or more models with an OC of 1 or more within range of it.

Control is re-checked at the end of every phase and at the end of each turn. A player's level of control over an objective is the sum of the OC characteristics of every one of that player's models within range of it. Then compare:

• The player with the higher total controls the objective.
• If both players tie, the objective stays uncontrolled, unless it has been secured (see below), in which case control does not change on a tie.

Remember that a battle-shocked unit has its OC treated as '-', contributing nothing to the total. A single high-OC model, such as a VEHICLE with OC 3, can outweigh several rank-and-file models, so count carefully rather than counting heads.

Controlling a unit

There is a related term worth keeping straight. While one or more of your units are within range of an objective you control, any of those units that contains at least one model with an OC of 1 or more is said to be controlling that objective. Some unit abilities and mission rules trigger specifically when a unit is controlling or securing an objective, so the distinction between your army controlling the point and a particular unit controlling it can matter.

Secured objectives

Certain rules let a player's army secure an objective. Once secured, that objective stays under that army's control even after every one of their units has left its range. The control sticks until, at the end of a phase, the opponent's level of control over that objective becomes strictly greater than the securing player's.

This is a real shift from ordinary control, which evaporates the moment you no longer have the higher OC total present. A secured objective lets you take a point and then move on to press elsewhere, holding the score without leaving models behind, until an enemy pushes enough OC into range to break the hold at a phase end. Because the check for losing a secured objective demands the opponent be ahead, a tie at the point is not enough to wrest it back.

Objectives not within a terrain area

Some missions place objectives that are not tied to a terrain area. In those cases the mission defines the range at which models count as being within range of the objective, and the same level-of-control arithmetic then applies exactly as above: total the OC of every model in range, compare the two players' totals, and resolve control and securing on the same terms.

Which objectives are on the table, and where, comes from the terrain layout the mission matchup calls for; see Missions and Mission Decks.

Frequently asked questions

How do you control an objective in Warhammer 40,000 11th edition?

Have more OC in range than your opponent does at the moment of the check. Five OC 2 Intercessors beat a lone OC 3 tank, and a model with OC 0 can stand on the point all day without contesting it. For a terrain objective, "in range" means inside the terrain area.

When is objective control checked in 40k?

At every phase end and every turn end, for both players. A unit that walks onto a point in your Movement phase already controls it at the end of that phase, before any shooting happens, and control persists between checks, so a point your opponent held at the end of their turn is still theirs during your Command phase.

What happens to objective control on a tie in Warhammer 40,000?

An unsecured objective goes to nobody, which for scoring purposes is the same as losing it. A secured one stays with whoever secured it. The practical use is on defence: matching your opponent's OC on your own secured point, rather than beating it, is enough to keep it.

How does a battle-shocked unit affect objective control in 40k?

Its models stop counting until it passes a battle-shock roll, so a shocked unit alone on a point hands control to any enemy model with OC 1 in range. The test comes in the Command phase, ahead of that phase's end-of-phase check, so a unit that recovers counts again straight away.

What does it mean to secure an objective in Warhammer 40,000 11th edition?

Securing is granted by specific rules, usually a mission rule or an ability, and is never automatic. Once it applies, the objective keeps scoring for you with nobody standing on it, and only a higher enemy OC total at a phase end takes it back.