T-537, for T-523 (Jordan, 1 Oct (Pacific), via the design session). Made by node tools/dispositions.js. A report, not the site: nothing here changes a published score or page. The primaries' scoring was read on Wahapedia's 11th-edition mission deck (Chapter Approved 2026-27) and is summed up here in our own words and numbers; lists from grimstat-corpus (CC BY 4.0).
The answer
Partly. Each disposition's primaries do ask for different jobs, and a lens built from them moves letters the way a player would expect. But the lists that actually play each disposition don't carry the jobs its primaries pay for, so a "Take and Hold meta" lens isn't something the winning lists back yet.
- Coverage. About a quarter of the lists name a disposition: 77 in August and September. None did in June, and 10 did in July (11th edition's first weeks). Lists typed by hand rarely name one. The field: Reconnaissance 30%, Priority Assets 23%, Take and Hold 21%, Purge the Foe 14%, Disruption 12%. Take and Hold did best: an average finish of 65%, with 7 of its 16 lists in the top quarter. Every count is small, so treat the August to September moves as a direction at most.
- Every primary pays mostly for holding. Weighted by the field, Anvil earns between 50% (Disruption) and 87% (Take and Hold) of a disposition's primary VP. Purge the Foe asks for the most Hammer (29%), and Reconnaissance asks for the most Runner (41%). Banner earns no VP of its own.
- The lens. It is half today's split and half the disposition's demand. Under Take and Hold, Anvil gets 36 of the 81 S slots, against 15 today. Under Purge the Foe, Hammer and Anvil get 28 each. 73 units change letter between the two lenses, by one letter each:
- better under Take and Hold: line infantry that sits on objectives (Gretchin, Strike Squad, Neophyte Hybrids, Crusader Squad, Kroot Carnivores);
- better under Purge the Foe: big killers (Ghazghkull, Angron, Custodian Wardens, Tyrannofex, Onager Dunecrawler, the Leman Russ tanks).
- The check fails for Anvil. Take and Hold lists carry the least Anvil of the five (11% of their points) and the most Hammer (53%). Reconnaissance lists carry the most Anvil (27%) and the most Runner (23%). Between what each disposition asks for and what its lists carry, ρ is −0.70 for Anvil, −0.40 for Hammer and +0.20 for Runner. Only Runner points the right way.
- Why, probably. An army can only pick the dispositions its detachments offer (11th-edition core rules, Select Detachments). So the army comes first and its disposition follows: a Hammer-heavy army whose detachments offer Take and Hold plays Take and Hold, and its killing still scores, because a dead enemy can't hold anything. The mission demand is real, but players don't seem to build their lists to it.
Recommendation. Don't drive the letters by a disposition lens yet. Keep the per-disposition demand table as a teaching aid ("your primary pays for this"), and offer the lens as an optional view under T-531 once the custom lens exists. Rerun the check once twice as many lists name a disposition (about December at today's rate), and next time read each detachment's dispositions so that army and disposition can be separated.
How often each disposition is played
A list names its disposition on a line of its own when it was exported from the GW app; lists typed by hand rarely do. Every list with a known event size and placing, by month:
| Month | Lists | Name a disposition | Take and Hold | Purge the Foe | Disruption | Reconnaissance | Priority Assets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-06 | 175 | 0 (0%) | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2026-07 | 191 | 10 (5%) | 1 (10%) | 1 (10%) | – | 2 (20%) | 6 (60%) |
| 2026-08 | 160 | 38 (24%) | 7 (18%) | 3 (8%) | 3 (8%) | 14 (37%) | 11 (29%) |
| 2026-09 | 155 | 39 (25%) | 9 (23%) | 8 (21%) | 6 (15%) | 9 (23%) | 7 (18%) |
The last two months that name one (2026-08, 2026-09): 77 lists, the field the demand below is weighted by. Results, as T-318 counts them (average finish, 100% first, 0% last; lists in the top quarter of their event):
| Disposition | Lists | Share | Average finish | Top quarter |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Take and Hold | 16 | 21% | 65% | 7 (44%) |
| Purge the Foe | 11 | 14% | 46% | 2 (18%) |
| Disruption | 9 | 12% | 44% | 2 (22%) |
| Reconnaissance | 23 | 30% | 50% | 6 (26%) |
| Priority Assets | 18 | 23% | 52% | 4 (22%) |
Trend, 2026-08 to 2026-09: Take and Hold 7 → 9; Purge the Foe 3 → 8; Disruption 3 → 6; Reconnaissance 14 → 9; Priority Assets 11 → 7. With 77 lists in all the month-to-month moves are within what chance gives; read them as a direction at most.
What each primary pays for
Each primary's VP sorted by the job that earns it, over a five-round game (the counting rules are at the top of tools/dispositions.js: an objective line counts two objectives besides your home, a kill line one and a half kills a turn, and so on). Holding an objective is Anvil; taking new ground, their home or their half is Runner and Anvil half each; actions are mostly Runner; kills are Hammer. Banner earns no VP of its own and is left out here.
Take and Hold, by the opponent's disposition:
| Against | Primary | Hammer | Anvil | Runner | What scores (our words) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Take and Hold | Battlefield Dominance | 0% | 86% | 14% | hold more early; each objective held; objectives away from home, home held |
| Purge the Foe | Immovable Object | 0% | 100% | 0% | a central objective; each objective held, rounds 2–4; each objective held, round 5 |
| Disruption | Determined Acquisition | 0% | 81% | 19% | each objective newly taken; each objective held; held in their territory |
| Reconnaissance | Purge and Secure | 13% | 77% | 10% | a kill on or from an objective; each objective held; an objective newly taken |
| Priority Assets | Inescapable Dominion | 0% | 96% | 4% | three objectives; two objectives; more than them; their home, at the end |
Purge the Foe, by the opponent's disposition:
| Against | Primary | Hammer | Anvil | Runner | What scores (our words) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Take and Hold | Unstoppable Force | 23% | 67% | 9% | a kill; each objective held; an objective newly taken; a central objective, at the end |
| Purge the Foe | Meatgrinder | 35% | 51% | 14% | a kill; an objective held; kill more than you lost; their home |
| Disruption | Punishment | 36% | 58% | 6% | a marked unit destroyed; an objective held; more than them; their home, at the end |
| Reconnaissance | Consecrate | 23% | 63% | 14% | objectives marked by units that made a kill; an objective held; more than them; their home marked, at the end |
| Priority Assets | Destroyer's Wrath | 32% | 68% | 0% | a kill; an objective held; more than them; kill more than you lost |
Disruption, by the opponent's disposition:
| Against | Primary | Hammer | Anvil | Runner | What scores (our words) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Take and Hold | Death Trap | 31% | 33% | 36% | a terrain area trapped; a kill in a trapped area; an objective held |
| Purge the Foe | Delaying Action | 35% | 51% | 14% | each kill; an objective held; a central and an outer objective |
| Disruption | Outmanoeuvre | 0% | 82% | 18% | their home; each objective held, round 1; each objective held, rounds 2–3; each objective held, rounds 4–5 |
| Reconnaissance | Smoke and Mirrors | 0% | 53% | 47% | objectives decoyed (an action); an objective held; four decoyed, at the end |
| Priority Assets | Locate and Deny | 38% | 46% | 16% | a kill on an objective; alone with the last marker; an objective held; alone with the last marker, at the end |
Reconnaissance, by the opponent's disposition:
| Against | Primary | Hammer | Anvil | Runner | What scores (our words) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Take and Hold | Reconnaissance Sweep | 18% | 29% | 54% | units spread over the table quarters; each kill; an objective held |
| Purge the Foe | Triangulation | 0% | 56% | 44% | an objective held; objectives triangulated (an action); four objectives, at the end |
| Disruption | Surveil the Foe | 0% | 48% | 52% | an enemy unit watched from 18"; an objective held; more than them; their markers cleared by moving on |
| Reconnaissance | Gather Intel | 0% | 43% | 57% | a central objective, round 1; an objective held; each unit that set a marker (an action); three markers, at the end; a marker at their home, at the end |
| Priority Assets | Search and Scour | 20% | 80% | 0% | a central objective; a kill in terrain; each objective held; none of them in your half, at the end |
Priority Assets, by the opponent's disposition:
| Against | Primary | Hammer | Anvil | Runner | What scores (our words) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Take and Hold | Secure Asset | 16% | 61% | 23% | the asset secured (an action); a kill near the centre; an objective held; three objectives |
| Purge the Foe | Vital Link | 0% | 83% | 17% | a central objective, plus markers set there; an objective held; one of them central; their home, at the end |
| Disruption | Extract Relic | 22% | 45% | 33% | a sensor sweep (an action); a kill on an objective; alone with their last marker; an objective held; alone with their last marker, at the end |
| Reconnaissance | Vanguard Operation | 18% | 38% | 45% | an action deep in their half; a kill; an objective held; their home, at the end |
| Priority Assets | Sabotage | 0% | 54% | 46% | each unit that sabotaged (an action); an objective held |
Each disposition's demand
Its five primaries weighted by how often the field plays the disposition each one answers (the shares above). Today's split, from the points each job makes up in the winning lists, for comparison: Hammer 46%, Anvil 18%, Runner 16%, Banner 20%.
| Disposition | Hammer | Anvil | Runner | Lens split (H / A / R / B) | S quota (81) | A quota (174) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Today (no lens) | 46% / 18% / 16% / 20% | 37 / 15 / 13 / 16 | 80 / 32 / 28 / 34 | |||
| Take and Hold | 4% | 87% | 9% | 24% / 44% / 12% / 20% | 20 / 36 / 10 / 16 | 43 / 77 / 21 / 34 |
| Purge the Foe | 29% | 63% | 9% | 34% / 34% / 12% / 20% | 28 / 28 / 9 / 16 | 60 / 60 / 20 / 34 |
| Disruption | 20% | 50% | 29% | 31% / 29% / 20% / 20% | 25 / 24 / 16 / 16 | 54 / 51 / 35 / 34 |
| Reconnaissance | 8% | 51% | 41% | 26% / 30% / 24% / 20% | 21 / 24 / 20 / 16 | 46 / 52 / 43 / 34 |
| Priority Assets | 11% | 54% | 35% | 28% / 31% / 22% / 20% | 22 / 25 / 18 / 16 | 48 / 53 / 39 / 34 |
The lens is half today's split and half the disposition's demand, with Banner kept at its share: the missions say what scores, the winning lists say what it takes to be alive to score it (a kill line is never the only way a Hammer earns its points), and a lens of pure demand would hand Anvil most of the S slots in every disposition. A lens moves only the S and A quotas between the jobs; a unit's scores don't change.
The check: what lists of each disposition carry
If the demand is right, a disposition that pays for holding should be played with more Anvil. The points each job makes up in the lists that name each disposition (every placing, July to September; each list counts once, its units by their best job):
| Disposition | Lists | Hammer | Anvil | Runner | Banner | Demand ranks Anvil | Lists rank Anvil |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Take and Hold | 17 | 53% | 11% | 17% | 19% | 1 | 5 |
| Purge the Foe | 12 | 38% | 20% | 16% | 26% | 2 | 4 |
| Disruption | 10 | 50% | 20% | 13% | 17% | 5 | 3 |
| Reconnaissance | 25 | 35% | 27% | 23% | 15% | 4 | 1 |
| Priority Assets | 24 | 52% | 21% | 15% | 12% | 3 | 2 |
Rank agreement between the demand and what the lists carry, over the 5 dispositions (Spearman's ρ, 1 the same order, −1 reversed): Hammer -0.40, Anvil -0.70, Runner 0.20. Five points can't prove an order, but they can show one that isn't there.
Take and Hold against Purge the Foe
73 of 1161 units change letter between the two lenses (40 better under Take and Hold, 33 better under Purge the Foe). The units that move most, with their best job and share of the winning lists (top quarter, July to September):
Better in a Take and Hold meta
| Unit | Job | Today (V2) | Take and Hold | Purge the Foe | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gretchin (Orks) | Anvil | B | A | B | 83.3% |
| Strike Squad (Grey Knights) | Anvil | A | S | A | 75% |
| Vertus Praetors (Adeptus Custodes) | Hammer | C | B | C | 75% |
| Raider (Drukhari) | Runner | C | B | C | 68.8% |
| Neophyte Hybrids (Genestealer Cults) | Anvil | A | S | A | 62.5% |
| Canoptek Wraiths (Necrons) | Anvil | B | A | B | 50% |
| Bloodcrushers (Chaos Daemons) | Anvil | B | A | B | 47.6% |
| Crusader Squad (Black Templars) | Anvil | A | S | A | 44.4% |
| Storm Guardians (Aeldari) | Anvil | B | A | B | 27.8% |
| Voidsmen-at-Arms (Agents of the Imperium) | Anvil | B | A | B | 25% |
| Rogue Trader Entourage (Agents of the Imperium) | Anvil | B | A | B | 25% |
| Starweaver (Aeldari) | Runner | A | A | B | 22.2% |
| Kroot Carnivores (T'au Empire) | Anvil | A | S | A | 22.2% |
| Legionaries (Chaos Space Marines) | Anvil | B | A | B | 21.4% |
| Knight Paladin (Imperial Knights) | Hammer | D | C | D | 20% |
Better in a Purge the Foe meta
| Unit | Job | Today (V2) | Take and Hold | Purge the Foe | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ghazghkull Thraka (Orks) | Hammer | A | B | A | 62.5% |
| War Dog Stalker (Chaos Knights) | Hammer | A | B | A | 50% |
| Custodian Wardens (Adeptus Custodes) | Hammer | A | B | A | 46.9% |
| Bloodletters (World Eaters) | Hammer | A | B | A | 33.3% |
| Kastelan Robots (Adeptus Mechanicus) | Hammer | A | B | A | 33.3% |
| Angron (World Eaters) | Hammer | A | B | A | 33.3% |
| Onager Dunecrawler (Adeptus Mechanicus) | Hammer | S | A | S | 27.8% |
| Tyrannofex (Tyranids) | Hammer | S | A | S | 26.9% |
| Trygon (Tyranids) | Hammer | A | B | A | 23.1% |
| Hive Tyrant (Tyranids) | Hammer | A | B | A | 23.1% |
| Leman Russ Vanquisher (Astra Militarum) | Hammer | S | A | S | 16.7% |
| Maulerfiend (Chaos Space Marines) | Hammer | S | A | S | 14.3% |
| Murderfang (Space Wolves) | Hammer | A | B | A | 14.3% |
| Screamer-killer (Tyranids) | Hammer | A | B | A | 11.5% |
| Leman Russ Demolisher (Astra Militarum) | Hammer | A | B | A | 11.1% |
Letters S / A / B / C / D: today 81 / 174 / 325 / 348 / 233; Take and Hold 82 / 175 / 325 / 348 / 231; Purge the Foe 81 / 174 / 325 / 348 / 233.
What it can't see yet
- Which primary a game uses comes from both players' cards; the weights assume the field's mix, not any one pairing. A player who knows their opponent's card would use that row alone.
- Secondaries are left out: they're the same deck for every disposition and mostly Runner's work (actions and positions), which the job split already counts once.
- Coverage: only lists exported from the GW app name a disposition, so the shares are a sample of those players.
- The counting rules (two objectives, one and a half kills a turn) are a typical game's, not a measured one; changing them moves the shares a few points, not the order.