Assassination vs Control Points

How do you build your lists? Do you try to build one that is geared towards the balls to the wall, across the board assassination run? Maybe a million model tar pit you can park in the middle to dominate control areas to rack up points? Or is it a mixture of both that keeps your list agile and able to do whatever you need?

I'm having trouble making things click. Both of my lists can get me within 2-3 boxes of an assassination, but the next turn I'm usually left pretty vulnerable and end up dying. I can contest all day as most of my models have tough and their a pain to clear out. As for getting a control points victory, both lists have a real problem with clearing zones for points. I'm just curious how others build lists. Do you aim for one victory condition over the other or do you try to take the middle so you can try for both?

I strongly recommend building each list with an eye towards both goals. If you don't have an assassination vector, it will be hard to close out a game. If you don't have a viable plan for scenarios, then you're going to get bullied by the controlling lists out there. That said, play what you LIKE to play - everything else just comes with getting more games in.

With regard to the "almost there" runs, try holding off for a round if you think you can assassinate. Generally, if you're in a position where you have, say, a 60% chance of getting there (need a string of "average" 7s, for instance), unless your key pieces are threatened you'll often have another chance the following turn, usually at better odds as screening models and support die off.

Or it might just be a matter of memorizing the dice curves - when to boost, when to give something up as a lost cause, etc. https://2img.net/h/i359.photobucket.com/albums/oo36/danishbuddha_90/Skrmbillede.png is a pretty comprehensive one (ignore the 5d6 table ).

Thanks for the feedback!

Alrighty then. There was much more to my last post than that, but apparently hard returns from an iPhone don't translate well to the server. Lets try this again from a computer and see what happens....

I think that getting more games in will definitely improve my list building/list execution skills. I've only been playing since July and of all the games I've played, only six of them were against a different opponent. All of those were losses and with the exception of one of them, they could have went either way up until the last turn. As I face new players and new factions I can see my lists changing slightly and getting better, but it seems like no matter what tweaks I make, I can not find my footing in the attrition (I think that's the word?) game. All of my victories have been assassinations when I have had no more than 1 control point.

I can contest zones the whole game. I jam my trolls up the middle and then let them dig in. The problem is that once I've gone up the middle I'm spread too thin to clear out the zone and start scoring. The next game I'll try and load my forces offset so that I can clear a zone and start scoring, but that leaves the other zone vulnerable and my opponent clears my forces and scores before I can get something there to contest. That balance of contesting vs controlling is something that I struggle with pretty bad. I'm sure that with the longer I play and the more games I get in, I'll figure the balance out. I'm just curious if there's any tricks or tips that can help expedite that learning curve a little.

Thanks again for any feedback.