The growth mode of domains of the hexagonal lattice of strained gadolinium deposited on Mo(112) has been investigated with low-energy electron diffraction (LEED) and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). The molybdenum substrate corrugations and the expansive strain within the gadolinium films dominate the growth of the thin Gd films, which is characterized by a preferential domain growth direction of the hexagonal Gd crystal structure, unlike the more uniform, epitaxial growth of 'unstrained' gadolinium, grown on W(110).