Hi @stephen,
That is a good question and not an easy answer. Licensing can be a pain 
These two links are helpful:
And this video gives an overview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-fxIAKM1ZA
DNA Essentials has vManage but if you want to build a lab where you can test everything, you’ll need DNA Advantage. These licenses only come as 3,5, or 7-year subscriptions.
I think I would contact a Cisco sales rep and ask them what is exactly needed. They probably also have license options for building a lab.
Rene