A HOTT Time in Anarendor

Courtesy of Kaptain Kobold (author of the excellent Stronghold Rebuilt blog), I have a copy of the Hordes of the Things (HOTT) rules. I mentioned before that I grew jaded with DBA (the forerunner of HOTT) so I didn't plan on using them. I was primarily interested in stealing ideas (such as the troop type classifications). Nevertheless, I decided to give them a test.

My medieval troops are based on 20mm wide stands (half the recommended size) so I decided to do a half scale test with 100 paces = 1/2 inch. Midway through the game I grew tired of the glacial movement so I switched to 100 paces = 1 inch, which provided a more interesting game.

I also used half-sized armies (12 AP). Here are the combatants:

• Swartherian barbarians (gold & red army) - 1 Spear (Gen), 10 Horde
• Anarendorians (silver & white army) - 2 Knights (1 is the Gen), 2 Spears, 2 Shooter

For the Anarendor stronghold (bottom center), I placed a couple of buildings and my unpainted barricade from yesterday's game. I added a stand of archers just for looks.

Game Report
Once again, the Swartherians have invaded Anarendor. This time they snuck through the passes and are descending upon one of the Anarendorian strongholds. A force of knights, spears, and archers prepare to contest the invasion.

The barbarians (top), formed into 3 commands, advance on the stronghold.

First blood occurs on the right flank. The archers have taken position in some rough ground. As the enemy approaches, the archers decimate one horde and force another back.

More barbarians fall to the archers. Meanwhile, in the center, a brutal melee break out. A retinue of knights attacks a horde's flank and wipes it out. The rest of the barbarian line falls back.

But the barbarians would not go easily. Encouraged by the chieftain, they beat back the advancing Anarendorians and wipe out a unit of spears.

More hordes appear in the distance. However, the knights finally ride down the chieftain, breaking the barbarian army.

Thoughts

• I was pleasantly surprised with the game. Although I enjoyed DBA in the past, I eventually tired of it. I encountered too many cases where there was a stalemate as the units simply pushed each other back and forward. That did not happen in this game.
• I still intend to proceed with my dice pool rules but I will experiment more with HOTT (although I'll probably only use 12 AP armies).
• You may have noticed that the barbarian command on the left never got into action. The barbarians started rolling some pretty poor PIP rolls, leaving it stranded.
• Although I used my 6mm figures for this game, I'll be retiring them soon. I expect to get my first batch of 3mm this week.