The Foreign Devils defended. Their plan was to occupy the village to their front with American and Italian troops (shooters), and hold the line with the rest. The Bengal Lancers (knights) and Bishop Favier (hero) were held on the right flank as a reserve.
The Boxers, mostly warband, massed against the left of the Foreign Devil's army.
The village was occupied, according to the plan.
The Boxers advanced rapidly across the table. Facing them were the sailors and marines of the Royal Navy (warband).
The Boxers hadn't paid much attention to their flanks, however, and Bishop Favier was upon them. The two-hundred year-old devil prince sliced his way through one group of warriors.
The Boxer advance was also slowed by the Foreign Devils' artillery.
The Red Lanterns (magician and flier) engaged Bishop Favier, and drove him from the field in a puff of magic.
The Boxers charged.
But on the other flank, the flying Red Lantern was cut down by American and Italian troops.
The Royal Navy were now in big trouble. The Foreign Devils deployed their secret weapon - naked women (cleric).
Meanwhile Japanese and Russian troop (blades) fixed bayonets and advanced on the surviving Red Lantern, pushing her back.
The left flank of the Foreign Devil's army wasn't looking good, and their artillery (the general) was under threat.
The Boxers charged ...
... but the magic-defying naked women kept them at bay.
Japanese troops overwhelmed the Red Lantern, supported by American skirmishers.
The Americans engaged some Imperial riflemen (shooters), who routed.
Both armies were looking shaky now. The Boxers charged the Foreign Devil artillery, destroying it. But it wasn't enough to break their army.
The Bengal Lancers charged some Boxer warriors, routing them. This did break the Boxers.
Both sides pretty much destroyed their opponent's left flank, but losses were fractionally greater for the Boxers.
The Foreign Devils were only a couple of points away from breaking, although in fact I made an error mid-game, in that Bishop Favier, being a hero, was ensorcelled rather than destroyed, so should have returned to play when the Red Lantern magician was killed. This didn't really affect the outcome of the game (he would have appeared on the Boxer baseline and would have taken a couple of bounds to get back into action), but the result wasn't as close as I thought.
Have you tried the DBA3-HOTT2 rules? The name of the gent who wrote them escapes me, but I'm curious if others are trying it. I ask because I see your pictures of the typical line across the battlefield for HOTT2x and in DBA3HOTT2, they use the line up rules for DBA3 - which doesn't do quite the line spread anymore
ReplyDeleteI've read them, but they didn't excite me. I like HOTT 2.1. And I like DBA v3.0. I just didn't find the merge to my taste.
DeleteWhat didn't you like about the merge? Was there something that really turned you off about it?
DeleteNot sure. To be honest it's so long ago that I can't remember. And I'm happy with HOTT as it is, so see no need to spend time learning a new way of playing it. DBA 3.0 I went for because I didn't like DBA 2.0.
DeleteI think some of it was possibly that it was a merge of the two sets, rather than simply applying DBA 3.0 to the HOTT setup. I like HOTT's simplistic range of basic troops; I don't want the greater detail of DBA. So maybe if there was ever a proper 3rd edition of HOTT I'd give it a try. But that's unlikely to happen.
Makes sense. I don't use the newer troop types of DBA3 when I play the DBA3HOTT2 rules. I think I'm going to have to look and try the HOTT2 rules as-is again and see. I had gone with the merged because it had been so long since I played either, when I picked it back up and saw there was a new DBA version, I thought "why not play both the same"
DeleteI get sticking with what you know and like, that's why OD&D and AD&D 1st edition are my go-to for Dungeons & Dragons.
Thanks for the answers!