The HOTT Literature Championship - Second Semi-Final

My recent games of HOTT have reminded me that I have an unresolved campaign ongoing. This is my HOTT Literature World Cup, in which eight armies representing four books or sets of books are battling it out.

The first semi-final saw the Narnian series eliminated, with the White Witch losing to the Forces of Light. The other day I played the second semi-final - Cluny's Rat Horde (from Redwall) against Helium (from the Barsoom novels).

Helium defended, and put its aerial navy on the left flank. 

Cluny's archers prepared to engage the enemy aerial elements. 

Both armies advance. 

Helium's navy struck the end of Cluny's line and destroyed an element of archers. 

On Cluny's other flank a pair of sneakers attempted to slip past the Heliumitic warriors and reach the enemy stronghold. John Carter eyed them warily. 

On the other flank Cluny The Scourge was giving the enemy airboats and flier some special attention. He brought down the enemy fliers. 

A view of the battle so far. At the top of the picture you can see one sneaker has been engaged by some blades and the other is trying to get past John Carter. Both generals are far out on heir army's right flank. 

One sneaker fled. The other, amazingly, fought John Carter to a draw. 

Cluny was no attacking the enemy airships, and had driven one back towards its own main battle line. 

The sneaker facing John Carter slipped past him, heading for the stronghold (I used my additional rules that allow a sneakers to break off by moving through an element it's in contact with). 

John Carter chased after them and engaged them again. 

Meanwhile Cluny and the airboats were in an impasse. 

The sneaker lost a combat against John Carter. But this was a bonus, as it fled away from the Warlord and towards Helium's stronghold. 

It attacked, but got a draw. 

Meanwhile Helium's swordsmen and Cluny's hordes were locked in combat. Some hordes were destroyed. 

The sneakers lost their second combat against the stronghold even before John Carter could come up in support. This meant that they fled off the table. Still, it was a bold and potentially battle-winning move. 

Cluny destroyed an enemy airboat. 

The other airboat fell back, and Cluny's hordes were falling back as well. 

Cluny now faced some enemy blades, but drove them back. Cluny and teh sneakers were pretty much doing the work in this battle. At the top right you can see John Carter working his way back to the battle. 

The other sneaker slipped past John Carter. 

Helium pressed its attack, flanking Cluny's rats. 

This time instead of attacking teh sneaker in the rear and propelling it towards the stronghold if it fled, John Carter moved back through the elements and engaged it from the front - totally allowed as any element can move through a sneaker. The sneaker was quickly cut down. 

A confused melee in the centre saw Cluny unable to set up any useful kills. 

More hordes fell. 

John Carter rejoined teh fight and inspired his army. Cluny found himself exposed and overlapped. 

And slain. 

Losses. Helium won 11g-5. But it was a closer battle than the score shows. The rats nearly took Helium's stronghold, and Cluny was unluck in the early game not to destroy the other airboat which would have left Helium a lot more exposed. 

So with that win Helium goes into the final to face The Forces of Light. 

(I may even do the playoff for third place between The White Witch of Narnia and Cluny's Horde).

Four Games Of HOTT

That's right - we had another HOTT night at the Gong Garage Gamers on Thursday, and I managed to play four games.

In the first game of the evening I used the Mother of Dragons against Dave's random monsters army. I defended. 

The baby dragons (fliers) swooped around his rear and descended on his right flank just as teh Dothraki charged from the front.

A mixed start; the flier supported attack was repulsed, but the enemy was driven back elsewhere. 

The heroes (Ser Jorah Mormont and Ser Barristan Selmy) made short work of a behemoth (with dragon support).

But Daenerys and Dothraki bodyguard were routed in a total disaster of a combat, leaving the army rudderless. 

I'd lost fewer AP than Dave, so kept fighting, but that was pretty much it for the dragons who would now cost 3 PIPs to move. I tried to keep the army organised and fighting in the face of a steady advance by blades and spears. 

But it was not to be. My phalanx of Unsullied was flanked and destroyed and that was it.

Peter now brought out his Greeks with supporting monsters, whilst I defended with Daenerys again. 

he dragons attacked the exposed Greek right flank, but were driven back by the cavalry there. 

The ex-slave hordes defended a hill against a couple of hideous monsters, and held their own. 

Meanwhile Daenerys led the Dothraki in an attack on the enemy right, supported by the dragons. This was the plan that went so well  in the last game. 

To be fair, she survived the initial attack, but others in her forced didn't and a griffon soon turned the tables mopping up her loyal horsemen. Basically it was that Greek cavalry that did the real work, holding off every attack made against it.  Although I can see that the dragons had been polished off as well. I guess that was the griffon. 

Daenerys and her bodyguard did destroy some mercenary archers. Actually I think it was the archers that did for the dragons, so that's justice for you. 

The griffon carried on being annoying, and that was Daenerys destroyed again. 

Over on the right the hordes had finally been overwhelmed by the giant creatures opposing them, and when the heroes went in to try and hold the line they were killed too. 

Daenerys lost 16AP! I think I killed one element of enemy archers in return. It was a crushing defeat. 

Dave and Peter played a game with the monsters fighting the Greeks, but I was chatting elsewhere and missed the result. 

Caesar had now turned up, so in the next game he took my Ramayana army, whilst I used that of Sundiata, the Lion King of Mali.

I lasted a few bounds until we ended up with a hero general vs hero general fight. I won it and won the battle. It was pretty much the second combat of the game. 

So we set up again with the same armies. 

This was a great fight. On my right the Malian knights clashed with the demon chariots and monkey king in an epic fight. My archers fought Rama's bear allies in the woods. 

This really became teh nucleus of the battle, as other troops drifted across in support. First to join was Sundiata himself. 

The archers and bears were destroyed. On my right the knights continued to fight. Spearmen now faced the charging monkeys that made up teh core of Rama's army. 

The spears were routed by the monkeys and Sundiata's loyal bard was killed by Rama. 

Sundiata was now fighting for survival, and his army was close to breaking. 

One last gamble. If he could attack and kill Rama it would push his troops close to their breakpoint and, without a general, that wouldn't be hard to achieve. Sundiata went in for a do or die attack. And died. 

So that was four games and three losses for me. But, as ever, they were all great games.