Teaching HOTT

Chris, a work colleague of mine has expressed interest in playing HOTT over the last month or two, so tonight I lured him to my home with the promise of an evening meal, and taught him how to play.

We used 15mm armies on the dining table. After we'd eaten, of course.

He used a simple Elf army - four Spears, four Shooters and four Riders, with a Spear general. I used the Ceidonians, who have a mixture of Spear, Blades, Knights, Shooters and a Behemoth.

He defended, and away we went.

My advance was slowed by lack of PIPs. Meanwhile he took the bold step of redeploying all of his Riders from one flank to the other.

Once they got there they fell upon my isolated Shooters, and destroyed them.

My Knights, including the general, rushed to cover the flank, and held back most of the Riders.

One got through, though, and rolled up the flank of my infantry line.

Chris points out the heroic Rider just as it accounts for the last element he needed to win the game.

We set up another game so I had a stab at revenge. Chris continued to use the Elves, but dropped two Shooters and replaced them with a Hero general. I used Barbarians, also with a hero general, but mainly Knights and Warband.

The Barbarians used woods to cover their flanks.

Then fell upon the Elven line.

A rapid charge saw the Barbarian line broken up, but the Elves slowly went down as kill after kill destroyed the Spears.

So, one victory each, and another possible convert.

We deliberately kept the armies simple in both games, with a Behemoth being the only 'special' in the first game and a couple of Heroes in the second. I think we can introduce aerials and/or magic in the next one ...