Preparing For MOAB - Part 1

Whilst I am a lean, mean, HOTT-playing machine, my family are currently a little rusty when it comes to the rules. So today I started the process of  reminding them how to play. Catherine, having chosen her matched-pair, was first.

We used two armies based on Brian Jacques' Redwall books - the Defenders of Redwall Abbey against Cluny the Scourge's Rat Horde.

A cheesy grin - very apt for a person playing an army of rats.

Redwall's army is small, but has some powerful elements - here they advance rapidly in the centre.

On the flank, otter slingers skirmish with a lurking rat.

Rat hordes ...

The heroes of Redwall hit the rat line.

Constance the Badger wipes out Cluny's lieutenants, but Cluny kills the hero Matthias.

Now it's Constance vs Cluny. This fight swung back and forth for several bounds ...

... but a flanking attack by the Sparras helped Constance to victory, and Cluny's horde fled.

Not photographed was a Rat Sneaker that was making good progress towards both the Redwall stronghold and their Horde general; another turn could have seen the battle turned in Cluny's favour.

Next up - well, after an afternoon out, and then a late afternoon nap - it was my daughter Maya's turn. Some UK HOTT players will remember her army of choice - The Pumpkin King's Halloween Hordes. She has chosen to match them with some Elves, mostly because it's her only other army.

I took the Elves (with which I've had some success in the past) and she took The Pumpkin King. She defended and I ended up with my army trapped between some areas of bad going.

A flanking move by some Riders failed, so I ended up in a meat-grinder with her Hordes. My flanks were covered by the bad going, but it also prevented me from expanding my army and exploiting her flanks.

Some nifty combat rolls saw her destroy element after element in my army. I killed Hordes but she kept bringing them back.

Finally she piled a Hero into one of my Shooters to give her the last 2AP she needed to win.

The Pumpkin King was triumphant!

She spared us her victory dance, and we made her get supper ready as a punishment for thrashing her poor old dad at HOTT.