36AP HOTT Again

We tried some 36AP HOTT this evening, in advance of October's MOAB tournament which is probably going down that route. Simple setup - 36AP armies, but still one general, 1D6 PIPS and a 2' x 2' board (we are using 15mm figures). Would it work?

I knocked my Daleks into a 36AP army. Not really a combination I'd feel happy playing in a tournament though (although I have used them in the past) as the army I run has low mobility and striking power, relying on a long, slow grinding down of the enemy for a win. It's mostly Blades, backed up by some Artillery, aerials and Shooters.

I played Gary, who was using a Dwarven army with a similar structure to mine. Conceding the area of woods to him was a bad move, as it gave his Shooters a cover advantage over mine if I chose to engage them.

I attacked with the Blades (the ordinary Daleks) on my left; my aim was to engage his Blades in the long slog, whilst trying to take out his Artillery as well. My aerials were positioned in reserve (the Airboat flying saucer is the general as well), whilst the Artillery (Special Weapons Daleks) was positioned to prevent any sweeping moves by the Dwarves' ally giant or their bear-riding Hero.

The Artillery exchanged fire whilst the armies closed.

The Dalek attack goes in.

The Dwarven Hero posed impressively on a hilltop, having accounted for some of the Dalek army.

But he was shot down by the Special Weapons Daleks.

With the Hero gone it was safe to move the Command Saucer into a position to block the retreat of the Dwarf rank and file - which it did.

Gary made a valiant attempt to reorganise his line on the hill, and the Daleks were taking reasonable casualties, but a couple of bounds after this picture was taken they advanced on the giant and slew it with the aid of the saucer.

In another game Geoff used Barsoomians against an army of Evil Gong Squidmen and Elephantmen run by Dave, the man who designed the figures. I think the Barsoomians lost.

Caesar was using an Ancient Greek themed army with plenty of Behemoths and some wild warriors.

In their first game they made short work of JohnT's Wars of the Roses army.

They then went o to defeat Peter's Greek army, another force replete with monsters.

I think people enjoyed the format. Command and control is harder - you have more troops but the same PIPs, so you have to be more wary of breaking groups up. Also the armies deploy over a wider area, making command distance an issue. Deployment room didn't seem to be an issue, although the games took a little longer to play than a regular 24 P game which may be an issue for a tournament.

Bryan and Ralph played a small game of Hail Caesar

The figures are still being painted and based, hence the uncharacteristic unfinished look.