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Friday, 3 April 2020

HOTT 52 - Week 14 - The Morthbrood vs The Forces of Light

We may be socially isolated, but I had my Thursday evening wargaming session with Catherine this week. And we played my weekly HOTT game.

As with last week I got out a matched-pair based on a series of childrens' books - this time Alan Garner's 'Weirdstone of Brisingamen'/'Moon of Gomrath'.

Catherine took the Forces of Light, under the wizard Cadellin. I took the Morthbrood, led by the fearsome Morrigan. This is a battle where both sides have magician generals.


Catherine defended.


The Morthbrood - a standard evil magician (The Morrigan) plus hordes (Svart Alfar) army, but with the obligatory behemoth as well (the Mara).


The Forces of Light are a mixed bunch of riders and shooters (Lios Alfar), dwarves (warband), knights (The Wild Hunt) and  hero (Albanac / Uthacar)


I started off by sending the Morthbrood's various beasts to attack Catherine's left, which was defended by the dwarves. They were supported by Svart Alfar lurkers.


My lurkers were driven off, but Catherine deployed her Lios Alfar ones.


A fierce battle erupted as my lurkers returned. The beasts killed the Lios Alfar ...


... but the dwarves proceeded to destroy both elements of beasts, securing her control of the flank.


Meanwhile the Morthbrood had been advancing. We both got good PIP rolls in the early bounds.

The Morrigan ensorcelled the opposing hero ...


... who promptly escaped magical confinement and appeared in the Morthbrood's rear.


The armies approached ...


... and the Morthbrood charged. I was aiming to fix the Forces of Light in place with the hordes for as long as possible, whilst using the Mara to work down their line after making a breakthrough.


Both lines broke up as the battle ebbed back and forth.


The Mara destroyed the knights opposite it.


Catherine pulled her line back and reformed, leaving the Morthbrood in a bit of a mess.



On the other flank the Brollachan (sneaker) and the Morrigan's crows (flyer) destroed some Lios Alfar cavalry.


Albanac was moving back into the action. The Morrigan sent some Svart Alfar hordes to delay him whilst concentrating on trying to kill Cadellin.


The Mara attacked the enemy general ...


... but he retreated through his own troops, and the Morthbrood sneaker, to safety.


And at that point Albanac rode in and slew The Morrigan, to give Catherine the victory.


That last fight was a 50/50 - if Catherine had lost she would have also lost the battle; casualties on both sides were very close at that stage, with both armies only a few AP from breaking.

The last few dramatic turns were observed by Pandora.


I thought I'd done an army showcase on this pair, but it appears not. I might put something together, although I seriously need to redo the Brollachan which looks a bit rubbish..

3 comments:

  1. Interesting armies and a good battle. I’d like to see a showcase for them to see where you got your inspiration.

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    Replies
    1. I might still do the showcase at some stage, but the inspiration comes from a pair of fantasy novels from the early 1960s - 'The Weirdstone of Brisingamen' and 'The Moon of Gomrath', by Alan Garner. Pretty well everything is in there, and I just found figures and classifications that were the best match.

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    2. Thanks KK - I’ll look those books out and would love to see more detailed close up photos of the minis do I can appreciate them properly.

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