HOTT 52 - Week 24 - Flash Gordon vs The Black Pirates

For this week's HOTT game I got out my two great aerial superpowers, the Black Pirates of Barsoom and Flash Gordon's Mongo Rebels.

(I do actually have an all-flyer army, which would be my ultimate aerial superstar army were it not for the fact that (i) it's in serious need of repair and (ii) all-flyer armies suck. Big time.)

So anyway, Flash defended Mongo against a Black Pirate attack. He had:

1 x Hero General (Flash and Barin)

1 x Sneaker (Dale and Zarkov)

4 x Flyers (Hawkmen, including VULTAN!)

1 x Airboat (Rocketship)

2 x Warband

1 x Rider

The Black Pirates attacked with:

1 x Airboat General

3 x Airboats

2 x Flyers

4 x Blades

Flash deployed the Hawkmen in the centre, covered the right flank himself and used his foot and the riders to cover his left. The Black Pirates massed their airboats in the centre, flanked by flyers, and put the foot on their left to cover the flank against Flash.

Both sides advanced their aerial contingents rapidly.

Hawkmen vs Barsoomian Fliers! I mean that's what you've read this far to see, yes? 

The fighting was something of a stalemate.

On the Black Pirates' right some of their small fliers engaged F;ash's Frigians, but were driven off the board, giving Flash the first kill.

Flash and Barin were attacked by Black Pirates, in a to-and-fro battle that would last the rest of the game.

Meanwhile Vultan's Hawkmen kept up their fight against the airboats, who couldn't quite get an edge despite being a factor up in the combats.

The Hawkmen took down the other element of light fliers.

The Mongo rocketship moved to support Flash.

With no enemy flyers to intervene, an element of Hawkmen swung into the rear of the Black Pirate force, and as Vultan flew in from the front, attacked the Black Pirate general's airboat in the rear.

The Pirate commander held off the attack, and the Black Pirates slowly began to force the Hawkmen back.

But Vultan and his warriors attacked once more, and this time overwhelmed the Black Pirate commander. This broke their army.

The Black Pirates lost their airboat general and two fliers. Flash lost nothing.

This wasn't quite the sweeping air-battle I thought it would be, but despite being short it was fairly entertaining.