HOTT - Mound Builders vs Maya

It's been a while since I simply got some HOTT out at home, so I set up a game last night with the first two armies which came to hand - in the same box in fact.

On the left are the mighty Mound Builders (2 x Behemoth, 2 x Hordes, 1 x Blade, 6 x Shooters) and on the right are the magnificent Maya (1 x Hero, 2 x Blade, 2 x Shooters, 6 x Warband).

Technically the Maya were attacking but the terrain gave them a great big hill to defend and there seemed little point in coming off it.

The Mound Builders, with archers massed on their left, and their behemoths (including the general) on their right.

The Maya. Their hero and blades (one of  which was the general) faced the enemy behemoths, whilst warband defended the hill against the remainder of the Mound Builder army. 

The Mound Builders' attack was rather obvious - advance to bow range and shoot. However the Maya were able to defend high enough up the hill that the Mound Builders would have to advance on to its lower slopes in order to do so, putting them at a disadvantage when the Maya counter-attacked.

PIP rolls on both sides were pretty abysmal, leaving both armies unable to make the strikes on the flanks that they'd planned. The Maya managed some success on their left with some archery, but couldn't press home a warband attack on their right to clear enemy bowmen from the woods there.

The initial volley of arrows from the Mound Builders saw a warband element destroyed.

The Maya charged.

Despite their advantage they were thrown back.

A fierce melee developed. The Mound Builders lost an element of shooters, but mostly ended up giving ground before the Maya attack. Except on their right, where their giant and the Great Sun in his litter slowly pushed back the Maya hero and general.

And that was where the battle was decided, as some judicious juggling of combat orders to create favourable overlaps saw the Mound Builder general destroy his Maya counterpart. Losses had actually been light on both sides, but it was still enough to break the Maya army.

The final position shows the fierce Maya attack on their right pushing off the hill and towards the woods, whilst in the foreground the giant and the litter had driven their opponents back.