More HOTT

I played a couple more games of HOTT yesterday.

In the first the Tuatha De Danann attacked the army of Rama. Most of the terrain ended up in one corner, so this was a fairly open battle, giving a chance for the chariots of both sides to shine.

The Army of Rama - 2 x Heroes (one the general), 2 x Knights, 4 x Warband and 2 x Beasts

The Tuatha De Danann - 2 x Heroes (again, one of which is the general), 2 x Knights, 2 x Warband, 1 x Magician and 4 x Hordes

Rama shuffled his troops around to get a batter matchup whilst the Irish advanced rapidly.

The two armies quickly contacted.

Lugh quickly cut down the monkey warriors facing him.

Meanwhile Nuada Silverhand and Rama fought hero to hero in the centre. Their first combat was drawn, but the totals were even, so they didn't mutually destroy each other.

Rama's army fought back, destroying a minor Irish hero who had pushed too far into their line.

Nuada Silverhand and Rama fought again. Again the fight was a draw. But this time the total was odd, and the two heroes destroyed each other.

Unfortunately with Rama being a general, and his losses being one element more than that of the Tuatha De Danann, this caused his army to rout. The Irish won 8g-6.

After that relatively quick game I set up another, with Rama facing the Fishmen, who used the same army from the previous post.

The Fishmen were nominally the attacker, but got a good position with regard to terrain. Since Rama's army was more mobile, they opted to stay put.

Rama's troops formed up for the attack.

Monkey warband and allied bears swept towards the woods on the Fishmen's left. The chariots and heroes advanced in the centre.

Fierce fighting in the woods. At first the Fishman line held.

But they were soon driven back.

Rama's main force slammed into the Fishman centre.

It was a disaster; both lots of chariots were destroyed by the Fishman artillery and phalanx. With hindsight this was probably the obvious outcome.

In the woods the Fishmen were slowly being hunted down and destroyed.

Rama's monkeys turned onto the flank of the Fishman line. But Fishman shooters were advancing on Rama's left flank as well.

Hanuman fell to the Fishman artillery. This artillery did great things in both games I've played with the army.

And before Rama's forces could rally, or exploit their flank advantage, the monkeys on their left flank were overwhelmed and destroyed, breaking his army.

Rama lost 14-4

Back in the day Rama's army had a reputation for consistent spectacular losses, and it's good to see that it's maintained that over the years. An army based around knights, beasts and warband is always delightfully fragile, but still potent against the right opponents.