HOTT In Coventry

When I was in the UK I was privileged to have an evening of HOTT arranged in my honour in Coventry, courtesy of the Scimitar Wargames Club (and specifically Pete Duckworth).

I went with my dad, and we were first invited to Pete's place for food and a few afternoon games.

We started off with a quick run-through of Faustus Furious, which I'd never actually played with another person.

Pete threw together a figure of eight run using random terrain, and we each selected a chariot. My dad got a standard one, Pete had an agile chariot (the best type in my opinion) and I had a scythed chariot (which is great for attacking with).

Pete took an early lead, and I followed as best I could.

Here we are on the first loop of the 8. Pete is out in front, I am in second place and my dad was bringing up the rear.

In the end Pete's agile chariot won the day. I had one chance to stop him but it came down to which chariot moved first; he did and escaped my attempt to attack him and maybe slow him down for a turn or two.

We then played a game of Junta: Viva le Presidente, which is a massively cut-down fast-play version of Junta. Whilst it lacks the charm of the original, it does play quickly and includes many recognisable elements of the original game. I was nicely set up to win when my dad played a sneaky event card that gave him the spoils of a coup instead of me, and gave him the victory instead.

And so on the the main event - HOTT. Around eight of us turned up for an evening of HOTT.

I was thrilled to finally meet Martin Smith, who I have chatted with online on and off for the past few years. And we even played a game.

His Aliens took on my Horrors of the Dreamtime. The Aliens had lots of shooters, some artillery and also a magician, so I didn't fancy my chances here. I did manage to destroy their flyers with my own though.

The Wugaru fled from the alien artillery.

I wasn't quite sure where to launch my attack - all of teh options looked unappealing. However the Aliens advanced on my right, so I reorganised things to meet the assault.

I also chuck my magician general at the enemy artillery, which was positioned on a hill. Lack of PIPs meant that it became increasingly more difficult to maintain this attack.

I actually won the fight on my right, destroying a few Alien elements. Taking out the artillery as well would put me within reach of a win. But try as I might I couldn't do it.

I reformed my army, but so did Martin, and I was losing elements fast. I tried one last desperate move - an attempt to ensorcell his magician with my own.

It went exactly as you'd expect and that was the game lost for me.

Still, it was an utter pleasure to play Martin at last.

My second game was against Kev, who had an army of Saints. There was a list explaining who each one was, but I can't remember the details now.

They were a distinctly non-shooting army which suited me. I was able to get stuck in rapidly. 

I even managed to destroy some riders with my beasts.

Unfortunately I dropped the ball when it came to keeping track of the enemy sneaker. which rapidly reached my stronghold. However it failed to capture it and fled, buying me some more time.

The Horrors did sterling work destroying various saints.

But it wasn't enough. The sneaker came back and a second attack on my stronghold took it.

After two games I'd had enough. I was not feeling 100% that evening thanks to a lurgy we'd all picked up on the flight over to the UK, and still had a decent drive home in the dark on what were now unfamiliar UK roads. I want to thank Martin and Kev for two great games which I feel were both pretty close. And special thanks to Pete Duckworth for organising the evening and hosting us beforehand. I can only apologise that I wasn't in a sufficient state of health to fully appreciate it.