So here we are at last. Back in December eight armies from the world of literature stepped out onto the battlefields of Cringila to see who was the best. First a pair from Edgar Rice Burroughs' Martian series, Alan Garner's novels, Brian Jacques Redwall books and CS Lewis's Narnian series fought each other. This left one team from each series. In the semi finals The Forces of Light defeated the White Witch of Narnia, whilst Helium demolished Cluny's Rat Horde.
So here we are at the final, as John Carter and the army of Helium take on Cadellin Silverbrow and Alderley Edge's Forces of Light.
It's a straight fight with no hydration breaks.
The forces of light defended, and set up in a tight formation in front of their stronghold after being denied the support of terrain on their flanks in the pre-battle manuevers.
Their army: 1 x Magician General, 1 x Hero, 2 x Knights, 2 x Riders, 1 x Shooter, 1 x Blade, 1 x Sneaker, 1 x Lurker
Their opponents went for a wide deployment. Their army: 1 x Hero General, 6 x Blades, 2 x Airboats, 1 x Flyer
The airboats were deployed on a risky flank sweep, whilst the blades were lined up for and advance on the enemy line. John Carter would hang back to avoid a potential ensorcellment from the enemy magician. Indeed pundits were already predicting that this might be the cause of a sudden end to the clash.
Both armies advanced. Both armies took possession of a hill. Cadellin decided to stay put and rearrange his forces to meet the potential aerial attacks coming from each flank. The Martians decided to press forward. This would leave their blades fighting enemy mounted uphill, but this wasn't considered too great a disadvantage. The battle had to be won quickly before Cadellin simply fired up enough magic to take out John Carter.
The Martians charged.
And Helium's navy closed on the enemy flanks. Their flyer was the first to initiate combat ...
... destroying some Lios Alfar riders.
On the other flank Lios Alfar shooters defended against Helium's airboats, but were driven back.
The main Martian line attacked, and mostly drove their foes back.
Some knights won their fight, pursued and then were overlapped and destroyed.
Cadellin dispatched Albanac the hero to cover the army's right against the flyers. The flyers backed off, leaving Albanac struggling against some Martian blades. Meanwhile the ancient magician made a couple of attempts to ensorcell John Carter, but failed.
Cadellin's Dwarven allies were cut down as the Martians pressed their attack.
John Carter saw an opportunity and went for it. Cadellin was exposed. Red Martian warriors surged forward in an attack, supported on theflank by Helium's navy. It was too much for the wizard, who was defeated, breaking his army.
The final positions.
Helium won 10g-0. They'd pursued a vigorous aggressive strategy, whilst The Forces of Light struggled to gain an opening they could exploit. The first combat against the flyer was critical; had the Lios Alfar won it they would have controlled that flank and been in a position to roll up the Martian line. However aerials on both flanks left the Forces of Light struggling to move troops to deal with them whilst also dealing with a frontal assault. The blades did well against the mounted, winning their first few combats against the odds and from then on being able to counter the enemy's uphill advantage with overlaps. Cadellin managed two magical attacks against John Carter, but both failed. Either one would have been a battle-winner had they succeeded.
So Helium are the HOTT Literature Champions!
The final table:
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