Fielding
an ArmyWhen Zeke raised the idea of a 36 AP Hordes of the Things tournament in January, I thought it would be a perfect debut for my next planned 15mm HOTT army: Centaurs. I counted out the figs I had to make sure I could stretch it to 36 AP and accelerated the painting schedule a bit.
My concept for Centaurs is they are creatures of the steppes -- much like the historical Scythians or Huns. The miniatures I owned were older 15mm Grenadier ones -- very plain models, and a tad on the big side. Most of the figs were unarmored and carried bows, while some had spears, swords or axes. A third type were identical fully armored "medieval knight" looking Centaurs with lances. I dressed all of them up in the painting process by giving them Scythian-style patterns on virtually every piece of equipment, from quivers to straps to barding for the Knight Centaurs.
First, though, I had to decide which HOTT troop types to make them. The obvious choice for the bow armed "horse archers" was Riders. The knights could be Knights, of course, and it would be easy to convert a figure into a Hero and Magician. I would base the Riders two to a stand, the Knights three to a stand, and the Hero and Magician solitary. If nothing else, it would make it easier on my opponent to identify which half horse, half man was what!
In HOTT, all of these troop types are mounted except the Magician. So, what do I do if my opponent hides inside the woods? I decided that my Centaurs were a raiding culture, and routinely attacked communities of humans living along the edges of the steppes. I theorized that they would enslave humans, then offer the most physically fit the opportunity to regain their freedom by fighting. If the slave brought them the head of an enemy in battle, they would be freed. These Headhunters would perform as the Centaurs' "assault troops" in terrain and would be classified Warband. I purchased some historical Scythian infantry from Falcon UK, painted them up, and the army was all set.
Looks-wise, I thought the army turned out great, and was gratified by the praise others heaped on them. How they performed remained to be seen. It's always difficult the first time out with a new army, so I convinced the local gang to hold a HOTT Warmup the weekend before the event. This would also allow us to test out Zeke's rule changes for board size, Pip bonuses, and so on. The Centaurs won both their warmup games, but in at least one of them I considered myself VERY lucky with my combat die rolls.
And finally, the day dawned for HOTT Wax...but the Gods of Winter were not cooperating. Ohio was slammed with its first snowstorm of the season, and Zeke was first to postpone the event till the next week.
The Battle Opens: Invading ElflandAnother Sunday arrived, and another snowstorm hit Ohio. Zeke doubtless was rolling 1's when it came to the weather for HOTT Wax! This time around, though, the roads were a bit better, and a dozen folks showed up to play (six from Columbus, two from Springfield, two from Cincinnati and two from Dayton).
My first matchup would prove to be a teaching session for first time player Dave Welch, borrowing my Wood Elf army. Dave is relatively new to DBA as well, but was willing to try its fantasy equivalent. I explained the differences between my army -- mostly mounted -- and his army (6 Spears, 6 Shooters, 2 Ent Behemoths, 2 Riders). An astute defender, Dave realized that he had to constrict the terrain against my steppe horde. He slapped down four large pieces of terrain in a broken line across the center of the table, then deployed his elves behind it in a long line. I massed my army against his right wing and rushed a force of Riders led by the Hero through the gap between the table edge and a steep hill. My general followed behind, several stands of Knights tagging along as bodyguards. The Headhunters charged across the spine of the hill, eager to support the attack.
It would prove a rough initiation to HOTT for Dave, as my Riders and Hero surrounded and destroyed the Elven cavalry and Ent he sent to responded to my thrust. My Centaurs then quickly began working their way along the flank of his battleline, surrounding and cutting down stand after stand of Elves. His archers launched an assault on the Headhunters on the hill, but were beaten back. My dice for combat AND command and control were excellent throughout the game, but the battle was largely won at deployment time, I felt. Dave is one of those guys who has a great attitude and cheerfully expects to lose as he learns a game. Hopefully, though, this battle taught him that a slower army cannot afford to deploy in a long thin line and let a much faster one mass all its forces against one wing.
My next matchup was against another in the continuous line of interesting HOTT armies Jack Shaw assembles. "Santa" Shaw had put together a WW II Russian army using 10mm minis, and it looked formidable: 4 machine gun Shooters, 4 heavy tank Behemoths, 2 troop transport Riders, 4 infantry Warbands. I defended and placed a series of gentle hills (which my faster troops should be able to seize first) in the center and right, with two small Woods in the left center. Jack lined the Warbands up against the woods, with his Behemoths stretching across the center. Two Riders providing a link between the tanks and the Shooters opposite my right.
Once again, I assembled a force of Riders led by my Hero and they galloped off to overwhelm the Russian Shooters. My Knights -- wary of his Behemoths -- began to assemble on a long hill in a wide column, supported by the Magician. The Headhunters sped out of the trees, where they were joined by a band of armored Centaur Knights. As my Riders and Hero collided with the Russian Shooters, much to my surprise, we bounced off, each side losing one stand. Jack then edged his Riders over to cover the machine guners' flank and began shooting my Riders to pieces. My knights charged the Riders, but this did little to stabilize the attack. The right wing, which was the lynchpin of my attack, was looking bad. And as his tanks wheeled across the center towards my Knights, it began to look worse.
My salvation came when Jack's Behemoth General clanked into the flank
of one of my knights, assisting his Riders. When the attack failed and
the general recoiled, I noticed any further recoil would be blocked by other
Behemoths. My Magician immediately began bespelling his general. It took
two tries, but we forced him to recoil into another tank, destroying him.
Jack was limited on command and control pips from that point, so pressure
on my troops in trouble began to ease. I had time to reassemble another
mounted group to slam into his Shooters, again. This time, we were more
successful, though the battle remained tight. On the turn he lost his general,
we were tied 10-10 in army points lost; then 12-12; then finally I eased
ahead 14-12. Since he'd lost his general and more than me, it was over.
It was a titanic struggle, and Jack could easily have won that game. I don't think Jack's deployment or tactics were wrong, except maybe he was a bit more risky than I would have been with his general. It seems to me most of my HOTT games finish because someone has lost their general (and more than the enemy) -- not because of points lost or strongholds. So, I think keeping your general safe is a key to victory in HOTT. Nevertheless, it was an awesome game. Jack was a true, gentleman opponent.
My third battle was a rematch against Keith Finn's Athenian Greek army, which my Centaurs had faced in the HOTT Warmup evening in Columbus, two weeks earlier. After our initial battle, Keith had done some soul searching and sought advice on how his army could contest the field against the much more mobile Centaurs. I and others counseled only the most minor changes to his list -- we felt that given the right battlefield and troop matchups, there was no reason vengeance wouldn't be successful if we met again.
Fortunately, when we did meet, I was defender. This allowed me to place my pair of small woods and trio of gentle hills that had worked against the WW II Russians. Keith placed his 7 Spear battleline in the center, supported on his left by a Shooter and two Cyclops Behemoths. His right was anchored by his two Riders and Hero, with two Shooters and a Chimera Beast further to the right in the Woods. When his Shooters and Beast left the safety of the small patch of trees in the battle's opening stages, I hurried my Headhunters and Riders forward to outflank and overrun them. More Centaur Riders faced down his three mounted units, pushing them backwards. Unsupported, the Beast and Shooters soon crumbled.
Meanwhile, a showdown loomed on the center hill. My line of knights stood atop it looking down at his spear block. Keith debated whether to take them onto the slopes, as Knights "quick kill" Spear and I would be uphill (plus his general was part of that block). Silently, I hoped he wouldn't, or would delay long enough that I could move my victorious left wing over to help against the heavy infantry. Keith wisely chose to let the dice fly and advanced uphill against my knights, who charged the final distance, hurling back the Greek Riders supporting the battleline. The spearmen proved more resolute, though, and began to shove back my Centaur Knights further and further. Shortly, this began to threaten my General and Magician, who'd failed four times in trying to bespell Keith's Hero. Meanwhile, Keith had withdrawn his beaten right wing to prevent further losses.
Emboldened by his battleline's success, he sent the Cyclops Behemoths forward where they encountered my Hero and Riders. One of his Shooter units edged over to support, and they proved deadly. Things were looking ill for the steppe hordes. We needed a "heroic moment." My own hero responded with a lucky 6-1 die roll swing against a Cyclops. This tilted the battle ever so slightly in my favor. And with time running out, we killed one more stand of his troops, finally battering the Greeks to 18 AP lost (while myself standing at 14 lost).
This would prove to be my toughest fight of the day. Keith had adjusted his tactics superbly, and without that final 6-1 swing, would probably have won that battle. The Centaurs tipped their helmets to the worthy Greek foes, and trotted off to the final round, 3-0.
How many times in the late rounds of HOTT or DBA Tournaments have I stared across the table at an equally undefeated Mike Stelzer? I rate him in the top tier of local players, and our games are always bitter (but fun!) struggles. So, it was with trepidation that my Centaurs faced off against Mike Stelzer's Wood Elves. In what would be one of the more important die rolls of the match, I ended up the Defender, again. Mike's elves would be forced to fight among the steppes' gentle hills and small copses of woods.
There is one cardinal rule I never violate when building a HOTT army: No Hero generals! Never, never, never! In my opinion, they are much, much too fragile. You surrender the game to a random die roll if the opponent's army contains Magicians, Paladins or Heroes. Mike had pooh-poohed my (and Zeke's) advice, though, and had fielded a Hero General, Magician, 4 Warbands, 5 Shooters, 1 Blade, 1 Behemoth and 2 Beasts. I call armies with more than 4-5 troop types "a little of this, a little of that" armies -- not my favorite ones to use or play against.
I
deployed in a modular block in the center, waiting to see how he would commit
himself. When I saw his Beasts and Warbands on the right, I hurled as many
Riders and Knights (led by my Hero) as I could that way. His Shooters,
which stretched across the center, tried to advance quickly and catch these
troops in the side as they galloped across. Enough Centaurs got through
to begin to chew up Mike's right, though.
In fact, Mike felt things were looking so dire that he moved his own General to engage my Hero. I warned him that if he rolled badly, I would win the game. Mike said he felt things were deteriorating enough he had to gamble...besides, he had me overlapped. We both let the dice fly. A 3 for him, 5 for me. Hmm...Hero General is 6+3=9. My Hero is a 5, -1 overlap, +5=9. Tie. But wait a minute! What is the most obscure, "not if its Tuesday" rule in the HOTT booklet? "If its total is equal to that of enemy: Hero vs. Hero...Both Destroyed if in close combat and both their final totals are odd numbers." Nine is an odd number. His Hero General was dead, my Hero was dead, but victory was ours!
My Centaurs had won Zeke's HOTT Wax 36AP tournament! I was elated because I knew what first prize was: A painted, 36 AP army of Leonines donated by Splintered Light Miniatures. Zeke had shown them to us two weeks ago and we'd all drooled over them (well, not really, that might have made the prize less of a prize...). Splintered Light makes some incredible miniatures, and I'd intended to buy an army of them one of these days. To get a painted army, though, this was truly, truly the best tournament prize I'd ever won.
I thank Zeke for running the tournament and all my opponents for being such great gentlemen and honorable foes. HOTT Wax was a blast, and the 36 AP format is a keeper. I enjoy the larger version more than normal, 24 AP games. I look forward to a chance to play in more of our local HOTT tournaments with my new Leonine army: At Warband 2007 March 10 in Latonia, KY (Cincinnati area); Origins July 5-8 in Columbus, and Warparty, again in Cincinnati.