Pendraken Miniatures Forum

Archive => Competitions => Topic started by: Terry37 on 29 September 2019, 10:11:09 PM

Title: Coventry Leg of the 2019 GBnUIT
Post by: Terry37 on 29 September 2019, 10:11:09 PM
Here is a link to a brief report of the Coventry Leg of the 2019 Good, Bad and Ugly International HOTT Tournament hosted by Pete Duckworth.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ailr4oXqR_o3DDOdGDtdLC11NipU2haT073Lu85f7X8/edit?usp=drivesdk

I was pleased to see that Mark Fry, who expressed interest on this forum about attending took top honors!!!! Congratulations Mark!!!!

Next up will be Bob Carter with the North Yorkshire Leg on October 20th, followed by me with the Nashville Leg on October 26th.

Thanks Pete for getting us off to a great start!!!!

Terry
Title: Re: Coventry Leg of the 2019 GBnUIT
Post by: paulr on 30 September 2019, 12:20:52 AM
Good to hear its got off to a good start :)

Congratulations Mark =D> =D> =D>
Title: Re: Coventry Leg of the 2019 GBnUIT
Post by: Steve J on 30 September 2019, 07:29:26 AM
Yep, well done Mark :).
Title: Re: Coventry Leg of the 2019 GBnUIT
Post by: Shedman on 30 September 2019, 08:05:42 AM
Well done Mark
Title: Re: Coventry Leg of the 2019 GBnUIT
Post by: Big Insect on 30 September 2019, 12:36:05 PM
Thank you folks ... I feel rather embarrassed ... as I hadn't played HoTT in at least 5 years, if not longer ... and had no practice games ahead of last Sunday!  :-[

HoTT is however a truly great set of rules ... possibly the greatest ... as it is simple to get to grips with & remember (like riding a bike); consistently fun; easy to play and so very flexible.

The Godiva/ GBnUIT format was interesting - 2 games with your own army and 2 games with your opponents army ... I used my 15mm 'Riders of Rohan' force consisting of:

Knight General: Theoden
Hero: Eomer
Paladin: Eyowen and Merry
Magician: Gandalf the White
+ 5 Knights: Riders of Rohan
Stronghold: The Halls of Edoras
Terrain: The Riddermark - consisting of 2 pieces of rocky impassable, a large low hill and a small section of Fangorn Forest.
Although I only played on that terrain once and I was the attacker in that game, as the D'regs (see below)

We played 4 games - I won 3 & lost 1
Game 1: was against a 100 Years War French (lots of knights)
Game 2: was against a Celtic army (with a wizardly bunch of druids)
Game 3 (my loss) was me using a Wicked Witch of the West - Wizard of Oz army - a lovely army - but I couldn't throw enough command pips to execute an elaborate plan of envelopment
Game 4: I used a Terry Pratchett D'reg army to win (lots of fanatic camel/knights, fierce flocks and psychotic chickens)

The secret of my success appeared to be my focus on destroying my opponents generals - as I won all 3 of my games that way - and my luck in fighting against or with armies with knights ... which tend to produce decisive games, one way or the other.

Great fun ... and as always I came away with my head brimming over with ideas for new forces or vows to paint up ones I already have in my painting pile (like the very nice frog army I bought from East Riding Miniatures or that John Carter of Mars army with the airships that lies half-converted in a box in the cupboard).

Sadly I don't think I will be able to make the other UK legs of this event due to other commitments. But thanks to Pete for organising it.

Mark
Title: Re: Coventry Leg of the 2019 GBnUIT
Post by: paulr on 30 September 2019, 09:13:48 PM
QuoteThe Godiva/ GBnUIT format was interesting - 2 games with your own army and 2 games with your opponents army

That sounds an interesting format, when using your opponents army I assume they are using yours :-\
Title: Re: Coventry Leg of the 2019 GBnUIT
Post by: Lord Kermit of Birkenhead on 01 October 2019, 08:09:18 AM
Mark - you actually won something !!!!
Title: Re: Coventry Leg of the 2019 GBnUIT
Post by: Big Insect on 01 October 2019, 10:32:23 AM
Quote from: paulr on 30 September 2019, 09:13:48 PM
That sounds an interesting format, when using your opponents army I assume they are using yours :-

Yes - spot on - it could lead to the possibility of constructing an army that is so fiendish to use that you can win with it but nobody else can ... but I'd suggest that this might be the route to true madness !!!

Maybe an force consisting all of lurkers, flyers and sneakers .... ???
Title: Re: Coventry Leg of the 2019 GBnUIT
Post by: Big Insect on 01 October 2019, 10:36:37 AM
Careful Ian !!!

I was once a National Champion in my youth - I cannot even remember what set of rules it was with or what period - possible under 16's ancients and with WRG 5th Edition - but it was so very long ago  :'(

The thing is that I like competitive gaming but I am not actually that concerned about winning for me the competition 'scene' gives me an opportunity to play new people and new armies and learn how other clubs play with sets of rules.

I was (for many years) UK National Umpire for Armati ... which had its challenges, but was for the most part very enjoyable.
Title: Re: Coventry Leg of the 2019 GBnUIT
Post by: Lord Kermit of Birkenhead on 01 October 2019, 10:59:49 AM
Quote from: Big Insect on 01 October 2019, 10:36:37 AM
Careful Ian !!!

That's unlikely.  I also ran both WWII and Modern Comps for the departed nationals, and came 7th in the Worlds. I used to get dumped with the occerd squad, all the hard players ! (no names, no sarth lundun suburbs beginin wit P)  The team won though  :D

IanS
Title: Re: Coventry Leg of the 2019 GBnUIT
Post by: mmcv on 01 October 2019, 10:12:29 PM
You finally tipped me over the edge into getting the rules. Terry's posts and projects have peaked my interest in the rules a number of times, though the book has been hard to come by. This time round when I looked it was available on Amazon. Because what I really need in my life right now is ANOTHER set of rules to encourage me into ANOTHER new project...  X_X
Title: Re: Coventry Leg of the 2019 GBnUIT
Post by: paulr on 02 October 2019, 05:38:08 AM
At least they can be small projects and you can do them in the one true scale if you choose ;)
Title: Re: Coventry Leg of the 2019 GBnUIT
Post by: Big Insect on 02 October 2019, 11:35:54 AM
Totally agree paulr - I very often start a HoTT army with a single figure I like or I build out from an existing historical army by adding an element or 2.

So I have a 15mm Teutonic army, to which I added a rather nice mounted fighting bishop (as a Cleric) and just used my existing Order Knights (as Knight); Turkopoles (as Riders), Order Sergeants (as Shooters with Xbows) and a mass of Prussian Estate Levy infantry as Hordes - it worked very nicely as a HoTT army. I also have a sledge mounted bombard as an Artillery piece.

Its opponent is a Pagan Prussian - where  all I needed to do was to add a Magician (as Pagan Priests), as I have the General as a Warband General, but the rest of the army is either Hordes (of spear and axe armed tribesmen) or Lurkers (ambushes). You can add a Sneaker element as a band of raiders if you like. All played on a snowy terrain. With frozen lakes, impassable pine forests and snow drifts.

10mm figures on 40mm frontage bases would work really well. In fact I have seen smaller scale figure (6mm or 10mm) on the 60mm frontage bases to create real scale. That is very effective. The thing with HoTT is the base frontage - either 40mm or 60mm - I often use bigger scale figures to represent specific elements - I once fought against a 15mm Assyrian HoTT army with 30mm Assyrian King of Kings figure leading it ... just like the over large figures of Biblical Kings and Pharaohs in bronze age rock carvings.

All good fun.  I am looking forward to hearing about your HoTT projects mmcv
Title: Re: Coventry Leg of the 2019 GBnUIT
Post by: mmcv on 02 October 2019, 11:08:29 PM
I suspect it'll be a bit before I get into them as I'm embroiled in several new projects currently as is, but I'm thinking it might be a way to get some bigger scale models I've liked but not been inclined to go for a large army with. I've some big Celts and Romans languishing at the bottom of my stash in various stages of painting that could work well. Or start something new altogether and as Paul says could do some pretty cool stuff with the one true scale.

Need to focus on what I have at the moment first though!
Title: Re: Coventry Leg of the 2019 GBnUIT
Post by: Terry37 on 11 October 2019, 04:16:26 AM
Catching up on stuff, and reading this makes my heart glad. First off, very well done mark!!! Interesting army too by the way. I was using my Eowyn figure as a hero, but I think I like her better as a Paladin!!! When Pete played in the Nashville Leg two years ago, I made a Green Man John Carter army for him to use, but it did not serve him well - too many mounted and he was the attacker every time so lots of bad going! Maybe you will take part again next year with a new HOTT army!

As for the HOTT rules, I can only agree with all that has been said. To me they are perfect because I find myself interested in so many eras and armies, and  added to that, my being a slow painter, doing large armies would never allow me to get on the battlefield. And, I truly love the flexibility of the rules - you are truly only limited by your imagination in creating an army!!! And you can play totally fictional battles or reconstruct historical ones - I've done both. A typical game lasts about an hour so you can get in multiple games in an afternoon, the playing area is small, and stuff is easy to store. What's not to like!

I will be very anxious to see what armies you all come up with, and offer to be of any help in anyway I can regarding the rules, army creation, etc. Just let me know.

Hoppy Trails

Terry
Title: Re: Coventry Leg of the 2019 GBnUIT
Post by: Big Insect on 15 October 2019, 01:24:38 PM
Hi Terry

As I've said previously, I often create a new army around a specific figure - one that I might have picked up on a Bring & Buy stall at a show or in the case of my next army set (I like making matched pairs) I saw (& bought) this one off eBay.

The armies are all based upon Irish Myths and Legends (Folklore) and are:

Fomorians: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fomorians

Tuatha Dé Danann: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuatha_D%C3%A9_Danann

Fir Bolg: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fir_Bolg

The army started with a Reaper Bones 28mm figure of a Formorian (warped) Giant figure, although my plan is to do all 3 armies in 15mm (on 40mm wide basing).

The lists (as far as I have gotten) look as follows:


HoTT - Fomorians (Irish Legend) - these are warped, mutated and distorted invaders from the sea
1 x Blades General (Indech, and his bodyguard) @ 2pts
1 x Hero (Conand son of Faebar and his retainers) @ 4pts
1 x Magician (Balor Birugderc - Balor of the piercing-eyed* - giant eye) @ 4pts
1 x Behemoth (Fomorian warped giant)
1 x Blades (Morc son of Dela) @ 2pts
1 x Beast (Fáil Inis – magical hound) @ 2pts
6 x Hordes - Fomorian Raiders (assorted sword and spear armed 'warped' Hordes) @ 1pt
Stronghold:
Stone tower by the sea (at Tory Island) called Dún Bhalair
Alternatives:
1 x Artillery (Balor of the piercing eye) @ 3pts
1 x Magicians (band of ragged crazed druids) @ 4pts
1 x Hero (Cú Chulainn in his fiery chariot) @ 4pts (cannot be fielded with Conand)
(*Only 1 version of Balor can be fielded - Balor is difficult to depict, as he is described with a single giant eye, with seven lids, and as his servants lift the lids his gaze becomes stronger and more powerful/deadly ... he is thought to be a representative of the Sun God and a bit like Odin)

HoTT - Tuatha Dé Danann (Irish Legend) - these are the wandering fairy folk of Irish legend - the main pagan gods of Ireland
1 x God (the Dagda*) @ 4pts
1 x Magician (Mogh Roith, "slave of the wheel" – ox drawn chariot of the stars) @ 4pts
1 x Hero (Nuada Airgetlám - Nuada of the Silver Hand) @ 4pts
1 x Shooter General (Lugh with his sling) @ 2pts
1 x Blade (Ogma with club – like Hercules) @ 2pts
1 x Flyer (The three Morrígan, as 3 large black battle crows or a Banshee) @ 2pts
4 x Hordes (the aes sídhe – faery folk or the sluagh sídhe—"the fairy host" ) @ 1pts
1 x Lurker (Far darrig or Rat-boys wearing red cap and red cloak) @ 1pt
1 x Water Lurker (Manannán mac Lir with his mists, sea-born chariot or golden boat, cloak of invisibility and regeneration cauldron) @ 1pt [ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manann%C3%A1n_mac_Lir ]
Stronghold:
Ancient passage tomb, such as Brú na Bóinne, which were seen as portals to the Otherworld – or a fairy hill, a fairy ring, a special tree (often a hawthorn) or a particular loch or wood
Alternatives:
1 x Behemoth (the Dagda Donn or Crom Dubh) - was often portrayed as a giant bearded man in a hooded cloak, with a magic staff, a mace/club, a magic cauldron and a golden harp - but generally he was thought to be the god of Death
1 x Lurker (leprechauns & other solitary fairy types - found in woods or at cross-roads, gates or stiles or small bridges over streams) @ 1pt
(*Only one version of the Dagda can be fielded)

HoTT Fir Bolg (Irish Legend) - tribal grouping returned from exile in the East over the sea (very stoic and almost bureaucratic in culture, but fierce warriors)
1 x Hero General (Eochaid mac Eirc - High King) @ 4pts
1 x Hero (Sreng, the champion of the Fir Bolg) @ 4pts
1 x Cleric (group of very serious priests/druids - who seem to negate hostile magic)@ 3pts
6 x Warband (tribal troops with spears, swords, axes and round shields - use 15mm Donnington Miniatures Bronze Age warriors) @ 2pts
1 x Lurker (ambush party in woods) @ 1pt
Stronghold
Pallisaded hill fort
NB: I need to do more work/research on the Fir Bolg - they appear to be a bit like the wandering (& enslaved) tribes of Israel

The general view is that Fomorians are the forces of Darkness, Chaos/Destruction and Evil; the Tuatha Dé Danann are Good, Light and Creativity and that the Fir Bolg are humans - caught in the middle between them. However, the Fir Bolg only appear to fight against the Tuatha Dé Danann.

I'll keep you posted as the armies develop - doing them in 15mm might be a challenge as the Fomorian hordes are decribed as being very warped and chaotic, with mixed limbs and hybrid animal human appearance. But the Reaper Bones Fomorian Giant has now arrived and is looking very impressive ... so the project is underway.

Mark

Title: Re: Coventry Leg of the 2019 GBnUIT
Post by: mmcv on 15 October 2019, 04:39:45 PM
Hope you share progress on these, sounds like very interesting armies you're putting together. Can play out your own version of the Book of Invasions. Just need a Milesian/Gael army in the mix and you're set!  ;) :D
Title: Re: Coventry Leg of the 2019 GBnUIT
Post by: Duke Speedy of Leighton on 15 October 2019, 08:22:37 PM
Would this be an excuse to get Leon to get the Formians into production? ;)
Title: Re: Coventry Leg of the 2019 GBnUIT
Post by: Big Insect on 15 October 2019, 08:31:53 PM
Sounds like a plan Lemmy  :D

My research on the Fir Bolg has turned up some very 'funny' ideas of what they might look like. A lot of the fantasy artists see them as semi-supernatural beings and have misinterpreted the 'Fir' bit to mean 'fire' but it actually translates as something close to men of the bags or sacks.

I also like the idea of doing the original HoTT Irish legends lists with hordes of chariots and heroes.

But my 15mm John Carter Martians arrived from Alternative Armies this morning and they are also mighty tempting - but they will have to go to the bottom of the list as I also have a Pendraken Samuari Apes army that is next up onto the painting board.

Hey ho ... so much lead ... so little time ... especially with diminishing eye-sight  :'(
Title: Re: Coventry Leg of the 2019 GBnUIT
Post by: Terry37 on 15 October 2019, 09:34:54 PM
OK Mark, Here's your opportunity to bag another first place win!!!! I just saw this post form Simon Wilson about the Bakewell Leg of hte GBnUIT!!!! If you know HOTT or just want to learn it, there is no better time. Don't have an army, just let Simon now and I'll bet he can supply one. Let me know if interested and I'll get you in touch with Simon!

The next Bakewell event at the Medway Centre will be the GBnU HoTT tournament on Saturday 16 November.  40mm base widths.

So far have the following down as attending:

Tim Sharrock
Mark Johnson
Baldie
Pete Duckworth
Martin Myers
Simon Wilson
John Saunders
Tim Kohler
Rob Rush
Nick Wright-Carter

Let me know if you are interested or would like further information.

The venue has free parking, coffee, tea,  cakes and is minutes walk from pubs and sandwich/take-away food outlets.

Regards,

Simon

__._,_.___
Title: Re: Coventry Leg of the 2019 GBnUIT
Post by: Duke Speedy of Leighton on 15 October 2019, 10:16:56 PM
Tim Kohler?
As in Tim who used to have red hair and beard and worked for Shropshire Nature?
Send him my best.
Title: Re: Coventry Leg of the 2019 GBnUIT
Post by: Terry37 on 16 October 2019, 08:01:42 PM
Lemmey, Not sure as I do not know that gentleman. But might very well be.

Terry