The Battle of the Amazons

[Terry37]

It was not a particularly cold day, but there was still a nip in the air. Such concerns were far from the minds of the shield maidens on both sides as they prepared themselves for the combat they knew was coming. Yes, they knew this day was coming, and also that only one side could go home being the victor - to quote from the "Hunger Games" – "May the odds be ever in your favor"!

It was around the noon hour that the two forces first caught a glimpse of each other, and there was more than a little tension in the air. It was hard to tell if it was warrior women one was seeing or Wild Fiends from Hell as there was plenty of gnashing of teeth, beating of shields with war clubs and the sound of Lisbeth Salander's taser being tested!!! One spectator showed up with his arena chair and brew to serve as an independent observer – Baxter key. But, I'm not sure he was prepared for what he was about to witness!!!

The time for negotiations had passed and it was now time for the test of arms. Must say that just the sheer numbers made things look more than a little grim for Terry's modern Amazons – but he and they knew that numbers alone did not make for a victory – it was strength, courage and commitment! And they had plenty of that!!!


General Sir Paul of Potter with his awesome looking band of brave Femme Fatales!!!


Paul's General Hero, front left, Hero, front right and behind his general, a Paladin.


A selection of Paul's line made up of Shield maiden Warbands.


Paul's Stronghold, his warriors being the defenders. (have to admit that Paul's army is truly a beautiful work of art!!!).


And as in any battle you always need an "other side", so here he is in all of his glory, Terry and his Modern Amazon warriors. Note the cowboy attire, Stetson hat and vintage Indian trade beads – surely that has to count for something in a showdown such as this!!!


A view of some of Terry's command – back row: Judy, Sam and Jessica. Front row: Michonne, Beatrix Kiddo, Ellen, Katniss, and Jordon O'Neill (GI Jane).


And the game is "afoot" Dr, Watson (although Mr. Holmes never said that in any of the books/stories)!  The opening positions.


Lara Croft, as a Lurker, saw an opportunity to wreak a little havoc on Paul's amazons by striking one of his Warband elements in some bad going! But alas poor Lara feel to slings and arrows from Paul's fierce maidens, but she feel in glory! First blood had been spilled!!!


Paul's hero General having worked behind Terry's line had already pushed through GI Jane, a Sneaker, and charged in to poor, sweet little Katniss Everdeen!!! The horror of it all, poor little Katniss also fell as Rue, due to Paul's all but unstoppable path chaos and wrath!!! The score was a grim 3 points lost for Terry and zero lost for Paull!!!! Surely this could not go on and fallen heroes had to be avenged!


Through some clever maneuvering and the luck of a good die roll for movement, Terry was able to bring GI Jane fully in to play as she engaged Paul's Hero General, who with the support of Jessica Jones, and extended support from Sam Carlson, Terry's hero General ,a tense combat developed!!!! What will be the outcome?


And then just like that and a roll of the dice, Paul's Hero General was slain by the epic SEAL training received by GI Jane!!! And it was battle done, as Paul had lost both his general and more points than Terry did. So, the game ended almost before it even got started!!! Lady Luck had indeed smiled on Terry's Amazons!!!

It was truly a very close-run thing as had I not been able to stop Paul's unrepressed charge by his Hero General, Hero and Paladin when I did the game would have been written by a different historian because as we know the winner always writes the history!!!


I asked Paul if he wanted to make any comments and this is his response!!!

I some how doubt that I've not seen the last of Paul and his Amazons, but for now the celebration is in Terry's camp.

So, remember to look ott he skies and always check your six!!!!!

Terry

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Great report chaps.

[paulr]

 

[Terry37]

Thank you gentlemen!!! it was a fun afternoon. We played a second game afterwards, only to agin find my Amazon Bad Ladies too tough for Paul. But as I said previously - I am pretty sure revenge is coming my way!!!  To clarify, Paul Potter is the one who introduced me to HOTT, and trust me, he's a very formidable player!!! Plus, he is a very dear friend!

Terry

[Techno]

Great report chaps.

Wot Will Sed. 

Cheers - Phil. (If Terry had a white jacket on...and no hat....would he remind you of someone ?)

[Steve J]

Lovely looking game and both sides had rather nice armies .

[mmcv]

How do you always do this Terry, every time I'm considering dipping my toes into HOTT, you post something! 

I was just last night hovering over the buy button on a potential HOTT project while eyeing the number of in progress projects I already have ongoing for other things in despair...

Great looking game and good to see one of your ongoing projects in action!

Do you know where Paul got his Amazons?

[Terry37]

Lemmey - I have often been accused of having something to do with chicken....to the point that strangers will make some comment about it in stores, etc. But the look is strictly for my cowboy action shooting (you are required to dress cowboy) .....but darn, it doesn't help my shooting one bit!

MMCV - I have yet to find a set of rules hat makes me want to leave HOTT. I know they are not for everyone, but for me they are ideal!!! Happy to help in any way I can if you do decide to give it a try. I suggest maybe doing up some markers and try it before buying figures maybe. That way you're not out funds if you don't care for it. I would cut the markers toi the specified base size for a troop type and then write the troop type on it. I know it's not pretty, but will give you an idea of the rules. Games are usually short, far less than an hour, and due to my lucky kill on his general, that game was probably only 15 minutes or less. As for armies, you are limited only by your imagination, which makes for great fun.

I believe most of Paul's figures are from Copplestone and a few from Reaper.

Terry

[Techno]

Lemmey - I have often been accused of having something to do with chicken..

Yep....and that wasn't Lemmey, "Colonel"...'Twas I  (But he can take the blame.)

Cheers - Phil

[mmcv]

MMCV - I have yet to find a set of rules hat makes me want to leave HOTT. I know they are not for everyone, but for me they are ideal!!! Happy to help in any way I can if you do decide to give it a try. I suggest maybe doing up some markers and try it before buying figures maybe. That way you're not out funds if you don't care for it. I would cut the markers toi the specified base size for a troop type and then write the troop type on it. I know it's not pretty, but will give you an idea of the rules. Games are usually short, far less than an hour, and due to my lucky kill on his general, that game was probably only 15 minutes or less. As for armies, you are limited only by your imagination, which makes for great fun.

I believe most of Paul's figures are from Copplestone and a few from Reaper.

Terry

Thanks, for the advice, you're probably right as I've done the same for rulesets before to find if I liked them or not. The main motivation this time was buying a figure on a whim I liked the look of then had a notion of building up a themed army around it. If it does tend to run an hour or less will have to give a go with a cutout army.

[Big Insect]

MMCV - I have yet to find a set of rules hat makes me want to leave HOTT.

Terry ... why even bother seeking another set of rules when HoTT is so very perfect 

Mark

Well ... there is BKCIV of course ... hmmm

[Terry37]

Ah, OK Techno, my bad. Therefore just to be sure I have all the bases covered, I'll just blame you both!!!   Actually, I am probably going to remove the KFC beard and just keep the lip caterpillar as I've had that since the early 70's.

Big Insect - yep, that's how it works for me, but probably not for everyone. I am guessing the rules have been around since the early 90's maybe, but I didn't get involved with them until I retired 20 years ago.  Maybe old age has just made me  resistant to change?

MMCV - I have more than once created a HOTT army due to one figure or uniform that just totally captures me. But then with HOTT you don't need that many figures so not that big of a deal. I find part of the real enjoyment is creating an army that you feel is accurate as to how you see it, because there is no hard and fast definition of an army. The first thing to remember though when creating an army is to keep in mind how they fight, i.e. open order/close order, or what weapons they are using spear/sword or axe /bow. In other words, it might be a bit difficult to understand why a group of spearmen or pikemen would be classed as Blades since blades are a short range weapon, while spear and pikes an extended range, but not a shooting weapon. It can be confusing at first, but ponce you get the knack of it, it is very captivating....or at least to me! I mention this because that was a struggle for me, being one who more than once claimed he's never going to play fantasy games!!!

Hoppy Tails !!!

Terry

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Cute

[Techno]

Certainly is ! 

Cheers - Phil

[petercooman]

Nice report!

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

Like the rabbit - LUNCH !

[Terry37]

That is my sweet little man - Winston. We adopted him two years ago last month. He's a NZ Red breed. We also have a little doe, also adopted after being dumped out named Hannah, a Rhinelander breed. We adopted her after our sweet Clover crossed the Rainbow Bridge.


Our sweet Clover


Winston and Hannah

Terry

[Techno]

Definitely cute ! 

As they're (I assume) male and female.....Do you have to keep them separate  (If you're not about), Terry ?

Cheers - Phil.

[Terry37]

Techno, they are indeed a buck (Winston) and a doe (Hannah). Both bunnies have had "THE" operation so we have no worry of unexpected kits showing up. However, you cannot just put two bunnies together regardless of gender because, although they are a very sweet and docile creature, when there is more than one bunny involved, then they will fight ruthlessly until one is established as Chief Rabbit. It took us 9 months to bond Winston and Clover, and about 7 months to bond Winston with Hannah. Bonding can be a very trying experience requiring great patience. The main thing is to prevent fighting as you try to bond them, and I have the scars to prove it. Once bonded then they are mates for life.



When poor Clover passed, little Winston spent the next week hardly eating and he kept going to the place we found her - because he could still smell her scent. Also, it is best to allow the living mate to have time with the other mate before removing the body. Little Winston groomed and nudged her, just breaking out heart. We could hear him thinking - "Come on Clover, let's go play!". It was not until we brought Hanna home that Winston started coming out of his grief.

Bunnies are amazing creatures, and as with bonding to another bunny, they also bind the same to their human parents. I must say though that bunnies are not a pet for everyone because they require constant care, and you have to put up with the normal and natural characteristics of a bunny. For example their front teeth never stop growing so they are constantly gnawing on stuff - furniture, baseboards, shoes, etc. They cannot be treated by just any vet, but require a bunny savvy vet. They do not like being picked up as they equate even you picking them up as if a predator has grabbed them - so we only pick and hold our babies when we need ot see the vet or cut their nails. Bunnies are considered an exotic pet, and are not really a good pet for children. Here are few short, but really good videos about bunnies.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXo7BkufNZA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pI0o3RMuHc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnVjYhETHnU&t=22s

Both of our babies are Free Roam, which  makes for a happier bunny. Yes, they can be potty trained and usually very quickly and easily. They are a very clean animal with absolutely NO odor If you think you smell your rabbit, then what you're really smelling is their litter pan that you've not cleaned.

Bunnies are truly wonderful, beautiful and loving little creatures.

Terry
Adopt, Don't Shop

[mmcv]

Have you ever done a bunny-themed army, Terry? 

We had a couple of rabbits when we were quite young and they would often take a notion to rip chunks out of each other in the middle of the night. They can be vicious for all their cuteness, I remember my parents trying to separate them and section off their hutch and run with bits of wood in the early hours of the morning in their dressing gowns as it sounded like they were doing bloody murder. In the end, it got a bit much and we had to give them away to a family friend who had more space to let them roam.

Enough rabbiting on though... you'll be glad to know I tried out HotT tonight. My English Civil War troops are mostly based in HotT compatible style and to try out the more fantasy elements I stuck some undead individual figures I had been working on to appropriate bases as their opponents. Was mostly a coffee table test game (literally, was using coasters as hills!) but got a good feel for it I think. I did like how fast it played once I got into the swing of it and even though it was a smaller playing area than most games it didn't feel cramped or locked down.

I admit I found it a bit hard going at first, the rules can sometimes be a little hard to find and decipher (I had to Google now sneakers worked) but once i started remembering the combat factors things moved much more smoothly. Think I'll definitely try another test game then decide if I want to plunge into another project!