Monday 19 March 2012

Phoenix Wargames Club Annual HOTT Tournament

For the last five years I've run a 15mm scale Hordes of the Things Tournament at the start of the year, designed to start things off after the Christmas and New Year break. The tournament uses a round-robin format with the aim of playing three rounds of games. The pairings for the initial games are drawn randomly before the tournament starts, each subsequent round will match the winners from the previous round against each other and the losers against each other. If two competitors have already played, then the match-up is re-drawn. The games are played using the 2nd edition of the rules with the following two amendments:

• The movement of shooters in both good and bad going has been reduced from 300p to 200p
• The movement of warband in both good and bad going has been increased from 200p to 300p
 
This year I also added a rule that Sneakers can break off from combat by moving straight ahead through their opponent as well as by moving straight back as per the rule book to try and encourage their use.

The tournament is not themed, so players can bring any legal army they wish. Games are played with 24AP armies, which must be legal according to the rules. The same army composition is used for each game.

We use 24” by 24” boards, without pre-set terrain. Scoring is on the basis of: Win – 3 points Draw – 1 point Lose – 0 points Total enemy AP destroyed is used to break ties at the end of the tournament – the player who has killed the most enemy AP wins. If that still leaves a tie, most generals killed followed by most stronghold captured will be used. In the unlikely event of a tie still not being resolved, a play off will be held between the tied players.

Prizes are offered - a painted HOTT army for the winner, plus smaller prizes for the best stronghold and for the best army (both voted for by the competitors). Some years additional prizes have been on offer, for example to the highest placed novice or the best performance with a borrowed army.

The tournament has been well supported by the club members with between 14 and 16 players most years. The maximum number was 20 in 2009. Over the years a number of new armies have been created to enter in the tournament.

Eoghan

Here are photos of some of this year's armies

Three Hero elements from the Star Wars army.
Noldor Elves.
Goblin Raiders.
One of several Undead armies on show.
Another Goblin army, this was the first prize in 2010.
Last year's first prize, a Sci-Fi army. It was awarded to the best placed player using a borrowed army.
A fantastic Beastman army. It was last year's prize (in bare metal) for the best army.
A Nemedian army, from the Conan stories.
The army of Lancre, from the Disc World books.
Robin Hood and his Merry Men.

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