Hordes of the Things (game)
Encyclopedia
Hordes of the Things is a fantasy
miniature wargame
, published by Wargames Research Group
. A generic fantasy game, it can represent armies from a wide variety of settings. Some gamers even use HOTT to simulate other time periods, since, for example, a "Shooter" can just as easily be a company of musketeer
s as it can a company of archers
.
HOTT rules are based on the rules of De Bellis Antiquitatis
, with the addition of a magic phase and new troop types, and the retention or simplification of other troop types.
An army is made up of a number of 'elements' of equal frontage and varying numbers of figures. The number of figures on each element is unimportant and need only be what looks right for any given army; all game mechanisms use the element as a basic unit. The number of elements in an army is based on a points system. Each element costs 1, 2, 3, 4 or 6 Army Points (AP) depending on its type. A basic army is made up of 24AP worth of troops, but no more than half the points can be spent on elements costing 3 or more AP. A basic army is therefore normally made up of between 9 and 12 elements, although 24 element armies are possible. Elements are of basic types - examples are Knights (mounted troops relying on a fierce charge), Blades (skilled fencing infantry), Heroes (superhuman individuals), Lurkers (things that hide and ambush) and Magicians (practitioners of magic). One element is the army's general.
Turns are alternate. In their turn a player dices for Player Initiative Points (PIPs), spell casting and shooting is resolved and finally close combat is resolved. A player's PIPs are used to move elements, cast spells and perform certain other actions. Shooting, spell casting and close combat is resolved using the same mechanisms; shooting and spell casting are resolved between any elements in range, close combat between adjacent elements. Combat results generally cause elements to recoil, flee or be destroyed outright. An army loses if its general is lost, half its points are lost or, if the defender, its stronghold is lost. A game generally lasts less than an hour.
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
miniature wargame
Miniature wargaming
Miniature wargaming is a form of wargaming that incorporates miniature figures, miniature armor and modeled terrain as the main components of play...
, published by Wargames Research Group
Wargames Research Group
The Wargames Research Group ' is a British publisher of rules and reference material for miniature wargaming. Founded in 1969 they were the premier publisher of tabletop rules during the seventies and eighties, publishing rules for periods ranging from ancient times to modern armoured warfare, and...
. A generic fantasy game, it can represent armies from a wide variety of settings. Some gamers even use HOTT to simulate other time periods, since, for example, a "Shooter" can just as easily be a company of musketeer
Musketeer
A musketeer was an early modern type of infantry soldier equipped with a musket. Musketeers were an important part of early modern armies, particularly in Europe. They sometimes could fight on horseback, like a dragoon or a cavalryman...
s as it can a company of archers
Archery
Archery is the art, practice, or skill of propelling arrows with the use of a bow, from Latin arcus. Archery has historically been used for hunting and combat; in modern times, however, its main use is that of a recreational activity...
.
HOTT rules are based on the rules of De Bellis Antiquitatis
De Bellis Antiquitatis
De Bellis Antiquitatis or DBA is a fast play set of rules for the hobby of historical miniature wargaming, particularly ancient and medieval wargaming in the period 3000 BC to 1485 AD. These rules allow entire armies to be represented by less than 50 figures. The rules also include a campaign...
, with the addition of a magic phase and new troop types, and the retention or simplification of other troop types.
Description
'Hordes of the Things' is a set of fast play miniatures rules for fantasy battles. It is designed to be generic and is not, therefore, tied to any particular fantasy genre, set of books, range of figures or even scale. This is achieved by the game concentrating on the effect of an action rather than precisely how it is achieved. The primary example of this is in the use of Magicians. There are no spell lists in HOTT, Magicians act as a kind of powerful long range artillery and inflict combat outcomes on the opposition. The effect of their attack may be that a bolt of lightning has been cast, the enemy troops have experienced fearful visions or that they have been infected with a plague of lice. This is unimportant in terms of the game. What is important is that they will either stand and take it (attack has no effect), they will fall back in disarray or they will be destroyed or quit the field.An army is made up of a number of 'elements' of equal frontage and varying numbers of figures. The number of figures on each element is unimportant and need only be what looks right for any given army; all game mechanisms use the element as a basic unit. The number of elements in an army is based on a points system. Each element costs 1, 2, 3, 4 or 6 Army Points (AP) depending on its type. A basic army is made up of 24AP worth of troops, but no more than half the points can be spent on elements costing 3 or more AP. A basic army is therefore normally made up of between 9 and 12 elements, although 24 element armies are possible. Elements are of basic types - examples are Knights (mounted troops relying on a fierce charge), Blades (skilled fencing infantry), Heroes (superhuman individuals), Lurkers (things that hide and ambush) and Magicians (practitioners of magic). One element is the army's general.
Turns are alternate. In their turn a player dices for Player Initiative Points (PIPs), spell casting and shooting is resolved and finally close combat is resolved. A player's PIPs are used to move elements, cast spells and perform certain other actions. Shooting, spell casting and close combat is resolved using the same mechanisms; shooting and spell casting are resolved between any elements in range, close combat between adjacent elements. Combat results generally cause elements to recoil, flee or be destroyed outright. An army loses if its general is lost, half its points are lost or, if the defender, its stronghold is lost. A game generally lasts less than an hour.
Units
A HOTT army is made up of 24 "points" worth of troop stands, drawn from the following list. Note that each type of troops has a different cost in points.- Aerial Heroes - Heroes who can fly, or have a flying mount
- Airboats - Large flying platforms, like zeppelinZeppelinA Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship pioneered by the German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin in the early 20th century. It was based on designs he had outlined in 1874 and detailed in 1893. His plans were reviewed by committee in 1894 and patented in the United States on 14 March 1899...
s - ArtilleryArtilleryOriginally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
- Powerful, long ranged missileMissileThough a missile may be any thrown or launched object, it colloquially almost always refers to a self-propelled guided weapon system.-Etymology:The word missile comes from the Latin verb mittere, meaning "to send"...
weapons - Beasts - Savage creatures, like wolves
- BehemothBehemothBehemoth is a mythological beast mentioned in the Book of Job, 40:15-24. Metaphorically, the name has come to be used for any extremely large or powerful entity.-Plural as singular:...
s - ElephantElephantElephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...
s, GiantsGiant (mythology)The mythology and legends of many different cultures include monsters of human appearance but prodigious size and strength. "Giant" is the English word commonly used for such beings, derived from one of the most famed examples: the gigantes of Greek mythology.In various Indo-European mythologies,...
, DinosaurDinosaurDinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
s, etc. - Blades - Well equipped foot soldiers, like the Roman legionRoman legionA Roman legion normally indicates the basic ancient Roman army unit recruited specifically from Roman citizens. The organization of legions varied greatly over time but they were typically composed of perhaps 5,000 soldiers, divided into maniples and later into "cohorts"...
- ClericCleric (character class)The Cleric, Priest, or Bishop is a character class in Dungeons & Dragons and other fantasy role-playing games. The cleric is a healer, usually a priest and a holy warrior, originally modeled on or inspired by the Military Orders...
s - Religious leaders who perform an anti-Magician role - DragonDragonA dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...
s - Large, super-intelligent flying creatures - Fliers - Giant EagleEagleEagles are members of the bird family Accipitridae, and belong to several genera which are not necessarily closely related to each other. Most of the more than 60 species occur in Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just two species can be found in the United States and Canada, nine more in...
s or other dangerous flying creatures - Gods - Powerful supernatural entities, like ZeusZeusIn the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...
- Heroes - Mighty warriors of renown
- Hordes - Endless seas of poorly trained and equipped fighters.
- Knights - Armored horsemen who chargeCharge (warfare)A charge is a maneuver in battle in which soldiers advance towards their enemy at their best speed in an attempt to engage in close combat. The charge is the dominant shock attack and has been the key tactic and decisive moment of most battles in history...
ferociously into mêléeMêléeMelee , generally refers to disorganized close combat involving a group of fighters. A melee ensues when groups become locked together in combat with no regard to group tactics or fighting as an organized unit; each participant fights as an individual.... - Lurkers - Creatures that hide in dark places. Water lurkers are a specialised version that live in aquatic terrain.
- Magicians - Spell casters, sorcerers and conjurers
- PaladinPaladinThe paladins, sometimes known as the Twelve Peers, were the foremost warriors of Charlemagne's court, according to the literary cycle known as the Matter of France. They first appear in the early chansons de geste such as The Song of Roland, where they represent Christian martial valor against the...
s - Warriors of Great Virtue - Riders - Mounted soldiers who fight with missile weapons in preference to mêléeMêléeMelee , generally refers to disorganized close combat involving a group of fighters. A melee ensues when groups become locked together in combat with no regard to group tactics or fighting as an organized unit; each participant fights as an individual....
- Shooters - Soldiers who fight with missileMissileThough a missile may be any thrown or launched object, it colloquially almost always refers to a self-propelled guided weapon system.-Etymology:The word missile comes from the Latin verb mittere, meaning "to send"...
weapons, such as archersArcheryArchery is the art, practice, or skill of propelling arrows with the use of a bow, from Latin arcus. Archery has historically been used for hunting and combat; in modern times, however, its main use is that of a recreational activity...
and crossbowCrossbowA crossbow is a weapon consisting of a bow mounted on a stock that shoots projectiles, often called bolts or quarrels. The medieval crossbow was called by many names, most of which derived from the word ballista, a torsion engine resembling a crossbow in appearance.Historically, crossbows played a...
men - Sneakers - NinjaNinjaA or was a covert agent or mercenary of feudal Japan specializing in unorthodox arts of war. The functions of the ninja included espionage, sabotage, infiltration, and assassination, as well as open combat in certain situations...
s and other sneaky assassinAssassinationTo carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
types - Spears - Well ordered soldiers fighting in phalanxPhalanx formationThe phalanx is a rectangular mass military formation, usually composed entirely of heavy infantry armed with spears, pikes, sarissas, or similar weapons...
- Warband - Ferocious soldiers who lack disciplineDisciplineIn its original sense, discipline is referred to systematic instruction given to disciples to train them as students in a craft or trade, or to follow a particular code of conduct or "order". Often, the phrase "to discipline" carries a negative connotation. This is because enforcement of order –...
but not bravery
External links
- Rules of Hordes of the Things available for free download at the Wargames Research Group website.