In the next few posts I will put up pictures of a collection of armies I have had for quite a while that fall into the Fantasy genre.
The genesis of this first army harkens back to my very early days of wargaming. Back in the early nineties I like a lot of young gamers, was drawn to the fantasy games of Warhammer and the Citadel miniatures range. Being brought up on a healthy dose of Tolkein and Dungeons and Dragons I loved the idea of commanding an army of dwarves against orcs, skeletons etc.
However even back then the cost of acquiring a warhammer army was beyond the finances of a poor university student so my grand plans for a warhammer army ended up being a few painted dwarves and a "Skeleton Army" box set. This "army" box set was hardly an army set. It offered around 30 skeleton infantry, half a dozen knights and a chariot rider, not even a third of what I would need for a proper Warhammer Undead army.
Pretty soon I was drawn to historical gaming and all my wargaming efforts went into those pursuits. Somewhere along the way I sold my dwarves and my Skeleton Army box set sat in my cupboard waiting for its time to shine.
That time came when I was introduced to the fantasy ruleset " The Hordes of the Things" or HOTT as it is more commonly referred to.
HOTT based on the very popular DBA (De Bellis Antiquatatis) system enabled me to put together a fantasy army using a lot less miniatures than a warhammer army and the generic nature of the army lists enable me to feature a undead army that suited what "I" thought a undead army should be and not have to strictly follow someone else's interpretation. Finally I had the motivation to pull out my old skeleton army box and get painting. In the end I did quite a lot of modification of the standard miniatures. Using heaps of green stuff I sculpted on chain mail, helmets, rotting clothing etc. to make a truly unique army.
Also I could grab any make of miniature I thought would suit my army. No worries about OOP stuff or Tournament compliant armies (don't get me started on tournaments!).
The highlight of the army, that which I am most proud of, is my zombie elephant and Howdah. I always thought a zombie elephant would look very cool so with left over skeleton bits, a cheap $2 plastic elephant, and liberal amounts of green stuff and imagination my zombie elephant was given life!
Lastly every army needs to have a stronghold or camp. I was able to scratchbuilt an impressive necromancer tower from foam board, card, and paper clay.
Enjoy the pictures!
The army arrayed!
Five bases of dire wolves classed as Beasts (2AP each) in HOTT
The Grim Reaper made from a leftover skeleton cavalry figure and green stuff to make his ragged clothing. He is classed as a Flyer (2AP) in my HOTT army.
Skeleton Archers , again green stuff made the rotting clothes. Classed as Bow (2AP) in HOTT.
My Skeleton General classed as a Hero (4AP). Made from the skeleton chariot, green stuff for horse clothes and cloak and crown. The mummy itself is from the old game Heroquest. I am quite happy how here turned out.
Lots of Hordes! These were the skeleton infantry again with lots of green stuff for clothing and some helmets. I picked up some GW zombies second hand to bolster the ranks of Hordes.
Hordes (1AP) are the cannon fodder of HOTT. They are expendable and can be recycled by spending PIPs during the game to bring them back onto the board if destroyed. They are weak, but can overwhelm an isolated unit. I use my horde to tie up my opponents best troops while I strike on the flanks with my heroes.
My homage to Ray Harryhausen's Jason & The Argonauts skeleton fight scene, with some left over skeletons emerging from the ground. The unit is called a Lurker (1AP) and occupies bad terrain hidden and appears when the enemy enters the terrain feature in a surprise attack.
Skeleton knights (3AP) Nuff said!
The evil necromancer himself, classed as a Magician (4AP) and sometimes I also make him the general of the army.
Another magician used as an alternative magician or sometimes in tandem to make a powerful magic combo! He originally was to be a magician for a proposed Chaos army which I will get around to one day.
The mighty Zombie Elephant with Howdah and Skeleton crew. Made from a cheap $2 dollar shop toy elephant and some green stuff. He is classed as a Behemoth in HOTT (4AP).
Lastly my greater demon that I class as either a. God (4AP) or Aerial Hero (6AP).
He does seem a bit out of place in a undead army so he will eventually form part of my proposed Chaos army.
And that's it! It is quite a flexible army which I can vary the composition to try different styles of army. It actually proves to be quite a tough opponent in battle.
Over the coming weeks I will post more of my HOTT armies.
Cheers
Neil
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