Big Board HOTTs is an adaptation of Big Board DBA by Bob MacDonald and the members of the South Bay Game Club of Cupertino, CA from the DBA Resource Page Web site.

Big Board HOTTs is part campaign, part big battle. It allows maneuver and battle between multiple armies.

Big Board HOTTs is designed for play on a large table. If using 25mm figures, there should be at least a 3 foot by 3 foot area for each player.

The table should include a BUA at its approximate center. This is important for determining the ultimate victor. Other terrain can be placed as normal. This should be done by the group (after picking their armies) or by the umpire/host.

Players determine the entry point for each of the armies. This can be done by some mutually agreeable fashion, such as numbering areas along the table edge and rolling for entry points.

Players enter the gaming area in a one element wide column. Once an element is on the game area, it can be moved in any legal manner.

Each army includes an element representing baggage. Baggage moves at the same rate as the slowest element in the army.

For the first six (6) bounds, players roll 2 dice, using the higher die roll of the 2 for PIPs.

At the end of the first six bounds, night falls. All elements are in an army must meet the following conditions:

• Each element must be at least 300p from the closest element of any other army.
• Each element must be within 600p of another element of the same army.
• There must be no intervening elements of another army in a straight line drawn between the element and the baggage of its army.

Elements can move freely by the minimum needed to fulfill these conditions.

Each player now determines an imaginary line – or perimeter – connecting their controlled non-baggage elements. A long string is helpful for determining perimeters.

Once the perimeters are established, all elements – except the baggage element – are removed from the table for re-deployment.

During re-deployment, do the following – in order:

1. Determine the status of your baggage element. You can replace it (in the same location) as a normal-functioning friendly Stronghold or remove it and 4 AP of controlled troop elements from the game area. The loss of the removed AP does not affect the friendly army except by reducing the AP total of the army.
2. Deploy the remainder of the army for battle within the friendly perimeter. Do this in rotation (determined in an agreed fashion), by placing at least 6 AP of troops until all of the troops are placed.

The order of play is determined by die rolls, with the lowest number rolling for PIPs, moving, and resolving combat first.

The victor is the person with an undemoralized element in the BUA at the center of the table when all of the other armies are demoralized.

Troop elements can be purchased as Elite or Levy elements. An Elite element has its AP increased by 50%. Elite elements fight all combat with a +1 TF. A Levy element has its AP cut in half. Levy fights with a -1 TF. Elite and Levy elements must be clearly recognizable according to the umpire or host.

Rider normal movement is reduced to 400p per bound. All other Rider movement rates remain the same.

This rule adds light infantry and Light Horse to the existing HOTTs mix. There are two types infantry: Scouts and Rangers. They cost 2AP per element.

Scouts have the following characteristics:

Mounted element.
60x40 base in 25mm (40x30 in 15mm).
500p movement.
Combat factor +2 against anyone. If the Light Horse are equipped with a shooting weapon, they can shoot 100p.
If beaten, destroyed if in bad going, otherwise, flee 600p.
If doubled, destroyed by Riders, Light Horse, or Flyers in good going, or if in bad going; otherwise, flee 600p.

Scouts have the following characteristics:

Foot element.
60x30 base in 25mm (40x20 in 15mm).
300p movement. Mounted can pass through Scouts, or Scouts through any friends, which are facing in the same or opposite direction if there is room beyond the first element met.
Combat factor +2 against anyone. If the Scouts are equipped with a shooting weapon, they can support Warband, Spears, or Blades against Mounted/Aerial (+1 factor) and suffers same fate as supported unit.
No -2 if fighting in difficult or bad going.
If beaten, destroyed by Knights, Riders, or Flyers in good going, otherwise recoil.
If doubled, destroyed by Knights, Riders, or Flyers in good going or by Rangers or Scouts; otherwise, flee 600p.

Rangers have the following characteristics:

Foot element.
60x30 base in 25mm (40x20 in 15mm).
300p movement.
+3 combat factor versus foot, +2 against all others.
No -2 if fighting in difficult or bad going.
If beaten, destroyed by Knights in good going, otherwise recoil.
If doubled, destroyed.

Generals in any edge contact with an enemy element are considered non-functional for PIP expenditure.

Aerials can end their movement in Woods or BUAs. Aerials can fight in Woods or BUAs with the same combat factors applied as for Mounted troops. Aerials forced to recoil or flee by a non-Aerial opponent while in a Woods or BUA are destroyed instead.

Artillery can move or fire only in a friendly bound. It can not do both in the same bound.

Elements or groups that are more than 600p from a known enemy and remain more than 600p throughout their bound from a known enemy can move again for each extra PIP spent. This movement can include deploying.

A army is demoralized if it loses half of its AP or its Stronghold is taken. If an army loses its general it is also demoralized if its next PIP score is less than half the number of AP the army has lost.

A demoralized army remains on table and carries on as before, but with the following restrictions:

• Heroes and Paladins are never demoralized.
• Only one element (not group) in the army is allowed to make a normal move. All other elements must be halted either as individual elements or groups, such a halt counting as a move. This means that it is subject to extra PIP costs for Aerials or Magicians or for lack of proximity to a general. At the end of all movement, any element in the army not in contact with an enemy, or that has not moved or been halted will flee 600p towards its base edge.
• All elements in the army receive -1 modifier if in close combat.
• Undeployed Gods, Dragons and Lurkers can no longer be deployed but do not count as lost.
• Ensorcelled Heroes or Magicians can be redeployed. Note that the PIPs used for this are not available to move or halt other elements.
• Replacement Hordes and fled Lurkers can not be redeployed and are counted as permanently lost.
• Troops that would normally follow up a recoiling, destroyed or fleeing enemy continue to do so.
• Any undemoralized element whose close combat opponent is a demoralized element is subject to pursuit under the same rules that apply to Knights, Behemoths, Beasts and Warband.

These rules should allow a demoralized army to remain on the table, and hold together as long as it does not become too dispersed. Pockets of resistance, probably based around high AP elements such as Heroes or Magicians, will continue to cause the enemy problems, but lower grade troops will quickly disappear.