My Favourite Army
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Name: Alan Saunders
Army: Narnian
Scale: 15mm
List:
1Hero General @ 4APThe Pevensie children4
1Paladin @ 4APAslan4
1Behemoth @ 4APGiant4
1Warband @ 2APDwarves2
2Riders @ 2APUnicorns and centaurs4
2Beasts @ 2APOther lions, deer, dogs and foxes4
2Hordes @ 2APOther Narnian folk2

Stronghold: A white castle (Cair Paravel).
Notes: This army is based on the force that did battle with the White Witch at the end of 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'. It took me while to assemble all of the figures for it, as it required a number of things that were not readily available in 15mm, such as the animals and children. Part of the reason this army is a favourite is because of the effort I went to to get the figures together. The army now has figures from a variety of sources, ranging from Games Workshop (for the giant) to HO railway model suppliers (for some of the children and the smaller animals).

This army has proved very strong against a variety of opponents. The central core of hero, paladin and behemoth gives it a good punch, and the riders and beasts give it mobility. The beasts and warband give it the abiity to dispute bad going, whilst the hordes provide useful numbers. Aslan is useful for opposing enemy hero generals, as he fights them on equal terms but does not lose the battle for the Narnians if he dies. He also provides useful defence against enemy magicians. The whole army is relatively easy to control, and apart from the hordes and warband moves at a reasonable speed giving it a good ability to react to enemy action. As long as the children are supported by the rest of the army it has no great vulnerabilities. On top of all this, it looks good on the table, is something a little different, and it is fun to use.

Pictures of some of the army can be seen here.


Name: Jeff Bolton, Lord of the Tundra, Duke of the Iron Hills
Army: Dwarves & Friends
Scale: 25mm (more-or-less as it's hard to tell with this lot.....)

List:
1Hero General @ 4APThomi the Locationally Disenfranchised4
4Blades @ 2APThe Dwarven Legion8
1Shooter @ 2APHobbits With Slings And Bows Of Incredible Accuracy2
2Riders @ 2APHumans On Puny (But Tough) Ponies4
1Airboat @ 3APThe Good Beer Blimp3
1Flyer @ 2APA Giant Eagle2
1Lurker @ 1APThe Amphibious Thing1

Stronghold:The 101st Combat Brewery (Mobile) - a brewery delivery wagon pulled by a 'tame' Orc and driven by my dwarven brewmeister.
Notes: What a mish-mash of manufacturers! The Hero & Friend are from Heartbreaker. Thomi has a compass in one hand and a runic map in the other. His friend is trying to look for a landmark..... The Blades are all from Harlequin. They are dwarves equipped in the lorica segmenta and other Roman equipment. The Hobbit Shooters are from ... erm ... Dark Heaven. The Riders are Celt/Britons from Foundry. The Airboat is a Bolton-Bilt sausage blimp with a big yellow on blue 'Good Beer' sign (advertising on military craft being a money-generating tradition in the dwarven armies.....). The crew is a Ghost dwarve and two Reaper Gnomes (dwarves to them) serving two Crecy gunnes from Rafm. The Flyer is a toy eagle from the local zoo (and it was bloody hard wrestling it out of my niece's fist!). And the Lurker is a 'Swamp Thing' from Ral Partha, suitable for land or water use. The Stronghold is a Grenadier cart and Orc, a modified GW Dwarve with foaming mug of unidentified drink, sundry barrels and lashing, and a unit sign (complete with shell holes).

This is a typical army from the Tundra and Iron Hills, a brutal land that breeds hard working, strong, and self-reliant peoples. The army combines mobility and punch, which are two of my favorite things in a HOTTs army. With 11 elements, it also has fair staying power. With this army, I am quite willing to take on any other army - particularly those with little or no aerial contingent. As with most of my armies, I would try to be aggressive with this army, pinning my foe in place and trying to work the flanks (or rear) with the Riders and Aerials.

For the record, this is the army (more or less) that I like to use on campaigns. It is really quite efficient and gives the controlling player some good options for attack and defense. Normally, I do NOT like to use a Hero-General, but my thinking on that is being re-considered. A Hero-General has a heck of a punch and grand speed, but its loss can be catastrophic. When I lose a Hero, I like the general to be able to tell the troops that they need to avenge the fallen fellow and affirm his/her/its sacrifice.


Name: Charles Johnson-Bennett a.k.a. Chow Li
Army: The Capitals, Capitol Guard
Scale: 25mm
The Capitals face Jeff Bolton's Dwarves
List:
1Aerial Hero @ 6APA gold knight on a Gold Eagle4
4Flyers @ 2APGiant Bald Eagles8
2Blades @ 2APSwiss type halberdiers4
1Shooter @ 2APSwiss type handgunners2
1Behemoth @ 4APDragon/Dinosaur4

Stronghold: The Stronghold is a very tall obolisk (Washington Monument) or a mountain top castle.

The army is based on the Washington Capitals hockey team, thus combining two of my hobbies (hockey and gaming) into one. The figures and composition were given much thought and went through tons of transitions, from basing the army on U.S. state Capitals (Lincoln, St. Paul, Phoenix, several Indian tribe names) to it's current manifestation.

Originally I had, instead of Blades, two Shooters, Cheyene and Tallahase Indians (two state capitols). I had also had two heroes instead of the Shooter and Aerial Hero. They were a Samurai Warrior (Peter "Banzai" Bondra) and a mounted Plains Indians Warrior (Chris Simon one of the few Native Americans to play in the NHL). I was not happy with this combination though and did not use them alot. I then saw the Eagle army list on The Stronghold and noticed that it was similar to my exisiting list. Then I modified my troop list a slightly and think I have it now, having gone from a Native American theme to an Alpine theme.

I chose Eagles because this is the teams logo. The Aerial Hero, in bronze armor with a blue crest (the team colors), is on a Gold Eagle because my family crest has a Gold Eagle. The Blades were simple, what's a hockey team without blades (slang for skates and the business end of a hockey stick). Shooters too are natural, all good teams have good "shooters". The Behemoth was easy too. The Capitals current and long time Goalie is Olaf "'ZILLA" Kolzig and has Godzilla painted on his mask so a Godzilla model was natural choice.

I like this army because, as I said, it combines two loves. I like the on board mobility. It is an army that forced me to stretch and step out of the box in alot of ways and I like that as well. I also like it when I can use non-traditional figures with traditional ones and this army allows for that.


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