The HOTT tournament participation at Fields was down to five this year (those on this list who didn't make it can mark your calendars for October 9th, 2004 for the next one). There are about four club members who play HOTT with me from time to time, but they were all busy with other games. Three of them were running a very large Napoleonic game and the fourth was running a Flames of War scenario. It was a small, but vibrant group and I was pleased to see three teenagers playing. Get 'em hooked while they're young and have lifelong opponents.
It was a four-round Swiss tourney and the final scores were:
1. Austin Golightly = 108
2. Theo Klapper = 98
3. John Young = 80
4. Nick Klapper = 59
5. Logan Young = 49
I played to fill the sixth slot and I announced from the start that whatever I scored I was not part of the standings. That way I could play competitively with my new Black Company army, while not being in true competition. The new army did not lose a game, so my final score was 182. The veteran play of Chow Li and Joel was much missed.
Theo Klapper gave me the best game; he used the Generic Undead army straight from the book and forced me to kill all his hordes twice before I got him so enclosed that his position was untenable. He used his Flyers well, but I kept my single shooter in reserve and it luckily killed both flyers in one or two shots, before they could cause any real trouble behind my line. I also had a reserve of two riders and used them to kill his sneakers when he penetrated the main line to come after my strongold. If I had been less successful with my reserves, he could well have beaten me. It was clear he had experience with this army and knew how to use its strengths.
I was happy to see Austin win the trophy, as I think the youngster appreciated it even more than an adult probably would have. And a bonus to this tournament was learning that Austin and the Youngs lived in a suburb of Des Moines and were all interested in getting together and playing more HOTT. Perhaps I've finally found the core from which to build a true local HOTT group.
The convention happens over three days, so I got to do lots of other fun stuff. I ran a DBA tournament with 10 participants, commanded two British brigades in an AWI game, cleaned up on loot from a robbery gone bad in a Bootleggers game, and bashed a bunch of head in a caveman brawl. I didn't buy much this year, except for a Babylon 5 board game I got for $5 from the silent auction. However, after reading through the rules, I might have overpaid.
Once again I forgot my camera. Next year I think I may have to try putting it in the car the night before.