|
Number |
Troops |
Type |
Cost |
|
1 |
Sapa Inca |
Hero General @4AP |
4 |
|
1 |
Priest of Inti |
Magician @4AP |
4 |
|
4 |
Cuzco regiments |
Blades @2AP |
8 |
|
6 |
Highland levy |
Hordes @1AP |
6 |
|
1 |
Amazon guards |
Shooters @2AP |
2 |
Stronghold: Inca hill fort
Sapa Inca carried on litter as Behemoth General @4AP; Coastal tribesmen as Warband @2AP; Colla tribesmen with bola or Amazonian Indians in ambush as Lurkers @1AP; Chanca tribesmen as Spears @2; Wardogs and handlers as Beasts @2AP; Aucakpussak as Heroes @4AP or mounted on Giant Condors as Aerial Heroes @6AP
The Inca army (or the army of the four corners of the earth) is made up of four core Cuzco regiments; the Auquiconna, Mancopchincuzcos, Ayllucuzcos and Cacacuzco. Consequently there should be no more than four Blade elements in the army. When using armies of more than 24 points, be careful to limit the number of Blades you use to a similar proportion. The army should be mainly highland levy, and if you wish to use more colourful troops such as Amazon guards, coastal (Chimu), Colla and Chanca tribesmen, wardogs and Aucakpussak on or off Condors, they should be limited to only one or two elements. Larger, multi command armies would enable the use more of these more colourful troops, but again limit them to one or two elements each. Mount the Cuzco troops (Blades) on deeper bases (20mm in 15mm scale) if you wish to use them in DBA or DBM.
The stronghold should be modelled with massive stone blocks set so close together that you can't insert a razor blade between them!
The Sapa Inca, is the General of the army and could be either a Hero when fighting on foot, or carried on a litter as a Behemoth. When being carried on a litter, the Sapa Inca would be surrounded by his close relatives and bravest troops, and the litter made a very good platform for sling shooting.
While the Inca cult of Inti was a very organised religion, my opinion is that it was not sufficiently "ethical" for it's priests to count as a Cleric in HOTT. Since the Inca believed in magic, treating them as a Magician is appropriate. However, Inti was too far removed from humanity to appear on the battlefield as a God!
In DBA and DBM, the Cuzco regiments are classed as Auxiliary, and in DBR as Warband. As HOTT does not have an auxiliary type, it would be usual to class them as Warband (as in DBR), however this would not represent their regular nature. I have instead classed them as Blade, but warn users to restrict the numbers in their armies.
The bulk of the army should be highland levy. These are archetypical Horde, the Spanish having such a low opinion of them, that one described them as "mosquitoes".
Of all the subject peoples, the Amazon Indians would be the most colourful with bodypaint and feathers. They were recorded as being used by a Sapa Inca as guards. The arrows are of course poisonous!
Other subject tribes include the fierce coastal warriors as Warband, Colla tribesmen with the bola as Lurkers (deploy on steep hills or in areas of scrub), more Amazonian Indians with blowpipes with poisoned darts as Lurkers (deploy in deep forest or jungle), and Chanca tribesmen as Spears. In a larger army you could have a mixture of all these subject peoples, but only one or two elements of each!
Wardogs were most likely brought by the Spanish, but Essex make them, so why not?
The mainstay of the Inca army were the veteran troops, called Aucakpussak. These were exceptionally brave and would lead the army to victory by example. I have classed them as Heroes. And finally, to delve totally into fantasy, you could mount them on Giant Condors to make the Inca truly the "Hawks of the Sun!". Beside, since the Condor is the worlds largest bird, they are at least better candidates for an aerial mount than Eagles!
[This article is adapted for HOTT from an Inca army list put together for Chipco's Fantasy Rules!, and published in their second edition. An earlier version can be found at http://www.cae.wisc.edu/~whitten/rules/fr_frame.htm. I intend to place an updated article for both HOTT and FR! on my Web-site when I get one (don't hold your breath though), as well as ideas for other South American armies and fantasy. Please contact me at John.Garvey@brs.gov.au if you have further ideas, or want an argument. But only the 5 minute one, not the full half-hour!]