What’s New in Version Two
By Alan Saunders
Paradoxically the changes are both
minimal and extensive. That is, the basic game is very little different from
what it was before. With two exceptions all troop factors, movement rates,
costs and combat outcomes are unchanged, the exceptions being that artillery is
now +4 against everything (and now shoots only in its own bound) and that warband get rear
support in the same way as spears.
Where it differs is that the rules are
far, far better explained. What this means is that the rules are wordier. There
are several pages of diagrams in the back of the rules, explaining a variety of
situations. If you have played a lot of HOTT 1.0 I'm sure you will have come
across issues of interpretation or intent. HOTT 2.0 has resolved a huge number
of these.
Some minor rules are different; the
deployment of gods has changed, for example, and there are explicit rules for
contacting aerials with ground troops, and vice versa. Indeed, the definitions
of when elements are in contact or in combat are now given, clarifying many
game situations at long last. All movement is measured based only on the distance
that the front corners move, so elements on deep bases can now turn without
expending all of their movement. Deployment has changed slightly, with
restrictions on stronghold size and placement, some requirement for bad going
to actually be in the main part of the battlefield and a change in the sequence
of deployment and first move. The selection of board edge now makes it much
easier for the attacker to get the edge they want.
The biggest change, to my mind, is that
flank and rear contacts cause an element to be destroyed if it is forced to
recoil. This makes covering your flanks even more of a necessity, and makes
even behemoths and heroes vulnerable if you leave them exposed. Side edge to
side edge contact is now considered an overlap, so you are much more likely to be overlapped in a big melee.
The number of pages devoted to example
army lists has doubled, with all the old lists being there, and many, many new
ones, drawn mainly from historical or legendary sources (as those from books
caused copyright issues). A number of the lists were drawn from this website.
The old cover picture has been retained,
but the image cleaned up and new, clearer lettering used for the title.
I'm afraid that no summary of the changes
exists. You can get a feel for what changes were discussed by looking through
the archives of the Yahoo Group 'hottrevision',
however (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hottrevision/).
Otherwise the best way to find out about HOTT 2.0 is to buy it. If you like
HOTT I'm pretty sure you won't be disappointed.