"Mighty Armies vs. HoTT" Topic

I looked for a thread on this but didn't see it, so please forgive if this is a repeat question.

Could someone give me an idea of what the differences are between HoTT and Mighty Armies and why you would prefer one rules set over the other.

Thanks.

Bill Hupp

These might help.

TMP link

TMP link

TMP link

MA is written in English. HoTT has a better army builder.

I'm developibg a hybrid of the two…

Thanks. Also found a couple of video reviews. Not sure how I missed MA before.

BIll

MA is my choice for fantasy gaming, though I'm doing it in 6mm. I'm using second edition rules, with a couple of holdovers from first edition (the Weak trait and the reverse-engineered points calculator that was posted before the second edition came out).

I like it because it's a pretty straightforward rules set, with simple basing, and is pretty customizable. I've only skimmed HoTT, so I can't really offer a comparison.

If you want 15mm Fantasy mass battle use King of War….I do its great.

HOTT style basing and measurements in centimeters.

Gives a great game

Mighty Armies has a more detailed magic system
. Still very simple, with just a handful of spells, but better than HOTT in that regard (which has a single spell, essentially wizards are magical artillery).

I plan to use also Kings of War for my 15mm armies. So the KoW hype goes on and on and on… :)

What why is a "handful of spells "necessarily better then HOTT 's generic single outcome spell casting ? Can't you just say it's different rather than better? To me a single magical process is better because it's simpler. I don't want to have to worry about whether I'm bringing down a thunderbolt, shooting fire, turning people into rabbits, killing people with noxious gas. They all have the same effect, just disrupting the enemy or eliminating it.

Isn't it just different strokes for different folks?

Mighty Armies has more personality than HOTT, by far.
@ Extra Crispy- I hope you're going to share this hybrid you're working on with the rest of us…😬

For HoTTs we made people declare a spell. It had no actual effect.

But it is how "Hot Tub Break" removed Xena and Gabrielle and allowed the caster to eventually win the game (and the HoTTs tourney).

MA does not have Hot Tub Break. (I'm fairly certain).

Lol no, I don't think it does…. Not yet anyways.

I agree with Capt Flash. MA games are played by focusing on your armies. HOTT usually felt like I was focusing on exactly where I had each stand positioned. I did like the HOTT army builder. It was great. however, it was so good because HOTT is so vanilla. Elven blades are the same as Orc ones and so on. Lots of variety in MA.

Thanks,

John

If you want to use DBX style mechanics but add more flavor to the element types/heros/mages etc. try A Game of Fire and Ice.

An easy way to use HOTTs simple spell system but get variety is:

Mages have levels from 1-6. The level is the number of PIPs they can put into a spell. So a level 3 Mage can put 3 PIPs into a spell. A spells CF = 2xPIPs put into the spell (so if you put 3 in you get +6 spell). BUT if you roll less than the number of PIPs put into a spell you "deplete" 2 such events and you turn into an old crone.

You can limit the Close Combat CF of a Mage to their level (so if you take a bunch of level 1 faries they count only +1 in combat).

For those who find HOTT too fiddly try D3H2 as it uses the DBA 3.0 mechanics – a lot less fiddly then former versions of DBA.

Thomas J. Thomas
Fame and Glory Games

Or you can just play Mighty Armies. 😃