"Mighty Armies VS. HOTT" Topic

Which is liked better? What are the pros and cons of each? This would be for wargamimg LOTR.

Hott has a nicely balanced design it yourself system. It is also a free download. However, you do pay a price for the balance. The armies are completely vanilla. Elf,dwarf and Orc blades all are rated identically. The same with every other troop type. The game also focuses on the exact positioning of each stand. Victory or defeat can be based on this. Frankly, will very flexible the game feels pretty stale when compared to Mighty Armies.

Mighty Armies has a design it yourself system. It has far more variety and options than Hott. The Combat system is quicker and much better than Hott. No cryptic combat result interpretations here. I have long believed that if Rebel Mike had brought out MA at the same time as HOTT you would see MA dominating the marketplace. It simply is a better set of rules.

****EDIT Magic in MA has some interesting selections while keeping it simple. Again, we're talking about Fantasy flavor. I forgot to mention that game play in about an hour or so. While MA tends to have a little larger armies than HOTT its quicker combat resolution keeps the game time about the same.

I played HOTT for many years. Now I use Mighty Armies exclusively. You couldn't get me to go back.

If you are a HOTT fan do yourself a flavor and try out MA. The pdf isn't too expensive. I think you'll be quite glad you did.

YMMV.

Thanks,

John

Never played Mighty Armies so cannot compare but as regards HOTT one of its strengths is its versatility as it can be quite generic.

Equally for some that's its downfall as they find it too bland since there is neither background nor a proprietry set of figures for its world.

Personally I like that Fu Man Chu can end up playing against Biker Chics or the cast of Baywatch take on Tyrannids.

Magic in HOTT also also very generic, you just bespell an enemy stand and if they lose they suffer a recoil or destruction or even ensorcelment, subject to what type they are. You just use your imagination as to what 'spell' it was. This actually may suit for LOTR as magic there is perhaps a different level to say a D&D RPG game.

A HOTT game can normally be completed within an hour so you should get a a couple of games in over an evening at least.

Forgot to say, part of the benefit of the genericism of HOTT is that you only need the 1 book of rules. That's it.

"The Combat system is quicker and much better than Hott. "
Never played MA but I'd have never said HOTT combat was not quick: both roll a dice, add factor, add applicable modifiers, compare result, apply outcome. There is sometimes a need to check the outcome as it can depend upon what type is fighting what, but this is to reflect perceived fantasy outcomes.

"No cryptic combat result interpretations here."
True, the recoil rules can get messy with interpenetrations and or behemoths but to be fair it's not bad and certainly not as bad as some.

Mighty Armies also has a free supplement to handle flying elements that is simple but gives flyers a useful role, rather than just ignoring terrain costs. It's my favorite system for handling flying critters in a fantasy wargame.

@John Leahy
Just an FYI rebel is not the creator of the MA system. This was created by Mongoose publishing. They pushed it for about two years and it did not take off. I have the rules from Mongoose not from rebel. I just can't afford to buy the rules again.

From what I remember the system was great, the only draw back was it tended to be played in small battles, and I wanted large battles. I know Rebel Mike has put a ton of effort into this, and it is paying off for him. That and partnering up with SLG is a win win.

I would love to play, I just do not want to pay for it again.

As for Hott, it is way to wonkey for me. I do not measure my stuff in paces, and magic is a big part of Fantasy for me.
I have and play ChipCo's fantasy rules. A great system, but it has lost support from the creators, over the last few years, and is way to over priced. I got this before MA.

The group combat mechanic in MA seems broken to me. This tends to lead to a large block with a hero that does the fighting with minimal riskof death. If you read the design philosophy behind HOTT you gain a much better understanding of the game. HOTT also lends itself to easy modification as in there are colonial, WW1 and 2 mods and many others.

The group combat mechanic in MA seems broken to me. This tends to lead to a large block with a hero that does the fighting with minimal riskof death.

This is true but can be mitigated with a couple of simple rules.

1) If you lose, the stand lost must be taken from the rank in contact with the victorious attacker. This way, you can't just load up a group and charge around taking casualties from the fodder in the second rank.

2) If you get attacked in the flank or rear, only use the units in contact with the attacker. That will make you think twice about bunching up.

Magic in MA is a great equalizer. You can target individual units so even the Hero unit is not safe.

Hi Noel. Of course, I remember it was Mongoose first. But the rules were simply not as perfected then as now. I pleaded with Matt at Mongoose to create a DIY system to allow the rules to compete with Hott. Instead, you had a game that supported only a handful of armies. Not very satisfactory.

I know your fondness for Fantasy Rules. I was a HUGE supporter of the game years ago. Until the disaster of the 3rd edition pdf pricing which destroyed the community. FR is no longer really an option.

MA has vast potential. Mike is developing more goodies to go with it after playtesting them. Hott is what it is. For me, that isn't an answer any longer.

Noel, MA is much more than the simple little set it was from Mongoose. Buy the new pdf. It isn't much and you'll find all sorts of new goodness in it.

Thanks,

John

"The group combat mechanic in MA seems broken to me. This tends to lead to a large block with a hero that does the fighting with minimal riskof death."

Hmm, This is the old Mongoose version of the rules. There is no "hero" any more for Group Combat. The system is now based on Front Ranks and Support. Just FYI :)

TMP Edit Function Mishap, somehow my post was mixed with someone elses. Anyway here is what I tried to post.

Thanks Mike, I wasn't aware that your version was different from the original put out by Mongoose Publishing.

Also it seems that MA lost something by sticking to a 50mm frontage when there are so many players with armies based on a 40mm frontage. I know as long as both sides are the same but it seems that it would've helped MA gain popularity had it been 40mm. Especially for tournament play.

John and Mike you guys have my curiosity peaked, I'll have to give MA another look.

Just purchased the rules again, this time the new one. Will give it a good read and playtest. Thanks.

15mm fantasy should be played with mass armies, with hundreds of figures…..butt I just like it that way and that is why I use Hail Caesar Fantasy, a free supplement in the Yahoo group or Kings of War…..just my goblin's shield worth!

I do fight battles with 100's of figs in them using my 25/28mm troops. I have a couple of 15mm armies painted that I used for Warmaster. The issue is nobody else locally has any armies done that size. Mighty Armies allows very interesting Fantasy battles to be fought using a reasonable amount of figs. Guys can paint up armies fairly quickly for MA. They can also do several different armies too. My son currently has 6 different ones. If they were the size you mention it wouldn't even be one.

I'd rather be gaming using a very good rule set like Mighty Armies (using less figs) than waiting indefinitely to game with 100's.

Thanks,

John

I'd rather be gaming using a very good rule set like Mighty Armies (using less figs) than waiting indefinitely to game with 100's.

I concur. Which is one of the big draws for me to games like FUBAR, DBx and MA.