I wanted to try out the Mapless Campaign system with our armies from the Britannia 600 AD Campaign and convinced Mike Lowery and Chris Harrod to give it a go.
HOTT
Hordes of the Things (HOTT) is the fantasy version of DBA and part of the DBx family of rules. HOTT is quick and fun and ironically I find it a better historical simulation than DBA. So I have a variant – Liberators HOTT – that I use for the South American Wars of Liberation. The one day campaigns included in the book are brilliant, e.g. Britannia 600 AD. In fact I’ve got a bunch of HOTT campaigns.
Big Day – Playing the Britannia 600 AD Campaign
It started with an email to a bunch of my friends:
Subject: Britannia 600 Who’s interested?
http://www.balagan.org.uk/introduction-to-the-britannia-600-ad-campaign
From such small beginnings a project team was formed. Six guys spread across England started assembling and painting armies for the Britannia 600 AD Campaign.
Six HOTT and/or DBA Armies of Britannia 600 AD
The six armies we field on the Big Day for Britannia 600 AD were:
Chris’s Alba Picts (aka Mysterious Painted People)
For the Big Day of the Britannia 600 AD Campaign Chris Harrod picked the Picts. All of the Picts. In other words he wanted all of the options in the Pict Army List. A fine aspiration.
Timeline of the Northumbrian v Welsh Conflict
My interest in the Northumbrian-Welsh conflict came about because I work with a patriotic Northumbrian (Mike Lowery) and I like playing the Thomas=Welsh ancestry card on him. This developed into the challenge of 15 mm DBA armies at 1 foot to decide the issue. We’re now gearing up to paint those armies (actually for the Britannia 600 AD Campaign).
Introduction to the Britannia 600 AD Campaign
I’ve always loved Britannia, the Avalon Hill board game, and it seemed an obvious setting for a DBA/HOTT style campaign. Rather than attempt to recreate the entire time span of the game (45-1085 AD) I thought I’d concentrate on a period that specifically interests me, 600-700 AD. That span of years corresponds to Turn 8 and 9 in the board game – hence Britannia 600 AD.
He glutted black ravens on the walls of the fort,
but he was no Arthur.
Excerpts from Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
A few excerpts from the Anglo Saxon Chronicle to give a flavour for the period of the Britannia 600 AD Campaign. I’ve used the Anglo Saxon Chronicle because of its picturesque language rather than any clarity it might bring to the time. For a more accurate and complete account see Britannia: Anglo-Saxon History.
15mm Wargaming Figures for Britannia 600 AD
There are a few possible suppliers of 15 mm for the Britannia 600 AD Campaign. My existing Dark Age kit is from Donnington Miniatures and Essex Miniatures. I mix them together but this won’t appeal to some as Donnington Miniatures are much bigger than Essex Miniatures, in fact they are much bigger than anybody else. At the time I put my Gothic army together I didn’t have a choice, but now there is much more on offer …
Campaign Rules for Britannia 600 AD
These are the rules for the Britannia 600 AD Campaign. Use the DBA/HOTT Campaign Rules except as noted below.
HOTT and DBA Army Lists for Britannia 600 AD
In Britannia 600 AD field armies are 12 elements (plus camp follower) in DBA or 24 AP in HOTT. The army lists below allow much larger numbers than this for two reasons. Firstly and mainly, to allow choice. Secondly, to allow a larger than normal field armies to be used for a more involved campaign.
I have tweaked the DBA army lists, partly because some of them don’t really match what we know about the protagonists, and partly to support fantastic elements suitable for a HOTT campaign. After a general discussion of the Common Elements, both Realistic Troops (DBA + HOTT) and Fantastical Troops (HOTT), I then look at the specific national army lists. For our purposes there are only five types of armies: Welsh, Picts, Saxon, Irish, and Scots.
Islamic Army Lists for HOTT
I quite like using HOTT for historical armies. Here is my current thinking on Islamic Armies of the Reconquista for HOTT.
Balagan HOTT – House Rules for Hordes of the Things
Hordes of the Things (HOTT) is pretty good but not perfect. I wondered what house rules to use to make it better and had a quick google for inspiration. I don’t actually use these house rules but if I wanted to make HOTT a better game then I’d consider them.