Campaign Rules

Version 2.3 (effective from 1/1/05)

OVERVIEW

Each player is a nation, and starts in control of an army and a number of provinces, each of which is represented by a city (not all the ‘cities’ are actually cities but I will refer to them as such). By capturing the city, an army can take over a province for their nation. Armies may move between the cities (and other nodes) only along the marked routes, and fight battles or sieges to gain control of the cities. Each year of the campaign is divided into three seasons - Spring, Summer & Autumn. At the end of Autumn all armies must retire to a friendly province for Winter, during which time they can raise new troops.

TROOP TYPES

HoTT divides troops into a number of basic types whose fighting style or effect in battle is similar. Troops are classified as either aerial, mounted or foot, and each has a cost in AP (Army Points) per element.

Gods (Aerial, 4AP). Immensely powerful supernatural entities who are prepared (usually in return for being worshipped) to aid mortal battles. Though virtually invulnerable, they are fickle and prone to leaving their worshippers in the lurch. Gods are only usable by pagan peoples, as neither Mira nor Azun will ever manifest themselves in this way.

Dragons (Aerial, 4AP). Huge fire-breathing intelligent armoured flying creatures. They are too arrogant and indiscriminate in their fighting style to co-operate with other life-forms, and especially not with other dragons. They are at risk from Heroes and Magicians, but largely invulnerable to other troops. However if they do find themselves in trouble they are apt to panic and flee the battlefield.

Airboats (Aerial, 3AP). Any large flying platforms, whether living or levitated by magic or artifice, able to drop missiles onto ground troops.

Flyers (Aerial, 2AP). Any medium-sized flying creatures, either intelligent (such as winged Pteor), or used as steeds (such as gryphons or giant eagles), or directed by an intelligence (such as magically summoned swarms of birds or bats). Not particularly powerful in combat, but can make themselves deadly by using their superior mobility to mob enemy ground troops.

Heroes (Mounted, 4AP) and Aerial Heroes (Aerial, 6AP). Mighty individual warriors and champions, unbeatable in hand-to-hand combat and able to escape danger with a single bound. They count as mounted (since they always find a horse when they need one), unless on a flying stead, in which case they count as aerial. They are best suited to doing heroic things like slaying dragons and single-handedly seizing the enemy’s stronghold. Their most dangerous foe is Magicians, but instead of being slain if defeated by a Magician, they will be held in captivity while the Magician explains his fiendish plans, then locked up and given plenty of time to escape.

Paladins (Mounted, 4AP). Similar to Heros, but pure of heart and strong in spirit, making them invulnerable to magic. Paladins can never be generals, being too unworldly for politics.

Knights (Mounted, 2AP). Heavily armoured (but slow) horsemen or riders of similar beasts, whose preferred tactic is to charge the enemy and destroy them by sheer weight and impetus. Their charge can sweep away lesser mounted and foot, but they are vulnerable to missile fire.

Riders (Mounted, 2AP). Other cavalry, often armed with missile weapons. Faster and lighter than Knights, and less committed to the charge. Useful against irregular foot but vulnerable to beasts. Includes both the DBA Cavalry & Light Horse categories.

Behemoths (Mounted, 4AP). Ground creatures or engines of exceptional size and strength, such as giants, elephants, ents or landships. Most useful for smashing through massed ranks of enemy ground troops, but can be a danger to friendly troops behind them if they rout.

Beasts (Mounted, 2AP). Packs of carnivorous animals. Particularly effective against cavalry or in bad going.

Blades (Foot, 2AP). Close fighting infantry with melee and light hand-hurled weapons, skilled in individual combat, and generally well-trained & armoured, such as dwarves or dismounted men-at-arms. The best infantry troop type against other infantry, though not as good as Spears against mounted. Penalised in bad going.

Spears (Foot, 2AP). Close formation infantry fighting with spears or pikes in a rigid formation. They have considerable resisting power and are able to fend off cavalry, and benefit from being deployed in deep formation. However they are unwieldy and inflexible, at risk from dragons, behemoths or warbands, and perform poorly in bad going.

Warband (Foot, 2AP). Irregular foot warriors depending on the ferocity of their charge to sweep the enemy away, such as orcs or barbarians. Unaffected by bad terrain, good at overwhelming infantry formations, but vulnerable to harassment from mounted or aerial troops.

Shooters (Foot, 2AP). Shooting collectively with bows or similar missile weapons in dense volleys. Particularly effective against mounted troops such as knights, but likely to be swept away if their shooting fails to halt the enemy’s charge. However they can also hold their own against other infantry, and are very effective at holding bad terrain.

Artillery (Foot, 3AP). Projectile-throwing crew-served engines, whether mechanical, magical or gunpowder-powered. Particularly effective against large slow-moving targets, and especially against Strongholds.

Hordes (Foot, 1AP). Unskilled, undisciplined, poorly equipped or generally unenthusiastic rabble, such as peasant conscripts, coerced or conquered masses, lesser orcs, zombies or skeletons. Possessed of no real advantage except numbers, and easily swept away by mounted troops. (NB: despite what it says in HoTT, Hordes can not be re-incarnated unless specifically allowed by your army list).

Lurkers (Foot, 1AP). Those creatures whose main weapons are surprise and stealth, and who lie in wait to ambush the unwary, such as bandits or rangers, giant spiders, ape men, wood sprites or ghouls. They are not deployed at the usual time but can appear to attack enemy that move into bad going. Alternatively they can be Water Lurkers (such as water sprites, crocodiles or kraken), and ambush enemy crossing water features.

Sneakers (Foot, 3AP). Infiltrators and assassins, such as ninja, wraiths or halflings with magic rings. They are not especially effective in battle (although they can assassinate enemy generals and capture Strongholds). They have out-of-combat campaign uses as well though.

Magicians (Foot, 4AP). Masters of offensive magic. Although classed as foot (since arcane gestures and spell-reading require steady footing), they can move with magical speed. Though powerful, they are not all-powerful, and when their magic fails them they may require protecting by conventional troops. An over-dependence on magic may end up hindering their own army.

Clerics (Foot, 3AP). Servants of an organized ethical religious faith (that of Mira, in other words), whose powers are defensive in nature. Their presence hinders all magic in their vicinity, and they can sometimes drive away pagan Gods. They count as foot as they are assumed to require to pray and fight manfully among their flock.

ARMY ORGANIZATION

Generals. An Army must be commanded by a general. A body of troops without a general is a garrison, and may only move between cities which you control.

Generals are not separate elements but are an attribute of one of the army’s troop elements. If you have two generals in one army, only one of them commands. If that general is killed the other can attempt to assume command (he succeeds if the army’s next PIP dice is greater than the number of elements lost). You are free to give names to your generals if you wish (it helps me track them).

Troop types permitted to be generals vary and are given in your army list. In some cases a primary and secondary troop type is given, in which case the general must be of the primary type if possible, otherwise of the secondary type. Except during a battle, a general may be moved between eligible elements (except that it cannot move from a primary to a secondary type), but an opponent is always entitled to know which element contains the general.

If your army wins a battle as main protagonist, you gain a new general, added to an element in that army. If you do not have sufficient elements of a type permitted to be a general to accommodate a new general, he is assumed to be in the same element as the existing general and both are killed if that element is destroyed.

If at any point you have fewer than two generals, any eligible element at your capital may become a new general. If you don’t have an eligible element at your capital the first one to move there or be raised there becomes the general. If at any point you have no generals remaining you immediately acquire a new general element at your capital (of the cheapest eligible type).

Armies and Garrisons. An army can move to give battle, and must be commanded by a general. It is limited in size to between 8 and 24 AP. An army without a general (or with fewer than 8 AP) is a garrison. A garrison must be located in a city, and can do nothing except defend that city against siege. The maximum size of a garrison in one city is 12 AP, and a city can accommodate one army in addition to this. Troops can be moved from a garrison to re-inforce an army provided they can do so within their normal move and without leaving friendly provinces (except that they can enter a contested province to join an army already in it conducting a siege).

Army Restrictions. A nation’s overall force is limited in that it must have at least half its AP total in elements costing 2AP or less (Flyers, Knights, Riders, Beasts, Blades, Spears, Shooters, Warbands, Hordes or Lurkers). It may also be limited by minimum numbers of a particular troop type which are specific to its army list. If it ceases to comply with this as a result of losses in battle, any new troops raised must restore this balance.

Cost and Value. Some nations have to pay a higher cost in AP to raise certain troop types than their nominal value (for example most nations have to pay 3AP for an element of Knights). However the value of such an element for all purposes of calculating losses, army size, etc remains its base value (2AP in the case of the Knights)

Maximum Force Size. The maximum size of any one nation’s force is 72 AP. Thus, as you’re Empire expands in size and magnificence, you will need the co-operation of loyal allies or vassals to defend all your borders.

THE CAMPAIGN YEAR

Orders are written for each season in turn (not including Winter), starting with Spring of Year 1. In this first season each nation has 36AP of forces, and two generals. Decide the composition of your force, how you wish it deployed (it can be deployed in any of your cities) and where you wish to move it. An army can:

·	MOVE to a friendly or empty province.

·	INVADE a province of another nation - this may result in a battle.

·	DEFEND - this is an active defence. The army will battle any invaders that enter its province and will also move to confront any invaders entering an adjacent province of your nation (unless you specifically order it not to).

·	STAND SEIGE - the army will sit tight in the city and not give battle. This is the only option that a garrison has.

·	RETREAT in the face of an invasion, providing that this is possible to a friendly or empty province.

You can include as many conditional statements as you like in your orders (eg: defend if invaded by one army, but stand siege if invaded by two, and retreat if invaded by three).

Winter. At the end of Autumn all armies in the field must retire into winter quarters in a friendly city (a city can accomodate a maximum of 36 AP of a single nation, or a 12 AP garrison of the owning nation and a 24 AP army of a different, allied, nation). An army can automatically fall back one movement stage to do so (even if it has already moved that season) but if it has to move further than this it looses 2 elements per stage travelled. If completely cut off and unable to reach a friendly city it looses 6 AP or half its AP, whichever is more.

During Winter each nation can raise new troops to a value of 2AP per city controlled plus an additional 2AP for its capital. These can be deployed into any city you control (but not to join an army wintering in an ally’s city). Alternatively existing troops can be promoted to a more costly type (I’m not going to issue a list of permissible promotions, but use your common sense. You can promote halfling Lurkers into Sneakers, but not into a Paladin). Unused AP cannot be carried forward to next year.

STRATEGIC MOVEMENT

Normally troops can move a maximum of two movement stages along the defined routes. They cannot pass through a province that they do not control, unless it is the province of a vassal or ally, or the controlling player has specifically granted them permission in his orders, or it is an empty neutral province (such as an oasis or ruins).

Sea Movement. Alternatively an army may travel by sea along one of the defined sea routes. Each nation possesses only enough ships to move ONE army by sea per season, and this must be from or too one of that nation’s own cities. However it does not have to move an army of its own nation; it can move an army of an allied nation. The nation owning the fleet must specifically say in his orders that he is moving his ally's army. However an Overlord is entitled to insist that a vassal provide a fleet.

Some nations have no fleet, either because they have no seaports or because this is a restriction placed on them in their army list. This does not prevent them being transported by an allies fleet, however.

It takes an entire season to travel a sea route, and an army traveling by a sea route other than in Summer (even if flying) risks loosing some elements as a result of storms, shipwreck, sea-monsters, pirates and other calamities. These are selected randomly, but the first lost will always be mounted if any are present, and the general will only be lost if the entire army is lost. You may wish to include an ‘Abort’ clause in your orders giving a level of losses above which the army will turn back.

Mounted Movement. An army consisting entirely of mounted troops (or mounted and aerial troops) may travel three movement stages in a season. For this purpose Behemoths are not counted as mounted, but Magicians and Sneakers are. In addition Clerics, Shooters, Blades or Spears can be made mounted infantry at a cost of 1 extra AP and can then join a mounted army (although this does not change the way they fight in battle – their mounts are purely for travel and they dismount to fight).

Aerial Movement. An army consisting entirely of aerials can also travel three movement stages, and can additionally travel along one sea route and also one standard stage (either before or after the sea stage). The usual risks apply for sea movement. There are no restrictions on the number of aerial armies that can travel along sea routes, and an aerial army travelling by a sea route does not preclude another army of the same nation accompanying them along the same route by ship. There are also some stages classed as ‘Aerials only’. Only aerials can move along such a route and it is a standard stage for them. A Magician can be made an Aerial Magician at a cost of 1 extra AP. This has no effect on battles but allows the magician to be part of an aerial army.

COVERT OPERATIONS

An element of Sneakers may engage in a number of covert actions. It can be sent to spy upon an adjacent province, infiltrating and reporting on the forces present there. Success is not guaranteed, and there is a risk that the spy will not return, especially if the target province has an opposing Sneaker.

Alternatively (or additionally) a Magician may attempt the same thing by magical scrying. This has the advantage that there is no risk to the magician, but the information gained is likely to be less reliable than that obtained by a spy on the ground. Again, the presence of an opposing Magician or Cleric will have an adverse effect on your scrying.

Another action which Sneakers may attempt is to attempt to assassinate an enemy general in an adjacent province. This involves a significant risk to the Sneaker element, and the chance of success is not great.

Finally a Sneaker or a Hero element can attempt to rescue one of your Heroes (or an allied Hero) who is being held prisoner in an adjacent province.

In any of the above cases, if the element engaging in covert operations is part of an army, then the only action which that army may take is to Defend or Stand Siege. The element will however participate in any battle or siege which the army is involved in.

SUPPLY

An army is in supply if it is either in or has a standard land route connection to a province controlled by its own nation, or by an ally or vassal. If it is not in supply at the end of the season it looses (d6) AP due to hunger, disease & desertion (of your choice if you specify in your orders, otherwise I’ll pick the lowest value). This is after any battles or sieges take place, so the army is not out of supply if it successfully captures the province it is in.

Note that supply cannot be traced through a naval or ‘Aerials only’ route. It can be traced through a neutral (empty) province, but if a non-allied army moves into the province that season your supply line is cut.

BATTLES

Giving Battle. Battles are fought after all movement is completed, so each army can only fight one battle per season. If two non-allied armies are in the same province and neither wishes to retreat, a battle results. The most likely scenario is that one will be the army of the province’s owner and the other an invader. The province’s owner is the Defender, and chooses the terrain. The Invader then assigns the numbers 1 to 6 to each edge (with one preferred edge being represented by 4-6) and rolls to see which is his base edge. The Defender then places his Stronghold on the opposite edge (representing his city). Only the province’s owner can have a Stronghold on the battlefield. The two armies are then deployed on table, Invader first. The Defender takes first bound.

The terrain must comply with the following:

·	At least three of the battlefield’s quarters must contain at least one terrain feature.

·	At least two quarters must contain a river or bad going or impassable terrain.

·	If there is a terrain type marked on the map for the province, it must appear in at least two quarters.

Province specific terrain types are indicated by a small letter in the upper right corner of the hex; (W)oods, (M)ountains, (S)wamp, (H)ills, (D)esert/steppe. The latter needs more explanation, as it is an exception. A desert/steppe hex cannot have woods or rivers, and bad going / impassable terrain need appear in only two quarters.

Neutral Provinces. If two opposing armies meet in a neutral province, neither side has a Stronghold. Each side rolls a d6 and adds the number of provinces they currently control, and the side that gets the highest result is the “attacker”. If the province has a city which is allied to neither of the combatants, it is unaffected by the battle’s outcome.

Multiple Armies & Allied Contingents. If multiple armies are present in a province things are more complicated. If the province owner has an army present then this army will always be one of the prime combatants. Otherwise, the two largest un-aligned armies will fight each other; if one of these decides to retreat then the next largest fights instead.

If two armies from the same nation or two armies from allied nations are present, then the one which is not the prime combatant is a secondary combatant. Initially the armies of secondary combatants are not deployed on table, but they roll a PIP dice each bound, and when they first score a 6, they enter on their next bound as an element-wide column on the table edge best representing their route to the battlefield relative to the main protagonists (but not their opponent’s base edge). They may bring a maximum of 8 AP on in support of their ally, and this cannot include Gods, Dragons or Lurkers, nor both aerial and ground troops. Each allied army rolls separate PIP dice and they then move simultaneously in the same bound.

Winning the Battle. An army is defeated if, at the end of a bound:

·	It looses its commanding General, and also more AP than the other side. If it has a reserve General, the reserve General can assume command in the next bound if the army remains undefeated.

·	It looses one-half of its original AP AND more than its opponent. The latter gives smaller armies a chance against larger.

·	It has lost its Stronghold.

If allied contingents are present, calculate the one-half from the total initial element number of all the contingents present on the table (an allied contingent counts as ‘present’ as soon as it rolls the initial 6 to come onto the table, even if its elements have not actually made it onto the table). If an allied contingent looses its General, then all elements of that contingent immediately count as lost. Thus the morale of the primary combatant’s army can be restored by the news that its allies have arrived, but can equally be shattered by the sight of them running away again.

If an allied contingent becomes demoralised as a result of loosing its General, but this does not end the battle, its surviving elements will, on their next bound, start fleeing from the table. After all other movement has occurred, they will move directly towards the table edge they entered on at double their normal movement rate. Lurkers or any aerials quit the table immediately. They may change direction to avoid other elements, or bad going if they are of a type which would be slowed down in bad going. If forced into combat, or shot at, they suffer a -2 combat penalty.

After the Battle. The loosing side in a battle, and any armies allied to it, must immediately retreat from the province to another friendly or empty province. If invading, it exits by the route that it entered if it can. If this was a sea route it rolls for sea calamities again, even in Summer!

Elements that fled off the table and ensorcelled Magicians rejoin their armies after the battle. However an army that lost as a result of the loss of its General or its Stronghold looses an additional 4 AP after the battle (as demoralized troops desert).

A Hero still captive at the end of a battle escapes if his side won the battle, otherwise is taken to the bespelling Magician’s nearest city. The Hero has a chance of escaping at each movement stage involved. However once the Hero reaches the enemy city he remains captive until voluntarily released, rescued by another Hero or a Sneaker, released by the capture of that city, or escaped during a battle at that city. He may be moved to a different city (unless the city is besieged of course), but this gives him another chance to escape at each movement stage. He may also be executed by his captor, but Heroes cannot be simply put up against a wall and shot; they have to be executed using fiendishly complicated deathtraps, which gives them another chance to escape.

If a defeated army no longer has a general it can only retreat to one of its own provinces. If it has to travel more than one movement stage it looses another 2AP at each additional stage. If two armies of the same nation are retreating together it is permissible for one to be absorbed into the other if their total number of AP is now 24 or less. If an army cannot retreat, it is entirely destroyed.

If the nation owning the province was defeated, then the main protagonist on the winning side gains the province without any further siege.

SEIGE

If a province’s owner does not fight a battle to defend it, then its city is besieged by the attackers. The besiegers roll a d6 to capture the city. Factors which modify this roll include:

· The besiegers include a God or Magician & the defenders have neither a God, Magician, Cleric or Paladin.

· The defenders include a God or Magician & the besiegers have neither a God, Magician, Cleric or Paladin.

· The besiegers have more artillery than the defenders.

· The city is defended by an army or garrison; the bonus is larger if this is 4 or more elements.

· The city is that nation’s capital.

If the besieger fails to capture the city he looses 2AP (I will pick the cheapest elements at if none are specified). This must be from the principal besieger’s army. If the besieger rolled a 6 and failed to capture the city the defenders loose 2AP too.

The besieger may elect to attack by assault, which gives a greater chance of success, but at the cost of higher casualties. The besieger looses an additional 4AP regardless of the success of the assault. These may be from an allied army, but only if the ally agrees to this. If the city falls any forces within it are destroyed. A field army that is besieged can sally out to give battle in its next turn, but cannot retreat from the province without giving battle.

NEUTRAL PROVINCES

Neutral Cities. There are a number of neutral cities on the map. These initially belong to no nation and have no army. They cannot be moved through without being captured, nor can they be retreated into. They can be besieged and captured normally, however. If a battle takes place in such a province neither side has a Stronghold, and the winner does not automatically capture the city.

Empty Provinces. There are a number of empty provinces on the map. These are oases, ancient ruins, stone circles and the like. These belong to no nation unless they are occupied by an army, and revert to being neutral as soon as the army leaves. They cannot be garrisoned or wintered in, and if occupied by a non-allied nation cannot be supplied through, or be retreated into.

ALLIES AND OVERLORDS

Alignment. Nations are assigned an alignment based on whether they are Mira worshippers (Good), Azun worshippers (Evil), or neither (Neutral – generally pagan or ancestor worshipping). Good nations may not ally with Evil nations, but Neutral nations may ally with either. However individual nations may have additional restrictions placed upon them.

Alliances. Two nations may at any time declare themselves to be allied (providing the alliance is allowed by their national objectives). Both nations must agree to the alliance. They will then fight together in battle, can move freely through each others territory, can be supplied from each others territory, and can winter in each others cities. Alliances will be announced publicly. Either party can rescind an alliance at the end of a season, but not at other times.

Overlords. A nation may also ask to become a vassal of another nation, which, if it agrees, becomes its overlord. A nation can only voluntarily become a vassal of a nation which its political restrictions would allow it to ally with, and it may have additional restrictions.

The overlord can move & be supplied freely through its vassal’s territory. Neither can attack the other while the relationship lasts. A vassal cannot form alliances or invade another nation without the permission of its overlord. The overlord is entitled to demand that the vassal place an army (at least 8AP including a general) at his disposal. This has to go where the overlord tells it to (the overlord writes its orders), but remains under the command of the vassal on the battlefield. It cannot attack the overlord’s army, but the enthusiasm with which it fights for the overlord is entirely up to its commander.

An overlord may renounce a vassal at the end of a season, but a vassal cannot renounce its overlord unless the overlord’s capital is captured by a third nation, or the overlord looses two consecutive battles (a simultaneous defeat & victory cancel each other out). If a vassal rises in rebellion against its overlord there is a chance that any ungarrisoned cities controlled by the overlord which were originally the vassal’s will also rise in rebellion and join in.

A vassal cannot have two overlords, but may retain or acquire vassals of its own, and may order these to supply an army to its overlord as a substitute for its own. A vassal who blatantly fails to obey his overlord may (at my discretion) be penalised by loosing a province to the overlord. An overlord is not automatically entitled to winter in a vassal’s city; it must have the vassal’s permission to do this. Also, a vassal is not automatically entitled to move through the territory of its overlord, etc. An overlord may offer to ally with its vassal, but is not obliged to.

If a nation’s capital is captured it automatically becomes a vassal of the nation that captured the city. It retains its capital and any other provinces it still controls. If its capital is subsequently captured by a different nation it becomes a vassal of that nation instead.

DEFEAT

As a nation is never knocked out of the game by the capture of its capital, no-one is ever forced to quit the game. The objective is therefore to make yourself the ultimate overlord of all other nations.

The exception however is the Nameless Necromancer. No nation can ever ally with or be a vassal of the Necromancer, even if its capital is taken. Thus if all your cities are captured by the Necromancer, you are indeed irrevocably and completely knocked out of the game.

On the other hand, it can be not a lot of fun to be compelled to keep playing if your nation has been reduced to a powerless, impotent shadow of its former glory, lorded over by an evil overlord who laughs manically at your humiliation (now who can I be thinking off?). In this case you may elect to quit the game. All your remaining cities will become neutral cities and your armies will disperse. Evil overlords should therefore note that active, powerful vassals are of more benefit than conquered provinces. They must try and walk the fine line between reducing their vassals to abject subjugation, and allowing them to become too powerful.