It's HOTT in South America!

Introduction

This page gives some ideas for South American fantasy armies using Wargames Research Group's "Hordes of the Things". Each army will have notes on the units that it can have, and a sample army of 24 points. Click on the active links below;

Inca

Amazonian

Coastal civilisations

Conquistador

Inca or the army of Tahuantinsuyu

This list is adapted for HOTT from an army list put together for Chipco's Fantasy Rules!, and published in their second edition. This HOTT list was originally posted at Alan Saunders Stronghold,and has been changed slightly after input from Alan.

The leader of the Inca army (or the army of the four corners of the earth) is the Sapa Inca. He was carried into battle on a litter, the pillco rampa or scarlet litter, surrounded by his close relatives and bravest troops. The litter made a very good platform for sling shooting. He is graded as a Behemoth General. Sometimes the army was commanded by a trusted noble, who would be graded as a Hero general. If he is commanding, you cannot also have a Behemoth. He should be represented as being carried in a hammock litter.

The core of the army were the Cuzco regiments; the Auquiconna, Mancopchincuzcos, Ayllucuzcos and Cacacuzco. In DBA and DBM, the Cuzco regiments are classed as Auxiliary, and in DBR as Warband. As HOTT does not have an auxiliary type, it would be usual to class them as Warband (as in DBR), however this would not represent their regular nature. I have instead classed them as Blade, but urge users to restrict the numbers in their armies. Consequently there should be no more than four Blade elements in the army, even if you are playing with greater than 24 points. Mount the Cuzco troops (Blades) on deeper bases (20mm in 15mm scale) if you wish to use them in DBA or DBM.

The bulk of the army should be highland levy. These are the archetypal Horde, the Spanish having such a low opinion of them that one described them as "mosquitoes". These levies were led into battle by the Aucakpussak, or leader of soldiers. These exceptionally brave veterans would lead the army to victory by example. They are represented as a Hero element, and there should be only one Hero element in an army.

The Inca cult of Inti was a very organised religion. Although strictly it was not sufficiently "ethical" for it's priests to count as a Cleric in HOTT, the "huaca" or holy objects ensured good fortune, harvests and so on. These huaca could be mummies of previous Sapa Inca's or other ancestors (the panaca), stones wrapped in rich cloth or ancient wooden posts. For the Inca this was the Huanacauri, a curiously shaped stone, the symbol of Inca indomitability. Cleric best suits their 'protective' capability, and there are some good models of Inca mummies around to use for this. Inti was far removed from humanity to appear on the battlefield as a God!

The Inca army had many colourful troops in their army from their far flung empire. Of all the subject peoples, the Amazon Indians would be the most colourful with bodypaint and feathers. They were recorded as being used by a Sapa Inca as guards. The arrows are of course poisonous! These could be used as Shooters or with blowpipes and poisoned darts as Lurkers (deploy in deep forest or jungle!).

Other subject tribes include the fierce coastal warriors as Warband, Colla tribesmen with the bola as Lurkers (deploy on steep hills or in areas of scrub), and Chanca tribesmen as Spears. While wardogs were most likely brought by the Spanish, Essex and other manufacturers make them, so why not?

To delve totally into fantasy, you could mount some of the Aucakpussak on giant condors to make the Inca truly the "Hawks of the Sun"! Beside, since the condor is the worlds largest flying bird, they are at least better candidates for an aerial mount than Eagles! This gives an element of Flying Heroes.

If you wish to use these more colourful troops such as Amazon guards, coastal (Chimu), Colla and Chanca tribesmen, wardogs or Aucakpussak on or off Condors, they should be limited to only one or two elements each. Larger, multi command armies would enable the use of more of these troops.

Finally, the stronghold should be modelled with massive stone blocks set so close together that you can't insert a razor blade between them!

List:

Stronghold: Inca hill fort

Alternatives:
Noble army leader as Hero general @4ap; Amazonian guards as Shooters @2ap; Coastal tribesmen as Warband @2ap; Colla tribesmen with bola or Amazonian Indians in ambush as Lurkers @1ap; Chanca tribesmen as Spears @2; Wardogs and handlers as Beasts @2ap; Aucakpussak mounted on Giant Condors as Aerial Heroes @6ap

Amazonian

List:

Stronghold: Huts hidden in forest glade

Alternatives:
Amazonian warriors as Warband @2ap; Piranha as Water Lurker @1ap; Living fossils such as the giant ground sloth as Behemoth @4ap

Coastal civilisations

List:

Stronghold: Fortress made from mud brick

Alternatives:

Conquistador

This list was sent by Alan Saunders who was inspired by this site

List:

Stronghold: Beached longboat and camp

Alternatives:

John Garvey
Written: 29/06/99
Revised: 09/07/99

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