Great
Lakes Area Great
Lakes Area 
by Dave Zecchini
Though Old Man Winter did his best (twice) to stop us, the brave Generals of the Midwest successfully gathered in force at Wexford Hill Hobbies to do mass battle against each other for HOTT Wax 2007! Russian tanks stood tall against ironclad Centaurs while Crystalline Elves mercilessly assaulted their Wood Elf cousins! American Armored companies faced off against hordes of the undead as Greek warriors swarmed over diminutive Hobbits!
Yes,
this thoroughly enjoyable expansion to Hordes of the Things was well received
by all involved, with winners and losers alike expressing their enjoyment
of the event. Players brought full 36-point 15mm HOTT armies and rounds
were played on 36"x24" boards. All armies got a +1 PIP bonus on
each bound and 90 minutes were set aside for each of the 4 rounds (with
a shortened 75 minute final round due to time constraints.)
Battles were reportedly very hard-fought and exciting, and culminated in a titanic 4th-round struggle between the undefeated leaders. A risky gamble saw Mike Stelzer's Hero General assail Mike Demana's Valiant-But-Not-A-General-Hero in an attempt to cave the flank and sweep the field ... but turned against him when the two Heroes spectacularly annihilated each other, ending his dreams of conquest.
The final standings at the end of the day:
*NOTE: In the final battle between Dave Welch and Joe Merz, both players had even Army/General losses when time was called, so I sprang something new on them to decide the final game ... decision by Single Combat! Each secretly picked one element that was remaining on the field (excluding Gods and Dragons) and placed it within a 5"x5" "arena". With no bounds or maneuvers, and the victor always following up into contact, they fought until one was doubled or backed out of the arena. Dave's Spear stood mightily against Joe's Behemoth and rebounded it out on its first charge.
The winners of the various prizes:
1st Place (36-point Splintered Light Leonine Army): Mike Demana
2nd Place (4 Stands of Splintered Light Hyenas, $15 Wexford gift card): Keith Finn
3rd Place ($10 Wexford gift card): Mike Stelzer
Random Drawing (2 stands of Splintered Light Halflings): Joe Merz
Eventually
I will be publishing a web page with lots more photos and a somewhat more
detailed write-up of the event, but for now I've uploaded some of the photos
to the Web so people can look them over. They can be found at:
http://home.fuse.net/voightkampff/HOTTWax07/index.html
Also as a reminder, this year there are several 24-point 15mm HOTT events on the HMGS Great Lakes calendar, ranging from a full-fledged 4 round open tournament at Origins (July 5-July 8, 2007, Columbus) to a multitude of casual "Rolling Thunder" tournaments at Warband (March 10, 2007 - Laconia, KY), Warparty (TBD, Cincinnati), and Advance the Colors (September 20-23, 2007 - Springfield, OH.)
A tremendous thanks goes out, first to Splintered Light Miniatures for providing the prizes, which were absolutely stunning examples of their incredibly well-sculpted 15mm fantasy line. Second, to Wexford Hobbies in Dayton for hosting the event so splendidly. Finally, a huge "Thank you!" to everyone who braved the freezing winds of Ohio to attend. If people had half as much fun playing as I had putting it on, it will be an event not-to-be-missed come next January!
Athenian
Greeks, Keith Finn
Jason
Stelzer, Knights and Company
Jack
Shaw, WW II Russians
Mike
Upton, American Rifle Company
4.
Keith Finn's Athenian Greek battleline prepares to slam into Jenny Torbett's
Hobbits of Buckleberry