Heavenly Pursuits
by Matthew Hartley

"By the Saints !"

"Yes ?"

"Oh... er... Sorry!"

"You're new here Angel Smith 3456765432189, aren't you? Well, we'll overlook your outburst this once. Just don't let it happen again"

"But Saint Peter..its the souls.."

"Oh yes, poor souls. But we can't have them all you know Smith - standards must be maintained"

"But Saint Peter... we ain't getting any of them, and neither are the Other Side. The Automatical Soul Allocater has malfunctioned, they're all just piling up out there!"

"What?!"

"The Other Side will realise soon and be out to get the lot. We'll have to launch a rescue..."

"Yes Smith, we must save our souls!"

The Game:

Each player starts with either 24 APs from the Heavenly Host or Hellish Horde army lists below. The table is set up as indicated below, with the two strongholds placed opposite each other along the width of the table at the half way point. The clouds count as bad going.

Eleven soul bases are placed randomly on the table. The game begins with each General leading their force onto the table from their stronghold in column. The game ends when when either the last soul has been led through a Gate or when either of the Generals is "killed". The winner has either the most souls or the only surviving General.

Heavenly Host:

Heavens Gate	Stronghold
St Peter	Flying Hero General @ 6pts	1
St Michael	Paladin @ 4pts	up to 1
St George	Paladin @ 4pts	up to 1
Celestial Choir	Artillery @ 3pts	up to 1
Cherubin	Flyers @ 2pts	up to 2
Cherubin with bows	Shooters @ 2pts	up to 2
Pigs (from Hog Heaven)	Beasts @ 2pts	up to 2
Angelic Host	Hordes @ 1pt	up to 5

Hellish Hordes:

The Abyss	Stronghold
Lucifer	Flying (anti)-Hero @ 6pts	1
General Mephistopheles	(anti)-Hero @ 4pts	up to 1
Beelzebub	(anti)-Hero @ 4pts	up to 1
Winged Fiends	Flyers @ 2pts	up to 4
Hell Hounds	Beasts @ 2pts	up to 2
Bikers	Knights @ 2pts	up to 2
Host of Hell	Warbands @ 2pts	up to 5

The Souls:

Based as per Hordes, Souls have no combat value but cannot be destroyed either. Elements of neither side can move or recoil through a Soul base. A Soul base in base-to-base contact can be led away at a speed of 200 paces and at a cost of one PIP for the group move. Other elements (other than Souls) may make a group move also if they are in contact with the Soul or the leading element. If an element from the opposite side is also in base-to-base contact with the Soul then the Soul cannot be led away.

Ed Note: Hordes of the Things is a generic set of Fantasy wargames rules produced by the Wargames Research Group and was reviewed in Ragnarok 1. A second edition is now available and was reviewed in Ragnarok 43. HOTT has won the Best Fantasy Wargames Rules category in the SFSFW Awards five times out of seven! For further details regarding price and availability, send an SSAE to Wargames Research Group, The Keep, Le Marchant Barracks, London Road, Devizes, Wiltshire, SN10 2ER.