Brian Train
Canada
Victoria
British Columbia
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Text originally appeared in Simulacrum #27.
HOT SPOT
Designer: W. G. Armintrout
Publisher: Metagaming
Published in 1979 as Microgame #15.
Players: 2
Playing time: 1-2 hours
Era: science fiction future
Scale: 10-20 men or 2-3 vehicles per unit; ? per hex; 30 minutes? per turn
Components
1 – 24 page rules book
1 – 12x14” hex map, on yellowish heavy paper
1 – sheet of counters, on thin card, partly strip-cut
Counter Manifest
There are 63 ½” square unit counters and 14 polygonal shapes to cut out. Units are rated Attack-Defence-Movement.
Ziegler Forces (dark brown on white)
6 x hovercraft (2-2-4)
14 x infantry (3-3-2)
10 x infantry (2-2-2)
5 x infantry (1-1-2)
Technocrat Forces (white on dark brown)
2 x Heavy Beamer (4-6-2)
4 x Crawler (3-4-2)
4 x infantry (6-6-1)
4 x infantry (4-4-1)
4 x infantry (2-2-1)
3 x Engineers (0-0-2)
5 x Attack Platform (0-0-4, numbered 1-5, damage rating 2)
5 x Neutralization marker
Crustals
5 x 1-hex size, lettered A,B,C,D,E
4 x 2-hex size, lettered F,G, H, I
5 x 3-hex size, lettered J, K,L,M,N
What the designer says
“WAR IN HELL – Chiros was a molten, planetary hell. It was also a vital production center that the Technocrat rebels had to capture. HOT SPOT is a tactical game about the Technocrat raid on Chiros. The Ziegler Corporation maintains fragile floating platforms called crustals that move over the molten rock. The crustals are defended by infantry and hovercraft. The Technocrat attackers are strong, but they must capture crustals quickly before their attack platforms break up and the units melt into lava. You decided the outcome in this fun and exciting game.” [back of rules booklet]
What the reviewers say
“Science fiction wargame for two with forces fighting for a vital energy source on an unstable planet. The unique feature here is that the islands beneath one's forces are very actively floating around the map — unfortunately this feature does not seem to be exploited very well, nor does it seem to matter much for the outcome. Seems unbalanced in favor of the attacking Technocrat player.” [Rick Heli, Spotlightongames.com]
Player’s Value
On the face of it, this is an interesting situation, combining constraints of numbers, strength, mobility and time. The raiding Technocrat player is stronger but has fewer and less mobile units. He is constantly watching the clock: his forces come onto the map on Attack Platforms that break up after four turns, so he must seize crustals in order to survive. There are detailed rules for crustals moving, colliding, and taking damage: the other systems in the game are quite simple.
The Technocrat can only win the game by taking control of the immobile central crustal with one of his Engineer squads, while the Ziegler player wins by potting all the engineer squads or otherwise making victory impossible. This tends to stereotype play.
Support Material
Analysis: Space Gamer 27 (designer’s notes) Here Armintrout writes about his inspiration for the game coming from a short story in a science fiction magazine and a board game that he used to play as a child that featured a rotating plastic mountain.
Errata: Space Gamer 27
Review: Strategy & Tactics 78
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