Animated Toy Soldier Grenadiers for "Wars of Ozz"

Over the weekend I finished up a unit of Animated Toy Soldier Grenadiers for my "Wars of Ozz" Yule armies.  This is the one unit I didn't get a chance to complete before our games at Cold Wars last month. I painted these with mostly Contrast and Speed paint.

   This is the last of the Yule stuff I have. Next, I'm doing final touches on a unit of Savage Apple Trees left over from my Land of Harvest forces, then I'll move full time onto the new desert armies.

       

Cold Wars Battle Report: Wars of Ozz- Ambush!

     Saturday evening at Cold Wars Buck Surdu ran the third and final game of the "Wars of Ozz" War to Save Yule campaign: Ambush!  (For my photos and reports on the previous two games in the campaign, River of Ice, and Battle for the Bauble of Time, see my previous posts.

     In this scenario Father Yule, Bobbo Natale, having realized his workshops are no longer a safe place to hide the Bauble of Time, organizes his remaining forces into a column to escort the Bauble to a safe location deeper in his frozen Kingdom.   The Ice Witch, her attempt to steal the Bauble having been foiled in the previous game,  devises a sinister plan to ambush the column on a constricted section of road along the route the column will be taking.

     The objective of the Yule forces was to protect the Bauble at all costs, and either exit it over the bridge in the corner of the table, or at least have possession of it at game's end.  The Ice Witch's objective was to steal the Bauble and either exit it off her side of the table, or at least have possession of it at the end of the game.

   Wow, was this an exciting game!  There was a crucial command mistake in defending the Bauble, a daring cross-table charge to grab the Bauble, and lastly, a desprate cavalry pursuit to save the Bauble!   In the end the Ice Queen secured the Bauble, so next year's Yule is in jeopardy for all of Ozz. We hear Bobbo Natale is already planning how to get the Bauble back this Fall...

An overview of the table before the game began. The river was impassable except for a single bridge in the lower left corner of the photo (behind the sign). The Yule column is stretched out on the road, and the Ice witch's forces are attacking from the woods, hills and rocky areas to the north of the road.

The Bauble in its cart. Two units of Elves have already moved out into line to protect the treasured item.

The Ice Witch's forces spring the trap!

A unit of Ice Trolls races forward to engage the Toy Soldier battery.

Meanwhile, more Ice Trolls are pressing in on the Yule left flank, trying to cut off their exit route to safety.

A view of the battle.

The turning point. This is what makes multiplayer games so much fun; each player is intent on their own sector and often isn't fully aware of what is happening elsewhere on the table. With the Teddy Bear cannon threatened, the commander of that sector shifted his unit of Toy Soldier Infantry to the left to help support and protect the cannon. He did not immediately realize that the Cart with the Bauble had taken a large move down the road and was now exposed by the shift in the line. Before the opening could be filled, the Angry Snowmen, halfway across the table saw the opportunity and launched a long distance charge. Miraculously the Snowman commander rolled a d10 for movement, and before they realized it the poor cart escort found themselves face to face with a horde of angry frozen trouble!

The misfortune for the Yule side continued as the Ice Trolls routed the Teddy Bear Infantry back over the bridge, effectively cutting off the path to safety.

A shot of the battle as the tide has turned.

As the Snowmen attempt to extract themselves from the midst of the Yule army... a unit of Mounted Toy Soldiers (on the right side of the photo,) desperately tries to cut its way through enemy units to pursue Bauble. 

The cavalry finally closes with the Snowmen, and deals a lot of casualties, but the reaction results simply causes the Snowmen to fall back...closer to their table edge! A unit of Elves tries to join the pursuit despite their short legs, while units from the Ice Queen's force run to help support the Snowman.

The end draws near. The Snowmen are able to slip into a nearby woods, and safety, where the cavalry's speed would be severely reduced. And to make matters worse, a unit of Dokklafar (Dark Elves) reaches the scene and threatens the cavalry. As the sun begins to set, hope for the Yule force is now lost; the Ice Witch victorious...

Cold Wars Battle Report: Wars of Ozz- Battle for the Bauble of Time

     Saturday morning at Cold Wars (March 10-12, in Valley Forge PA) I ran the second game of our "Wars of Ozz" War to Save Yule campaign: Battle for the Bauble of Time.  (See my previous post for photos and a report from the first campaign game: River of Ice) After having narrowly achieved a victory with their daring river crossing in the first game on Friday, the Ice Queen now launched her forces in a bold attack further inland on Father Yule's toy workshops, in an effort  to find the hidden Bauble of Time.  Any unit that was destroyed or routed off the table in the River Crossing game began this battle with one less stand of figures, or one less crewman in the case of destroyed batteries. 

     The table featured 3 buildings that needed to be searched.  At the beginning of the game I blindly placed a token under each building; two that were blank, and one with an "X" on it. Therefore, I didn't know where it was, and neither did any of the players.  On any activation that one of Aurora the Ice Queen's units spent adjacent to one of the buildings, doing nothing else, it could "search" the building, revealing the hidden token.  

     The game was a hard fought affair, and on the last turn the Ice Queen's troops were able to search two buildings.  Even with this 2 out of 3 chance, luck was not on Aurora's side and the token turned out to be in the one unsearched workshop.  The Yule side was victorious.

A view of the table before the game.

A brigade of Yule defenders stands at the ready. Note the cannon is missing one crewman. Any unit that was destroyed or routed in the previous game came back with one less base, or in the case of batteries one less crewman.

The Ice Witch's units charge forward.

On the right wing of the Yule defenses a unit of Ice Trolls throws itself at a Toy Soldier battery in an effort to quickly silence the gun.

As the first unit of Trolls successfully overruns the cannon, another unit of Trolls moves up to engage a unit of Elves.

As more attackers join the battle on the Yule right wing, the defenders begin to waver under the pressure.

A view of the table about half way through the game.

On the Yule left, the fighting also is fierce as the attackers attempt to overwhelm the defenders.

Fighting all up and down the line.

The reinforcing Yule column begins to apply pressure on the attackers, drawing units away from the main assault.

A unit of Angry Snowmen bowls over a Teddy Bear Battery. Casualties among the artillery crews were high in this game.

On the Yule left, despite repeated attacks against them, Father Yule's defenders stand firm.

On the Yule right the line cracks, while on the left the fighting is fierce. But as the defenders' units have been drawn to each end of the battle, the attackers notice a gap opening in the defense's center.

A reinforcing unit of Toy Soldiers marches in and halts the Snowmen's advance.

As the clock runs out on the game, units of Dokkfalar (Dark Elves) smash the doors of the workshops on the left and in the center, ransacking Babbo Natale's workshops in their desperate search for the Bauble of Time. But they come up emory handed.

The third workshop (group of 2 smaller buildings) is still heavily protected. Luckily for the defenders this was where the Bauble turned out to be hidden.

Cold Wars Battle Report: War of Ozz-River of Ice

     At this past Cold Wars convention, March 10-12 in Valley Forge, PA,  we ran three of the scenarios from Chris Abbey 's free "War to Save Yule" campaign for the "Wars of Ozz" rules. The first of these was the "River of Ice" battle, which Buck Surdu ran on Friday night.  In this scenario, the Ice Witch, Aurora, has magically frozen the river boundary between her kingdom and that of Father Yule, Bobbo Natale, so her armies can launch a surprise attack with the goal of stealing Father Yule's Bauble of Time; the magical device that allows him to travel all over Ozz in a single night.

The scenario presented some interesting challenges in that the small defending garrison was outnumbered 2 to 1, and the attacker's goal was to exit as many units as it could off the opposite side of the table. So both sides had some strategic choices to make.  The Ice Witch's side received 1 point for each unit it exits, and the Yule side received 2 points for each enemy unit it destroyed. 

     We had a full compliment of 6 players, who all had a great time with the game.  It turned out to be a real nail-biter, with the victory going back and forth between the two sides.  In the end, the Ice Witch's forces narrowly prevailed, with a score of 7 to 6!

The table set up at the start of the game.

A shot of the defending garrison troops, bravely awaiting the Ice Witch's onslaught.

Opening moves.

On the defender's right flank the commander attempts to extend his line to block the on rushing enemy, but is hampered by the traffic jam created by the limited space between the town and the nearby hill.

Overview of the table.

The first troops begin to engage.

At the far end of the table the attackers throw themselves at the defenders, trying to open a gap somewhere in their line.

A unit of Yule Elves bravely rushes forward to slow the enemy's advance.

On the Ice Witch's left, units begin to squeeze through towards the safety of the woods, as the Yule forces establish a defensive line.

Elves and Krampus engage in a bitter battle.

A unit of Angry Snowmen overruns a Teddy Bear Battery.

The end count: (on the left) 7 Ice Witch units exited (7 points), and (on the right) 3 of the Ice Witch's units destroyed or routed (6 points).