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).