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).