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...
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| 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. |
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| The Bauble in its cart. Two units of Elves have already moved out into line to protect the treasured item. |
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| The Ice Witch's forces spring the trap! |
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| A unit of Ice Trolls races forward to engage the Toy Soldier battery. |
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| Meanwhile, more Ice Trolls are pressing in on the Yule left flank, trying to cut off their exit route to safety. |
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| A view of the battle. |
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| 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! |
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| 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. |
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| A shot of the battle as the tide has turned. |
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| 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. |
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| 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. |
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| 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... |
