On Thin Ice - Wars of Ozz AAR

My second game of the convention was Wars of Ozz, another set of rules by Buck Surdu with Chris Palmer.

This was the opening scenario in a trio of campaign games from the "The War to save Yule" supplement, which added Christmas-themed armies. The Anti-Yule forces of the Ice Queen have Krampuses, Ice Trolls, Snow Men, Dark Elves, and other nasties, while the forces of the Lands of Yule have Elves and animated Toy Soldiers and Teddy Bears.  

Four Anti-Yule brigades lead the vanguard of the Ice Queen's armies into the Lands of Yule, surprising two Yule brigades by freezing the river that guards Yule's border. 

The Anti-Yule brigades scored a point for every unit (of any size) that escaped off the opposite table edge, while the Yule brigades scored two points for every Anti-Yule unit they entirely wiped out. Whoever had the most points by the end of the battle won and would help their side in the next game. 

The Anti-Yule brigade commanders that the best way past the Yule forces was through them. As the hordes of monsters marched across the ice, the thin line of Yule began to hurriedly deploy to stem the tide. 

Both sides began taking losses early on (over on our side of the table, at least...), with the Yule Elves and artillery scattering, but sending a unit of Krampuses running away in fear of the cannon as well. 

The unit of Teddy Bears were real troopers, fending off waves of Dark Elves and Dire Wolves with blasts of musket fire. 

As for my brigade, it wasn't doing so well. I thought that the burly Ice Trolls and the Christmas tree-hewing Mechanical Axemen would slaughter some measly Toy Soldiers and Elves. But the defenders of Yule sent both regiments fleeing, then eyed the Krampuses waiting on the far flank. 

And the Krampuses were soon routing as well! Sure, the Yule cavalry had taken a beating, but most of my brigade was on its way back across the river. 

Both sides were seriously depleted towards the end of the game. Instead of charging into the teddy bears again, I instead decided to sprint the Dire Wolves to the table edge, to help score some point. 

A glance over at the other side of the table showed some very fresh looking troops, eliciting some disbelief from the Yule commander whose troops were mostly exhausted from fighting off the anti-Yule brigades on his side of the village. 

Overall, the Anti-Yule attackers managed to get seven units off the table, while the Yule defenders destroyed three units. A 7-6 score meant that the Anti-Yule forces just barely managed to win!

This was a fun game, full of chaos thanks to how Wars of Ozz handles unit reactions. It's great to watch as your carefully planned attack falters as you lose control of your troops.

Unfortunately Old Glory wasn't able to attend this year, so I couldn't pick up the rulebook or another Munchkin regiment. Another online order, I suppose!