It’s been a while since I posted anything about painted figures. As I mentioned in my last post, October 2023 found me busier than I have been for quite some time. In addition to finishing up my Ozz terrain and a storage box for it, I managed to finish off two Wars of Ozz units for use at HMGS Fall In!®. This post is about the first one – the Savage Apple Trees.

In the 1939 Movie, The Wizard of Oz, most of us may remember Dorothy and the scarecrow being assaulted by grumpy apple trees as they picked apples.

In the Ozz world, these apple trees are part of the forces of the Great Land of Harvest. They are listed on the Wars of Ozz miniatures site as OZZ-523, Savage Apple Trees. In the game, they have both melee abilities and missile attacks (thrown apples of course). Additionally, they have the opportunity for secret deployment on the tabletop on a predetermined section of woods. This does give them the advantage of showing up unexpected on an enemy rear or flank.

Another advantage is that they are less affected by musketry (but not cannon). Their main disadvantages are twofold. First, the ranges for thrown apples is slightly worse than carbines – with only 4″ for short range with a maximum of 6″ for long range. Second, they also move relatively slowly as befits a tree unit. They are listed in the “Allies and Mercenaries” section on the website, and in the rules are listed under the Great Land of Harvest.

In the game,they are average melee troops, with Melee values of 5/10, Resolve values of 6/10, and Elan values of 6/10. They are even just average apple throwers, with a marksmanship of only 5/10. On the plus side, the unit is relatively inexpensive at only 4 points. As trees, they can pass through woods without any penalty, though still are slow.

The figures are all large enough to fit 1 figure each on a 2″ square base. They come 5 to a unit, are 28mm in scale, and are metal. All needed assembly and foliage attachments. There are two types of branches that can be added, plus the branches on the main trunk. Additionally, there is a base for each tree and 50 apples that can be mounted on the trees or scattered on the bases. Each figure, once assembled, can have its branches bent to allow both nesting of the completed figures in a formation (without hitting a neighboring tree base) as well as to give some degree of individuality. There are no faces on the trees.

WIP Shots…

The challenge of their assembly needed a bit of planning on my part. Initially, I decided to assemble the trees, then paint them fully, then add foliage. For attachment of the limbs and bases, I first went with green stuff – but that proved to be ineffective – as the subsequent act of bending the tree branches for nesting detached a few trunks and branches. Ugh! So, I went back to drilling out and pinning the component branches and bases and gluing with trusty Gorilla Glue. I was also able to mount the trees onto their steel 2″ bases for painting – which helped with my validating their nesting arrangements to a large degree.

The next step was to paint the assembled trees on their bases and the extra apples on a plate, which was pretty straightforward.

After painting, it was on to varnishing and adding foliage and flocking. As for the foliage, I had gotten some good experience with the repair of the Impkin Artillery (slingshot) that I discussed in my last post.

Additionally, IRO’s help after reading his Bolt Action blog post discussing trees and terrain and his comments helped me immensely, particularly with how to affix clump foliage. If you don’t follow his blog, you should! Thanks Luke!

Based on what I learned from IRO, and what I saw in this You Tube video, I ended up using three types of glue/adhesive. First, I applied Woodland Scenics “Hob-e-tac” to the painted branches and let that dry clear per the instructions. Then I added small bits of mid-green foliage clumps one at a time by pinching them onto the Hob-e-tac. I then let that dry, then followed that step with more Hob-e-tac on the nearby branches. As the foliage grew, I added sprays of Woodland Scenics “Spray-Tac” as well as sprinking little apples from Woodland Scenics “Fruit Apples and Oranges”, and let that dry. In between, I’d also add a few lines of PVA onto the foliage clumps so as to create stronger bondsand “bridges” between the foliage clumps that I was building up. This was tedious as I needed to let the different glues on the foliage dry and harden before moving on to another step. Also, when you use the Spray-Tac, you need to wash out the nozzle and its assembly. As a side note, my nozzle assembly came apart during this process which was a pain to reassemble – so beware! I still do like the Spray-Tac as it dries matte.

The last step was to flock the bases. For this, I added some grass, some scattered random metal and Woodland Scenics apples, some pieces of clump foliage, and some twigs. I have been adding Pendraken 12mm dice frames to my units as well (just one as any unit only needs one).

Eye Candy

They saw their tabletop combat debut last weekend at HMGS Fall In!®. I hope to share some photos of that convention in an upcoming post. I can even see using these in mass fantasy battle games of Wars of Orcs and Dwarves.

I hope that you found this somewhat post interesting and maybe even helpful. Most diorama builders are probably laughing a bit at my challenges here – as they are more used to using the foliage and associated glues than I was.

Next up is Professor Nitpick and his Mechanical Tin Axemen, then a Fall In recap!

And yes, I still have more to come…

Miscellaneous details and references for those interested in that sort of thing:

For all of my previous posts on Wars of Ozz games, figures, units, and other related projects – please see this page.

PAINTS, INKS, GLAZES, SHADES, WASHES, PIGMENTS, FLOCKING, GLUES AND MORE THAT I USED ON THESE SAVAGE APPLE TREE FIGURES:

Savage Apple Trees

1. 2″ square steel bases from Wargames Accessories (#21)
2. Green Stuff (kneadatite)
3. Poster tack
4. Gorilla Glue
5. Vallejo Grey Surface Primer
6. Citadel “Contrast Medium”
7. Citadel “Contrast Paint – Wyldwood”
8. Vallejo Model Color “Wood Grain”
9. Army Painter “Speed Paint – Poppy Red”
10. Vallejo Model Air “First Light”
11. Citadel “Warpfiend Grey”
12. Citadel “Skrag Brown”
13. Battlefront “Firefly Green”
14. Battlefront “Tommy Green”
15. Vallejo “Flow Improver”
16. Vallejo “Airbrush Thinner”
17. Vallejo “Thinner Medium”
18. Vallejo Varnish “Matte Varnish”
19. Pendraken 12mm dice frame
20. Elmer’s PVA Glue
21. Woodland Scenics “Hob-e-Tac Adhesive”
22. Woodland Scenics “Clump Foliage-Medium Green”
23. All Game Terrain “Foliage Clumps-Medium Green”
24. Woodland Scenics “FS645 Spray-Tac”
25. Woodland Scenics “Fruit Apples and Oranges” (just used the apples)
26. Army Painter “Battlefield Field Grass” (flocking)
27. Gamer’s Grass “Red Flowers” (flocking)
28. Small twigs

Again, as you may want to check out the Wars of Ozz figures’ range – there are two places to get them (and I make no money from this btw – I just love this stuff).

The game rules and the figures are available from the following two places:

In the US Old Glory has a site – Wars of Ozz Miniatures.

In the UK go to Sally 4th.