In my last blog post I promised something “fungal” this time – and here it is – a regiment of Mushroom Creatures for Wars of Ozz!
This unit was yet another part of my painting scramble to get ready for HUZZAH! 2023. It joins my other forces for the Great Land of Harvest. The unit is composed of 10 figures to be based each on 5 stands, 2 per stand. Similar to some other Great Land of Harvest regiments, the Mushroom Creature Infantry Regiment is comprised of 10 metal figures armed – with differently-sized stone sledgehammers and hammers. The figures are of different heights, but did not need assembly as each figure came in a single piece.
The photo of the unit on the Wars of Ozz website served as a starting point for me for painting. I liked the spotted mushroom caps – but wanted to have a greater variety of colors. This is, after all, Ozz! Plus I had a lot of new Speed and Contrast Paints to try as I got the 2.0 set.
I varied the different models so as to create a variety of bases. I took the same approach with the colors so that no two bases would be the same. They are based in the game on five 2″ square bases without a Regimental Commander. Their melee value is pretty strong at 7 out of 10. Their Elan and Resolve values are the same as the other Harvest units at 6 out of 10. In fact, they have the same stats as the Great Menacing Hammerheads.
These also have a facial look of intent to do great harm to their enemies, but were pretty easy to paint up. Again, to match my other Harvest troops, I did paint the eyes with a glowing yellow-green (Tesseract Glow). I’ll share a few WIP shots and then some eye candy of the Mushroom Creatures regiment. I’ll briefly describe the painting process that I used with the contrast and speed paints. All of the paints that I used will be listed at the end as I normally do for those interested in that stuff.
WIP Shots…
The figures as received – very cool and pretty easy to paint up. I mounted the figures on 3/4″ steel washers, then onto poster-tack covered specimen jars for ease of painting.I primed these white so I could get the best results on the mushroom caps (the most visible feature on the tabletop). That white also “absorbs” colors from Speed and Contrast paints the best. You can make out the penciled dots that I have placed on the caps – which I would line out with black and then regular white paint before adding colors.Very simple to paint! I decided that the caps should vary, but that the rest of the figures colors should be relatively uniform.
Once painted, I airbrushed these with two coats of varnish sequentially – first a coat of gloss then a coat of matte. Then I flocked the bases with the same color themes as my other Harvest troops.
Who doesn’t love anthropomorphic mushrooms armed with stone hammers anyways?
How about some…
Eye Candy
As the figures are really uninteresting from behind , I decided to stay with frontal shots. Sorry to disappoint all you miniature mushroom figure butt fans out there…
Stand 1
Stand 2
Stand 3
Stand 4
Stand 5
Group shot
Similar to what I found with the Great Menacing Hammerheads, photographing these was difficult – this time due to the mushroom caps shading the figures. I think you get the idea of how they look in the group shot. From above they look quite fungal!
I did find that the contrast paints tended to have cracks/microfissures on wider surfaces like the mushroom tops when they dried and were “stretched out”. Adding a second coat was enough pre-varnish to fix that problem. Not my finest work, but I like them, and they will be just fine on the tabletop.
That’s all for the Mushroom Creatures Infantry Regiment. Like me, I’m sure you want a pizza now with mushrooms now! Well, I always do…
I hope that you liked this slice of Ozz wackiness as much as I did.
I currently have just 2 more Ozz blog posts in the queue and then I can get back to painting more stuff – so stay tuned.
My next post will make you consider – who would work for or under King Jack?
Thanks for taking a look and any feedback is always appreciated
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 THIS MUSHROOM CREATURE INFANTRY REGIMENT:
Gorilla Glue
3/4″ steel washers
Poster tack
Vallejo “Flow Improver”
Vallejo “Airbrush Thinner”
Vallejo Premium Surface Primer “White”
Vallejo Mecha Surface Primer “White”
Army Painter Airbrush Primer “White”
Battlefront “Black”
Vallejo Model Color “White”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Contrast Medium”
Army Painter “Speed Paint – Holy White”
Army Painter “Speed Paint – Dark Wood”
Citadel “Mechanicus Standard Grey”
Vallejo “Thinner Medium”
Citadel “Tesseract Glow”
Army Painter “Speed Paint – Purple Swarm”
Army Painter “Speed Paint Medium”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Baal Red”
Army Painter “Speed Paint – Dusk Red”
Army Painter “Speed Paint – Familiar Pink”
Army Painter “Speed Paint – Battleship Grey”
Army Painter “Speed Paint – Caribbean Ocean”
Army Painter “Speed Paint – Beowulf Blue”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Aggaros Dunes”
Citadel “Nuln Oil GLOSS” (wash/shade)
PS Model Color “British Brown Drab”
2″ square steel base from Wargames Accessories (#21)
Army Painter “Light Tone” (wash/shade)
Vallejo Mecha Varnish “Gloss Varnish”
Vallejo Mecha Varnish “Matte Varnish”
Elmer’s PVA Glue
Army Painter “Battlefields Grass Green” (flocking)
Army Painter “Battlefield Field Grass” (flocking)
Army Painter “Battlefields Field Grass” (flocking)
Army Painter “Battlefields Meadow Flowers” (flocking)
Shadow’s Edge Miniatures “6mm Dark Forest Orange Tufts” (flocking)
Gamer’s Grass “Orange Flowers” (flocking)
Small stones (flocking)
Small oak twigs (flocking)
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). The game rules and the figures are available from the following two places:
In my painting scramble to get ready for HUZZAH! 2023, I painted a number of regiments, leaders and individuals for my Wars of Ozz games. You may have noticed several of them in my last post. Most of these projects involved regiments from the Great Land of Harvest. One of them was the Great Menacing Hammerheads, SKU#528. The unit is composed of 10 figures to be based each on 5 stands.
The photo of them on the Wars of Ozz website intrigued me:
What exactly are these?
Great Menacing Hammerheads on Wars of Ozz website.
They are listed in the rules as part of forces available to the Great Land of Harvest. Still, again…
What exactly are these?
The rulebook is silent on this, except to suggest that these creatures may be one of many mutations that occurred after the Madness Bombs fell 300 years ago. I am by no means expert on the original Baum Wizard of Oz works that inspired the game. With a little digging on the old internet, I found a couple of clues. Apparently these do appear in the Oz books around the year 1900 – and are quite xenophobic and weird. There is an Oz Wiki site – and there I found this:
“They had nearly reached the first rock when they heard a rough voice cry out, “KEEP BACK!” “Who are you?” asked the Scarecrow. Then a face showed itself over the rock and the same voice said, “THIS HILL IS OUR HILL, THE HILL OF US HAMMER-HEADS, AND WE DO NOT ALLOW ANYONE TO EVER CROSS IT!” “But we must cross it,” said the Scarecrow. “We’re going to the country of the Quadlings to see its ruler, Glinda the Good Witch, so we must.” “BUT YOU MUST NOT!” Replied the voice, and there stepped from behind the large rocks the strangest man the travelers had ever seen. He was quite short and stout, standing no more than three feet high and had a big, oversized head, which was smooth on the top and as flat as a hammer. The head was supported by a thick, long, fat neck full of many layers of wrinkles. But the body had no arms at all, not even stubs.“―The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900)
A little more digging found these images from the original books:
It appears that their attack mode is a whipping-extending forward-head-butting action. How they button their clothes, tie their shoes, or perform acts of personal hygiene are certainly left to the imagination…
Another site (The Creature Codex)shows an interesting artist’s concept of these as monsters as shown by the photo below:
These look more menacing and Ozz-like, but lack the “hammerheads”. As for why the Great Menacing Hammerheads (let’s call them the GMHH) are listed as part of the Great Land of Harvest forces, I am not 100% sure given the above. I can accept that given the previous quote and their alleged xenophobia, they probably would only fight alongside their nearest neighbor mutants? In any case, I happily bought them and proceeded to build and paint the regiment.
Similar to some other Great Land of Harvest regiments, the GMHH unit is comprised of 10 metal figures, and each is unarmed – save for their heads, which are different types of hammers. The figures are of different heights, and needed assembly insofar as each figure came in two pieces – a torso and a long neck/head combination. The figures reminded me a bit of malevolent sneetches – if Dr. Seuss had disarmed them…(sorry for that)…
Let’s move on to the figures shall we?
I needed to assemble the unit and affix the two pieces. I decided to channel my inner Roger and use green stuff and sculpt a type of sneetch-inspired ruffled collar on them which would also serve as a bond for the models. I varied the heads so that no two bases would be the same. They are based in the game on five 2″ square bases without a Regimental Commander. Their melee value is pretty strong at 7 out of 10. Their Elan and Resolve values are the same as the other Harvest units at 6 out of 10.
I wanted them to look wild and crazy – and certainly as “menacing” as I could. Their varied head positions helped with this as did varied base flocking. Lastly, to match my other Harvest troops, I did paint the eyes with a glowing yellow-green (Tesseract Glow).
As before, I’ll share a few WIP shots and then some eye candy of the GMHH regiment. I’ll start with assembly of the figures and then move to describing the painting process. I used a number of contrast and speed paints, but did also use highlights and washes. All of the paints that I used will be listed at the end as I normally do for those interested in that level of detail.
WIP Shots…
The GMHH Regiment assembled with the green stuff-sculpted “collar ruffles”.After priming and some initial work on their flesh. I went with green flesh as they are part of Harvest forces.Made their hammerheads quite metallic, and their bodies brown like a quail. The neck collars are fiery orange.Close up of face and body work – left 4 figures……and 6 on the right of the work area.
I varnished these with a coat of gloss followed by one of matte. Then I flocked the bases with the same color themes as my other Harvest troops. How about some…
Eye Candy
Stand 1
Stand 2
Stand 3
Stand 4
Stand 5
Group Shot
Photographing these was difficult due to the number of heads that were downward facing – such that illuminating them was tough – let alone catching their faces – but I think you get the idea of how they look in the group shot. From above their hammerheads resemble – well – actual hammers. And I think that is the point.
I don’t think they are the best I have done – but they are ok, and will be fine on the tabletop.
That’s all for the Great Menacing Hammerhead Infantry Regiment. I hope that you liked their wackiness as much as I did. This makes 128 figures that I have painted for Ozz this year! I do have three more posts in the queue and then I can get back to painting more stuff. The next one will be quite fungal…
Thanks for taking a look and any feedback is always appreciated
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 THIS GREAT MENACING HAMMERHEAD INFANTRY REGIMENT:
Green Stuff (kneadatite)
Gorilla Glue
Poster tack
Vallejo “Flow Improver”
Vallejo “Airbrush Thinner”
Vallejo Premium Surface Primer “White”
Vallejo Mecha Surface Primer “White”
Army Painter Airbrush Primer “White”
Citadel “Tesseract Glow”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Baal Red”
Battlefront “Black”
Vallejo Model Color “White”
Army Painter “Speed Paint – Forest Sprite”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Gore Grunta Fur”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Contrast Medium”
Army Painter “Speed Paint – Zealot Yellow”
Vallejo Game Ink “Yellow”
Vallejo Model Air “Gun Metal”
Citadel “Runefang Steel”
Army Painter “Speed Paint – Dark Wood”
2″ square steel base from Wargames Accessories (#21)
Citadel “Nuln Oil GLOSS” (wash/shade)
PS Model Color “British Brown Drab”
DecoArt/Americana “Honey Brown”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Gryph-Hound Orange”
P3 “Blazing Ink”
Vallejo Model Air “Chrome”
Army Painter “Light Tone” (wash/shade)
Vallejo Mecha Varnish “Gloss Varnish”
Vallejo Mecha Varnish “Matte Varnish”
Elmer’s PVA Glue
Army Painter “Battlefields Grass Green” (flocking)
Army Painter “Battlefield Field Grass” (flocking)
Army Painter “Battlefields Field Grass” (flocking)
Army Painter “Battlefields Meadow Flowers” (flocking)
Shadow’s Edge Miniatures “6mm Dark Forest Orange Tufts” (flocking)
Gamer’s Grass “Orange Flowers” (flocking)
Small stones (flocking)
Small oak twigs (flocking)
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). The game rules and the figures are available from the following two places:
As I wind down from Memorial Day weekend activities, I wanted to share some of my photos from the Huzzah! 2023 gaming convention. I ran 5 games there – two Wars of Ozz games on Friday, two Feudal Patrol games based on the Spanish Conquest in Mesoamerica games on Saturday, and a final Wars of Ozz game on Sunday. Each game slot was 4 hours long.
As usual, setting up and running a convention game (let alone 5) takes away from being a photographer. In the end, I want the games to take priority – and find a moment or two to take some shots for you, my readers. I do not have a good play-by-play to share, but I will give you the general gist of the games and hopefully the pics will suffice – there are a lot here.
If you like wargames photos – or you were at Huzzah! 2023 – this post is up your alley!
As background, the Huzzah! 2023 gaming convention was held in South Portland, ME, from May 19th to May 21st. It is run annually by the Maine Historical Wargamers Association (MWHA). There are two Facebook pages associated with the group, one is for the MWHA and one for the Huzzah! convention that you can access.
I arrived early Friday the 19th – around 11 AM – so that I could check into my hotel and move all my stuff from my very full car into my room and get my first game set up for 2 PM. Unfortunately, the hotel would not let ANYONE check in before 3 PM – and yes, that was during my game slot. The staff of the hotel claimed that they needed to keep rooms free for flight crews (not the fault of MWHA btw). In any case, my car was not packed such that I could just grab stuff and go – and after a bit of transloading in the parking lot I got my stuff into the convention space and set up my first 6-player Wars of Ozz game. The table was smaller than I had planned – and had a lot of figures on it, but with all of the scrambling, I made it work.
Friday Afternoon Wars of Ozz Game
I set up all of my Ozz games as “meeting engagements”. The idea was to expose the players to the rules and for them to have a fun and straightforward game. In the first game, on the “bad guys side” I had a brigade of Gillikins (loaned to me for the convention by my friend Chris Comeau), my brigade of Winkies, and another Winkie brigade (loaned to me for the convention by my friend Chris Palmer of the Maryland HAWKS club). On the other side I had my Great Land of Harvest Brigade, my Munchkin Brigade, and a Quadling Brigade (also from Chris Palmer), At future conventions, I should have enough of my own Ozz troops, but thanks to the two Chris’s, and Eric Schlegel (the HAWK who brought the Maryland-based figures m to the convention), I was set. Each player had a brigade – and here below are some shots of the action.
The players ready to play. The bases with more than 1 building represent towns.Brad advances his Lesser Apes and Winkies.A view of “the good guys” side – from nearest to furthest are the Great Land of Harvest Brigade, the Quadling Brigade, and the Munchkin Brigade. Some of the units will be the subject of future posts (I had not had enough time before HUZZAH!).A Winkie zilk-riding regiment is disordered after fighting and routing the Great Pumpkin Heads. Moving up to challenge the Winkie cavalry is the Carrot Creature Regiment – supported by both Mushroom Creature and Corn Creature regiments. You can also see the Great Pumpkin Heads routing to their right.Carrot Creatures and Winkie cavalry are disordered after melee. A Harvest Witch prepares a spell.The Great Owl regiment attacks and disrupts the Gillikin goat-riding cavalry in front of Munchkin infantry. The Gillikin cavalry had just routed the Munchkin Light Cavalry at the top of the picture.Munchkin infantry and artillery move up – while Munchkin cavalry continues to flee the battle.Later, the Winkie cavalry broke the Carrot, Corn, and Mushroom Creature regiments. Unfortunately the Harvest player’s dice were set on rolling badly – very badly.In the middle of the battle, Quadlings and Lesser Apes collide – while the other Winkie cavalry moves forward.The aftermath of the Quadling/Ape scrum was a routed Quadling infantry.
The first game was an overwhelming bad guy victory. I reset the game, finally got checked into my room, and prepared for the next band of players. As for dinner – a bag of crackers and a Coke had to suffice for the time being.
Friday Night Wars of Ozz Game
When I reset the game, I removed some of the terrain to alter it a bit. I also deployed the forces closer to each other. Here below are some shots of this game.
The game 2 players – and yes the gentleman on the left middle (James) played again – in fact he played in all 5 of my games! This game had several of the “Berkshire Boys” playing, as well as Sam and Matt who are veterans of many of my convention games.As before, the Great Pumpkin Heads made contact with the enemy first, and again they were routed! This time though the Harvest troops fought better.An overview of the battlefield.Some Winkies advance – while others are routed…The battle develops – and the casualties (on the blue tablecloth) mount.Forces of good and evil collide!With a bold move, Sam fly’s her regiment of Great Flying Apes towards the Quadlings and Munchkins.The Munchkin Light Cavalry hits the Great Flying Apes.The end of the game (due to the hall closing!).
At the game’s end, the bad guys had the advantage – but the tide was (in my opinion) turning in favor of the good guys. All had fun in these first two games.
At this point, I grabbed another Coke, a bag of Goldfish crackers, and a microwaveable frozen mini-pizza for the room, and crashed.
Saturday Morning Feudal Patrol Game – The Battle of Centla
The next morning, I got in early and set up my next game – the Battle of Centla. This is a Feudal Patrol skirmish game based on the first encounter between the Conquistadores and the Maya (Cortes would later fight the Aztecs).
I again sold out! It was nice to have a full table.
The players assemble on Saturday morning.Leif and Brad – veterans of the game – brief their teams and strategize.The Spanish advance towards the Maya city. Their victory conditions were to get to the city, or inflict excessive casualties on the Maya, or to incapacitate their leader, Tabscoob. To win, the Maya needed to inflict excessive casualties on the Conquistadores, incapacitate Cortes, or just avoid any Spanish victory conditions being met by the game’s end.Brad advances his warband led by Alvarado.Alvarado (red hair at bottom left) sends his war dog at the Maya in the bushes.Maya atlatls hit the Spanish advancing on the middle road.The Spanish players coordinate their actions.As the Spanish move toward the city, the Maya take up a defensive position astride the jungle path.The Maya get timely (and lucky) reinforcements to confront the Spanish bringing a smile to Michelle.The Spanish under Alvarado try to hack their way through the Maya, but are stunned by atlatl fire, slowing their advance.In desperation, Alvarado hurls himself at the Maya, but is stunned by an atlatl hit.Back in the middle of the table, the Spanish are near a breakthrough as well.However, the Maya hold.The game ends with a narrow Maya victory – the Spanish nearly succeed!
Thankfully, I was able to get this game dismantled (with a lot of help especially from Leif and Brad) and put away and moved to my final table of the weekend. Fortunately, this was going to be a BIG table – five 6′ x 3′ tables of watery battlefield – Lake Texcoco – where the Aztec capital used to be.
Saturday Evening Feudal Patrol Game – The Battle of Lake Texcoco
This game would be in the evening on Saturday – so I set up during he afternoon – all 23 war canoes (with 5-6 Aztecs inside) and 5 Spanish brigantines (with 13 or so figures in each ship). Each side gets Victory points differently. The Spanish get points for successfully firing their primitive lombards and falconets (cannon) at the city. The Aztecs get points for successfully boarding each brigantine. Both sides get points for inflicting casualties on the enemy – with the Aztecs getting more points for inflicting them than the armored Spanish do. There were 9 players.
At the start – Spanish on the right, Aztecs on the left.The Aztec players advance their war canoes,The Spanish players try to advance their brigantines.The Aztecs move quickly as the Spanish do not raise their sails and instead rely on rowing.Close up of the war canoes.Another shot of the war canoes as they advance.Long view of the battlefield from the other side of the table.El Dolar is boarded!James eyes the approaching war canoes and fires his lombard (in the stern castle obscured by the sail) at an approaching canoe. It’s a bad scene on El Dolar – half the crew was killed or jumped overboard – plus it got damaged hitting an island.Near the end of the battle.The massive number of Morale pips on the dashboard of El Marcos tell a sad tale…
In the end the Spanish lost the game – as not a single shot hit the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan. The Spanish players were somewhat cautious in their advance but also too willing to fire valuable cannon opportunities at war canoes. While they inflicted a lot of casualties, the lack of cannon hits doomed their chances at victory. Meanwhile, the Aztecs boarded all of the brigantines, and that was the difference in points.
After a cleanup, I had help setting up Sunday morning’s upcoming Ozz game on this same table.
Sunday Morning Wars of Ozz Game
I only used 4 brigades this time as I dropped the Winkie and the Quadling brigades that I had borrowed from Chris Palmer. There was a LOT more maneuver space and several of the players were from Friday’s Ozz games. Also there was lot of action in this game as you will see below!
Ready for action!Stephen advances the Gillikins.The Harvest Brigade here – with the Munchkin Brigade to their right. The two opposing forces were deployed at opposite corners of the tabletop.The Mushroom Creature Regiment enters a town.A view of the Munchkin Brigade.Gillikins move through and around a town with their skeleton allies.Harvest forces try to get into the town before the Winkies.Munchkin forces advance.The Munchkin Medium artillery battery safely in the hard cover of the town with their infantry on the right flank. An amazing Ozz scene as Union Civil War reenactors watch the Ozz game unfold – black powder weapons on the table and around it!Forces close on the town.The Harvestland artillery (the pumpkin chucker) is wiped out to a man (or pumpkinhead) by Winkie Infantry. Meanwhile, the Great Pumpkin Heads seek revenge and deploy into line.The Great Pumpkin Heads repel the Lesser Apes.The Great Flying Apes manage to get behind the Great Pumpkin Heads and attempt a rear hit. The GPH manage to turn to face them, but now have enemies to the front and to the rear.A Great Pumpkin Head base close up as they are surrounded.The GPH have had enough and rout…On the Munchkin front, the Winkie zilk-riders attempt to charge the Munchkin Medium battery – and fail to make it – and are staring at the business end at point-blank range.Meanwhile, Evora the Witch cast “poppies” in front of her Winkie Light battery to deter any assaults on the gun. Gillikins have turned the flank of the Harvest left side,The Harvest center begins to weaken.Forces converge.The zilk riders are smashed by the Munchkin battery and flee, pursued by the Great Owls.The Lesser Pumpkin Heads form line, and turn to face the rear attack of the Great Flying Apes.The Harvest left flank crumbles!
That was the end of the game as time expired. It was not really over as the Munchkins were still intact and the Winkies had taken losses too. Had it gone on longer, I expect that it would have been very close – but as it ended the Winkies and Gillikins made it a three for three weekend.
I hope that you enjoyed the photos – and I want to thank all of the MWHA folks for all of their hard work – and I want to thank the players as well. I do believe that everyone had a very good time at my games – plus I think I will see some of them at future Mass Pikemen games – and I really look forward to that!
As always, I appreciate any feedback from you in the comments section. Thanks for looking!
I have been continuing to build and paint up regiments for my Wars of Ozz Great Land of Harvest Army. This time, I might get a bit corny…
Ok, that was really bad. Mea maxima culpa.
Anyways, in preparation for the upcoming HUZZAH gaming convention in Maine, I have managed to finish off four regiments, plus some leaders and individuals. I will post each group going forward – starting with this one – a regiment of Corn Creatures, yet another anthropomorphic Ozz unit. I already called the Carrot Creatures Regiment the CCR in my last post – so let’s just refer to these as the Corn Creatures, or CC. The CC are part of the forces of the Great Land of Harvest and their SKU# is OZZ518, and can be seen here.
Similar to the Carrot Creatures Regiment, the unit is comprised of 10 metal figures, and each is armed with a combination of two weapons – spears, pitchforks, rakes, axes, sickles, and scythes – but in this case one in each arm. These guys look quite crazy with two weapons (even if one is a rake).
I needed to assemble the unit insofar as assigning a weapon to each of the two arms for Melee.
They also have a “kamikaze”-style missile attack – a “popping” attack:
Popping Attacks: Once per game one unit of corn creatures can conduct a popping attack against an enemy to their front within four inches. The corn unit makes an attack as if firing light artillery at short range. This is the unit’s firing action for the turn. After conducting the popping attack, the corn unit receives two hits (all those popped corn creatures are less effective now). Typically, this is done to pop at the enemy and then either withdraw or charge.
Wars of Ozz addendum with new factions
Now that is a different missile attack to be sure – short range artillery fire to boot!
The bigger-than-people figures are just the kind of vegetables to give you nightmares. As with the other 10-figure Harvest regiments, they are based in the game on five 2″ square bases without a Regimental Commander. Their melee value is 5 out of 10, as is their one-time marksmanship rating – so very average. Their Elan and Resolve values are the same as the Carrots at 6 out of 10.
Here, my goal was to get the right shade of yellow on them – and as with orange, most of us understand that this can be difficult. Similar to my other Harvest units, I mixed up their weapons and flocking such that no two of the five bases looked exactly alike – and to match my other Harvest troops, I did paint the eyes with a glowing yellow-green (Tesseract Glow). Like the Carrots, the figures are great – they look like berserking ears of corn to be sure (but you can judge for yourself).
As is my habit, I’ll share a few WIP shots and then some eye candy of the Corn Creature regiment. I’ll start with assembly of the figures and then move to describing the painting process.
Here again I used a number of contrast and speed paints, but did also use highlights and washes. To get the right shades of yellow – and I hope that I did achieve that – took a few iterations. All of the paints that I used will be listed at the end as I normally do for those interested – and selfishly for my own future reference should I need that information – I do forget things!
WIP Shots…
The Corn Creatures as received showing the 4 poses and weapons variety – as well as the filings I made on them on the paper towel – I hate mold lines and I give the bases a good filing as well so that they stick to the washers.After assembly and mounting to 1.25″ washers.
I then primed the CC in white and started with working on the yellow. My first try was Army Painter Speed Paint (new version) “Maize Yellow” – which ought to be just perfect – but was a bit too dark for my tastes for the corm kernels (remember I said iterations – plural). It did help as a base with shading for later additions.
After assembly mounted the Corn Creatures on the specimen jars with poster tack. This is the first yellow – “Maize Yellow”.
The choice that I made for the leafy corn stalks was a yellowy-green Citadel Contrast Paint “Striking Scorpion Green”. I liked it – but in contrast it made me really want to upgrade the corn color.
Adding the “Striking Scorpion Green”.
I also found that highlighting each kernel in white and then adding yellow helped, as did Army Painter washes. To lighten and brighten the yellow on the corn, I went with another Citadel Contrast Paint – “Bad Moon Yellow”. Then I made the eyebrows orange, and the lips “Panther Yellow”. Lastly, it was time to make the eyes glow an evil green.
Painting progress on the yellow. So much yellow…
Then it was onto painting the weapons, which I tried to make look a bit varied as well in terms of the handle colors and the metallics. Lastly I did the hands in the same green leafy color as the bodies and made the corn “hair” the original “Maize Yellow” washed with Army Painter “Light Tone”.
All painted and ready for varnish.
I varnished once again with a coat of gloss followed by one of matte. Then I flocked the bases with the same color themes as my other Harvest troops.
Time for some (no, not popcorn) – some…
Eye Candy
Stand 1
Stand 2
Stand 3
Stand 4
Stand 5
Group Shot
That’s all for the Corn Creatures Infantry Regiment. I hope that you liked their corniness as much as I did. This makes 118 figures that I have painted for Ozz this year!
Thanks for taking a look and any feedback, especially on the yellow colors – I am again curious as to your thoughts.
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 THIS CORN CREATURES INFANTRY REGIMENT:
Gorilla Glue
1.25″ steel fender washers
Poster tack
2″ square steel base from Wargames Accessories (#21)
Army Painter “Battlefields Grass Green” (flocking)
Army Painter “Battlefield Field Grass” (flocking)
Army Painter “Battlefields Field Grass” (flocking)
Army Painter “Battlefields Meadow Flowers” (flocking)
Shadow’s Edge Miniatures “6mm Dark Forest Orange Tufts” (flocking)
Gamer’s Grass “Orange Flowers” (flocking)
Small stones (flocking)
Small oak twigs (flocking)
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). The game rules and the figures are available from the following two places:
In my last post I said that I was next going to share a “surprise unit” – and I hinted that it was actually devoid of any Vitamin A…and here it is – the Carrot Creature regiment of the Great Land of Harvest.
Well, as far as I know, metal figures are not nutritious – so that was an easy claim. Please, as a public service announcement…don’t eat your figures!
Back to the figures! The Great Land of Harvest not only has produced the Great Pumpkin Heads and the Lesser Pumpkin Heads. There are many other mutations and oddities that have armed themselves and organized for the defense of their homeland – or to attack their neighbors – or alternatively mercenary service in other factions’ armies. This regiment is one of them, and I have several more Harvest units that I will be able to share shortly. But, let’s focus on the Carrot Creatures Regiment (we’ll shorten that to CCR but that has nothing to do with Creedence Clearwater Revival…).
Initially, when I looked at the Wars of Ozz website, there were not any photos of the CCR. That since has been remedied and now you can see the website shot of them here. The CCR are part of the forces of the Great Land of Harvest and their SKU# is OZZ532.
The unit is comprised of 10 metal figures, and and is physically armed with axes, shovel handles, shovels, and scythes. The unit required no assembly other than assigning the arm holding the weapons. I said “physically”, because in the rules the CCR is also armed with bows (which are treated as carbines). Rather than either ignore that aspect, or modify the figures, I chose to modify the bases to reflect this weaponry as you will see below. I really did not want to modify the figures for the bows – and I believe specifically bow-armed Carrot Creatures will eventually be made available for purchase. As I wanted my Harvest troops to have a few more missile troops, this choice was ideal.
From the addendum showing the CCR data. From left to right, Marksmanship, Melee, Resolve, Elan, maximum per brigade, Movement Modifier in inches, Regimental Commander (Y/N), point cost, and notes.
The figures are larger (as befits big monster-sized carrots) and are based in the game on five 2″ square bases without a Regimental Commander. Their melee value is 5 out of 10, but their marksmanship is 7 out of 10 (remember why your Mom said to eat your carrots!). Their Elan and Resolve values are at 6 out of 10 – a reasonably stout unit.
My goal was to get the right shades of orange on them – and we all know how painting miniatures either colors of orange or yellow can be challenging. I thought they should be a bit ruddy – to reflect their subterranean lifestyles (I am assuming here, I don’t personally hang out underground).
Similar to my other Harvest units, I mixed up their weapons and flocking such that no two of the five bases looked exactly alike. To match the other Harvest troops, I did paint the eyes with a glowing yellow-green. The figures are great – with a suitably cartoony and menacing look. I thought they looked quite like Tasmanian devil-inspired carrots.
As before, I’ll share a few WIP shots and then some eye candy of the CCR regiment. I’ll start with assembly of the figures and then move to describing the painting process. I used a number of contrast and speed paints, but did also use highlights and washes. Orange is not a simple process. All of the paints that I used will be listed at the end as I normally do for those interested (and for my own reference in the future should I need that information – I forget things!).
WIP Shots…
Filed and washed, the CCR awaits assembly.Close up of a figure before assembly.
As with the pumpkin heads, I primed the orange parts of the figures in black, then dry brushed them in white, followed by a dry brush of a couple of oranges, and then highlighted and shaded them. For the leafy “hair”, I primed that in green, then moved to highlights and shading. I mocked the unit up on their bases to make sure that they would fit both vertically and horizontally. This has both an aesthetic purpose and a practical one – as I did want them to look good without having their weapons in the other figures’ faces or hanging off of the bases to get wacked in a game.
The CCR mocked up and primed. The figures are actually on smaller 3/4″ square steel bases for attachment to my poster tack-covered specimen jars. Attachment to the 2″ larger bases would come later.Showing the figure dry brushed white on the specimen jar. Turned out priming the hair green was not overly relevant!A “conga line” of orange dry brushed carrots. I would need a good amount of color tweaking to get the orange where I wanted (which was not what you see here). But, it’s a process…Next, I did the “hair”. Note I label the jars to show where each one will go on their final bases, right, left, front, back.Progress on adding highlights and washes shown here.
After varnishing (gloss, then matte), I flocked the bases with the same color themes as my other Harvest troops. Additionally, I added some small crossbows that I had lying around to the fronts and backs of the bases. I painted these crossbows a brighter green – and hopefully they can serve as player reminder that the CCR actually has a missile capability!
The CCR completed, and ready for…
Eye Candy
Stand 1
Stand 2
Stand 3
Stand 4
Stand 5
Group shot…
That’s all for the Carrot Creatures Infantry Regiment. I hope that you liked their quirkiness as much as I did. This makes 108 figures that I have painted for Ozz this year!
Thanks for taking a look and any feedback, especially on the orange colors – I am curious as to your thoughts.
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 THIS CARROT CREATURES INFANTRY REGIMENT:
2″ square steel base from Wargames Accessories (#21)
3/4″ square steel bases from Wargames Accessories (#A9)
Gorilla Glue
Vallejo Mecha Surface Primer “Black”
Vallejo Mecha Surface Primer “Russian Green”
Vallejo “Airbrush Thinner”
Poster tack
Vallejo Model Color “White”
Tamiya “Orange”
Vallejo Model Color “Light Orange”
Vallejo Model Color “Clear Orange”
Battlefront “Gunship Green”
Vallejo Model Air “Escorpena Green”
Battlefront “Sicily Yellow”
Vallejo Model Air “Brown”
Vallejo Model Air “Dark Brown”
Vallejo Model Air “Dark Steel”
Citadel “Ironbreaker”
Vallejo Model Air “Light Steel”
Citadel “Hellion Green”
Army Painter “Mid Brown” (wash/shade)
Citadel “Nuln Oil GLOSS” (wash/shade)
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Magmadroth Flame”
Citadel “Tesseract Glow”
Army Painter “Green Tone” (wash/shade)
PS Model Color “British Brown Drab”
Elmer’s PVA Glue
Vallejo “Flow Improver”
Vallejo Mecha Varnish “Gloss Varnish”
Vallejo Mecha Varnish “Matte Varnish”
Army Painter “Battlefields Grass Green” (flocking)
Army Painter “Battlefield Field Grass” (flocking)
Army Painter “Battlefields Field Grass” (flocking)
Army Painter “Battlefields Meadow Flowers” (flocking)
Shadow’s Edge Miniatures “6mm Dark Forest Orange Tufts” (flocking)
Gamer’s Grass “Orange Flowers” (flocking)
Small stones (flocking)
Small oak twigs (flocking)
Small metal crossbows (flocking)
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). The game rules and the figures are available from the following two places:
I promised more troops to join my other my Wars of Ozz figures from the Lesser Pumpkin Heads – and here they are – the Harvestland Artillery and Crew.
In my last post I shared about the Lesser Pumpkin Heads infantry regiment, who joined their kin King Jack and the Great Pumpkin Heads of the Great Land of Harvest. These artillerists have – yes – a catapult to launch pumpkins at their enemies. Their catapult counts as “light artillery” and the crew are supposed to be armed with carbines as secondary weapons. The figures are metal and 28mm in scale. The SKU is #OZZ522 and it can be seen here. There are 5 Lesser Pumpkin Head (LPH) figures, a catapult, and a stack of pumpkin “ammo” for the model. I’m not sure that the ammo came from any intelligent source – but as of all the pumpkin heads, only King Jack can speak (and he won’t tell) – so the mystery continues…
Similar to my LPH infantry, I wanted these to appear to be a rabble-type force. Again I varied their clothing no two of the five figures would appear to be alike. I did use the basic colors of the Great Pumpkin Heads for this battery – especially the yellow-green eyes. And again, I also needed to show scarecrow straw stuffing coming out of the holes in their clothes and near their wrists.
As before, first I’ll share a few WIP shots and then I will show some eye candy. I worked on the LPH, GPH, King Jack and one other Harvest unit in various states of completion at the same time – (that other Harvest unit being my next post’s surprise).
I’ll start with assembly of the figures (which was easy) and then describe the painting process. I used a number of contrast and speed paints, but did also use highlights and washes. All of the paints that I used will be listed at the end as I normally do for those interested (and for my own reference in the future should I need that information).
My motivation to get these done was to have some relatively long-range fire capability for the Harvest Brigade. However, there is one other unique game aspect to this unit that is pretty cool:
Pumpkin Patches:
Before the Game begins, King Jack can convert one field to a pumpkin patch. When a lesser pumpkin unit is in the field and King Jack is in contact with the unit, he can use his activation to raise…up to two hits on the pumpkin head unit…
Wars of Ozz addendum
With this, the Harvest battery cannot get bigger than its original 5 figures, but if placed in a pumpkin patch effectively, this means that the unit would be very hard to kill. The LPH infantry could also take advantage of this similarly, but I think the main advantage is for the battery, which could recover up to two hits per turn. The question of LPH artillerist training is not addressed, I guess they just sprout ready right out of the ground – that certainly saves training resources!
WIP Shots…
The unit and movement base as received – started on April 5th.
I used the artillery sabot base (SKU #OZZ-BAS2) for the unit similar how I built my Munchkin and Winkie batteries.
After filing and washing, the battery dries.As before, I drilled out the MDF base and glued small steel bases under the base and inserted 1/8″ round neodymium magnets into the holes. I also glued another set of 1/2″ square steel bases under the figures’ round MDF bases. This will allow them to both stay in place and be easily removed during a game. For the catapult, I did a similar action with a larger steel base under the catapult, so that it could show either “limbered” or “unlimbered” status.
By April 11th, I had primed the unit and started working on the component figures. I primed the catapult green and the figures black. I also painted in the wells of the sabot base and the LPH eyes with the glowing green color I’d been using. In my view, it is supposed to be the color of the Harvestland figures inner animation – or their blood – or both – you pick.
April 11 progress
By April 19th, the unit was painted, varnished, flocked, and its base was done.
So it’s time for some Ozz-inspired…
Eye Candy
As you see, the battery is very colorful. These photo groups will be two image galleries for the figures.
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5
Group shots
That’s the Harvestland Artillery. Hope that you enjoyed seeing it and my processes. The next “surprise” unit that I will share for my Harvest Brigade is one that I had a lot of fun painting. Though it was actually devoid of any Vitamin A…I think you’ll enjoy seeing it shortly.
Thanks for taking a look and for sharing any feedback you’d care to write in the comments section.
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 THIS HARVESTLAND ARTILLERY BATTERY:
MDF sabot base from Wars of Ozz miniatures, OZZ-BAS2
Elmer’s PVA Glue
1/8″ neodymium magnets
1/2″ square steel base from Wargames Accessories (#16)
1.25″ x 1″steel base from Wargames Accessories (#FOW1)
Army Painter “Battlefields Grass Green” (flocking)
Army Painter “Battlefield Field Grass” (flocking)
Army Painter “Battlefields Field Grass” (flocking)
Army Painter “Battlefields Meadow Flowers” (flocking)
Shadow’s Edge Miniatures “6mm Dark Forest Orange Tufts” (flocking)
Gamer’s Grass “Orange Flowers” (flocking)
Small stones (flocking)
Small oak twigs (flocking)
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). The game rules and the figures are available from the following two places:
In my last post I shared about King Jack and the Great Pumpkin Heads of the Great Land of Harvest. I’m sure that some of you thought – hey – are all of their inhabitants that big? Surely, to have greater pumpkin heads – there must indeed be lesser ones, right?
Indeed there are!
There are several units of lesser pumpkin heads and individual pumpkin head generals – more human-sized ones anyways. I have completed a couple that I will be sharing, starting with this post on my regiment of Lesser Pumpkin Heads. The lesser pumpkin heads are pretty skinny dudes. They can move effortlessly (without cost) through woods, but otherwise they are an average unit.
The Lesser Pumpkin Heads (let’s shorten that to LPH) are part of the Wars of Ozz figures and their SKU# is OZZ506 and can be seen here. The unit is comprised of 20 metal figures, appropriately armed with hatchets, axes, sickles, and scythes – but the unit required no assembly. As with all standard Ozz units the figures are based 4 at a time on five 2″ square bases, but there is no Regimental Commander here.
My goal was to organize them to appear to be a rabble-type force. Unlike the disciplined units of the Munchkins or even the Gillikins, I don’t see these as being very organized in battle with regards to uniforms and drill. I also mixed up their clothing colors, weapons, and flocking such that no two of the five bases looked exactly alike. I did use the basic colors of the Great Pumpkin Heads for the LPH – and especially the yellow-green eyes. Here though, I also needed to show straw (like the stuffing of a scarecrow) coming out of the holes in their clothes and near their wrists.
I’ll share a few WIP shots and then some eye candy. These were also worked on (especially due to the need for orange) simultaneously with King Jack and 4 of his other units in various states of completion at the same time.
I’ll start with assembly of the figures and then move to describing the painting process. I used a number of contrast and speed paints, but did also use highlights and washes. All of the paints that I used will be listed at the end as I normally do for those interested (and for my own reference in the future should I need that information).
WIP Shots…
The Lesser Pumpkin Heads here all cleaned up and ready for priming.
I chose to “pre-base” the LPH on 3’4″ square steel bases for three reasons. First, so that I could more easily attach them to my poster tack covered specimen jars, second so that they would be easier to paint, and third to make it easier to affix the LPH to their final resting place – the 2″ square steel bases – done later in the process.
The LPH are primed in black here and are on the 3/4″ steel bases with a couple of 2″ square bases in front for reference. Early painting progress on April 11th.
By April 17th, I had made some progress on the LPH.
April 17th progress.By 4/20, the LPH regiment was done.
As you can see, the regiment has a lot of color – which will be better viewed in the next section. Some of these photo groups will be four image galleries and some three.
Eye Candy
Stand 1
Stand 2
Stand 3
Stand 4
Stand 5
Group shot…
That wraps up the Lesser Pumpkin Heads infantry. I also have a unique artillery unit of theirs next that I think you’ll enjoy. Thanks for taking a look and any feedback.
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 THIS LESSER PUMPKIN HEAD REGIMENT:
2″ square steel base from Wargames Accessories (#21)
3/4″ square steel bases from Wargames Accessories (#A9)
Army Painter “Battlefields Grass Green” (flocking)
Army Painter “Battlefield Field Grass” (flocking)
Army Painter “Battlefields Field Grass” (flocking)
Army Painter “Battlefields Meadow Flowers” (flocking)
Shadow’s Edge Miniatures “6mm Dark Forest Orange Tufts” (flocking)
Gamer’s Grass “Orange Flowers” (flocking)
Small stones (flocking)
Small oak twigs (flocking)
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). The game rules and the figures are available from the following two places:
Since I returned home from the HAVOC convention, I have been busy trying to complete a new faction for games of The Wars of Ozz. This faction will consist of several regiments from “The Great Land of Harvest” and features many anthropomorphic troops – especially of the garden variety. This post will focus on their leader, King Jack, and the scariest unit in Ozz – the Great Pumpkin Heads.
According to The Wars of Ozz the Great Land of Harvest was spared the destructive forces of the Last Great War – primarily because of the need to protect its fertile lands…
However, the same could not be said for the inhabitants. Madness bombs, plague gases, and mutagenic viruses were unleashed on soldiers and civilians alike. By the time the war ended, the natives of the Great Land of Harvest were twisted and raving mockeries of what they once had been…Most of the mutations were grotesqueries, little more than piles of mewling flesh that died quickly. Some clung on, just viable enough to survive for a few generations. Fewer still thrived. Most successful of these are the pumpkinheads. Were they once humans who developed bizarre pumpkin-like heads – or did the pumpkin plants suddenly stumble up on new legs, dumbfounded by their new forms? Nobody remembers and the pumpkinheads have no language to explain themselves, only wordless moans and roars. Still, they are intelligently wonderful mimics who learned how to survive and fight by watching and copying their neighbours…One among them developed the ability to speak and with that proclaimed himself the King of the Pumpkinheads…so the reign of King Jack began…under his guidance, the pumpkinheads have formed several organized warbands that he hires out to whatever general will hire them.
Wars of Ozz, section 2.6.2 The Great Land of Harvest, Page 42
The figures in this faction are wonderful – and I will be sharing several of them in separate posts. I’ll share a few WIP shots and then some eye candy. Given that all pumpkinheads needed a lot of orange, it made sense to combine the painting – so unusually for me – I simultaneously had King Jack and 4 of his units in various states of completion at the same time.
King Jack’s SKU# is OZZ504 (I bought the unmounted version) and can be seen here. For the Great Pumpkin Heads, The SKU# is OZZ505 and can be seen here. The figures come in multiple pieces (two pieces for the heads, a lower torso and two arms with various weapons). The unit consists of are 5 relatively large figures based on five 2″ square bases, but there is no Regimental Commander. The figures are metal – 28mm scale – but giants!
In the game, any unit fighting the Great Pumpkin Heads does so with a point loss of Resolve and Elan!
I’ll start with assembly of the figures and then move to describing the painting. I decided that I would work with subcomponents and then do a final assembly and touch up.
WIP shots…
The figures as received. King Jack is on the right.I drilled out the torso bases so as to have a better fit for the giant heads. The bottoms of these holes would need to be sculpted with green stuff afterwards.All figures washed and drying – you can see the holes in the torsos.
I then decided that I did not want the eyes to be simple vacant pits of darkness. The origin of the creatures of the Great Land of Harvest suggests some strange way that they were animated to life. To represent this, and for ALL of my future Harvest troops, I decided that glowing yellow-green eyes would look great. For the Great Pumpkinheads, that meant sculpting their eyes with green stuff before assembling them.
The green stuff eyes in place.
Under the torso holes, I also sculpted and shaped the wells to match the rest of the legs.
Here you see the resculpted torsos.
Usually I prime my figures with an airbrush and in white. This time, I brush primed them in black. I would then dry brush serially white then orange on the figures and keep the shape of the recesses of the pumpkin looking darker. Similarly, I could make sure that the arms and the legs looked the same. If I had assembled then painted – it would have been more difficult – especially given the weight of the heads.
I primed all except the eyes and the weapons which would come later. For King Jack, I just primed him with black all over.Next, I brush primed the teeth and eyes in white, and the weapons in black. The arms and torso were primed in green.
Then it was time to give the teeth and the eyes some starting color.
Giving the teeth and eyes some starting color.
Once I assembled the heads – it was clear to me that I’d need to cover up some mold lines with green stuff. As these are big metal models, this task was not a surprise. I did my best to mirror the pumpkinheads shape and recesses. I’m not Roger, but I did try my best to do what I thought he’d do.
The pumpkinheads upside down showing the arm holes and the green stuff filling on the mold lines. The pointy sections are designed to go in the torso holes. After this, I brush applied a second coat of black primer.
After the primer had dried, I dry brushed with white then orange – Tamiya Orange – that I bought for one of my daughter’s school projects in 1996! (It was a Trojan horse diorama we built together).
Dry brushed white.
After the orange dried, I applied Army Painter Mid Brown wash, and then after that dried I highlighted the pumpkinheads with Vallejo Light Orange (I list all paints used at the end of the post for those who might want to know). Then I affixed the heads to the torsos and arranged a suitable mix of weapons/arms for variety.
Got heads and torsos now – need arms!
Then I attached the arms and removed the assembled figures from the specimen jars – and put them on 4″ square steel bases with Gorilla Glue.
Finally on bases.Ready for varnish!
I airbrush varnished the figures with a gloss then a matte coat.
Varnished – but we need flocking they cry!
I used a lot of flocking for the bases (I love making bases complex).
Ready for eye candy!
King Jack was finished about the same time. He would need to go on an MDF base.
King Jack painted.
Now, for some…
Eye Candy…
King Jack
Stand 1
Stand 2
Stand 3
Stand 4
Stand 5
Regimental Shot
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 THIS GREAT PUMPKINHEAD REGIMENT & KING JACK:
Green Stuff
Gorilla Glue
Regimental MDF base from Old Glory/Wars of Ozz Miniatures
2″ square steel base from Wargames Accessories (#21)
Mounted Brigade Commander MDF base from Old Glory/Wars of Ozz Miniatures
Elmer’s PVA Glue
Reaper “09214 Black Primer”
Vallejo Surface Primer “Russian Green”
1 1/4″ x 1″ steel base from Wargames Accessories (#FOW1)
Poster tack
Vallejo Mecha Surface Primer “White”
Vallejo “Airbrush Thinner”
Army Painter “Green Tone” (wash/shade)
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Imperial Fist”
Citadel “Tesseract Glow”
Battlefront “Gunship Green”
Vallejo Model Color “White”
Battlefront “Black”
Tamiya “Orange”
PS Model Color “British Brown Drab”
Vallejo Model Air “Green Brown”
Vallejo Model Air “Dark Brown”
Vallejo Model Air “Brown”
Vallejo Model Air “Dark Steel”
Citadel “Ironbreaker”
Vallejo Model Air “Light Steel”
Citadel “Nuln Oil GLOSS” (wash)
Vallejo Game Color “Livery Green”
Army Painter “Mid Brown” (wash/shade)
Vallejo Game Air “Escorpena Green”
Army Painter “Speed Paint – Grim Black”
Army Painter “Speed Paint – Holy White”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Contrast Medium”
Vallejo Model Color “Light Orange”
Martha Stuart Crafts “Pale Bronze”
Vallejo “Flow Improver”
Vallejo Mecha Varnish “Gloss Varnish”
Vallejo Mecha Varnish “Matte Varnish”
Army Painter “Battlefields Grass Green” (flocking)
Army Painter “Battlefield Field Grass” (flocking)
Army Painter “Battlefields Field Grass” (flocking)
Army Painter “Battlefields Meadow Flowers” (flocking)
Shadow’s Edge Miniatures “6mm Dark Forest Orange Tufts” (flocking)
Gamer’s Grass “Orange Flowers” (flocking)
Small stones (flocking)
Small oak twigs (flocking)
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). The game rules and the figures are available from the following two places:
At the HAVOC gaming convention in Marlborough, Massachusetts I ran four games – two Wars of Ozz and two Feudal PatrolTM games between March 31st and April 2nd. Hopefully shortly, I will be sharing some of my own pictures and a few links about HAVOC in future posts – BUT FIRST…
My first Ozz game was on Friday night, and I had a full table of 6 players – all new first-timers to the game. During that game, one of my players, my friend Bradley Gosselin, took copious notes and photos of that game. I noticed him doing this and assumed that he wanted to really learn the rules. To my humble surprise, he said, no, he was hoping to do a battle report and that I would be welcome to using it in my blog! It’s not often that one of my players does me such an awesome honor – and so – thanks Brad – here is your wonderful report – I could not have done better!
Game Set Up
There were two brigades facing each other – Winkies and Munchkins. Each base/stand of troops or artillerist taken out is worth 1 point to the other side. The deployment is randomly determined.
Turn 1
Turn 2
Turn 3
Turn 4
So, in the end the Munchkins prevailed over the Winkies! Thanks Brad for all the work on this (and he might have more on other HAVOC games – stay tuned). The players had a good time and really picked up the rules quickly.
The game was quick and bloody (as it’s supposed to be). Though both sides did well – the Munchkins did a wee bit better.
Last weekend the Cold Wars 2023 gaming convention was held in Valley Forge, PA at the Valley Forge Casino Resort. I participated as a game master and as a player. I ran three games of Feudal Patrol, played in two games of Wars of Ozz, and participated as a player in an American War of Independence (AWI) game. I really enjoyed the convention – and personally had some special moments as you will soon see in this post. I, a Massachusetts “carpetbagger”, am grateful once again for the welcome, hospitality, and friendship of the HAWKS club, especially Buck Surdu, Greg Priebe, Chris Palmer, Dave Wood, and Eric Schlegel – who all contributed to making my experience a memorable one. I also want to thank the players who chose to play in my games. I also must thank the HMGS staff and volunteers for making the convention work so well.
I thought the best way to share this with my readers was to focus on photographs – with a little bit of description. Some of these photos came from Chris Palmer and others on Facebook, and some are from myself.
AWI Playtest
This was on Thursday night in the HAWKS room and was a playtest of a set of rules being worked on by Buck Surdu, Chris Palmer, and Greg Priebe and other HAWKS. Basically it is taking the Wars of Ozz/Eagles and Empires engine and applying it to the AWI. I needed to set up my first game (The Battle of Centla) so that I could play on Friday morning in a Wars of Ozz game without any concerns. I played on the British side with 3 line regiments and two grenadier regiments. I had nothing but open field in front of me and a mission to take out an American gun battery that was surrounded by colonial infantry in soft cover commanded by Chris Palmer.
The set up for the AWI playtest. You can also see my Battle of Centla game all set up for Friday in the background.
I advanced my troops as quickly as possible but got shredded by canister as I git close – though I did do some – but not enough – damage to Chris.
At the start……my casualties overflow…
I got trounced but it was not a situation that I think I could have attempted differently, but hey, it’s a game and a playtest at that.
…and a satisfied Chris surveys the battlefield!
Wars if Ozz – Winter of Discontent (Wars of Ozz)
This was a “bring your own brigade” game GM’d by Chris Palmer – and to help I brought both my Winkie and my Munchkin brigades in case they were needed. As it turned out, I commanded the Munchkins, and faced my own Winkies!
Several different factions are shown below.
MunchkinsWinkiesAnti-Yule
And here are some more – click on the images for a better view:
GnomesQuadlingsYule Forces led by Bobbo Natale – Teddy Bear Infantry, Elves, and Toy Soldier Cavalry
The board was fairly open with some hills and woods in a wintery scene.
The game set up.
It was a fun game, though I felt like I was a bit torn fighting my own troops!
Moving my forces out.Looking across to my fun opponents – here I have moved Colonel Tik-Tik’s regiment on the left into line to optimize missile fire – but the Winkie zilk-riders went into line and smashed into them.
That Winkie cavalry attacking player rolled 5 dice for hits – not a single miss (the roll was amazing) – and those hits would be doubled due to impetus. All 5 hit rolls yielded 10 hits – and that took out fully 50% of Tik-Tok’s regiment in one fell swoop. Tik-Tok routed, but I was able to rally it and keep it in the game.
I deploy……but the zilks roll fantastic movement……and hit the infantry! No misses!with 50% casualties after one hit, Colonel Tik-Tok’s Infantry routs away from the zilk riders.
While successful in their attack, the 20th Winkie Light Cavalry was now disordered – and my Munchkin battery and my own pony riding cavalry took the opportunity to hit the zilks from both the flank and the rear, and sent them into a retreat.
“Avenge our dead” – was the cry of the survivors of Colonel Tik-Tok’s infantry as their brethren close on the hated Winkie zilk riders of the 20th Winkie Light Cavalry.
The Winkies then attacked – buy mainly piecemeal – and the Munchkins were able to hold and repel both charges by the Winkie Sharpshooters and their ally the Lesser Apes. The artillerists did abandon their gun when the apes hit, but short range canister and a round of melee had already sent the Lesser Apes packing.
The Munchkins hold!
In the middle of the game was a big scrum between the brigade of Ice Trolls, Elves, Dark Elves, and that of the Teddy Bear Infantry, Teddy Bear Artillery, and the Toy Soldier Cavalry.
Scrum in the middle.
The game was a “good guys” victory!
The Battle of Centla (Feudal Patrol)
On Friday afternoon, I ran the Feudal Patrol game of the Battle of Centla – a battle between the Maya and the Conquistadores under Hernan Cortes.
The Spanish needed to reach the Maya city or kill 50% of the Spanish, or kill Tabscoob, the Maya leader. The Maya needed to prevent the Spanish from achieving their victory conditions, kill Cortes, or kill 50% of the Conquistadores. In the game, the Maya do get reinforcements, and the Spanish do not. Time is not on the Spanish players’ side.
The game set up – the Spanish are on the beach.Maya moving onto the beach.Buck Surdu joins the game replacing a departing player – and commands Cortes.
The Spanish were not initially as aggressive as I expected – though as the game progressed they did start to advance.
Buck and I confer on his troops’ data.Battles on the beachThe Conquistadores’ advance is held up due to atlatl attacks.
Unfortunately, the Spanish needed to take some risks – and Buck moved Cortes up and into the fight. This was very appropriate given the state of the game at that point. A Maya warrior got a lucky hit on him and cut off his leg – yielding a victory for the Maya. This game is very cool – I have run it several times and both sides have won in the past.
Surprise Aztec Raid on the Spanish Outpost (Feudal Patrol)
After the Friday afternoon game (Centla), I quickly got my next game ( this was held on Friday evening) set up with a lot of help from Buck, Dave Wood, and Greg for Friday night. This is a scenario as described below:
The game went back and forth and it was not clear at all which side would eventually win. There was a lot of action.
The game at the start – the Aztecs needed to cross muddy field to reach the Spanish and the Tlaxcalans. There were also food and gold objectives, and of course VP for inflicting casualties or taking captives.Greg Priebe advances his Aztec commander, Asupacaci and his warrior priests.
The Spanish used their war dogs and arquebuses to good effect – but the Aztec Elite troops berserked and fought bravely.
Arquebuses fire.Aztecs collect many morale pips for getting shot at by the arquebusiers.The Spanish fire their falconet.The berserking Cuachicqueh engage the Conquistadores.
Finally, both the Aztecs and the Tlaxcalans started taking prisoners for sacrifice – and gaining victory points in the process. Eric Schlegel successfully fired his falconet again with langridge at a swarm of Aztecs, taking out several of them in the last turn. This was to be pivotal.
Tlaxcalans get into the melee.Morale pips pile up on both sides.Captives are taken.Unlucky prisoners being dragged away by both sides to a fate worse than simple death.
I tallied the points – and it was a TIE! 46-46! I call that play-balanced!
I then set up my massive Battle of Lake Texcoco, which would be played on Saturday afternoon. This way I would have all the time I needed to enjoy my next game as a player on Saturday morning – which would be the Wars of Ozz game described next.
War to Save Yule: Battle for the Bauble of Time (Wars of Ozz)
After a short sleep, I played in another Ozz game on Saturday morning. This one was the second of three linked Wars of Ozz scenarios that Chris Palmer and Buck Surdu ran pitting the forces of the Ice Queen, Aurora, versus those of Babbo Natale (really Santa). Aurora wants to seize the Bauble of Time – a magic item that can bend time and lets Babbo deliver all his toys in one night. Of course, Aurora wants it for her own evil purposes. The Bauble was hidden in one of three buildings – and the neither the forces of Yule or Aurora knew which one. The goal of the attacking Ice Queen was to search each of the three areas – which meant that her forces needed to clear defenders from them first. I played on the Yule side in this game, on the Yule’s far left flank.
The game set up. Bruce, Buck, and Chris discuss the scenario.
The three possible search zones were as shown below.
The 3 search zones and defending Yule.The 3rd zone up close (Yule left flank)My game view – Teddy Bear infantry, artillery, & Toy Soldier infantry.Teddy Bear Infantry base.Toy Soldier Infantry base.
Here is a photo of me by Chris surveying the battlefield:
A view towards my position. Aurora’s forces were attacking from the right here. I think I look tired!Opposite view as Chris briefs the players earlier.
The forces defending the buildings/search zones on the Yule right and center were overwhelmed. Only the one on the Yule left held.
Ice Trolls hit the Yule center.My Toy Soldier Infantry are engaged by Krampus troops.
The odds were in favor of the Ice Queen at this point with 2/3 search zones in her control.
Bruce tries to fight off the Ice Trolls.
In the end we were lucky as the Bauble was in the last search zone and safe from the Ice Queen, so a victory for us. Chris would run a second follow on game later that I will share a few pictures of at the end of this post with others that I did not play in or GM. I did play in the 3rd linked game as well – more on that game in a bit.
The game ends.
The Battle of Lake Texcoco (Feudal Patrol)
I always look forward to running this game – yes it’s massive but more importantly a lot of fun. Basically there are 5 brigantines loaded with conquistadores and primitive cannon (lombards or falconets) that need to cross the tabletop and shell the other side of the table – where the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan is located. Opposing them are 21 war canoes filled with Aztecs hell-bent on boarding the invaders’ ships and stopping them. VP are awarded for shelling the city, boarding a brigantine, sinking canoes, and for casualties on both sides. The Spanish have to try to navigate the uncharted waters to do this too.
The set up for the game.
The players were excellent!
The start of the game.
The Spanish moved out and avoided collisions with each other or the islands. Only one got stuck on an underwater obstacle (El Gregorio) – resulting in the Aztecs getting a “Burst of Exuberance” which allowed it to be boarded first. Eventually, all of the brigantines would be boarded to greater or lesser extent.
Boarding!
The Spanish held on and were able to get three ships to shell the city.
Tenochtitlan takes its first hit of solid shot from El Marcos.A photo from Chris Palmer showing me helping to adjudicate a fight.The battle rages on the lake.
Of course, there was even more boarding!
El Marcos is boarded.
The game was pleasantly and briefly interrupted at this point by the HMGS staff. As it turned out, my game was selected to be honored with a “PELA” award for the time slot. PELA stands for “Pour Encourager Les Autres” which in English translates to “For Encouraging the Others”. These awards are defined by HMGS as going:
“to the games that best embody the positive traits of miniatures gaming, such as well-painted figures, great looking terrain, interesting scenarios, enjoyable rules, good sportsmanship, and an enjoyable time – events that do the most to “encourage others”.”
This was something as a GM that you can really appreciate! I was really honored – and it was nice to get applause from the room and my table too. I think that there were about 30+ games in my time slot – so this was tough to get. The award was a lovely knight figure on a plinth and a voucher for the vendor hall. Thanks HMGS, it has a place of honor at home! Thanks players!
I am awarded a PELA!The PELA among Spanish casualties (hey, I was still running the game!).
In the end, the Spanish narrowly won the game by a score of 367-316. If the Conquistadores had made one less shot into Tenochtitlan, it would have been only a one shot victory.
As this was my last game to GM, I was able to get most of it picked up (thanks again to the HAWKS for all the help) – and get into playing my last game of the convention.
War to Save Yule – Ambush or Fighting Retreat (Wars of Ozz)
This was the third Ozz linked game run by Buck Surdu. In the second game, the forces of Yule held on to the Bauble of Time. Here, the Ice Queen’s forces are ambushing a convoy of Babbo Natale who is trying to get the Bauble to a safe place. I did not get as many pictures of this game – but I played on the side of the Ice Queen this time. We ended up taking the Bauble (Giant Evil Snowmen charged the convoy and stole it). It was a lot of fun.
My Ice Trolls take a beating from the Toy Soldier cavalry.
I was on the far left flank of the Ice Queen’s forces – and I after the Toy soldier cavalry and the Teddy Bear artillery beat up my Ice Trolls and Krampus, I was able to flank the Teddy Bear battery with Dark Elves. This attack sent them fleeing and the rear middle of the battlefield became congested with forces. Meanwhile, Chris Palmer valiantly pursued the Snowmen with the Toy Soldier cavalry. Luckily for our side, the Snowmen escaped into woods where the cavalry would not move as quickly – with the Bauble. Victory!
My Dark Elves move up the Yule flank.Snowmen abscond with the captured Bauble!
Other Game Photos
There were of course many other games – and I tried to get some photos of them plus I have included many from Chris Palmer. This is not all of the games at Cold Wars by any means.
For the gamers, please enjoy these here! For the GM’s, kudos on the work you put in on some amazing games, and apologies in advance if I get any descriptions wrong here.
Battle of Hanau, 1813
Dave Wood’s Fate of Battle game in 10mm looked amazing.
The Natives Return to Schlegel’s Ferry
Eric Schlegel had a really cool board for his colonial Chesapeake game of Feudal Patrol.
Let’s Play Combat Patrol – France 1940
Greg Priebe ran a France 1940 scenario for Combat Patrol.
Greg and Buck survey Greg’s set up.
Wars of Orcs and Dwarves (WOOD) Playtest
Dave Wood ran a few WOOD games with amazing set ups.
War to Save Yule – River of Ice (Wars of Ozz)
This was the first of the linked Ozz games. This is the one that I did not play in as I was running my Aztec raid game.
Counterattack Near Dubno (Battleground WW2)
Don Hogge’s always popular WW2 games are so cool. This was a 28mm game set on the Eastern Front on June 28th, 1941.
Forest Encounter (Mobile Suit Gundam: The Gravity Front)
Here’s a look at Kevin Fischer’s game set up.
Got Skogskatter (SAGA)
James McWilliams ran a couple of SAGA games.
Pierce’s Hill, Philippines 22 December 1941 (Combat Patrol)
Buck Surdu ran a very cool looking game set during the Japanese invasion of the Philippines in 1941. He worked hard to get the 1941 look right – and he nailed it.
Let’s Play Feudal Patrol! – Viking Raid
Greg ran his introductory Feudal Patrol Viking Raid game and had a full table!
Can the Ratlings save their homeland again from the army of the Necromancer? (Wars of Orcs and Dwarves)
Dave Wood ran yet another visually stunning game – and for fun he used my Winkie Cavalry and Infantry in the game, plus my Lesser Apes. The feedback I got was that they acquitted themselves very well while I was off in Mesoamerica!
Game view.My Winkies!Another viewDave running his huge WOOD game.
Al Capone Comes to Schlegel’s Ferry (Blood & Swash)
Another great use of Eric’s terrain for a 1920’s game.
A truly engaged table deals with smuggling and gangsters in the 1920’s.
Concord to Lexington – Theme
Geoff Graff ran this game of 15mm figures set in my home state in the beginning of the AWI.
Test of Honour – The Last Yamashiro (Test of Honour – Quick Play)
I saw this in the adjoining room to the HAWKS – WOW what a set up! GM was David Hill.
This is a HUGE game!
At the other end of this beauty was a harbor and ships too.
Beautiful set up – nice to see young gamers too.
WWI – Battle of Gnila Lipa (Fall of Eagles WWI)
This set up caught my eye as well – GM David Rollins had a huge table for this battle between the Austrians and the Russians in WWI.
Mars Attacks – Beach Head! (Wings of Glory Tripods and Triplanes)
What a concept – Martians in Tripods taking on Spads and Nieuports in the aftermath of a post-WWI meteor shower! GM was Mike Jacobs.
As I said, this is a big post but I hope that it was enjoyable to look at. Sorry if a game you were or that you ran in was not included – but I’m sure somewhere else there are photos for the world (at least I hope so)!
Mark A. Morin 