Yes, this is a golf update! For those of you awaiting the third installment of my HUZZAH! convention 2024 recap, that is indeed forthcoming (yes, more suspense…). For those wondering what that is, you can click here or here to see parts 1 and 2 of that. On to golf for now!
Our third regular season TOB event – the June 2024 Tour of the Brookfields Tournament – the Toomey Lovett Classic – was held on Saturday, June the 15th at Quail Hollow Golf and Country Club in Oakham, MA. What great weather we had that day!
We sincerely thank Jim Lovett Still Harts Cafe in North Brookfield for his longtime sponsorship of the event. This TOB always has a big turnout, and this one was no exception.
Once again, turnout was phenomenal – as was the golf. We were maxed out at 26 teams (104 players)! The field was broken up into three divisions of 9, 9, and 8 teams respectively. Scoring was excellent across the divisions.
The competition was intense. Once again we had tight scoring as you’ll see below – with two out of the three flights ending up in a playoff and one with a narrow one-stroke win. Most teams were in sight of first place. This time, there were just 2 skins – and both were eagles!
We also awarded second place this time. Please see the results table and some photos that I took following the narrative and notes below.
In the Nicklaus Flight, after 18 holes there was a two-team tie for first place at -9. The tied teams played off on the 18th hole – and the team of Chris Depasse, Mike Kularski, Jason McCarthy, and Kristin DePasse were victorious with a par to defeat the second place team of Rick Lindsten, Rick Gemme, Tony Woodman, and Lynn Morin in the first sudden death playoff hole! Congratulations to all – shooting a -9 is a really nice score.
In the Player Flight, there was a two-team playoff on three holes – 10-18-18 holes – as both teams seriously rocked the course at -11 (the best score of any division in the tournament). It came down to the third final hole in sudden death. The team of Todd Allen, Ed McLeod, John McQuaid, and George Fiske outlasted the runner-up teamof Dennis Jennette, Paul Sanborn, Hoss Ford, and Greg Wypych. Rumor has it that John McQuaid made the winning putt on the final hole! Amazing golf by both teams – and kudos to both.
Finally, in the Palmer Flight, we had another very close competition that came down to just one stroke. The team that triumphed with that one-stroke win was the foursome of Jim Wilson, Tom Savage, Ken Burnham, and Barbara Orszulak with a great run of -10. Outstanding! One stroke behind them was team of Tom Orszulak, Mark A. Morin (yup me), Dylan Allen, and Tim Nason, Jr. at -9 (if only I had made a couple putts…). But seriously, hearty congratulations to the winners!
There were only three skins – all Eagles on holes #1 and #5 per the chart below.
Lastly – the closest to the pin on hole #17 was won by Ryan Toomey (7′ 0″).
Now for the results table. The results – and some photos I took – are below – and click on any of the photos for a bigger image. Congrats again to the winners!
2024 Toomey-Lovett Classic Results
A happy couple! Your author and my beautiful wife Lynn!Jim Lovett and Paul Wyman chat at the putting green.Jamie McShera and Beth PotvinBusy time registering all the players! Thanks to all who showed up on time!Lots of warm up on the practice greenTom Staiti and Jim Wilson ready for the courseJamie McShera and Amanda PierceTony Woodman, Tom Orszulak, and Gary WardJohn Desimone shows a masterful putting stroke.Ed McLeod arrives at the course with plans of victory – and he did achieve that!After the round – Mike Toomey, Brad Earle, Gary Donlin, and Debbie Donlin relax.Brian Leveille, Deb Durgin, Bob Weighill, Ken Dorman, and Keith Tytula having fun after the tournamentThe top team of the tournament at -11! Todd Allen, Ed McLeod, John McQuaid, and George Fiske.
The Next Tournament and some notes
Thanks again to all the players, to Jim Lovett for sponsoring this event, and to Gary and Debbie Donlin, Jim LeBlanc, and all the staff at Quail Hollow who work so hard to make the Tour of the Brookfields possible.
The next tournament is in June coming up on Saturday the 27th of July. It will be the prestigious 308 Lakeside Open.
Sign ups for the 308 Lakeside Open will come down on Sunday, July 21st at noon.
Registration starts at 7:00 AM on July 27th. This event will also likely be VERY well-attended, so sign up early at Still Harts, at Quail Hollow, or on the Tour of the Brookfields Facebook page!
REQUESTS AND FYI
Thanks for arriving on time! Thanks for getting the scorecards in quickly – these two items made things a LOT more smooth.
Please continue to come early for registration.
If you have any feedback or comments on this blog post – there is a comment section that you can use below. I will continue to put up these events on Facebook – with results posted here on this blog.
This blog is titled, “Life, Golf, Miniatures, and Other Distractions”. I do post other stuff here – mainly around miniature toy soldiers and tabletop wargaming (my other passions). Feel free to subscribe as an email follower! (and it is free and you’ll get instant updates).
Welcome! This post is part 2 of my three-part recap – and will cover the Saturday morning, afternoon, and evening games that I ran on May 18, 2024 at the “HUZZAH! Con 2024”. (To read about Friday’s games in part 1 you can go here).
As a reminder, this convention was held between Friday, May 17th and Sunday, May 19th, 2024 at the Doubletree by Hilton in South Portland Maine. It is run by the Maine Historical Wargame Association, a fine group of folks.
The theme for this year was “HUZZAH 2024 GOES HOLLYWOOD”, so games with an association with movies or TV shows were categorized as theme games. I ran 6 Wars of Ozzgames here, and given its association with Baum’s books and the 1939 movie, they all counted as theme games.
Once again, lot’s of photos here – and some descriptions of them best as I can remember.
Saturday Morning – Learn To Play Wars of Ozz
This was yet another permutation on the LTP format that I have run before. I had 6 player slots set up for this game – and had 4 players show up. To keep play more adaptive to the learning process, we played the game with each player just having one brigade – and left the other two brigades on the tabletop for the next game’s set up. The Saturday morning game was listed on the registration website as follows:
Wars of Ozz Battle – Learn to Play Wars of Ozz
Take part in this big battle set in the horse & musket/black powder fantasy world of Ozz. This is definitely not Kansas anymore. Various factions, including Munchkins, Winkies, Gillikins, Impkins, Quadlings and others will fight for victory in this fast-paced and easy-to-learn fun game. Beginners are very welcome. Rules will be taught. Players are invited to bring their own 25-point brigades of official Wars of Ozz figures if they have them or they can use one of the several brigades that we will have available for play. Players under 13 only with a playing adult.
I used 21-22 point brigades – and the gamers were a mix of 2 new players and 2 experienced ones. The forces were, from nearest to farthest in the photo:
Red side (on the left side in photo from nearest to farthest):
One Munchkin Brigade
One Quadling Brigade
Black side (on the right in photo from nearest to farthest):
One Harvest Brigade
One Harvest Brigade
At the start of the game with three of the four players. Leif looks glum, and Brad looks happy.
As on Friday, victory is determined by scoring. One point is earned for each enemy base destroyed or routed off of the board. A half-point is earned if an enemy base is still routing and not successfully rallied when the game ends.
Brad (Quadling commander) discusses strategy with Andrew (Munchkin commander).The Munchkins send their ally, the Great Owls, up into the town. The Harvest troops were advancing on the other side of the town.The Quadling 4th Infantry Regiment deploys into line. To its right, the Quadling 1st Light Battery unlimbers as the Harvest forces approach.The Great Pumpkin Heads hunger for battle. Always.The Menacing Hammerheads move forward – knocking out a fence with their, well, hammer heads. They have allied Lesser Apes on their right.Brian moves his Great Pumpkin Heads forward. Closer to the camera, you can see that a Harvest ally (Admiral Jinjur’s female pirates) is moving into the Mushroom forest for cover. Meanwhile, another Harvest ally, Professor Nitpick’s Mechanical Tin Axemen is approaching the Munchkin Sharpshooter Regiment.The Industrial City Witch, TotalCon37, successfully casts a “Fleet Feet” spell on the slow Axemen, and they manage to close with the Munchkin Sharpshooters. These Munchkins are great at using their rifles for long-range fire – but in Melee they are woefully outclassed by their metal-clad enemy here. Still, the Munchkins rolled well and gave as good as they got – until they decided to run away…The Munchkin Sharpshooters rout away from the Tinmen, and the Quadling 1st Infantry Regiment moves up to plug the gap while the Tinmen redress their ranks post-melee.Back on the Quadling’s center, the Great Eagles of the Harvest forces flies over and hits the Quadling 4th Infantry Regiment in the rear. Glenda the Sorceress can only look on in horror. The 4th would not survive the battle.The Great Pumpkin Heads try to hit the Quadling 1st Battery as the Great Eagle attack was successful.Munchkin Landwehr (National Guard) take out a base of the Lesser Apes before the simians exact a heavy toll on them in Melee.The Harvest attack was successful at driving way the bulk of the Munchkin and Quadling forces.
At this point in the game, nearly every Munchkin and Quadling unit was either destroyed or running away. Therefore, scoring was unnecessary as the Harvest forces were totally victorious.
Saturday Afternoon – Heavy Meeting Engagement (Wars of Ozz)
I had 6 player slots available for this game – and ended up having 5 players. The scenario design is similar to the last game, but with 6 brigades in the battle (3 per side). I also swapped the two Harvest Brigades from the previous game, and added a third on the Black side. On the Red side, I added an Impkin Brigade. As for the scenario description, I listed it on the registration website as follows:
Several allied brigades from the sides of good and evil are coming to blows of the open plains of the world of Ozz! Of course, who is good and who is evil is in the eye of the beholder! Both side’s forces are equal in strength, but are their commanders? That’s up to the players! This battle will be a fast-paced one using the easy-to-learn fun game of Wars of Ozz. Various factions, including Munchkins, Winkies, Gillikins, Impkins, Quadlings and others will fight for victory and glory. Beginners are very welcome. Rules will be taught. All miniatures/brigades will be provided for play. Players under 13 only with a playing adult.
All were experienced Ozz players. They were as teamed up as:
Red side (on left side in photo from nearest to farthest):
One Munchkin Brigade (commanded by Brad)
One Quadling Brigade (commanded by Brad)
One Impkin Brigade (commanded by Bob)
Black side (on the right side in photo from nearest to farthest):
One Harvest Brigade (commanded by Leif)
One Harvest Brigade (commanded by James)
One Harvest Brigade (commanded by Steven)
Here again, victory is determined by scoring. One point is earned for each enemy base destroyed or routed off of the board. A half-point is earned if an enemy base is still routing and not successfully rallied when the game ends.
The players ready for action.Bob’s Impkins deploy successfully into line with his “slingshot light battery” similary lined up. He also had his Guardian Swamp Fairies lined up as well. Sorceress Mother Ophelia (and her Cats) watch from behind.Steven’s Harvesters get into Melee with Bob’s Impkin’s and lose three bases to the Impkins two -and subsequently rout (red marker). Steven moves up the savage Carrot Creatures and the Mystic Crone to fight Bob’s Impkins (aka the Creepy Fighting Baby Dolls).Similar to the last game, the Great Owls (Munchkin allies – Brad) move up into the town. This time, the Harvest forces counter with their own aviation – the Great Eagles (Leif). The ensuing flyer on flyer Melee resulted in the total annihilation of the Great Owls by the Great Eagles.This time Brad’s Quadlings successfully move forward and deploy into line along the fence – with their right flank supported by the Munchkin Sharpshooters (also led by Brad). The Menacing Hammerheads (James) take out more fence and go into line formation.Brad also got his Munchkins into line – here you see his Landwehr and Sharpshooter regiments in line to maximize firepower. Leif’s Lesser Pumpkin Heads take cover behind a wall and secure his Great Eagles’ flank by the town. James has his Admiral Jinjur’s Female Pirates and Lesser Ape regiments moving up against the Munchkin sharpshooters.A view of the battle in the field as the James’ Menacing Hammerheads start to take fire from three defending Quadling units of Brad at close range.Back on the far end – Steven’s Carrot Creatures deploy into line and fire their bows at the Impkin infantry (Bob) armed with muskets. A back and forth firefight ensues (well bows and muskets anyways).Leif moves up his Great Pumpkin Heads to attack Brad’s Landwehr.
Notably in this game there were a number of critical spell failures – by the Harvest side – all of which redounded to their favor. One notable one was when a spell of Steven’s witch failed, but the result would cause the nearest inanimate thing to animate and leave the battlefield. This resulted in the Impkin’s slingshot deciding to head for the hills, leaving their crew dumbfounded. Another critical failure by James got him a unit of Dire Tigers added to his forces. These, and a few others were hilarious.
The Impkin Slingshot rans away to the casualty pile…And James got free Dire Tigers – which were too late to arrive to make a difference but were amusing anyways.
In the end, the Quadlings/Munchkins/Impkins were victorious over the forces of the Great Land of Harvest by a score of 24-15. It was a fun game and all enjoyed it. I believe this game also won the runner up award as the best game in the time slot.
Saturday Evening – The Battle for Toto (Wars of Ozz)
For the Saturday Evening game I had 8 player slots available for this game – and ended up having 7 relatively experienced players. The scenario design is my own, the Battle for Toto – and I have ran this a few times in the past. However, in the past I had a bigger table – so I modified it for playability here by deleting a few units and rearranging the deployments.
As for the scenario description, I listed it on the registration website as follows:
The Battle for Toto (Wars of Ozz)
“I’ll get you my pretty – and your little dog too!”
The two rival witch sisters – Evora (a.k.a. The Wicked Witch of the East) and Arella (a.k.a. The Wicked Witch of the North) have both learned that a force of Munchkins has taken refuge in a small town near the border of the Great Land of Harvest. Moreover, their spies have also confirmed that the town also harbors other notable Munchkin-lovers – such as the Kansas Farmgirl and her friends. These include the Tinman, the Lion, and the Scarecrow – and importantly Toto.
Both witches believe that possession of the little dog Toto will bring power and leverage over their enemies. Plus, any opportunity to hit the Munchkins is always enticing.
Unbeknownst to the other, the two witches have each simultaneously gathered their forces and allies to attack the town. The two rival forces are converging from oppsite cornesrs of the tabletop. Arella has a reinforced Gillikin brigade and has allied with two Harvest brigades under King Jack, the King of the Pumpkinheads. Arella has recruited King Jack in her quest.
Evora has a both a reinforced Winkie brigade as well as two large Impkin brigades as allies.
Will the two witches put aside their differences and join forces? Or will sibling and tribal rivalries win the day and the two converging attackers try to take on each other for the right to assault the town? And, will Toto be safe?
Looking at the photo below, Toto is secretly hidden in one of five buildings in the town, which has two Munchkin brigades in defence (one on the left commanded by Michelle and one on the right commanded by Vicki). Toto is represented by a secret card placement – and even I as the GM would not know where Toto is placed.
The Gillikins (Brad in the top left corner) are allied with two Harvest Brigades (Keith in the bottom right corner). For the Winkies – Leif was in the top right corner, and was allied with the two Impkin brigades in the battle bottom left corner (commanded by Sam and Matt). Understand that there is no obligation for these rival bad guys to fight – but they can decide to do so (and the Munchkins would just love that).
The Battle for Toto begins.
Victory is determined by scoring, but the points awarded are different.
For the Munchkins, one point is earned for each enemy base destroyed or routed off of the board.
For the attackers, one point is earned for each Munchkin base destroyed or routed off of the board. However, 1.5 points are awarded for each base of the opposite attacking force that they take out.
Additionally, possession of Toto by the Munchkins is worth 10 points at the end of the game. For the attackers, possession of Toto and getting him off the tabletop successfully is worth 10 points at the end of the game.
Keith moves up his Harvest forces – here you see one regiment of Admiral Jinjur’s Female Pirates approaching a Munchkin Medium battery deployed behind a fence. A follow up Jinjur regiment is behind, as are the Carrot Creatures. In the Winkie corner, Leif makes a mad dash for the town and the Munchkin Guard with his Winkie Infantry. He also deploys his Winkie Light Battery to hammer Vicki’s Colonel Tik-Tok infantry who are behind a stone wall. Great Owls, Winkie Sharphooters, and Zilk-riding Winkie cavalry are in the follow-up positions for Leif.Winkies mass for the attack!Back on the Harvest corner, the Great and Lesser Pumpkin Headsmaneuver around and through the woods to threaten the Munchkin Medium Batteries other flank.While the Winkies make a direct assualt, the Gillikins move up Dire Bears, infantry, and skeletons to hit the Munchkin’s other units. No fratricide…yet…Eric of the HAWKS shows up to briefly offer Vicki advice on her defence.The Lesser Pumpkin Heads take carbine fire from the crew as they approach the Munchkin Medium Battery outside of the gun’s firing arc.
At this point in the games, the convention organizers stop all games to announce the winners of the raffle and the best in session awards. I was honored to win the “Best of Session” award for the Satuday night game slot! Huzzah!
Hey, I won “Best in Session” for my game!Very cool! Btw, the sheets I use to score the game and a card denoting a building searched that Toto was not in are shown here.
Now back to the game!
Fratricide begins! The Guardian Fairies of the Impkins strays into a forest where Savage Apple Trees of the Harvest forces were – and fighting ensues. However, neither was able to inflict much damage on the other in the exchange.A view of the right side of the town – getting swarmed!The Carrot Creatures search successfully and seize Toto!As their Harvest allies have Toto, Gillikin forces move to hit and damage any Winkie units that they can.
The Harvest forces successfully got Toto off the board for the 10 points. The final scores were:
Gillikin/Harvest (Brad and Keith): 31 points
Munchkins (Michelle and Vicki): 25 points
Winkie/Impkin (Leif/Sam/Matt): 11 points
What a fun game with a lot of twists and turns!
That wraps up Saturday – with only Sunday left to report on in part 3. And there are surprises (yes more) for Sunday, so stay tuned!!
To all my players -THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!
Again, I MUST thank and acknowledge the great help and assistance of Bradley Gosselin and Leif Magnuson in helping me set up and take down the games. Wingmen supreme!
I also want to thank the Maine Historical Wargamer’s Association (MWHA) for running HUZZAH! and doing it so very well. Thanks also for honoring me with your “Best in Session” award for Saturday night.
Don’t forget that there are more surprises coming in part 3 (yes I said that again!). As before, please let me know if you like the post (or if you do not) in the comments section. I’ll share Sunday’s game in a few days (hopefully).
Thanks for looking!
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.
As you may want to check out the excellent Wars of Ozz figures’ range – there are two places to get them and to get your own copy of the rules. The game rules and the figures are available from the following two places:
The “HUZZAH! Con 2024” was held between Friday, May 17th and Sunday, May 19th, 2024 at the Doubletree by Hilton in South Portland Maine. The theme for this year was “HUZZAH 2024 GOES HOLLYWOOD”, so games with an association with movies or TV shows were categorized as theme games. I have run many games at previous HUZZAH! conventions, it is one of my favorite conventions. With that said, it was a no-brainer for me to submit Wars of Ozz games for the convention with its association with Baum’s books and the 1939 movie that they inspired.
As has been my (admittedly somewhat insane) habit this year, I submitted games to run in every time slot – that being two on Friday, three on Saturday, and one on Sunday, for a total of six 4-hour games.
I took a lot of photos worth sharing here – but to do so all at once in just one post seems a waste and probably overwhelming for you the reader (let alone for me trying to write such a behemoth-like tome).
Therefore, I will share my HUZZAH! Con 2024 experiences in three parts – one for each day. This post – part 1 – will cover Friday’s games – during which I ran one game in the afternoon and one game in the evening.
Friday Afternoon – Learn To Play Wars of Ozz
I had 6 player slots available for this game – and it quickly sold out. It was listed on the registration website as follows:
Wars of Ozz Battle – Learn to Play Wars of Ozz
Take part in this big battle set in the horse & musket/black powder fantasy world of Ozz. This is definitely not Kansas anymore. Various factions, including Munchkins, Winkies, Gillikins, Impkins, Quadlings and others will fight for victory in this fast-paced and easy-to-learn fun game. Beginners are very welcome. Rules will be taught. Players are invited to bring their own 25-point brigades of official Wars of Ozz figures if they have them or they can use one of the several brigades that we will have available for play. Players under 13 only with a playing adult.
I ended up using 21-22 point brigades – and the gamers were a mix of new players and experienced ones. There were 6 brigades facing off on the tabletop as you’ll see below. The forces were, from nearest to farthest in the photo:
Black side (on left side in photo from nearest to farthest):
One Gillikin Brigade
One Winkie Brigade
One Harvest Brigade
Red side (on right in photo from nearest to farthest):
One Quadling Brigade
One Impkin Brigade
One Munchkin Brigade
Victory is determined by scoring. One point is earned for each enemy base destroyed or routed off of the board. A half point is earned if an enemy base is routing and not rallied when the game ends.
The players are ready to go – black side on the left, red side on the right.Glenda the Sorceress and the Quadlings face off against the Gillikins.Gillikin infantry and Dire Bears next to their Lesser Witch.The Gillikins maneuver their Dire Lions (with the Lion as an attached hero figure) and their Dire Wolves forward against the Quadlings.A view past the Gillikin forces shows the center of the black side – with the Winkie Brigade moving up through a field toward the Impkins.Both sides close.The Harvest Brigade was reinforced by an allied Winkie Light artillery battery – shown here with noted artillerist hero Boom-Boom Palmer attached. They faced the Harvest Brigade. They would not survive the day.Both the Dire Lions and the Dire Wolves took damage from the Quadling muskets and artillery, and found it difficult to get the gumption up to subsequently charge them. In the rear of the photo, you can see the Impkins successfully getting into line formation to maximize firepower and to hold off the attacking Winkies.The Dire Bears decided that it would be more fun to attack the Impkins instead of the Quadllings. This led to a series of morale results that led them to charge multiple units of both Impkins and Quadlings on a mad rampage across the tabletop. These bears almost single-handedly turned the tide of battle, until they were wiped out.
In the end, the Quadling/Munchkin/Impkin alliance inflicted slightly more casualties on the Winkie/Gillikin/Harvest forces. The final score was 33.5 to 27.5. The black side’s loss of both their Dire Bears and the Winkie artillery (with Boom-Boom as well) were instrumental – and not evened up by the destruction of the Munchkin Aerostat by the Harvest forces.
Friday Evening – Attack on the Munchkin Border Post
I had 6 player slots available for this game – and it also sold out. It is a scenario design that is in the rulebook. I redesigned and reworked it for 6 players, and listed it on the registration website as follows:
The Munchkin Border has been quiet, but terrifying storm clouds are brewing. The Munchkins are determined to defend their frontier by fortifying a series of small villages & positions along their border. Shockingly, their unknown enemies are launching a surprise attack! The local Munchkin commander has sent runners up to division to request reinforcements. Will the Munchkins stop their foes? Will help save the day? Will the border be protected? Beginners are welcome. Rules will be taught. All miniatures/brigades will be provided for play. Players under 13 only with a playing adult.
In a town there is one brigade of Munchkins reinforced by Admiral Jinjur’s Female Pirates and Admiral Jinjur’s Personal band. A relief column in the form of a sister brigade of Munchkins is on the way. Attacking are four brigades – two each from the Winkies and the Gilikins. The Munchkins and Jinjurs are all in strong defensive positions. An additional rule for this scenario is that if the attackers are routed and cross the river, an additional base is lost.
Victory is determined by scoring here again. One point is earned for each enemy base destroyed or routed off of the board. If the attackers can drive all Munchkins from the town at the game’s end AND have at least one base in the town – they would earn an additional 6 points.
The players – on the left are the two Munchkin Brigade commanders. On the right, from nearest to farthest are the two Winkie Brigade and two Gillikin Brigade commanders.Gillikins begin their movement.A Gillikin Skeleton Regiment moves up to the Jinjur’s wall and attempts to flank, while the band plays a rousing tune. The band can be shot at but not engaged in melee.The Munchkin relief column is approaching on the left, led by light cavalry.The Winkie Zilk-rider cavalry and infantry move up to intercept the Munchkin pony riders.A view from the back of the Munchkin relief column.Gillikins and Winkies swarm across the battlefield towards the town, while the defenders fire away at the attackers.The Munchkin and Winkie cavalry meet in battle. The Winkies took slightly more casualties than the Munchkins despite the advantage of the Winkies.Winkie infantry brave the dedicated rifle fire of the Munchkin Sharpshooters and assault the town.The Winkie’s advantage in Melee proves too much for the defenders, and the Sharpshooters are pushed back with heavy losses. The Winkies enter the town.Meanwhile, while trying to retreat to a safer location (away from the flanking skeleton attack), the Pirates become the target of the Winkie’s Great Flying Apes. The GFA fly over and launch a vertical envelopment to try to hit the Jinjur’s in the rear. The female pirates manage to make an about face just in time. Now they are wedged between the skeletons and the GFA. And the band plays on…The Winkie cavalry, though damaged, interrupt the relief column effectively.The best Winkie infantry – Evora’s Body Guard – hits Colonel Tik-Tok’s infantry hard. This Munchkin unit would not survive the day.Admiral Jinjur’s Female Pirates lose all taste for the fight as the Gillikin forces stream over the south side of the town. And the band played on…Gillikin troops breach the town’s defenses.Some Munchkin relief column troops (Zoraster’s Guard Infantry) reach the extreme edge of the town as the Munchkin cavalry attempt to screen their approach. The Sharpshooters have been able to stop the Winkie infantry’s progress and hold on desperately.Gillikin Dire Lions and skeletons devastate the Munchkin Medium Battery.Gillikin infantry move through the town to eject the Munchkin Sharpshooters and finish what the Winkie infantry started.The Munchkin players worriedly survey the merciless attackers savagely over-running them.A view at the end of the game – the Munchkin relief column was arriving but the defenders were badly outnumbered, though they held a sliver of the town.
In the end the Munchkin players denied the attackers the bonus 6 points for the town. They also exacted a total of 21 enemy bases, but lost 30 in the process. So it was a victory for the Winkie/Gillikin team 30-21 in the end.
After the game, I reset and prepared for Saturday’s three games, which I will share in my next post. I do believe this last game was a runner up as best in time slot at the convention.
I do want to acknowledge the great help and assistance of Bradley Gosselin and Leif Magnuson in helping me set up and take down the games.
I also want to thank the Maine Historical Wargamer’s Association (MWHA) for running HUZZAH! and doing it so very well.
There are more surprises coming – and I will pace these posts out. Please let me know if you like the post (or if you do not) in the comments section.
Thanks for looking!
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.
As you may want to check out the excellent Wars of Ozz figures’ range – there are two places to get them and to get your own copy of the rules. The game rules and the figures are available from the following two places:
Our second regular season TOB event – the May 2024 Tour of the Brookfields Tournament – the Still Harts Open – was held on Saturday, May the 25th at Quail Hollow Golf and Country Club in Oakham, MA. It was a BEAUTIFUL DAY!!!
We sincerely thank Still Harts Cafe in North Brookfield for their longtime sponsorship of the event. This TOB always has a big turnout, and this one was no exception.
We were maxed out at 27 teams (108 players)! With so many players, we broke the field into 4 divisions/flights. Three of the divisions had 7 teams and one had 6.
As is becoming the norm for the TOB, all of the flights were very competitive. We had not one playoff – but two three-team playoffs (in the Nicklaus and Palmer Flights). The other two flights were narrow one or two stroke victories. There were only 3 skins!
Because of the addition of a 4th flight, this time there was no addition of a second place prize in each flight, but we did add a second closest-to-the-pin consolation prize – so two other teams won those.
The results table and some photos that I took will follow the narrative and some notes below.
As mentioned earlier, in the Nicklaus Flight, there was a three-team tie for first place at -7. The teams played off on the 18th hole – and the team of Mike Ellis, Ken Begin, Keith Tytula, and Brian Leveille were victorious with a birdie in the playoff! Congratulations to all – and of note this was Mike Ellis’ second win in a row as an A-player. The other two teams in the playoff (who got par and tied for second in the playoff) were the team of Jim Kularski, Dan Foley, Mike Kularski, Matt McLeod and the team of Ryan Kularski, John Desimone, John McQuaid, Ed Sanborn. (There certainly were a lot of Kularski’s in that playoff!).
In the Player Flight, the team of Gary Ward, Mark A. Morin (yup me), Wyatt Alm, and Jeff McLeod narrowly won with a score of -7. The team of Adam Kettles, Amanda Pierce, Jim McKeon, and Deb Durgin came in at second one stroke back at -6.
In the Palmer Flight, we had another three-team playoff on holes 16-18. Two of the teams tied after the three holes at seven under par – that being the team of John Markey, Dave Ashworth, Paul Wyman, and Pete Stafford and the team of Ryan Auger, Paul Davis, Bill Gaudette, and Mark Bruso. Both these teams finished the three playoff holes at -1. The other playoff team was the team of Dave Daoust, Brandon McEvoy, Jason Mcarthy, and Christopher Thibaud, who came in one stroke back in the playoff.
In the Daly Flight, the team of Jack Dorman, Kevin Kokansky, Dave Fiske, and Barbara Orszulak shot the low round of the tournament at -9 to take a two-stroke win over the second place team of Rich Johnson, Stan Nolin, Brian Chaffee, and Lisa Persson. Nicely done!
There were only three skins – all Eagles on holes #5, 7, and 12. See the chart below for those results.
Lastly – the closest to the pin on #6 was won by Jim Wilson (1′ 7.5″) and on the 17th by Ryan Kularski (13’0″).
Now for the results table…
2024 Still Harts Open Results
The results – and some photos I took – are below – and click on any of the photos for a bigger image. Congrats again to the winners!
And now, a few photos…my phone was a bit smudged so these are less clear (sorry):
Brad Earle and Mike Kularski sign in Ed SanbornMarc Kokansky and Jeff BennettLots of folks to sign in!Paul Boulette, Jeff Bennett, and Jim LovettRon and Tara mugg for the camera – well mostly Ron!Tom Orszulak and my wife Lynn Morin get ready.Mark Bruso and Tim Nason, Jr.Ken Dorman and Keith TytulaAnne Jette and Jim Lovett
The Next Tournament and some notes
Thanks again to all the players, to Still Harts Cafefor sponsoring this event, and to Gary and Debbie Donlin, Jim LeBlanc, and all the staff at Quail Hollow who work so hard to make the Tour of the Brookfields possible.
The next tournament is in June coming up FAST on Saturday the 15th of June. It will be the famous Toomey-Lovett Open.
Sign ups for the Toomey-Lovett Open will come down on Sunday, June 9th at noon.
Registration starts at 7:00 AM on June 15th. This event will also likely be VERY well-attended, so sign up early at Still Harts, at Quail Hollow, or on the Tour of the Brookfields Facebook page!
REQUESTS AND FYI
If there is a playoff, your team will need you! All playoff teams PLAY TOGETHER AT THE SAME TIME ON THE SAME HOLE!
Today was better, but PLEASE we need you to arrive WELL-BEFORE the shotgun start time. If you are showing up at 7:55 AM for an 8 AM shotgun – YOU ARE LATE!!!This is very inconsiderate, and just not fair to the committee members at the sign-in desk. PLEASE you MUST arrive BY the registration time – we have a lot of players to sign in.
Not showing up does carry with it a likely suspension for the TOB – just a reminder.
Scorecard accuracy is the A-player’s responsibility – please work with your team to ensure it is correct before turning it in – after that it is official and no changes can be made
A reminder, once a ball is holed out, that score counts – so if you tap in a ball at the edge of the hole before another player gets his turn to putt, the hole is over.
If you have any feedback or comments on this blog post – there is a comment section that you can use below. I will continue to put up these events on Facebook – with results posted here on this blog.
This blog is titled, “Life, Golf, Miniatures, and Other Distractions”. I do post other stuff here – mainly around miniature toy soldiers and tabletop wargaming (my other passions). Feel free to subscribe as an email follower! (and it is free and you’ll get instant updates).
MAYHEM 2024 was held in Lebanon, NH from Friday, April 19th to Sunday April 21st. I attended and had signed up to run 4 Wars of Ozz games there – 2 on Friday and 2 on Saturday as I had a golf commitment on Sunday.
Before too much time had passed – I wanted to give a photo summary of my experiences there. It was my first MAYHEM and came quickly on the heels of HAVOC two weeks before. I packed up the car Friday morning and headded up through Western Massachusetts and Vermont and into New Hampshire.
Upon arriving, I was able to get a luggage cart and move all of my stuff into the convention hall in one move.
The convention was held at the Hilton Garden Inn in Lebanon, NH. Below you will see the layout of their small convention ballroom and the gaming tables. I got to stay at #4. The diagonal table set ups were a bit strange – but probably used to maximize the space. As you can see there were tables in the hallway and even in the hotel lobby.
The convention set up and Friday afternoon’s games listed.
I set up my tables similar to the previous conventions, with 6 brigades deployed 3 to a side.
Friday Afternoon “Learn to Play Wars of Ozz” game
Set up on Friday for my afternoon game.View from opposite end.
My first game was sold out – and went well.
Friday afternoon game at the start – I asked for “happy gamer faces”. Results varied!
The players were all newbies to Ozz, and picked up the game quickly. What follows is some of the mayhem at, well, MAYHEM…
Dire Lions (Gillikin Brigade) and Quadlings clash – with casualties on right.Having suffered two bases of losses, the Dire Lions rout.The Great Owls (allied with the Munchkins here) attempt to move behing the Gillikin’s Skeleton regiment while the Munchkin Landwehr and Sharpshooters deploy.The Great Owls hit the Skeletons from the rear and drive them into a town.The lesser Evil Witch “The Soothsayer” (Winkie Brigade) traps the Munchlin’s Guard infantry with a “Poppies” spell. Meanwhile, the Winkie player also maneuvers the Winkie Sharpshooters onto the Guard’s flank.It was rough on the Quadlings – here the Gillikin’s Dire Bears (reinforced by the Lion)overrun a Quadling Light Battery and rout it – while hero Wood the Courier takes damage.
In the end, the game was actually very close, with the Quadlings and Munchkins eking out a 26-24 victory over the Winkies and Gillikins.
Friday Night “Heavy Meeting Engagement Wars of Ozz” game
My Friday night game was surprisingly not well-attended – I had only 2 players. Usually my games had been full or close to full at previous conventions. I guess I was due. Luckily, my set-up allows for this possible situation. I had one player play the Quadlings (Ken – his second Ozz game) and another (sorry I failed to write down his name but he was a nice guy for sure) played the Winkies. With only two players, it went fast.
Below are the two opponents:
And here are some action photos:
Quadlings deploy into line but their artillery was decimated by the Winkie muskets of the Sharpshooter regiment.The Quadling Infantry took heavy casualties and Wood the Courier was dispatched as well.A big firefight.The firefight led to routing Quadlings and command of the battlefield for the Winkies.Ken took this shot of me as GM.
The game ended amicably, although the Winkies won 11-3.
I ended Friday with a couple of pics of a nice challenge coin given to me (army guy) by a Navy veteran Frank Preziosa. Very cool and thanks Frank!
Saturday morning was extremely disappointing as I had zero players. It happens. I left my tabletop set up for the Saturday afternoon game and joind a Napoleonics homebrew rules game of the Battle of Marengo on the Austrian side. The GM ran the game twice, in two parts. The morning results would be the basis of the afternoon game – which I could not join as I did have players on Saturday afternoon. The GM was gracious and the game was fun – and my Austrians did pretty well.
Marengo game from French sideAustrian troops.I had Engineers! (Pioneers). Used to build a bridge which was successful in the attack.
After lunch, I ran my last game – as I had set up for the morning with 6 players.
Saturday Afternoon “Heavy Meeting Engagement Wars of Ozz” game
Well, this was with smaller brigades, but still a fun game.
The players.The “bad guys” deploy.Dire Wolves (Gillikin Brigade) and Great Owls (Munchkin allies) fight it out while behind them Munchkin Sharpshooters rout away from the Gillikin Dire Bears and Dire Tigers. Quadlings deploy into a town for safety – well, they thought so……the Great Flying Apes had other ideas – and hit them from the rear and wiped the Quadlings out.At the other end of the table was a fiesty Gillikin versus Munchkin scrum.Gillikin Dire Lions hit the Munchkin Landwehr.Quadlings get slowed down by a “Poppies” spell setting them up for a Great Flying Apes envelopment. To their left, another Quadling regiment seeks safer ground by routing away from the enemy.
In the end, The Winkies and Gillikins solidly defeated the Quadlings and Munchkins 34.5 to 19.
I want to thank the players who participated in my games, as well as the MAYHEM staff for running the convention. I hope that you readers enjoyed these photos. I will be running many of these games at the “HUZZAH Goes to Hollywood” convention in May.
Hopefully, I can share a couple of new units with you shortly. Thansk for looking!
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.
As you may want to check out the excellent Wars of Ozz figures’ range – there are two places to get them and to get your own copy of the rules. The game rules and the figures are available from the following two places:
Admiral Jinjur is a female pirate who has gathered females from all of the various main factions of Ozz. As I wrote in my post on my two Admiral Jinjur regiments that I painted up:
In the world of the Wars of Ozz, Pirate-General (Admiral) Jinjur is said to:
…sail on the (Great Nonastic Ocean). She commands a flotilla of ships big and small, all crewed by female pirates. Her pirates board ships and raid seaports, ruthlessly overwhelming any resistance.Wars of Ozz, Section2.6.6, The Lands Beyond Ozz, pages 45-46
Her pirate forces are composed of females from all over Ozz – so her troops are made up of Gillikins, Munchkins, Winkies, and Quadlings – all the main races of Ozz.
There is, however, one other unit that is affiliated with her – Admiral Jinjur’s Personal Band. It is SKU#OZZ-517, and is composed of 7 figures. The unit has no combat capability and can take 4 hits before it is removed. Otherwise it has no Melee, Marksmandship, Resolve, or Elan values. The unit costs 3 points. It has this ability:
The Band may play a rousing tune when it activates instead of moving. All units, friendly or enemy, within 9″ of the band increase their Elan by 1 during its next actvation.
Wars of Ozz unit stats
This ability would be very helpful to get either timid troops or those that have been previously routed to get up the gumption to get into Melee (or at least to stop routing away).
I built out mine as follows:
Band Leader (Quadling)
Trumpeter (Gillikin)
French Horn player (Quadling)
Drummer (Munchkin)
Flautist (Quadling)
Fiddler (Winkie)
Concertina player (Quadling)
Let’s get into the build and painting. First, some:
WIP Shots and Discussion
I started working on the unit on April 9th in conjunction with more stuff (units and individuals that I’ll post about soon). In my collection of potential bases, I had a leftover hexagonal 4″ basswood base that I had made when I painted my Minifig “The World Of Greyhawk 9 Cavemen”waaaay back on April of 2015. I’m glad I saved it, as I did not want to use an artillery MDF base for the band. As this unit only takes 4 hits, having 7 figures on a single base would not make any sense to use (as the artillery bases allow for figure removal to equal hits).
Mocked up on hexagonal baseClose up of unpainted band leader
Then, it was on to filing off the flash, mold lines, and giving the figures a quick wash before priming. The figures are great and have a lot of character. No assembly was required.
Instead of using my airbrush to prime the band, I mixed some old grey and white primer that was no longer airbrush-suitable – but that was certainly fine for hand brushwork.
Cleaned up and awaiting priming.
I did (and do still) have other issues and projects going on as I stated earlier. As you may have noticed, I also am part of a committee that runs the monthly Tour of the Brookfields golf tournament here in Central Massachusetts (the latest one is here). So, in between that, attending and running games at MAYHEM in New Hampshire (which went from April 19-20 for me and for which I still need to do a blog post), other golf, and other units/individuals, I worked on the band with the hope of having the unit done for HUZZAH Goes Hollywood in May. Yeah, retirement is busy!
Back to the band – by April 22nd, I had made some progress.
April 22nd progress.
And by the 28th of April, I had the figures painted and ready for varnishing, basing, and flocking. Chris Palmer’s Pi-Rats that he had painted had inspired me to go back and paint a few of these band member’s pants with stripes. As I did this before with my Conquistadores, it was a nice flashback to many of my previous fond projects.
Gillikin with trumpetQuadling Band LeaderMunchkin DrummerWinkie FiddlerQuadling flautistQuadling concertina playerQuadling concertina player
By April 30th, I had finished the band for April as you can see below!
Admiral Jinjur’s Personal Band Eye Candy
Photographing the unit was a bit difficult given the configuraton that I chose. First some close ups – these ladies of Ozz are all in fine form:
And here is the entire base flocked and done:
I also decided that with my new WordPress plan that I should try to add a video – as that might be of interest as I get to describe more and rotate the unit:
A brief video of the Admiral Jinjur’s Personal Band
I’m probably going to add this unit to a brigade that already has the other Jinjur pirates. We’ll see how I can work that into HUZZAH!
Lastly, Jinjurs in the Jungle:
With apologies to Jethro Tull – Jinjurs in the Jungle, that’s all right by me!
So why the jungle shot? Well, first, pirates are known for hiding out on jungle-infested islands, no? Second. well, this is a tease for my next unit post. Though my next post will likely be a MAYHEM wrap up. To my fellow bloggers, I look forward to more of your stuff too – I have been remiss in commenting, but not in reading. WordPress is intermittenly still not allowing me to “like” your comments on my PC! Grrr…
As always, much thanks for looking!
And yes, I still have much more Ozz 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 ADMIRAL JINJUR’S PERSONAL BAND:
Homemade 4″ hexagonal base made of 1/8″ basswood
5/16″ Everbilt steel washers (ACA)
Black Sharpie pen
Green Sharpie pen
Poster Tack
Vallejo Surface Primer “Grey”
Vallejo Mecha Primer “White”
Wargames Accessories FOW #1 (1.25″ X 1″ steel base)
Shadow’s Edge Miniatures “6mm Dark Forest Blue” (flocking)
Shadow’s Edge Miniatures “6mm Dark Forest Purple” (flocking)
Gamers Grass “Wild Shrubs” (flocking)
As you may want to check out the excellent Wars of Ozz figures’ range – there are two places to get them and to get the rules (and I make no money from this btw). The game rules and the figures are available from the following two places:
Our first regular season TOB event – the April 2024 Tour of the Brookfields Tournament – the Country Auto Open – was held on Saturday the 27th at Quail Hollow Golf and Country Club in Oakham, MA.
The weather was chilly – but thankkfully NO RAIN! We thank Country Auto in North Brookfield for their sponsorship of the event.
We had a nice turnout of 24 teams, with many new players and new A players especially. There were 95 players (one no-show) on 8 teams of 4 in each of the three flights/divisions.
All three flights were very competitive. We had one playoff (Nicklaus Flight), with the other two flights being within 2-3 strokes. There was only 1 skin!
A change this time was the addition of a second place prize in each flight, with teams having to match cards on the most difficult holes for 2nd place. We will do this going forward.
The results table and some photos that I took will follow the narrative and some notes below.
In the Nicklaus Flight, the 3-player team (due to the no-show) of Rick Lindsten, Ken Burnham, and Keith Tytula and the 4-player team of Kevin Paradis, Bob Demaio, Brian Chaffee, and Susan Benoit both shot 9 under par to meet in a playoff. After two playoff holes (they could have gone 3) the teams settled for a tie and split the first and second place pools.
In the Player Flight, the team of Mike Ellis, Tom McCarthy, Lisa Kularski, and Tim Nason, Jr. fired off a stellar 10-under par to tie the best score across the tournament. The team of John Markey, Tom Foley, Jonathan Foley, and Barbara Orszulak came in at second at -7. Congrats!
In the Palmer Flight, the team of Matt Desimone, Pete Peloquin, Sr., Nelson Malin, and Christopher Thibaud also finished at 10 under par – AND this team got the sole skin of the tournament with an eagle on hole #1. The second-place in the Palmer Flight playoff was the team of Tom Orszulak, Dean Malin, Ed McLeod, and Sherry Peterson. Kudos!
The closest to the pin was won by Spencer Rice for his team on the par-3 17th hole at 8′ 0″ away! Nice shot Spencer!
2024 Country Auto Open Results
The results – and some photos I took – are below – and click on any of the photos for a bigger image. Congrats again to the winners!
And now, a few photos…
Debbie Donlin and Jim LeBlanc chat with Bill Gaudette in the warm clubhouse.Checking out the weather at the bar.Hey – I know those two!Tom and Barbara OrszulakCommittee members Mike Kularski and George Fiske perform their check-in work.The Rice Brothers – Clayton and Spencer – show up with their game faces!George Jette and Jim McKeon get to see that no injury stops Bill Gaudette from golf.Lynn Morin and Barbara Orszulak chat while awaiting the start of play.Corey Heyes and Reese McLeod get in some pre-round putts and trash talk.The golfing couple of Lisa and Jim Kularski in a nice pose.Ed McLeod seems to be putting Tom Foley to sleep while Dave Fiske seeks a club.
The Next Tournament and some notes
Thanks again to all the players, to Country Autofor sponsoring this event, and to Gary and Debbie Donlin, Jim LeBlanc, and all the staff at Quail Hollow who work so hard to make the Tour of the Brookfields possible.
The next tournament is in May on Saturday the 25th. It will be the Still Harts Cafe Open. Sign ups will come down on Sunday, May 19th.
REMEMBER IT WILL BE EARLIER IN THE MORNING – Registration starts at 7:30 AM. This event will likely be VERY well-attended, so sign up early at Still Harts, at Quail Hollow, or on the Tour of the Brookfields Facebook page!
REQUESTS AND FYI
We need you to arrive WELL-BEFORE the shotgun start time. If you are showing up at 7:55 AM for an 8 AM shotgun – YOU ARE LATE!!! This is very inconsiderate, and just not fair to the committee members at the sign-in desk. PLEASE you MUST arrive BY the registration time – we have a lot of players to sign in.
Not showing up does carry with it a likely suspension for the TOB – just a reminder.
No one should be practice putting or chipping on a green before a hole is complete. Even afterwards, this is discouraged for pace of play reasons.
A reminder, once a ball is holed out, that score counts – so if you tap in a ball at the edge of the hole before another player gets his turn to putt, the hole is over.
If you have any feedback or comments on this blog post – there is a comment section that you can use below. I will continue to put up these events on Facebook – but if you are not on Facebook and want to sign up, you can use the comment section here on this blog. This blog is titled, “Life, Golf, Miniatures, and Other Distractions”. I do post other stuff here – mainly around miniature toy soldiers and tabletop wargaming (my other passions). Feel free to subscribe as an email follower! (and it is free and you’ll get instant updates).
Havoc is the premier miniatures convention of the Northeast and has run continuously for 37 years, well…except for the two Covid-19 years. Havoc XXXVIII (2024) will be held on April 5th thru April 7th, 2024…
Last weekend the latest iteration of the Battle Group Boston’s HAVOC convention was held in Marlborough, MA, at the Best Western Hotel. The BGB folks did a nice job setting up and running the convention, though it did seem like turnout was a bit light compared with previous years. Still, there were a great many wonderful games (not just mine you know). I did not get a chance to watch or play in other games of course, but I did see my neighbor’s awesome Stalingrad Fireball Forward table:
Awesome Stalingrad table (15mm I think)
I have also seen one excellent blog post by Peter Anderson at his site Blunders on the Danube (what a GREAT blog moniker btw!) that showed a number of the wonderful games in their full glory. Here is the link to that site – it is really nice, so please check it out.
This convention was held at the same hotel that TotalCon 38 was in February. At that convention, there were 10 slots, so I ran 10 Wars of Ozz tabletop wargames as a GM. When the HAVOC sign up showed up on the web, I saw that there were as usual 5 slots – 1 on Friday, 3 on Saturday, and 1 on Sunday. I thought, hell, if I can handle 10 in 4 days, I can handle 5 Ozz games in 3 days. The only difference between the conventions was that I had added the Quadling Brigade and heroes that I discussed in my last post. Besides, if you paint them, they will come!
For this post, I took some photos that more or less capture the essence of each of the games. I’ll try to give you a flavor of the action with all the eye candy I can (there’s a LOT).
Friday Evening – “Learn to Play Wars of Ozz“
For my “Learn to Play” (LTP) games, I give each player brigades of 21 points apiece. That usually works out to a Brigade Commander, 3-4 units, and a couple of individual hero/magic users.
Brad waits for the players to arrive. On the left here (Red team) are a Harvest Brigade, the Quadling Brigade, and two Munchkin Brigades. They faced two Gillikin and two Winkie Brigades (Black Team) on the right here.A view from the other side of the table as the players start. This game had 7 players.Black Team’s Dire Tigers from one of the Gillikin Brigades charges the Quadling 1st Regiment’s line with the Dire Wolves on their left.Meanwhile, the Gillikin Goat Riders made a mad charge against the 4th Quadling Infantry Regiment – only to come up short facing their muskets.Bob maneuvers his Munchkin Brigade as he faces off with the Winkie Infantry. His witch (Belinda the Nun) recovers on the left from a critical spell failure. The Aerostat jockies for a key hit on the marauding Winkies. To Bob’s right, Brad’s Munchkin Sharpshooter Regiment faced a massive dual Winkie attack from Leif – who used both Evora’s Body Guard and the Zilk rider cavalry. His Landwehr watched in horror and waited for an activation.Leif brings up the Winkie Sharpshooters to reinforce his offensive.The Great Flying Apes prepare to assault Bob’s Munchkin Aerostat by taking cover in the town. The Winkie Infantry behind them have been routed by the Munchkin Sharpshooters and are running away as Leif moves up his Winkie Sharpshooters.While the Winkies successfully unlimber their artillery on the hill, the Winkie Sharpshooters are then also routed by the Munchkins!The Munchkin Landwehr and Munchkin Sharpshooters both hold out against Evora’s Body Guard, Zilk cavalry, and the Great Owls.On the Red team’s right flank, the Harvest Brigade under Scott sends its female pirates against Gillikin infantry. Their witch, Lady Thistlethorne, had cast a “poppies” spell on the hill to keep the Gillikin skeleton regiment away from its Lesser Pumpkinheads, while the Great Pumpkin Heads wheel around the hill to take on the Gillikin Gugu Forester Regiment.Bob’s Aerostat crew breathes a sigh of relief as the Great Flying Apes attack on them fizzles.Ken’s witch, Glenda, uses a “transport” spell to successfully send the 1st Quadling Infantry Regiment into the Zilk cavalry’s flank.
As time ran out, the battle was called. The score was a victory for the Red Team (Munchkins/Harvest/Quadlings) who had destroyed 26 enemy bases versus the Black Team (Winkies/Gillikins) that had 14.
Saturday Morning – “Learn to Play Wars of Ozz“
For my second LTP game, I moved some brigades around and swapped in some new ones. The table set up is flexible so if the number of players vary from the sign up, I can adjust. Again, each player had brigades of 21 points apiece.
The table reset for Saturday morning.The players are ready – eventually we had 5. because of the shortage – we left off the Harvest and Impkin brigades nearest the camera. This left two Munchkin brigades and a Quadling brigade (Red Team on the left here) versus a Winkie Brigade and two Gillikin brigades (Team Black on the right here).Our 5th player arrived just as Eric and Brad got simultaneous activations and moved to attack.As in the previous game, the Winkie Infantry (lower left) took fire and damage from the Munchkins and fled. Eric then got his Winkie Sharpshooters in good positions atop the hill.Forces converge. Munchkins move up on the left, while Gillikin’s Dire Lions charge out of the forest at the Great Owls.A view of the Gillikins moving forward on the left side of their side of the table.The Dire Tigers show their flank to the Quadling 4th Infantry Regiment as they try to hit the 1st Quadling Light Battery on its flank!The Dire Tigers take out 1 base of the Quadling Artillery, but are pushed back. The Dire Bears try to move up but are hit on both of their flanks by the Quadling 1st Infantry and the artillery.Once again, the Winkie Sharpshooters are routed, but manage to rally, and move forward in single column to get better shots at the Munchkins with reduced Elan.At the game’s end, the Dire Tigers, one of the Dire Bears, and the Dire Wolvere were a skeedaddlin’…
Time ran out and the game ended. Despite the routs, the aggressive attacks of the Black Team (Winkies & Gillikins) had cost them 19 casualties, but they had successfully inflicted 25 on the Red Team (Quadlings and Munchkins) for the victory.
Saturday Afternoon – “Heavy Meeting Engagement”
For my “Heavy Meeting Engagement” (HME) games, I give each player larger brigades of 31 points apiece. That usually works out to a Brigade Commander, 4-6 units, and a couple of individual hero/magic users. I ran the first of these HME games on Saturday afternoon with 4 players. On Team Red were a Munchkin Brigade and an Impkin Brigade. On Team Black were a Harvest Brigade and a Winkie Brigade. I did not take as many photos in this game versus my previous games. We had 4 players.
Impkin musketry causes the forward-based lady pirates of Admiral Jinjur to abandon their safe hard cover in the town and charge the Impkins in the open.The Great Pumpkin Heads and the Impkin Cavalry BOTH could not get up the guts to get into Melee!!!The Jinjur pirates were forced back into the town and the Impkin infantry advanced. Black Team moved up the Carrot Creatures.In the middle of the board, the Munchkins repulsed a skeleton attack.
The game ended, with a very close score, 24-21, very narrowly in favor of the Red Team. I then checked out the vendors during a break, and bought a few supplies. Also saw some old Buck Surdu rules!
Two Buck Surdu rulesets.
Then it was on to the second HME game…
Saturday Evening – “Heavy Meeting Engagement”
Every convention seems to have one game that if you saw it you’ll end up talking about it for years to come.
THIS is that game.
I had 4 players, with Team Red with a Quadling and a Munchkin Brigade, and Team Black with 2 Gillikin Brigades.
This is what they each had for forces:
Team Red for Saturday EveningTeam Black for Sturday Evening
As we only had 4 players, we used half of the table. Brad had the Munchkins and Leif had the Quadlings. The initial moves and attacks from the Gillikin left brigade (Gregg) and their right brigade (Bruce) were nothing stellar. In fact, on the first activation, Gregg failed to reach one of the Quadling Batteries with his Dire Bears, and Leif sent them scurrying towards the other side of the board with short-range artillery fire. Bruce’s goat riders took fire and damage and ran to a town for cover.
Unfortunately for Leif and Brad – that would turn out to be the high water mark of the Red Team in this game.
Leif and Brad on left and Gregg and Bruce on right get ready to rumble!Leif’s initial forces.Here come the Dire Bears – and you know what happened – but Gregg’s “kitties” are behind…Gregg’s Dire Lions subsequently hit the 2nd Quadling Infantry Reiment – unfortunately led by a leader with “The Poltroon” ability – that knocked down their Resolve from a 5 to a 4 – and they routed in the face of the Dire Lions. Leif’s Quadling front was then broken and the Lions were in the gap, with Dire Tigers close behind them. Gregg’s Gillikin Infantry then hit the 2nd Quadling Battery on the flank and the Quadlings abandoned their gun in a rout. Gregg then threatened the Quadling left flank (4th Regiment) with his Gillikin Infantry. The 4th turned to face the Gillikins where the routed gun crew left their gun. Brigade Commander Zeb the Scribe of Ozz can only stare in disbelief as the Quadlings lose a battery and an infantry regiment in short order.View from the Red Team’s right flank as the Dire Lions breach their defenses.Zeb and Glenda are no help.The Dire Tigers rout the other Quadling Infantry Regiment (1st) adn hit the remaining Quadling battery in its flank. It did not last long. Both guns would be lost and spiked.Leif can only look on in amazement at the HAVOC raised by Gregg on his forces…see what I did there?Eventually, all Leif had left was his brigade commander and his witch – with no brigade. He was a good sport as you see here – and Brad is looking on knowing he is in dire straits too.On the other side, Bruce’s Goat Riders maneuvered expertly and took Colonel Tik-Tok’s regiment in the flank (who were dealing with Bruce’s skeletons in their front), nearly wiping it out. Bruce’s Dire Bears were moving up for the kill. Brad was all alone now.The Gillikin Goat Riders then hit the Munchkin Aerostat, which routed off the table. All that Brad had left was 2 stands from Tik Tok’s infantry, a medium battery, his brigade commander, and a witch.The end of the game – Tik Tok was routing and clearly even the medium battery would not have survived an attack on three sides.
I have never before seen an Ozz game become a battle of annihilation – but this game was.
No shade on the defenders, they had some bad luck combined with the attackers good luck and good plan. All had fun though! The final score was 45-13 in favor of Team Black.
Sunday Morning – “The Battle for Toto”
I have ran this game several times and discussed it previously in this blog. Basically, Toto is in the Munchkin-defended town. Converging on that town are two non- allied enemies who both want to seize Toto. The little dog is in a secret place (one of 5 buildings). The attackers want to get Toto – and hate each other. It’s up to them if they fight each other on the way to the Munchkin town, or if they collaborate and fight afterwards. I had 5 players, with Team Red with 2 Munchkin Brigades, facing a force of 2 Impkin Brigades and a force of two Harvest Brigades. As we had too few players, we used just half of the table, and left off the Gillikins and Winkies on the far side.
The game starts.Admiral Jinjur’s Female Pirates (fighting for the Harvest Brigade) and the Great Pumpkin Heads attack Zoraster’s Guard Infantry who are defending a wall outside the town.With an unlucky Morale Roll, Zoraster’s gets antsy and charges OVER the wall – and leaves its protection.The Impkins try to fire on the Munchkin Sharpshooters with the Swamp Guardian Fairies’ bows, while the rooster riding Impkin cavalry tries to go around and get to the town.An overview – at this point Glenn’s Lesser Pumpkinheads attacked the Impkins so the free-for-all was on.Steven had secretly deployed the Savage Apple Trees near the Munchkin walls. Their attack allowed the Eagles to get into the town and search two buildings – without finding Toto.
At this point, A HOTEL FIRE ALARM WENT OFF! We had to leave the building for at least 40 minutes. There of course was no fire, just a malfunctioning alarm.
When we returned, I scored up the game as people (understandably) were ready to go home. The final score was a Munchkin victory at 33 points (10 points for Toto), Harvest 12.5, and Impkins 2.5.
I really want to thank BGB for running the convention. I also want to thank my players, both newbies and veterans all were great.
I ESPECIALLY want to thank Leif and Brad who signed up for EVERY game and helped me throughout the convention. Gregg was a big help as well.
My next convention is MAYHEM in New Hampshire in April and then I have HUZZAH GOES TO HOLLYWOOD in Maine in May. This summer I also plan on Historicon in July.
I hpope this was enjoyable – and if you’ll be at one of these conventions, come and join the Ozz goodness!
Thanks for looking!
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.
As you may want to check out the Wars of Ozz figures’ range – there are two places to get them and the rules (and I make no money from this btw). The game rules and the figures are available from the following two places:
With apologies to Paul Revere, of course! (these DO have red coats!)
But this post is not about one Quadling regiment – it is about 3 infantry regiments (63 figures), 2 artillery batteries (12 figures), 2 generic brigade commanders, a named brigade commander (Rolf von Guufling), a Quadling faction witch (Glenda the Sorceress), and 2 hero conversions (Zeb the Scribe of Ozz and Wood the Courier of Ozz). Yes, that’s 81 figures, AN ENTIRE QUADLING BRIGADE!
Quadlings are the “beefy farm boys” of the world of Ozz. They are the most human-like of the factions, and are great friends with the Munchkins. Their color fixation is red. Most of their army is made up of militia. I had not had any of my own Quadlings on the tabletop at previous conventions.
I was about to hit another two gaming conventions (HAVOC and MAYHEM) in April. I am also going to HUZZAH! in May. After 3 weeks of being away on vacation, I returned back from Florida on March 19th, hoping to make a dent in my mass of Quadlings. These I had previously gotten from Greg Priebe (80 figures) and Chris Palmer (1 figure). It would make up an entire Quadling brigade plus two heroes – but the HAVOC convention would start on April 5th – could I do it? In just 17 days? I decided to try to and plow on and get a whole brigade of figures done for my upcoming Wars of Ozz convention games. I finished on April 4th!
As I did not have enough time to do my usual type of post with WIP and all that – I focused on painting these – and getting them fully tabletop-ready. So this post will just be fully painted stuff. I’m not even going to add the paints this time! (ok I might edit and add them later next week).
So enjoy the photos – and if you are coming to an upcoming convention (add HUZZAH! to that list too), these will be in play – so join me!
Here we go – EYE CANDY!
Eye Candy
1st Quadling Infantry Regiment
This (and the other regiments I painted) are all Northern Quadling regiments – with a slighly better Melee value of 7/10 and a Marksmanship value of 6/10 than other Quadlings. Their Resolve and Elan are average at 5/10 and 6/10 respectively. As all of these regiments are the same sculpts, I painted each with slightly different colors to match the flags that Buck Surdu designed. On this regiment I used a blue facing theme of color over white pants. The plumes on the shakos are red. They are all armed with muskets.
2nd Quadling Infantry Regiment
I went with a sallow yellow-facing theme over light grey pants – and put white plumes on the shakos.
And a side view below:
Some close ups:
4th Quadling Infantry Regiment
For the 4th, I went with a bright green-facing theme over dark grey pants – and I put red plumes on the shakos. I skipped the 3rd because its flag is red, and I wanted a contrast with the red coats!
Marching in column:
Lastly, a gallery collection of views:
1st and 2nd Quadling Light Artillery Batteries
These I only varied in the plume colors (white and red). I also painted the guns slightly differently. They have Marksmanship and Melee values of 6/10 and 4/10 respectively. They do have good Resolve at 7/10 and the Elan of 6/10 is good for artillery.
2 Generic Brigade Commanders
Overall I had 7 mounted leader figures to deal with (each regiment had one, I had the leader pack with three from Greg Priebe, and Chris Palmer gave me one at Fall In 2023). This allowed me (if you had not previously noticed above) to vary each regimental commander’s pose for each infantry regiment. I decided to use two of the remaining ones as generic brigade commanders – and save two more as conversions for Ozz heroes for which there are no dedicated figures to buy. For these two, I painted them slightly differently as they were the same pose.
Rolf Von Guufling, named Brigade Commander
A named brigade commander has 2 additional abilities/skills versus generic ones that have only 1. Of course, the generic ones are free to each brigade, and a named one cost 2 points. Greg’s lot of Quadlings included named Rolf, with his plate of cookies (which as anyone who knows me that the cookies HAD to be chocolate chip). He has Magical Protection plus one additional randomly selected skill. I thought that his bringing chocolate chip cookies to the battlefield merited a burgundy/pink theme for his facings – or maybe his magical protection…
A view from the front:
Glenda the Sorceress
Of course each faction has a witch – and this one is Glenda. She has spells: Transport (can send any unit 10″ in any direction – even behind enemy lines), Fleet Feet (can increase a friendly unit’s Movement rate), Confusion (can rattle an enemy unit’s attacks), and Good Luck (can improve a frienly units. She also can act as a commander with the ability of Charismatic as an as overall leader which is very powerful.
And a view from the side:
Ain’t she pretty in pink?
Zeb the Scribe of Ozz
As I mentioned, I converted two of the mounted Quadling commanders (all are mounted on giant boars) to heroes. They could be part of any faction. The first was Zeb the Scribe, an homage to Zeb Cook, a legend of the early days of Dungeon & Dragons and other games. Zeb played in one of my games at TotalCon 38 in February. I found some small resin books and used green stuff to create a sort of book rack for the figure. When attached to a unit, Zeb can rearrange one attribute of that unit to the best value of the four.
Zeb’s theme was very purple and yellow:
From the other side:
Wood the Courier of Ozz
This one I really thought a lot about as well as it is an homage to Dave Wood, my West Point classmate/roommate and longtime buddy. Over the last months, Dave has helped transfer many figures for other GM’s for Ozz games and more support of conventions – hence the “Courier” appellation. Dave is also a ultra-distance runner who thinks marathons are short (seriously). I knew that Dave’s drink of choice is Diet Mountain Dew (caffeine-free if possible as well). But this is Ozz, so what about Munchkin Dew? So, I found some doll house/diorama Mountain Dew bottles, and designed and sculpted a couple of baskets to hold them, and voila! I think it will be fun on the tabletop.
The figure gives +2″ of movement to an attached unit.
Another view:
A nice side view:
Cheers Dave!!
Lastly, I put all of the Quadlings into their own box – with Zeb and Dave joining my box of heroes separately.
That concludes this post. On April 5th – they will be on the tabletop!
I’d love to hear your thoughts on these – any favorites or suggestions on my insanity are all welcome fodder.
Until next time – thanks for looking!
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.
As you may want to check out the Wars of Ozz figures’ range – there are two places to get them and the rules (and I make no money from this btw). The game rules and the figures are available from the following two places:
TotalCon 38 was held in Marlborough, Massachusetts between February 22nd, and February 25th, 2024. I was a GM there for 10, count them, 10 games of Wars of Ozz.
It was wonderful – the games were sold out quickly and the players were excited to play the game. I even had more players than I had slots (I let extras in when I could). I have some photos and a brief synopsis – but if you think I can remember all the details of 10 four-hour games over 4 days, well, you have greater faith in me than I have!
I had 67 players over the weekend. Some came ready to play!
Big thanks to the TotalCon38 staff, especially Bryan Clauss, Steve Parenteau, and Gregg Belevick. Extra special thanks to ALL the players. And EXCEPTIONAL thanks to Leif Magnuson, Bradley Gosselin, and Chris Comeau for all their assistance above and beyond the call of duty.
Thanks also to David DeVeau and Ken Howe for some photos.
With that said, here are some photos and descriptions of the games that you might enjoy.
Game 1 – Thursday Morning, February 22nd, at 8 AM
Scenario: “Learn to Play Wars of Ozz.” 6 players out of 6 slots – lining up 3 brigades per side.
Opposing forces: 3 brigades of Gillikins vs. 3 brigades of Munchkins
Objective: Take out more of their bases than they take out of yours.
Duration: 4 Hours
Final Score: Munchkins eke out a 17-15 victory
Game 2 – Thursday Afternoon, February 22nd, at 1 PM
Scenario: “Learn to Play Wars of Ozz.” 5 players out of 6 slots – lining up 3 brigades per side.
Opposing forces: 3 brigades of Gillikins vs. 3 brigades of Munchkins
Objective: Take out more of their bases than they take out of yours.
Duration: 4 Hours
Final Score: Munchkins got a major victory over the Gillikins, 22-8
Game 3 – Thursday Evening, February 22nd, at 7 PM
Scenario: “Rear Guard Action – Pursuit of the Fleeing Gillikins.” 5 players out of 6 slots.
Opposing forces: 4 Brigades (2 Munchkin, 1 Harvest, 1 Impkin) pursue a retreating force of 2 Gillikin brigades.
Objective: Pursuers – destroy as many bases as possible of the Gillikins. Gillikins – escape and save as many troops as possible to fight another day.
Duration: 4 Hours
Final Score: Gillikins manage a narrow victory over the attackers, 23-20, by having a light battery abandon its gun to save the crew – yielding a 4-point swing on the last turn of the game.
Game 4 – Friday Morning, February 23rd, at 8 AM
Scenario: “Learn to Play Wars of Ozz.” 8 players out of 8 slots – lining up 4 brigades per side.
Opposing forces: 2 brigades of Winkies and 2 brigades of Gillikins vs. 2 brigades of Munchkins and 2 brigades of Harvest
Objective: Take out more of their bases than they take out of yours.
Duration: 4 Hours
Final Score: Munchkins eke out another narrow victory, 25-23.
Game 5 – Friday Afternoon, February 23rd, at 1 PM
Scenario: “Heavy Meeting Engagement” 7 players out of 6 slots (worked in an extra and I played to round out the game) – lining up 4 brigades per side.
Opposing forces: 4 brigades of Winkies and Harvest vs. 4 brigades of Munchkins and Impkins
Objective: Take out more of their bases than they take out of yours.
Duration: 4 Hours
Final Score: The Munchkin/Impkin alliance got a major victory over the forces of Winkies and Harvest by a score of 38-27.
Game 6 – Friday Evening, February 23rd, at 7 PM
Scenario: “Attack on the Border Post.” Again, 7 players out of 6 slots – they shared.
Opposing forces: 1 brigade of Munchkins is holding up in a town, attacked by 4 brigades (2 Winkie and 2 Gillikins). Another Munchkin brigade is moving in as a relief force.
Objective: The Winkies and Gillikins need to clear all Munchkins from the town and be in the town at the game’s end. Also, points are awarded for each base taken out on both sides.
Duration: 4 Hours
Final Score: The attackers nearly succeeded in clearing the town, which would have gotten them 6 points. However, the spirited defense by the Munchkins exacted a heavy toll on the attackers. The final score was 42-30 for the Munchkin defenders.
Game 7 – Saturday Morning, February 24th, at 8 AM
Scenario: “Learn to Play Wars of Ozz.” 8 players out of 8 slots – lining up 4 brigades per side.
Opposing forces: 2 brigades of Winkies and 2 brigades of Harvest vs. 2 brigades of Impkins and 2 brigades of Gillikins (this was a “Munchkin-free zone”).
Objective: Take out more of their bases than they take out of yours.
Duration: 4 Hours
Final Score: This was the bloodiest game of the weekend with 73 bases taken out. The Winkie/Harvest team won by 41-32 over the Gillikins.
Game 8 – Saturday Afternoon, February 24th, at 1 PM
Scenario: “Heavy Meeting Engagement.” 8 players out of 8 slots– lining up 4 brigades per side.
Opposing forces: 4 brigades of Winkies/Harvest/Impkins vs. 4 brigades of Munchkins and Gillikins
Objective: Take out more of their bases than they take out of yours.
Duration: 4 Hours
Final Score: The Munchkin/Gillikin temporary alliance got a major victory over the forces of Winkies/Harvest/Impkins by a score of 36-23.
Game 9 – Saturday Evening, February 24th, at 7 PM
Scenario: “The Battle for Toto.” 5 players out of 8 slots.
Opposing forces: 10 brigades are involved here on three sides. The Winkies are allied with the Impkins (2 brigades each on opposite sides of the tabletop longways). They are vying with the team of the Gillikins and Harvest forces (also with 2 brigades each on opposite sides of the tabletop longways). In the middle, in a town with Toto in a secret location, are 2 Munchkin brigades.
Objective: Possession of Toto is worth 10 points. Each base taken out is worth a point for the appropriate force.
Duration: 4 Hours
Final Score: The Impkins found Toto – gaining the bonus – and ended up with a final score of 19. The Munchkins dispatched 19 bases, so despite the loss of Toto they tied the Winkie/Impkin team. The Gillikin/Harvest alliance got 14 points in third place – despite turning on the Winkies with a sneak attack by Dire Bears on the Winkie artillery.
Photo by David DeveauPhoto by Ken Howe as I GMPhoto by David Deveau
Game 10 – Sunday Morning, February 25th, at 10 AM
Scenario: “The Battle for Toto.” 8 players out of 8 slots.
Opposing forces: 10 brigades are involved here on three sides. The Winkies are allied with the Impkins (2 brigades each on opposite sides of the tabletop longways). They are vying with the team of the Gillikins and Harvest forces (also with 2 brigades each on opposite sides of the tabletop longways). In the middle, in a town with Toto in a secret location, are 2 Munchkin brigades.
Objective: Possession of Toto is worth 10 points. Each base taken out is worth a point for the appropriate force.
Duration: 4 Hours
Final Score: The game went slowly – and was called at 3 hours as players needed to leave. In the end, the score was not close, with the Munchkins keeping Toto, and getting 18 points total. The Winkies/Impkins got 8, and the Gillikins and Harvest got 0.
That’s all for now – I’ll be silent for a bit here as far as posting for a bit – but I will be back! To those whose blogs I follow, I will be checking them out while I am out.
Hope you enjoyed these photos – if you like them let me know – I’ll be running more of these games at HAVOC, MAYHEM, and HUZZAH!
Mark A. Morin 
