gaming conventions – Mark A. Morin

10 Games of Wars of Ozz at TotalCon 38!

TotalCon 38 was held in Marlborough, Massachusetts between February 22^nd, and February 25^th, 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 22^nd, 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 22^nd, 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 22^nd, 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 23^rd, 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 23^rd, 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 23^rd, 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 24^th, 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 24^th, 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 24^th, 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.

Game 10 – Sunday Morning, February 25^th, at 10 AM

Scenario: “The Battle for Toto.” 8 players out of 8 slots.

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!

My TotalCon 37 wrap up – 5 games of Feudal Patrol in 4 days! Lots of pics too!

This was a fun convention. I promised that I’d share some photos and some descriptions of the 5 games that I ran here at TotalCon 37. The five games were all Feudal Patrol^TM games using my Civilizations Collide supplement. Check out the photos to see what it was all about – and if you played you might just recognize yourself! There are a LOT of photos – hell I ran 5 games!

It’s not easy to both run a game and take pictures. Let me add a caveat – it’s not easy to do both and do justice to the game and to the players’ needs. I was fortunate this time that a lot of the players had experience with Feudal Patrol^TM and were very helpful to the new players. It’s been a week since the end of TotalCon 37 – so without further ado, let me get into the games that I ran.

Raid to Satisfy Huitzilopochtli

This game took place on Thursday the 24th at 1 PM. It pits the Aztecs against the Tlaxcalans before the Spanish Conquest. I have run this game many times – and it has won awards at both HUZZAH! and Fall In in 2022. I had not run it at TotalCon, so I thought it appropriate to do so.

I had 8 players for the game.

Happy gamers ready for battle. The Aztec players are on the right, the Tlaxcalan players are on the left.

The Aztecs assault in the middle faltered due to accurate bow shots of the Tlaxcalans. On the Aztec left, a force of Arrow Knights and Jaguar Warriors took the long way around hoping to flank the defenders. On the Aztec right, a veteran/novice force moved up – reinforces by the elite Shorn Ones – and also took some casualties before making it to the very gates of the Temple and the Tlaxcalan leader Xayacamach.

Despite the Tlaxcalan bows, melee finally happens.

At this point, the Tlaxcalan leader Xayacamach sortied with his signaler, put himself at personal risk, and engaged the Aztecs. His actions reversed the Aztec elites’ attack. The Tlaxcalans also held off the Aztec veterans who were on their left flank and threatening a food resource. back on the Aztec left, the long march of the Arrow Knights and the Jaguar Warriors reached a critical juncture with a threat to the Tlaxcalan corn supply and the rear of their bowmen. With the middle assault no longer a threat, the Tlaxcalan bows redeployed to face the new threat. Loosing a deadly barrage, they killed the Aztec Warband Leader and scattered the remaining attackers.

The final score was 95-41 in favor of the defending Tlaxcalans.

La Noche Triste – Bloodbath on the Tacuba Causeway

I had 7 players for this game which took place on Friday the 24th in the morning.

The Tlaxcalans on the mainland managed to drive the Shorn Ones away from the causeway entrance. Meanwhile, the Spanish took a long time to get the bridge installed – and by that time the war canoes were hitting them with missile fire from two sides. The rear guard lost a couple of cavalrymen, but managed to perform their role well against a surge of Jaguar Warriors.

The Tlaxcalans engage the Shorn Ones with missile fire – and eventually drive them away.

The war canoes made an effort to harry the Conquistadores.

After Turn 4 the bridge is automatically installed and the Spanish get a “Burst of Exuberance” move as they try to make it to the mainland! This was an important objective as getting as few as 1 figure to the mainland would negate a 100 VP for the Aztecs.

On the last card of the last turn, the Spanish had one chance to get at least one figure to the mainland – Cortes’ Catholic priest. The priest had 11″ to sprint – and made 14″! (Good thing he had no armor to weigh him down!).

That effectively took away 100 free points for the Aztecs and won the game for the Conquistadores at the last possible moment. The final score was 71-22. Had the Spanish failed, the score would have been 122-71.

The Battle of Lake Texcoco

On Saturday the 25th, I ran two massive games of the Battle of Lake Texcoco, one in the morning, and one in the afternoon.

Morning Game

The morning game was all mayhem – lots of boarding, canoe ramming, and cannon fire. I had seven players.

Close up of El Dolar and the dashboard for this brigantine.

El Dolar ran aground and was swarmed by Aztec boarders. The other vessels continued towards their goal of shelling the Aztec capital (at the end of the mat where the Aztec players were).

El Gregorio, El Marcos, and El Perro de Guerra moved up to the city (well El Gregorio slammed into it at full speed but got lucky on damage). Cannon fire from El Marcos and El Gregorio rocked Tenochtitlan for 50 points apiece.

The battle was cinematic to be sure. In the end, the Spanish won 383-269 – with their successful artillery fire gaining the win.

Afternoon Game

I then reset and ran this game again with 8 players – unfortunately with fewer photos.

I brief the gamers for game two (photo by Peter Bostwick).

In this game, there was a lot less boarding by the Aztecs and a lot more ramming of war canoes – sinking a lot of them. As a result, it was a bigger Spanish victory – 391-145. The brigantines El Conquistador, El Perro de Guerra, and El Marcos all hit Tenochtitlan with solid shot for 150 VP.

Arofan Gregory took a very nice photograph of El Marcos (thank you sir) and put it on Facebook – and I’ll share it below:

The Battle of Centla

This was a very full game – 12 players on Sunday!

The Maya were fighting a delaying action – they needed to keep the Spanish from reaching the city or incapacitate half of them. The Spanish needed to incapacitate half of the Maya or reach the city. The Maya can randomly get reinforcements from the dead pile – making it harder for the Spanish to reach that 50% Maya killed level. The Spanish get no reinforcements.

Meanwhile, Tabscoob’s (the Maya chieftain) leadership held his forces together – but taking on the Spanish directly in melee did not go their way.

In the end the Maya were unlucky with reinforcements and the Spanish were effective in their onslaught – resulting in a historical repeat – a Conquistador win.

I really want to thank all the players and especially Leif Magnuson, Brad Gosselin, and Chris Comeau who went above and beyond. I also want thank the whole staff – its a big convention and takes a lot of work. I want to highlight the work of Steven Parenteau and all his staff. Lastly, a big thanks to the incredibly helpful Bryan Clauss who headed up the miniatures section and who assisted in getting me the right table sizes.

Painting Contest

Finally, like last year, there was a painting contest. This year, I entered my Conquistador cavalry in the unit category – and won! Yay!

That’s it for TotalCon 37!

Going forward, I’ll be bringing “The Battle of Lake Texcoco” and “The Battle of Centla” to HMGS Cold Wars next week, plus “The Surprise Raid on the Spanish Outpost”. At the end of March, at HAVOC, I’ll be bringing “The Battle of Lake Texcoco” and “The Battle of Centla” as well as two “Wars of Ozz” games. I need to submit my games for HUZZAH! in May – and I’ll be doing that shortly.

I hope that you enjoyed this post – it’s been hectic with preparing for these conventions all so closely spaced together – but in the end I was very happy with how TotalCon 37 went – and I hope to repeat this at the other two planned gaming conventions.

	Kuribo on Wars of Ozz at MAYHEM 202…
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Game 1 – Thursday Morning, February 22nd, at 8 AM

Game 2 – Thursday Afternoon, February 22nd, at 1 PM

Game 3 – Thursday Evening, February 22nd, at 7 PM

Game 4 – Friday Morning, February 23rd, at 8 AM

Game 5 – Friday Afternoon, February 23rd, at 1 PM

Game 6 – Friday Evening, February 23rd, at 7 PM

Game 7 – Saturday Morning, February 24th, at 8 AM

Game 8 – Saturday Afternoon, February 24th, at 1 PM

Game 9 – Saturday Evening, February 24th, at 7 PM

Game 10 – Sunday Morning, February 25th, at 10 AM

Raid to Satisfy Huitzilopochtli

La Noche Triste – Bloodbath on the Tacuba Causeway

The Battle of Lake Texcoco

Morning Game

Afternoon Game

The Battle of Centla

Painting Contest

Game 1 – Thursday Morning, February 22^nd, at 8 AM

Game 2 – Thursday Afternoon, February 22^nd, at 1 PM

Game 3 – Thursday Evening, February 22^nd, at 7 PM

Game 4 – Friday Morning, February 23^rd, at 8 AM

Game 5 – Friday Afternoon, February 23^rd, at 1 PM

Game 6 – Friday Evening, February 23^rd, at 7 PM

Game 7 – Saturday Morning, February 24^th, at 8 AM

Game 8 – Saturday Afternoon, February 24^th, at 1 PM

Game 9 – Saturday Evening, February 24^th, at 7 PM

Game 10 – Sunday Morning, February 25^th, at 10 AM