On New Years Eve I went to the cinema with my wife to watch ‘Wicked’. I’d not really heard that much about it before we went, other than it was based on a musical stage show that was based on a novel that was based on L.Frank Baum’s 1900 ‘The Wizard of Oz’! That all sounded very interesting as I am already a fan of Ozz based miniatures and gaming using Old Glory’s Wars of Ozz miniature range and Buck Surdu’s ‘Wars of Ozz’ rules for large scale battles in Oz and David Phipps ‘Pulp Alley’ for character & plot driven narrative style skirmish miniature adventures.
I was captivated by the visual spectacle, the music and the premise for the story. Wicked is set within the ‘Wizard of Oz’ storyline and does not contradict any of the established story line, it rather retells it from a different perspective. The lead character is Elphaba, first daughter to a Munchkin ambassador / missionary living amongst the Quadlings. She was, mysteriously, born with green skin pigmentation. As a result of that she is rejected by her family and just about everyone else in there society. Despite this prejudice and resulting discrimination Elphaba grows up to be a caring and thoughtful young woman who displays a raw talent for channelling magic. At university this talent is discovered and nurtured, but Elphaba also discovers that another greater injustice is underway in Oz and that secretly intelligent, sentient animals are being persecuted. Elphaba eventually gets to see The Wizard in the Emerald City. It is expected that she will ask him to remove her green pigmentation so that she will be accepted in society but instead she asks for protection for the sentient animals of Oz. This does not go down well and the film ends with Elphaba fleeing on a broomstick from the Emerald City.
I have purchased a copy of the first ‘Wicked Years’ novel (I believe there are four in print with a prequel being released in March focusing on Elphaba’s childhood), but I’ve not read it yet, so these initial thoughts for gaming are based completely on what I took from the movie and will be updated as I discover more. At University (Shiz), Elphaba forms a complicated relationship with Galenda, who goes on to become Glenda the Good beloved witch of the Munchkin. There is a Winkie Prince, Fiyero who is a love interest for both Elphaba and Galenda but I think he eventually joins Elphaba. so I am going to include him as Elphaba’s sidekick. Initially Elphaba’s league is going to include a collection of sentient animals. The main sentient animal in the film was a Goat called Doctor Dillamond. I’ve not found a miniature for a sentient Goat yet, I may need to convert one, so for now I have painted a sentient Bear, Cat, Weasel, Wolf and Owl. These are all plastic miniatures from Dungeons & Lasers Animal Companions set. I also have Gilikin and Winkie characters and soldiers who could feature in her league from time to time. My Elphaba miniature has been constructed from the Frostgrave Wizards II (female wizards) plastic box set and Fiyero is from Dungeons & Lasers Townsfolk box set. I may change the miniature that I use to represent him over time, as he maybe looks a little to serious and mature for the Fiyero we saw in the film, but when I looked through my stock of unpainted miniatures he looked like the best match I had for a ‘Prince Charming’ type character. If you can think of a better miniature to use, or any other miniatures / characters I should add to the league, please let me know in the comments!
This is the Old Glory, Glenda the Good miniature that I already had painted. I think that she will become the leader of a rival league of Munchkin & Quadlings attempting to thwart Elphaba in her mission to save the sentient animals.
This is how I’ve defined Fiyero at the moment for Pulp Alley. He is strong, intelligent and witty and a very good swordsman.
These are some of the characters that I have painted up already from the Wars of Ozz range. Standing front right we have The Wizard.
This is the closest model to Elphaba from the existing Wars of Ozz range. If you’d rather not put something together from plastic parts, this is the model to go for. She’s called Arella the Witch. She’s a lovely model. I already have her painted and have used her in a lot of games, but I was looking for a model to represent a younger Elphaba at the start of her journey to become ‘The Wicked Witch of the West’!!
It’s not going to be Oz without Dorothy and her companions. This is the Adventures of Ozz pack that contains the Kansas farmgirl, her dog, scarecrow, lion and tinman. I already have a Pulp Alley league defined for these characters!
The War’s of Ozz range already contains a huge number of models of sentient animals (just no sentient Goats yet Russ?) Pictured above are some Salatians (sentient Frogs & Toads) and pictured below are some Quackies (sentient Ducks). The Ozz range also includes sentient Rabbits, Rats and Mice.
Over the course of the campaign I can see Elphaba meeting and allying with all of these sentient species as part of her quest to preserve there rights and existence within Oz.
Useful Links
Free PDF download of Oz / Wicked inspired characters for Pulp Alley
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