Something Wicked…. Gaming in the Land of Oz

by Sally 4th | Nov 16, 2024 | Wars of Ozz | 0 comments

For those of a certain age, Christmas would not be Christmas without a seasonal viewing of ‘The Wizard of Oz’. Over the years the magic has been rekindled and introduced to new generations with new tales set in Oz, ‘The Wiz’, ‘Return to Oz’, ‘Oz the Great and Powerful’ ‘Wicked’ the stage show which releases as a feature film next week! While most of us have heard of ‘The Wizard of Oz’ and are aware of it’s icons such as flying monkeys, Munchkin, wicked witches, tinmen, Dorothy and cowardly lions there is in fact a whole world more to explore, which makes Oz a perfect venue for gaming on all levels from Role Playing through skirmish to huge set piece battles.

I’m planning a series of hobby blog articles to take a look at the gaming potential of Oz from RPG to mass fantasy battle and the models that are available to support this.

Several years ago, Russ Dunway owner of Old Glory miniatures launched a ‘Wars of Ozz’ range of miniatures. This is by far and away the most comprehensive range of miniatures for games set in Oz, so I will mainly be reviewing and referencing these, however I am happy to review and feature any other Ozz miniatures or publications. If you are a manufacturer or publisher that has an ‘Ozz’ product just drop me an email at ‘sally4thgames@gmail.com’ to arrange a review.

Russ has been a life long fan of L.Frank Baum’s world of Ozz, however his ‘Wars of Oz’ vision takes the original works and extends it in many interesting and exciting ways. Russ has many, many decades of experience as the premier US produce of gaming miniatures. Old Glory have miniatures for pretty much every period from the Bronze Age to the Space Age, with many periods covered in multiple scales as well. In this extensive catalogue, Old Glory have plenty of the traditional fantasy Elves, Dwarves, Goblins & Orcs, but Russ felt that in many ways mass fantasy battle gaming had become a bit of a cliché, stuck in a constant reimagining of a Tolkinesque world, so he wanted to try something refreshingly new and original. Gathering together the rule writing talent of John ‘Buck’ Surdu (Gaslight, Combat Patrol, Feudal Patrol and many others) and the creative genius of ‘Zeb’ Cook who wrote much of the early AD&D source material the ‘Wars of Oz’ world was launched.

‘Wars of Oz’ takes the world of L. Frank Baum and recasts it in a post-apocalyptic world!

“Nobody remembers what it was like before the war, dear Tom. That is the point of war,” explained Scarecrow the Wise. “War erases the past like the farmer ploughing a field so fresh seed can grow instead of the weeds of yesteryear. That is what makes war so wonderful.”

“The history of Ozz begins at the end, when the Madness Bombs fell, and the Last Great War lurched and capered to its end. All that remained were howling hordes marauding across the burnt and broken land. The Last Great War was over.”

After the war was over the virus, active in the madness bombs caused the ‘Age of Mutations’.

“Even before the Madness had burned itself away, strange creatures started to appear among the survivors. Nobody knows what triggered the mutations. Some say it was the work of the scientist-kings of the Last Great war, using technology that has been long lost. Others contend it was the result of the war-poisoned land that reeked of toxic vapors and foul waters. Whatever the cause, mutations of all shapes and sizes spontaneously occurred.”

The Age of Mutations gave rise to all of the wonderful variations of life that makes Ozz unique and so much fun. We have four main humanoid variations, the Munchkin, Quadling, Gilikin and Winkies. These of course appear in the source books and films. Technology is set mainly in a ‘black powder’ horse and musket era. The humanoid peoples dress in a similar way to Napoleonic and Eighteenth Century soldiers and are armed with muskets and cannons. The mutations have also thrown out a whole host of fantastical creatures including giant pumpkin heads, flying monkeys, giants, walking trees and intelligent mice. This is in fact the genius of the ‘Ozz’ vision, there is no limit to the mutations that can be uncovered in Ozz so the peoples and creatures that were first introduced in the ‘Wars of Ozz’ rulebook have been added to with Kingdoms of Rat Corsairs, Barbarian Ducks, Swamp Creatures, Mechanical Men, Nomes, Mice and much more.

Munchkin Infantry stand firm against the charge of the Great Pumpkin Heads

Over the course of the next few weeks I will put an article together looking at each of the factions that make up the world of ‘Ozz’, together with a scale comparison page that compares the different factions within the range as well as comparing to other manufacturers ranges.

Mass fantasy battles are at the centre of ‘Wars of Ozz’ but there is also potential for skirmish gaming using rules such as Pulp Alley, Combat Patrol and in Her Majesties Name, so we will take a look at these as well as the potential for role playing (RPG) adventures.