Ogre from Steve Jackson Games

[Wolfdawg]

HHHMMMMM $100.00 american gets a copy of the game... no matter what... but I too amm old schoo; and want metal mini's...

[Too Bo Coo]

I have to ask, because I remember Ogre being advertised in Dragon and WD back in the day, but the concept seemed so silly, 'Sci Fi to be Sci Fi' that I always avoided it.  I really like Car Wars and a few other SJG games, but was Ogre really all that good, or is it nostalgia?

I'm always interested in a really great game, even one I passed up before, but was it really so great?  I'm very interested to hear what people liked about the game, at least previous editions.

[The_Beast]

I have to ask, because I remember Ogre being advertised in Dragon and WD back in the day, but the concept seemed so silly, 'Sci Fi to be Sci Fi' that I always avoided it.  I really like Car Wars and a few other SJG games, but was Ogre really all that good, or is it nostalgia?

I'm always interested in a really great game, even one I passed up before, but was it really so great?  I'm very interested to hear what people liked about the game, at least previous editions.

OGRE had a nice David-and-Goliath feel, as you'd have one massive island slowly worn down, and large numbers of attrition 'mosquitoes' buzzing about.

As for the concept, you'd have to have read and grown old with the Laumer's Bolo series to appreciate it.

Go Dinochrome!

Doug

[matakishi]

Ogre is the best game that Steve Jackson ever made.

[Infojunky]

SJG released the GEV, and it was supposed to be 25/28mm. 

Note it was 1/60th scale, so kinda half way between 15mm and 28mm kinda. Steve was adamant about it matching the are exactly which is why it was kinda funky looking. The Former owners of Armor cast did up a RFP one that was much better looking and a little bigger, but again Steve.

The 15mm MarkIII was a short run garage kit, and the last of them where sold at GZG's ECC a few years ago, I tried to get one as soon as I got the contact info.... Bummer....

[Chuckaroobob]

There was an outfit in Florida USA that had roughly 1/50-ish OGRE stuff, although as far as I know they didn't sell them, just kept them to run demo games at cons.  Saw them once 15 years ago;  Mk5's about 5 feet long, heavy tanks as big as your shoe.  Impressive.  They were named Sci-fi City or something like that.  Anybody else remember them?

I'd like to run something similar but would probably use Kryomek vehicles.  Te only thing I can think of that is even close to the OGRE Mk 3 or 5 would be the also-not-in-production Bauhaus Grizzly from Target Games/Warzone.  It's about 18 inches long, has lots of guns and turrets but doesn't look anything like an Ogre.

[CptJake]

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/465313/ogre

That link is to a guy's Giant Robot OGRE.   I am pretty sure you could to similar with minis, even at 28mm if you chose.

Jake

[CptJake]

I have 3mm (1:600) moderns and love them, I think OGRE would be FANTASTIC at this scale and I would buy into it in a big way.  The moderns are really nice figures and I assume the OGREverse vehicles would be sculpted and cast to a similar quality.

I don't ever picture using my 15mm OGRE in a game of OGRE, BUT have used it in Tomorrow's War, where it is going through restrictive terrain with a minimal escort and the other side is trying to delay it/ambush it.   Think of the partisans trying to blow the bridge to delay the attack in Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls.   Now picture them trying to keep MARS from being able to cross the gorge.   

[The_Beast]

The scale issue with the hex version is a bit of a red herring as the hexes abstract a heck of a lot. In OGRE Miniatures, the whole scale issue gets a weird twist with lateral scale being such that a dot in the center of the fig is where the unit actually lies. Now, the height of the unit is in scale, for LOS to terrain.

I've oft reminisced about Sci-Fi Supply's OGRE games I saw at GenCon in the mid 90's, but only recently found they scaled their 'Macrotures' at 1/35!

http://theminiaturespage.com/man/sfsupply/

FYI The capital ship combat, I'm assuming, was their Star Wars convention game that included a 6'+ Star Destroyer.

Doug

[CptJake]

Would you buy minis of 'not' ogres gev's and the other stuff at that scale? Same weapon loadouts but a different look to the mini?

It would depend...   I like the look of the classic OGRE and the GEVs, but if alternates looked cool, I could see getting them.  I would not want to commit until I saw designs though.

[CptJake]

The Complete Bolo is a great book.

I concur you couldn't directly copy an OGRE. If for no other reason Steve Jackson is very portective of his IP (and rightfully so).

If I was going to re-image them to make Not Ogres I would look at making the main and especially the secondary batteries LOS/NLOS guns vice indirect/high angle fire wapons, each in its own mini turret maybe.   AP would be gattling (though at 1:600 they would be little bumps if visable at all).  I think the missiles would work as a pop up launch rack, looking kind of like rack on a BRDM 2 (but obviously with larger missiles).   I think a mast mounted sensor dome works, we use that type of thing now-a-days. 

Obviously all the other armored vehicles and other weapons are pretty easy to come up with.  Designing a plausable Big Boy would be the key to success in my opinion.

Jake