Ogre

Game description

OGRE is an asymmetrical two-player wargame set in the late 21st century that pits a single giant robot tank called an "OGRE" against the second player's headquarters, defended by a mixture of conventional units, including tanks, infantry, and artillery.

During each player's turn, they may move their unit(s), then engage in combat with the opponent's unit(s) if the movement has brought those unit(s) in range of the weapons on the moved unit(s). After the combat has been resolved by rolling a die for each encounter, the specialized "Ground Effect Vehicle" units may be moved a second time; play then passes to the other player. Victory conditions vary by scenario, but for the OGRE player, the objective generally includes destroying the defender's command post and sometimes also eliminating their forces, and for the defender, the objective is to destroy the OGRE.

Components

The game components of the original 1977 edition published by Metagaming include a 14×9 in (360×230 mm) hex map printed in black-and-white; 112 square counters, each 7⁄16 in (11 mm) on a side, representing military units and machines, printed on sheets of cardboard (but not fully die-cut); and a 20-page rulebook.

The original hex map depicts a battleground of barren terrain with obstacles including raised ridgelines between some adjacent hex cells and large, radioactive craters occupying a full hex cell. The board is 15 hex cells wide and was reduced from 25 to 22 rows with the second edition. In addition, the second edition updated the map with crater graphics. The 1982 edition published by Steve Jackson Games upgraded the map to color printed on glossy paper and expanded the rulebook to 40 pages, but retained similar semi-die-cut counters.

Units

In the original game, the player defending against the OGRE may select from four conventional armor units, in addition to Infantry:

Heavy Tank

Missile Tank

GEV (Ground Effect Vehicle)

Howitzer

Infantry units may be stacked in groups of up to 3 squads, and Infantry counters are provided in corresponding values of 1-, 2-, and 3-squad units. Each conventional unit (including Infantry) carries numerical ratings for attack, defense, and movement, which are marked on the counter corresponding to that unit as follows:

S/R Dx My

where

S = attack strength

R = striking distance / range

Dx = defense strength

My = movement points

The OGRE carries similar attack, range, and defense ratings for each of its weapon systems, and a single movement point rating for the OGRE vehicle itself. OGRE movement ability is determined by its remaining tread points, with damage to the treads resulting in a proportional reduction to available movement points.

Setup

The defender sets up their forces in the more congested northern part of the map; the OGRE controlled by the other player enters the opposite side of the map at the beginning of the game. The map is divided into Northern (rows 7 and lower), Central (rows 8 through 15), and Southern (rows 16 and higher) regions; the defender is required to place their units in the Northern and Central areas, with restrictions on the initial total strength in the Central area, and the OGRE starts from the Southern edge of the map (row 21 or 22).

Several scenarios are provided with the game. Since its initial release, additional scenarios have been described in expansion sets and gaming magazines. The basic version of the game has the attacker using a single OGRE heavy tank (referred to as a "Mark III OGRE"), while the advanced scenario gives the attacker the larger, more powerful "Mark V OGRE" tank versus an increased number of defenders. In either scenario, the defender is given a budget to select several infantry, based on total attack power, and a total number of 'armor units', but the defender is free to choose the exact composition of their own forces, staying within the budget. For example, the defender in the standard (Mark III) scenario is allowed to select any combination of infantry which total 20 attack points, and 12 armor units, counted as one per unit (e.g., one heavy tank is counted as one armor unit) except Howitzers, which count as two units each.

Movement

Each piece has a movement factor which indicates the number of hexes it can move each turn, although certain types of terrain can penalize this. While craters are impassable for all units, infantry and OGREs may cross ridgelines. Maps from later editions of the game have additional features and obstacles that also affect movement.

Most units are restricted to a single move & shoot phase during each turn (move phase first, then combat phase). There are two notable exceptions: GEVs ("ground effect vehicles", which are heavily armored hovercraft) can move both before and after combat, and the OGRE can ram into an enemy unit during its movement phase, possibly destroying the defender.

Combat

Attacks are resolved by comparing the attacking unit's strength to the defending unit's defense strength and rolling a standard (six-sided) die. The attacker must designate a target. All units attacking the same target can combine their attack factors. Likewise, the player of the OGRE can combine the attack factors of its different weapon systems if aimed at the same target. When defending, adjacent or stacked units are considered separate targets and cannot combine their defense factors. In the OGRE, each system is considered a separate target.

The ratio of attack to defense factors are rounded in favor of the defender, and then is looked up in a combat results table with the die roll. For infantry and armor units, there are three possible outcomes: no effect (NE), disabled (D: armor units lose their next turn, and infantry units are decremented by one squad), or destroyed (X). When attacking OGRE weapon systems, there are only two outcomes: no effect or destroyed; the disabled result is considered the same as no effect for OGRE systems.

Strategy

The different types of units available to the defender encourage a combined-arms approach with each type being better than the others in different aspects. Heavy tanks have high attack and defense with moderate speed and low range. Missile tanks have moderate attack and defense with moderate range and low speed. GEVs have very high speed (moving twice per turn), low attack, low range, and moderate defense. Howitzers have very high attack and range but are easily destroyed (once an attacker has managed to get close enough), immobile, and expensive. However, according to the game's designer, this balanced mix of units was not quite right in the first edition; the second edition sped up heavy tanks, slowed down GEVs, and changed the defender's purchasing from "attack factors" to "armor units" (everything is considered equivalent, except howitzers, which are worth two of anything else).

Publication history

In 1960, science fiction author Keith Laumer wrote Combat Unit, the first of many short stories and novellas about large, semi-intelligent tanks called "Bolos". These stories and Colin Kapp's short story "Gottlos" (1969) were major influences in the development of OGRE.

OGRE was designed by American game designer Steve Jackson and published by Metagaming Concepts in 1977 featuring artwork by Winchell Chung. Jackson said his concept arose from the limitations of the "Microgame" format: "Thinking about writing a scenario using maybe 30 counters and just a few hexes, it hit me: give one side one counter. One big counter. After that, it started to fall into place." The game proved popular, and Metagaming quickly released a second edition later the same year, aimed at improving the game's balance, with a much larger print run and rulebook artwork by Clark Bradley rather than Chung.

Steve Jackson Games

When Steve Jackson left Metagaming to found Steve Jackson Games (SJG), he took the rights to OGRE with him and published a new (third) edition in 1982. This third edition featured double-sided counters and reused the Bradley artwork from the second edition; unlike the Metagaming MicroGames, which were housed in a plastic zipper storage bag, the third edition came in a "Pocket Box" clamshell. The board now used a color sheet with artwork by Denis Loubet.

In 1987, SJG released OGRE: Deluxe Edition. The rulebook cover artwork was the Denis Loubet illustration that was also used for the OGRE computer game (see Spinoffs below). The board was printed on a folding cardboard base, sturdier than the previous edition's paper map, and the counters were provided with stand-up plastic bases. Games magazine listed the Deluxe Edition as one of its best games of the year.

In 1990, OGRE was combined with its sequel G.E.V. in a single OGRE/G.E.V. box. The OGRE rules were designated as the 4th edition and the G.E.V. rules were designated as the 3rd edition. The combined OGRE/G.E.V. game was released using a single 5+3⁄8×8+1⁄2 in (140×220 mm) box, and the rules were combined into a single 4×7 in (100×180 mm) two-way booklet, with the rule for one game printed in one direction; the booklet was flipped over to see the other rules. The box for the combined OGRE/G.E.V. was redesigned and the game received a limited re-release in 1995. In 2000, OGRE/G.E.V. was released again and designated as the 5th edition, with new cover art by Phillip Reed, sold in a VHS box, but rules still in a 4" x 7", 44-page booklet and counters in black, red and white (2-sided).

In 2011 Steve Jackson announced a sixth edition, The OGRE Designer's Edition, combining OGRE and G.E.V. with larger full-color flat counters for most units and constructible cardboard figures for the Ogres. In May 2012, the new "Designer's Edition" was funded on Kickstarter, and the game was produced in 2013, with a cover illustrated by Philip Reed, containing five folding map boards, more than 500 counters, and 72 constructible 3-D OGREs and buildings. Numerous accessories were released at the same time, providing additional counters and scenarios. A new "Pocket Edition" of OGRE also was released in 2013, packaged in a resealable plastic bag, similar to the original (1977) MicroGames, and with a rulebook bearing the original artwork from Winchell Chung. The new Pocket Edition uses the original unit types with a version of the sixth edition rules modified to suit. A separate Sixth Edition boxed boardgame was released in December 2016, providing the updated rules and units from the Designer's Edition at a more affordable price.

Other in-universe boardgames

Steve Jackson created a sequel, G.E.V. (1978), which is compatible with OGRE and adds terrain effects on movement, new units, and rules for stacking units on a single hex cell. After leaving Metagaming to form Steve Jackson Games, Jackson also designed and published Battlesuit (1983), which is set in the same fictional universe as OGRE and G.E.V., but concentrates on person-to-person battles instead and is not compatible with the earlier games.

Ogre Miniatures is a book first published in 1992 with a cover illustrated by Jeff Mangiat; this included the rules for both OGRE and G.E.V. and revised them to use miniatures instead of counters, by changing weapon ranges from hex cells to physical measurements in inches and describing a rescaled map to suit miniatures. A "new" Deluxe OGRE (2000) was a re-issue of OGRE Miniatures, bundled with miniatures, and the original "crater" map was re-printed on a larger scale.

Expansions

There have been three major expansions to OGRE, each adding new units and rules, since its initial release: Shockwave (1984), Reinforcement Pack (1985), and Battlefields (2000).

Steve Jackson promised an expansion to OGRE and G.E.V. for Origins '83; the first expansion, Shockwave, was released in 1984, packaged in a familiar plastic zipper bag. Shockwave added many new units and buildings, including corresponding counters, and came with a map designed to be placed adjacent to any side of the map included in G.E.V., expanding the playing surface. The next expansion was the Ogre Reinforcement Pack, released in 1985, which mainly included replacements for lost counters and maps from the prior releases of OGRE, G.E.V., and Shockwave, but also included a few new rules for towing. In 1987, the magazine Space Gamer published a rule expansion, allowing players to design an OGRE.

Steve Jackson announced he was developing the Ogre Battlefields expansion in February 2000, and released it in January 2001; Battlefields includes new maps and specialized Militia and Engineer Infantry units. In late 2018, SJG ran a Kickstarter for a new OGRE Battlefields, an update and expansion for both the Designer's Edition and the Sixth Edition.

Reception

In the April–June 1977 edition The Space Gamer (Issue No. 11), Robert C. Kirk concluded that the 1977 edition of "OGRE is attractive, easy to learn, inexpensive, and fun to play. What more can a gamer ask?" In the next edition of The Space Gamer, William A. Peterson commented that "It is fast, simple, and fun. Its bad points, while annoying, can be ignored."

In Issue 11 of Dragon, Tony Watson wrote, "The nice thing about OGRE is that after you've played a game there's usually time for one more. Thus, you can rectify perceived flaws in your defense or experiment with a new mix or set-up immediately, while the new ideas are still fresh in your mind. Such experimentation is always interesting, and certainly the best way to learn good play." Seven issues later, Jerry Eperson called OGRE "one of those games that get their hook into you the minute you play them [...] But hidden in the game are small subtleties that can only be found after playing OGRE several times."

In the August–September 1977 edition of White Dwarf (Issue 2), Martin Easterbrook began his review of Metagaming Concepts' original 1977 edition by saying "Be warned: this game could become a craze" adding that "the idea of the microgames themselves is remarkable enough in itself". He gave the game an above-average rating of 8 out of 10 but criticized the game's title and "flimsy equipment, weak infantry".

In Issue 32 of the British wargaming magazine Perfidious Albion, Charles Vasey and Nicky Palmer traded views on the game. Palmer was not a fan, calling it a "badly produced fiddlesticks of a game [featuring] a virtually featureless black & white mapboard the size of a pocket book, all hits to be recorded on scrap paper, units requiring scissors to cut them off strips, stacks of finger-nail thin paper card." Vasey replied, "The age of the disposal game is with us, like it or not ... The microgames are CHEAP, they are intended to be ... I rather think that given the present crowded market, had Metagaming not taken the decision to produce as they did, they might well have never risked it at all, and the hobby would have been the poorer."

In the inaugural edition of Ares (March 1980), David Ritchie gave the game a "very good" rating of 7 out of 9, commenting, "The first of the MicroGames, OGRE started an avalanche of small, fast, playable games [...] A Panzer freak's ultimate dream."

Spin-offs

Video games

The video game Ogre was published in 1986 by Origin Systems for Apple II, Amiga, Atari 8-bit computers, Atari ST, Commodore 64, IBM PC compatibles, and Mac.

A modern version of the game was released for Windows in 2017, with "Console Edition" versions for PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One following in 2022, developed and published by Auroch Digital. It received mixed reviews according to Metacritic.

Board games

Other board games based on OGRE include:

Diceland: OGRE, a paper dice game by Cheapass Games.

Shockwave, an expansion that introduced new unit types including cruise missiles and a map that could be used with the G.E.V. map.

Miniatures and miniatures wargaming

Martian Metals produced the first set of OGRE miniatures under license from Metagaming Concepts in 1979.

OGRE Miniatures, an adaptation of the game to miniature wargaming using 1:285 scale miniatures, was produced by SJG in 1991.

A set of OGRE miniatures was also developed by Ral Partha.

Role-playing games

GURPS OGRE (2000) is a supplement using the rules system from the universal role-playing game GURPS.

Books

The OGRE Book (1982) is a collection of articles and rules variants from The Space Gamer. It was reissued in 2001, and expanded from 40 pages to 128 with further retrospective from Steve Jackson.

Awards

At the 1979 Origins Awards, OGRE miniatures produced by Martian Metals won the H.G. Wells Award for "Best Vehicular Model Series of 1978".

At the 1992 Origins Award, two OGRE-related products won awards:

OGRE Miniatures, produced by SJG, was awarded Best Miniatures Rules of 1991.

A set of OGRE miniatures developed by Ral Partha won Best Vehicular Miniatures Series of 1991.

In 1996, Computer Gaming World named the 1986 video game OGRE produced by Origin Systems the 130th-best computer game ever released.

In 2001, 34 years after OGRE's original publication, The Wargamer presented Steve Jackson Games with a special Award for Excellence for the "OGRE/G.E.V. game system and Steve Jackson Games' efforts to expand and support it."

Other reviews and commentary

Different Worlds No. 9 (Aug–Sept 1980)

Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine

The Last Province No. 2 (Dec 1992)

Games & Puzzles #69, 81

Galileo

Analog Science Fiction and Fact

Abyss #13