Ogre (board game)

Ogre

Ogre microgame cover (Second edition, 1977)
Publishers	Metagaming Concepts
Publication	1977
Genres	Board wargame

Ogre is a science fiction board wargame designed by the American game designer Steve Jackson and published by Metagaming Concepts in 1977 as the first microgame in its MicroGame line. When Steve Jackson left Metagaming to form his own company, he took the rights to Ogre with him, and all subsequent editions have been produced by Steve Jackson Games.

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 tanks, infantry, and artillery.^[1][2] .^[3]

Components[]

The game components of the 1982 edition published by Steve Jackson Games are:^[4]

• a 14" x 9" map, printed on glossy paper
• counters representing military units and machines, printed on sheets of cardboard (but not die-cut)
• a 40-page rulebook

Setting[]

The hex map depicts a battleground of barren terrain with only ridgelines and large, radioactive craters as obstacles.

Setup[]

The defender sets up his forces in the more congested part of the map; the Ogre controlled by the other player enters the opposite side of the map at the beginning of the game.^[5]

Several scenarios are given. 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.^[1] In either game, the defender is allocated a certain number of infantry and 'armor units', but gets to decide the exact composition of his own armored forces.^[2]

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.^[4] Most units are restricted to "move & shoot" phases each turn (move phase first, then combat phase).^[4] There are two notable exceptions:

• GEVs can move both before and after combat^[4]
• The Ogre can ram into an enemy unit during its movement phase, possibly destroying the defender^[4]

Combat[]

Attacks are resolved by comparing the attacking unit's strength to the defending unit's defense strength. All units attacking the same unit 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.^[4] 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 is referenced on a table. For Ogre systems, either attacking or defending, there are only two outcomes: no effect, or destroyed. For infantry and armor units, there are three possible outcomes:

• no effect
• disabled (armor units lose their next turn, infantry units lose one strength point)
• destroyed

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.^[6] 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.^[6] G.E.V.s ("ground effect vehicles"—roughly, heavily armored hovercraft^[1]) have very high speed (moving twice per turn),^[2] low attack, low range, and moderate defense. Howitzers have very high attack and range^[7] but are easily destroyed (once an attacker has managed to get close enough), immobile, and expensive.^[2] 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 G.E.V.s, 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).^[8]

Publication history[]

Ogre Mk.III and Mk.III-B miniatures, on the 'crater map' from the Ogre Deluxe set.

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.^[1][9]

Ogre was designed by American game designer Steve Jackson and published by Metagaming Concepts in 1977 featuring artwork by Winchell Chung. The game proved popular, and Metagaming quickly released a second edition later the same year, with a much larger print run and rulebook artwork by Clark Bradly rather than Chung.^[10]

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. SJG also created a sequel, G.E.V.

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 sturdier than the previous edition's paper map, and the counters were provided with stand-up plastic bases.^[10][11]

In 1990, Ogre was combined with G.E.V. in an Ogre/G.E.V. box. The Ogre rules were designated as 4th edition and the G.E.V. rules were designated as 3rd edition. Ogre/G.E.V. was released into a single 5 3/8" x 8 1/2" box, and the rules were combined into a single 4" x 7" two-way booklet, with the rule for one game printed in one direction; the booklet was flipped over to see the other rules.

In 2000, Ogre/G.E.V. was released again and designated as 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).^[12]

A "new" Deluxe Ogre (2000) was a re-issued version of the original Ogre, packaged with miniatures rather than counters, and the original "crater" map printed on a larger scale.^[13]

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.^[14][15]

In May 2012, a new Designer's Edition of Ogre was funded on Kickstarter.com.^[16]

In late 2018, SJG ran a Kickstarter for Ogre Battlefields, an update and expansion for both the Designer's Edition and the Sixth Edition.^[17]

In 2020, SJG released a updated pocketbox version of Ogre with a 16-page manual and 112 counters, along with updated pocket box versions of G.E.V., Battlesuit, and Shockwave.^[18]

In 2021, as part of a Kickstarter campaign, SJG released 1976 Ogre Playtest Booklet, a reproduction of the original typewritten playtest set for the first version of Ogre.^[19]

Reception[]

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".^[1]

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?"^[5]

In the next edition of The Space Gamer (Issue No. 12, July–August 1977), William A. Peterson commented that "It is fast, simple, and fun. Its bad points, while annoying, can be ignored."^[20]

In the inaugural edition of Ares (March 1980), David Ritchie gave the game a below average rating of 6 out of 9, commenting,"The first of the MicroGames, Ogre started an avalanche of small, fast, playable games [...] A Panzer freak's ultimate dream."^[21]

In Issue 30 of Phoenix (March-April 1981), Michael Stoner thought the counters of the original Metagaming Concepts edition were flimsy and sometimes diffcult to read, but otherwise called Ogre "an excellent 'fun' game, taking less than an hour to play and easy to teach."^[22]

In the August 1982 edition of Dragon (Issue 64), Tony Watson reviewed the first reissue by Steve Jackson Games, and called Ogre "a legend in the ranks of SF gamedom, and deservedly so... as well as being a lot of fun to play, it's an interesting extrapolation on high-tech armoured warfare". Watson noted that the rules had remained essentially the same in the new edition, the most significant changes being to the physical design—with larger (still black and white) counters, and full colour maps by Denis Loubet. Watson also welcomed the retention of the original artwork alongside new pieces — "no one draws a GEV or Ogre like Mr. Chung". He concluded with a strong recommendation, saying it "would make a fine addition to any gamer's collection."^[4]

In the April 1989 edition of G.M. (Vol. 1, Issue 8), Johnny Razor reviewed OGRE: Deluxe Edition and highlighted the game's ease of introduction and short playing time, but pointed out that most gamers either like the game or loathe it.^[11]

In the August 1991 edition of Dragon (Issue 172), Allen Varney reviewed the combined Ogre/G.E.V. edition of 1991, and stated, "[The] two simulation board games of armored combat on a future battlefield are among the best the field has ever seen: fast, elegant, and endlessly replayable". While praising the production values of the 2-color playing pieces, Varney found the box somewhat 'flimsy'. He concluded, "These twin classics shouldn't be missed."^[23]

Ogre was chosen for inclusion in the 2007 book Hobby Games: The 100 Best. Game designer Erick Wujcik commented " I think [Ogre's] success really boils down to four essentials: Ogre is fast, ... asymmetrical, ... open-ended, ... [and] is a teaching tool. Ogre had restructured my mind pretty completely ... but it wasn't until 2002 ... that I realized how effective Ogre is at getting across so many important component mechanisms of play and design [...] Gameplay summons to mind a futuristic nightmare of desperation and exhilaration, where rumbling machines unleash barrage after barrage of titanic weaponry and the inexorable advance of a soulless giant can only be stopped by zinging swarms of self-sacrificing martyrs."^[2]

Awards[]

Deluxe Ogre won the Wargamer Award for Excellence in 2001.^[3]

Other reviews[]

• White Wolf #9 (1988) - Ogre: Deluxe Edition

Spin-offs[]

Video games[]

Computer adaptations were released in 1986 as Ogre by Origin Systems, Inc. for Apple II, Amiga, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, and Macintosh,^[24][25] In 1996, Computer Gaming World named the Origin edition the 130th-best computer game ever released.^[26]

Board games[]

Other games based on Ogre include:

• Shockwave, an expansion that introduced new unit types including cruise missiles and a map that could be used with the G.E.V. map.^[27]
• Ogre Miniatures, an adaptation of the game to miniature wargaming, using 1:285 scale miniatures.^[28] This adaptation won the 1992 Origins Award for Best Miniatures Rules.^[29] In addition to miniatures from Steve Jackson Games, a set of Ogre miniatures was also developed by Ral Partha which won the 1992 Origins Award for Best Vehicular Miniatures Series.^[29] The first set of Ogre miniatures, produced by Martian Metals under license of Metagaming Concepts in 1979,^[13] won the H.G. Wells Award for Best Vehicular Model Series of 1979.^[30]
• Diceland: Ogre, a paper dice game by Cheapass Games.^[31]

Role-playing games[]

• GURPS Ogre (2000) is a supplement using the rules system from the universal role-playing game GURPS.^[32][33]

Books[]

• The OGRE Book (1982) is a collection of articles and rules variants from The Space Gamer. It was reissued in 2001, expanded from 40 pages to 128 with further retrospective from Steve Jackson.^[10]

References[]

External links[]

• Steve Jackson Games' Ogre page
• Ogre at BoardGameGeek
• Ogre at MobyGames
• Ogre Kickstarter Project page
• Winchell Chung's page and his Ogre artwork