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 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 (SJG).
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 hex map printed in black-and-white; 112 square counters, each 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.
+OGRE counters rowspan=2 colspan=2 v1 & v2 Gray Blk Wht Command Post 2 colspan=2 OGRE Mk III 3 3 3 Mk V 2 2 2 Howitzer 6 colspan=2 GEV 16 6 Heavy Tank 12 4 Missile Tank 12 4 Infantry 3/1 12 5 2/1 6 3 1/1 6 3
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: / D M where = attack strength = striking distance / range D = defense strength M = 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.
+Armor units Unit / D M Heavy Tank 4/2 D3 M3 Missile Tank 3/4 D2 M2 Light Tank 2/2 D2 M3 Superheavy 6(×2)/3 D5 M3 Howitzer 6/8 D1 M0 Light Artillery Drone (LAD) 2/8 D1 M0 Mobile Howitzer 6/6 D2 M1 Ground Effect Vehicle (GEV) 2/2 D2 M4+3 Light GEV 1/2 D1 M4+3 GEV Personnel Carrier 1/2 D2 M3+2 Missile Crawler 1 Cruise Missile D2 M1 +Infantry units Unit / D M Infantry /1 D M2 Marines Heavy Weapons Team 3/4(×1) + 1/1 D1 M2 Marine Heavy Weapons Team Combat Engineers 2/1 D2 M2 Marine Combat Engineers +OGRE statistics OGRE Weapons Tread Main4/3 D4 2ndry3/2 D2 or D3 AP1/1 D1 MSL6/5 D3 or D4 Mk I 1× 15(M3) Mk II 1× 2×D2 6× 30(M3) Mk III 1× 4×D3 8× 2(×0) 45(M3) "Fencer" 4×D3 8× 20(×4) 45(M3) Mk IV 1× 2×D3 8× 15(×3) 60(M4) "Ninja" 1× 2×D3 8× 6(×1) 40(M4) Mk V 2× 6×D3 12× 6(×0) 60(M3) Mk VI 3× 6×D3 16× 20(×2) 75(M3)
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 +Combat Results Table : : : : : 1 NE NE NE D D 2 NE NE D D X 3 NE D D X X 4 NE D X X X 5 D X X X X 6 X X X X X 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). Alternative URL with cleaned-up text
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 box, and the rules were combined into a single 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).