Ogre
A Review
by William A. Peterson
by William A. Peterson
Fidelity of Simulation ("Realism"): 1It has often been said of many different things that "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts." This, as can be seen from the ratings above, is certainly true of Ogre. Going by the average of the other scores, Ogre should only rate about 4.5 (on a scale of 0 to 10), yet the game gives the impression of being much better than a $2.95 game should be. This is probably because I, along with most gamers, am more interested in a good game than a pretty box. Be that as it may, Ogre is still far from perfect, and I think that an explanation of my ratings whill show why.
Game Mechanics (Playability): 7
Physical Quality: 1
Graphics (Artwork): 3
Player's Aids (Bookkeeping): 0
Rules Clarity: 9
Game Speed: 8
Game Balance: 8
Game as a Whole: 7
Fidelity of Simulation: "Realism" is a ridiculous term to use when describing a Fantasy or Science Fiction game, but a game must still have a background, a basic framework governing what pacas place during the game. In fact, Steve Jackson's "Notes on the Ogre" in TSG #9 that convinced me to buy Ogre The preface on pages 2 and 3 of the rules booklet further added to this background. It's only after you start reading the rules that problems develop; powered armor infantry, presumably equipped with jet belts, are incapable of crssing any type of terrain except clear; Heavy tanks aren't very heavy (even in relation to conventional units); Ogres can overrun enemy units with devastating effect (especially platoons of infantry with jet belts and 40mm of armor tougher than steel), but can't climb into a lousy little 500m wide crater; yet, this same type of crater affords absolutely nothing in the way of cover, concealment, and/or protection; and, although everyone in the game is armed with high-power nuclear weapons, there are no additional craters formed, nor can any one attack affect more than one weapon system on the Ogre (but the Ogre can easily wipe out three platoons of armored infantry). Also, with each hex representing 500m, you'd think the stacking limit might be greater than "1". All this might be nitpicking, but minor details like this detract seriously from the flavor of the game.
Playability: This is one of Ogre's strongpoints. The game mechanics are smooth, if unoriginal (PanzerBlitz fans should really like this game). As with most games, all the negative aspects listed under realism become positive aspects here. There is some dirt here, though, especially when shooting at the Ogre's movement points (roll one die per attacker, 5 or 6 kills one point per attack factor). All in all, however, it is a 'clean' game.
Physical Quality: What do you get for your $2.95? Just from appearances, the answer is 'not much.' Ogre includes a 9"x14" sheet of paper, laughingly called a map (even given that the format limited them to black and white, couldn't they have put in something more than solid hexes and hexsides?), a 4"x7" 20-page rules booklet (including a garish two-color cover illustration, two ads, the preface, the credits, and an example of play, amounting to 12 pages of actual rules and charts), 112 unit counters (black on grey or white; 7/16" square; semi-die-cut, which means you have to cut them out; and including no fewer than 15 Ogres, somewhat excessive since 2 are a match for all the other units combined), and a plastic bag in why to try and store them in (open topped, not ziplocked). Don't try to play Ogre outdoors on a windy day. The component quality is, however, slightly better than that of Gar-Garouk, produced by Eagle Games (their stuff was so bad, even JAGDPanther dropped their line).
Graphics: Only the interior illustrations can save Ogre's rating here. The color illustration is red and black on white, and looks awful; the map has, for terrain, solid black hexes (craters) and solid black hexsides (rubble) which might as well not be there; and on page 9, the rules are partially obscured by a superimposed picture of an infantryman. At least Gar-Garouk had swamps (and cost $1.95 less, too).
Bookkeeping: The only bookkeeping needed in the game is to record damage to the Ogre. Although a sample damage record is included in the rules, it is up to the player to make his own. A nuisance, but, as the Ogre player has nothing else to do while the defender sets up anyway, it's not too big a problem.
Rules Clarity: Ogre's best point. It even beats Stellar Conquest at this. I had almost no problems understanding the rules, except for page 9 (see Graphics).
Game Speed: This game was intended from the very beginning to be a fast mover, and it is. The maximum number of units on the board is about 50, and this gets whittled down very quickly. Also, with most units having an MA of 2, there's not much to the movement phase. Combat is also over quickly, since the Ogre can out-run and out-range practically every other unit on the board. Although there are a lot of turns per game (about 10-20), the turns only last about 60-120 seconds each (average), making for a very short game.
Game Balance: Here I have a somewhat unusual complaint. The balance between the two sides is basically very good, (at least in the two regular scenarios) so that it is never certain until the last moment who is going to win (unless one side has made a big mistake). The unbalance comes when the defender selects his forces, according to a certain total of attack factors, (i.e. 1 Mk. III Ogre vs. 20 infantry factors and 35 armor factors). Consider: All units move 2 hexes/turn, except Ogres (MA 3) and GEVs (MA 4 plus another MA 4 after combat). Also, these GEVs have the same range as a heavy tank, 2/3 the defense factor, and half the attack factor (with the ability to combine attacks), which means that the GEVs are incredibly superior to all other non-Ogre units on a per-combat-factor basis. Actually, as it is the only unit which can regularly get a shot off at the Ogre, and have a chance of not being rammed next turn, (in which a Mk. III trades 1/45th of its movement capability for a 50% disabled, 50% destroyed result) the GEV is probably the best on a per-unit basis. This is the only hint of imbalance in the game, but an important one (the counter mix doesn't have enough GEVs for a pure GEV force in the Mk. V scenario). Perhaps a remedy is forthcoming. (See elsewhere in this issue. -- Ed.)
Game as a Whole: Basically, I like Ogre. It is fast, simple, and fun. It's bad points, while annoying, can be ignored. Personally, I would rather pay $5.00 for a game and have it done with some attention to quality (especially fully die-cut counters, and maybe some imagination used when drawing the map) then pay a paltry sum for a paltry game (besides Ogre and Gar-Garouk, Atlantis, 12,500 B.C., by Excalibur, also springs to mind.). But Ogre as a game is well worth $2.95 and a bit of aggravation.
A Note, for players of later editions of Ogre: If some of the comments in this review seem cryptic to you, it's probably because they refer to the first edition of Ogre. See Another #$%! Ogre Article, and the Ogre Update.
