Ogre Miniatures - Collector's Checklist

Updated Thursday, 29-Sep-2005 10:05:23 CDT

Since 1980, the Ogre miniature line has gone through six different manufacturers, five of which actually produced figures. This is an attempt to list and describe the different vehicles and buildings that have been available for the game. Corrections and additions would be welcome!

Martian Metals

The first Ogre miniatures were released by Martian Metals, under license from Metagaming, in 1979. There were only four units: the Ogre Mark V and three armor units. They won the Charles Roberts Award (the original name for the Origins award) in 1980. Martian Metals production apparently continued until 1981.

Ogre Mark V (OGR1). Design by Winchell Chung; Martian Metals sculpture by Forrest Brown. The chassis is molded in a single piece; the secondary batteries are very thin. Slightly smaller than later versions, but very solid-looking. Very, very rare.
G.E.V. (Paneuropean) (OGR2). Design by Winchell Chung; Martian Metals sculpture by Randy Hoffa. This was a three-part sculpture: skirt, chassis and "H-blower" jet engines. Beautiful crisply machined work, far ahead of its time, as were the other two in the series.
Heavy Tank (Paneuropean) (OGR3). Design by Winchell Chung; Martian Metals sculpture by Randy Hoffa. This is the design that has changed least from 1979 to the present.
Missile Tank (Paneuropean) (OGR4). Design by Winchell Chung; Martian Metals sculpture by Randy Hoffa. The missile turret was in four separate parts: a turntable and three separate missiles, each with its own base.

SJ Games

In 1982, Steve Jackson Games experimented with the idea of casting its own miniatures for both Ogre and Car Wars. The difficulty of running a casting operation proved not worth the trouble for only two lines, but 9 different packages were produced:

Ogre Mark V (6101). Design by Winchell Chung; SJ Games sculpture by Ab Mobasher. This Mark V had a two-part chassis, and the detail was much finer and crisper.
Heavy Tank (Paneuropean) (6110). Design by Winchell Chung; used the Martian Metals master by Randy Hoffa.
Missile Tank (Paneuropean) (6111). Design by Winchell Chung; SJ Games reworked the Martian Metals sculpture by Randy Hoffa. The missile turret was consolidated into a single piece.
GEV (Paneuropean) (6112). Design by Winchell Chung; used the Martian Metals sculpture by Randy Hoffa. Skirt and chassis were probably combined in this version.
Howitzer (Paneuropean) (6113). Design by Jim Zepeda; SJ Games sculpture by Jim Zepeda.
Mobile Howitzer (Paneuropean) (6114). Design by Winchell Chung; SJ Games sculpture by Jim Zepeda.
Light Tank (Paneuropean) (6115). Design by Winchell Chung; SJ Games sculpture by Jim Zepeda.
Command Post (stock # 6118). Design and sculpture by Jim Zepeda.
GEV (Combine) (stock # 6122). Design by Dave Martin; SJ Games sculpture by Jim Zepeda. This is a very rare piece. The tailfins were part of the body, making the vehicle beautiful but very hard to cast. Probably fewer than 200 packages (600 vehicles?) were ever shipped.

Grenadier

Grenadier bought the license in 1983. They used the same masters, and possibly the same molds, that SJ Games had used. They even used the same packaging and stock numbers. They didn't create any new Ogre vehicles at all (though they did create a couple of big trucks for Car Wars). There is probably no way to tell a Grenadier casting from a Steve Jackson Games one without spectrographic analysis. They didn't promote the line significantly, or keep it in production past early 1985. Regrettably, Grenadier is no longer in business.

Ral Partha

Partha picked up the line in 1992, and did more with it than any previous manufacturer. The Ral Partha Ogre series won the Origins award for Best SF/Fantasy Miniatures in 1992 (the same year that the Ogre Miniatures book won Best Miniatures Rules).
All Partha vehicles have a Ral Partha stamp underneath. They are, in general, a bit bulkier than earlier figures; they are also cleaner-looking. The new masters were well machined and the casting quality was excellent.

Partha Release 1 - released August 1992, in time for Gencon

Ogre Mark V (93-001). Design by Winchell Chung; Ral Partha's Dave Summers modified the SJ Games sculpture created by Ab Mobasher.
GEV (Paneuropean) (93-025). Design Winchell Chung; Ral Partha's Dave Summers modified the original sculpture created by Randy Hoffa.
Missile Tank (Paneuropean) (93-026). Design by Winchell Chung; Ral Partha's Dave Summers further updated the sculpture created by Randy Hoffa and modified at SJ Games.
Light Tank (Paneuropean) (93-027). Design by Winchell Chung; Ral Partha sculpture by Jeff Wilhelm. This is much cleaner than the SJ Games version, a bit heavier, and adds the "tower" and radar dish as separate pieces.
Heavy Tank (Paneuropean) (93-028). Design by Winchell Chung; Ral Partha's Dave Summers modified the original sculpture created by Randy Hoffa.
Howitzer (Paneuropean) (93-029). Design by Jim Zepeda; Ral Partha sculpture by Jeff Wilhelm. Heavier and easier to paint than the SJ Games version - and much sturdier.

Origins Award for Best Fantasy or Science Fiction Figure Series of 1993
Origins Award for Best Fantasy or Science Fiction Figure Series of 1992

Partha Release 2 - Sept. 1992, just after Gencon

Ogre Mark III (93-003). Design by Winchell Chung; Ral Partha sculpture by Jeff Wilhelm.
Mobile Howitzer (Paneuropean) (93-030). Design by Graham Chaffee; Ral Partha sculpture by Jeff Wilhelm.
Superheavy Tank (Paneuropean) (93-031). Design by Graham Chaffee; Ral Partha sculpture by Jeff Wilhelm.
GEV-PC (Paneuropean) (93-032). Design by Graham Chaffee; Ral Partha sculpture by Richard Kerr.
Infantry (Paneuropean) (93-033). Design by Dave Martin; Ral Partha sculpture by Richard Kerr.
Missile Crawler (Paneuropean) (93-034). Design by Graham Chaffee; Ral Partha sculpture by Jeff Wilhelm.

Partha Release 3 - 2nd quarter 1993

GEV (Combine) (93-003). Design by Dave Martin; Ral Partha sculpture by Richard Kerr. The tailfins are separate pieces, making them much easier to cast than the original SJ Games version, but not as sleek. Nevertheless, this is a beautiful piece, one of the signature units of the line.
Heavy Tank (Combine) (93-004). Design by Mike Naylor; Ral Partha sculpture by Jeff Wilhelm.
Missile Tank (Combine) (93-005). Design by Mike Naylor; Ral Partha sculpture by Richard Kerr.
Light Tank (Combine) (93-006). Design by Mike Naylor; Ral Partha sculpture by Jeff Wilhelm. This model is out of scale; it's too large.
Howitzer (Combine) (93-007). Design by Jeff Wilhelm; Ral Partha sculpture by Jeff Wilhelm.
Paneuropean Fencer (93-020). Design by Mike Naylor; Ral Partha sculpture by Jeff Wilhelm.

Unreleased Partha Models

Prototypes -- some more finished than others -- were created for several more models, and a few escaped and found their way into the hands of lucky collectors. The masters were acquired by SJ Games in 2000. Of these, the Combine infantry were refinished by Richard Kerr and released; the Combine superheavy and mobile howitzer were modified somewhat; and the Combine LGEV had only minor changes. The Paneuropean GEV and MK IV will be resculpted completely.

Detailed Casting Products

DCP created resin structures for Ogre in 1992 and 1993. It was a one-man company; modeling, moldmaking, casting, and everything else was done by the incredible Darell Phillips. It eventually became more work than he could handle. The masters and molds now belong to SJ Games, and someday this line may be available again.

Command Post (Paneuropean) (DCP-151). Design by Winchell Chung as interpreted by Darell Phillips; sculpting by Darell Phillips.
Hardened Command Post (Paneuropean) (DCP-152). Design by Winchell Chung as interpreted by Darell Phillips; sculpting by Darell Phillips.
Jamscreen (Paneuropean) (DCP-153). Design and sculpting by Darell Phillips.
Satellite Dish (Paneuropean) (DCP-154). Design and sculpting by Darell Phillips. Uses the same base as the jamscreen, but the dish is round and the jamscreen is basically square.
Laser Turret (Paneuropean) (DCP-155). Design by Steve Jackson, sculpting by Darell Phillips.
Laser Tower (Paneuropean) (DCP-156). Design by Steve Jackson, sculpting by Darell Phillips.
Crater Pack (DCP-157). Design and sculpting by Darell Phillips. Two large and eight small craters.
Small Bridge (DCP-158). Design and sculpting by Darell Phillips.
Highway Bridge (DCP-159). The same length as the small bridge, but double the width - wide enough for an Ogre. Design and sculpting by Darell Phillips.

Soldier and Sword Miniatures

S&S bought the license in 1994. They never produced anything for the line. They are apparently no longer in business.

Steve Jackson Games
In 2000 we decided to try again. We hired Richard Kerr, former chief sculptor for Ral Partha (and an old friend of Steve's, and one of the sculptors who had created their Ogre vehicles!) to head up our casting department. This time we have both the budget and the skills to do it right. We bought the old sculptures from Ral Partha, upgraded where necessary, and started shipping miniatures in early November 2000.
The new SJ Games Ogre miniatures are available in various packages and as individual units. The listing below uses the stock numbers of the individual units as sold in Warehouse 23. The month, however, is the month of first release in any package.
All figures cast at SJ Games have our stamp on the inside or bottom, except the infantry; for them it's on a tag attached to the sprue.
November 2000
The following units were released as part of the Deluxe Ogre set:
Ogre Mark III (10-0103). Design by Winchell Chung; sculpture by Jeff Wilhelm. Basically unchanged from the Partha version.
CP (Combine) (10-0301). Design by Steve Jackson; sculpture by Darell Phillips and Richard Kerr. The only completely new figure in this set.
Heavy Tank (Combine) (10-0201). Design by Mike Naylor; based on the Partha sculpture by Jeff Wilhelm, but with surface detail added by Richard Kerr.
Missile Tank (Combine) (10-0202). Design by Mike Naylor; based on the Partha sculpture by Richard Kerr, but moderately reworked by Richard in this edition.
GEV (Combine) (10-0203). Design by Dave Martin; sculpture by Richard Kerr. Basically the same as the Partha version.
Howitzer (Combine) (10-0206). Design and sculpture by Jeff Wilhelm. Basically the same as the Partha version.
Infantry (Combine) (10-0210). Design by Dave Martin; sculpture by Richard Kerr. Created while Richard was with Partha but never produced. Here they are . . .
Infantry Bases (10-2005). Design by Steve Jackson; sculpture by Richard Kerr. At last, custom bases for the Ogre infantry.

January 2001

Ogre Mark V (10-0106). Design by Winchell Chung; sculpture by Ab Mobasher, modified by Partha's Dave Summers. Basically unchanged from the Partha version.
Ogre Mark V Swimming Tower (10-0114). The idea came from a fan at a convention; sculpture by Richard Kerr. An Ogre tower on a water base, complete with wake, to indicate an Ogre underwater!
Superheavy Tank (Combine) (10-0209). Design by Mike Naylor; sculpture by Jeff Wilhelm and Richard Kerr. Created for Partha but never produced. Richard added some detail and built new guns; the Partha prototype used the same guns as the Paneuropean superheavy.

Battlesuit Miniatures

These were licensed to Masterpiece Miniatures of Salt Lake City in 1983. Prototypes were produced for five infantry figures, but they never went into production, and the company broke up. (We'd appreciate contact information for anyone involved.)

print this page