[Bowser]

Bit of a late comment, but wanted to get my $0.02 in.

Ogrezine, vol. I blows me away. The quality of everything is top notch: Great text, terrific artwork (I always love to see fresh new Ogre artwork since there was so little of it back in the '80s and '90s), super layout and above all, a great mix of articles.

There really is something here for everyone! I've tried to decide what article I like the best, but they're all great. I'm sure that I'll get more actual use from some more than others, but utility is not correlated 100% to enjoyment. If you were to give me the task of cutting out 2-4 pages, I don't think I could do it. Everything belongs here.

I'm glad to see the Ogre Size Comparison Chart make it into an official product. Thanks, Winchell!

"Dambusters" gives me a more solid base on how to use the dam and flooded game pieces than the disconnected and more vague notes I was making up. Very useful, Drew.

I LOVE the history of this game (ever since 1978)! So I got a lot of enjoyment out of "Tabletop to Desktop" and "Forging the First Ogre". I knew most of the story of Winchell Chung's work in helping to design what we now take for granted, but the new details, sketches, and especially the salvaged letter from Steve to Winchell was a real treat for me. I know that there are a lot of people who may not care about this stuff, but I'm glad to see a lot of this info "nailed down" while the principals are still around and before that info is lost forever. Maybe others will appreciate it as they age . . . @:^) I used to do some programming at work and can attest to the fact that even the most simple-seeming things take a lot more work to do behind the scenes than you would think. And Peter Willington didn't even talk about error trapping (i.e. "idiot-proofing" your program, and there are A LOT of idiots out there)! I'm grateful, Peter, for your explaining why you folks made some of the decisions you did. Whether we all agree on those choices or not, we cannot doubt your dedication to this great game! Kudos!

"Clean Up": I'd sure like to see Karl Gallagher do an entire Ogre novel sometime! I guess it would be pretty bloody, though . . . :/

"Edging Ogre" is a good reminder to me that I STILL haven't edged my 3-D units yet. As far as the 2-D units go, I'm still trying to decide on a color/pattern scheme that would help me sort them when seen on edge. I suspect that I'm chasing ghosts . . .

Steve Jackson's "Five Scenario Hooks" was an unlooked for treat. These will definitely go into my toolbox.

I cannot say that I have fully digested Daniel Oney's "Going Downtown" article, but I suspect that its impact on the game will be HUGE. I can't remember over the last 40 years when Ogre/GEV's battlefields were anything other than mainly "rural", that is, mostly countryside (albeit intact or destroyed a la the original orange Ogre map). As the new "M1" flexible mat-map attests to, this opens up a much larger can of worms than how city terrain was ever used for before. After posting this message, I'll order my copies of that map tonight. I look forward to seeing where this all leads to.

"Jump Trooper": Yes, a variant for Pocket Ogre! And I really like the idea of pushing Ogre out into space! Go out and search the net for "Ogre on the Moon" and "Ogre on Mars". Why not a "Space Ogre" supplement?

Drew Metzger's "Shuriken" is great! (And the illustration is, I think, my favorite in the whole issue.) It seems well balanced and introduces a whole new wrinkle for game play. I can't wait to try this out.

And if I haven't mentioned it before, I love the mixing of story-rich flavor text in with the crunchy bits of the main article. Again, this floats me back to the original plastic bag (not ziploced) Metagaming edition of Ogre where Steve did the same thing. For me this method seems to make the proposed mechanics come alive and make me want to try it out. Keep it up.

"No Math CRT": I've never had a problem with math-heavy rules as I really like math. OK, so I'm weird. The math aspect of D&D was part of what pulled me into that hobby back in the '70s, so CRTs don't seem to bother me. But if you've been following the forums over the last 4-5 years, whenever discussion comes around to bringing in new players, there is always a chorus against CRTs (and case-numbered rules, too, but that's another story). So while I wouldn't use this, I'm sure that there is definitely a place for this article, especially if you are demoing Ogre for new players.

"Ogre Mark V Hot Rod": Ohmygod! I LOVE this. I want MORE of this!!! And I'm really glad that you readers (above) have solved the print sizing problems for this. More, more please. And I resist the temptation to suggest other paint schemes so as not to limit anyone's creativity. (But I have ideas, oh yes I do!!) Someone, please someone who can really, REALLY paint miniatures, paint this up for real. Just. Too. Cool! (Am I the only one who hears Brian Setzer playing rockabilly in the background when looking at these illustrations?)

Steve Jackson's Optional Disabled Vehicle rule seems interesting. I'd like to know more of his own experience with it, but it must be useful at least in some scenarios or he wouldn't have submitted it . . .

"The Rise and Fall of Pittsburg": Again, I've yet to fully digest it, but it seems to fit the same theme as the "Going Downtown" article without really covering the same ground. I really LIKE articles exploring the implications of Ogres and Factories becoming self-aware and this looks like a very good one. Over the last 40 years, it is the Factory States era that has been most neglected and, along with the forthcoming "Nightfall", this is beginning to change . . . Love it! (And that illustration of a Vulcan looks extremely preditory!)

"Rearguard Action" looks solid and I will try it out ASAP, but I expect nothing less from Daniel Jew. Thanks!

Mathieu Moyen's GEV Specifications is great! But I'll like it even more if this is the first in a series that will cover all of the basic units. This just screams out to be a series. I would think that the miniatures painters out there would be all over this.

Herb Diehr's "The Final Battle" was somber but absolutely excellent! Again, I love anything exploring the dynamics of human vs. non-human intelligence (i.e. in the Factory States era) and this story fits it perfectly.

By the way, I would like to see some unofficial rules on just how much effort it would take to render a self-aware factory "dead". OK, so we use Structure Points as an abstract way of doing this, but I'd like to see more of a "hit-location" type of approach to this. Maybe something like this will show up in "Nightfall".

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

This turned out to be much, much longer than I had intended and I doubt very many will read it all, but there you go.

Please make this AT LEAST an annual event.

And in the discussion of attracting new players to Ogre, having potential new players browse thru an issue like this will hook more than you know. Remember Dragon, Strategy & Tactics, White Dwarf, and not in the least The Space Gamer? Stuff like this makes a person curious enough to give the game a try!

Thanks for letting me ramble on,
Bowser