6 Commando

[Atomic Kennedy]

I discussed this in an earlier thread but I thought I'd continue in a new one so as not to sidetrack the original subject. The preliminary sketches and early pencilling are coming out very convincingly, I think. I hope to have the cover mockup inked by tomorrow night, and colored sometime towards the end of next week. I'll link it here when it's done.

As everyone here is an old hand at Ogre, though, I wanted to just bounce some ideas to the forum and see what comes up - everyone here has been so supportive of my Ogre-related sidelines in the past.

Basically, I was rereading my dogeared copies of The Ogre Book (1st Edition!) and GURPS Ogre, thinking about an Ogre comic book/webcomic/online OGN, and thinking about the now-"canon" background as it related to what I had in mind to write. In GURPS Ogre I think the author got the development of the Combine and Paneurope backwards - I see the Combine as being far more of the corporate-military-industrial-political complex, and Paneurope as the government-bureaucracy-gone-to-seed. Typically, throughout the Ogre canon, authors seem to have been far more sympathetic to the Paneuropeans than the Combine, except possibly Steve Jackson himself, who treated them pretty evenhandedly in Icepick and Operation Newspaper. For 6 Commando, the politics of the situation are rather more backseat to the human drama I want to portray, but I thought it was worth mentioning, because the eponymous unit is a Combine force caught behind enemy lines during the Crash of 2100, which sets the tone of the story as a whole. Therefore it is not, perhaps, the cause underlying the story, but the framework.

I don't know if it would spoil it for you to set out my story outline here, but in the most general of terms, 6 Commando is in the midst of a fighting retreat in central Africa when the order comes through for all Combine units to abandon their positions and return to North America. The story is what happens to the members of the unit, including their Ogre (named Mike-One-Echo) on their way back home. I've plotted six episodes for the main arc of the story, with the possibility for more in a second and third arc. The first arc would be:

1. This Is The World We Live In (July, 2100)
2. Pulling Rank (August, 2100)
3. Show Me The Way To Go Home (October, 2100)
4. The Mountain of God (October, 2100)
5. Thundersnow (December, 2100)
6. The Sea! The Sea! (January, 2101)

Each would be between 24-32 pages, so the first arc would be about three years to complete, assuming I could maintain a weekly schedule. Again, I don't want to post the actual story synopses unless you don't mind spoilers. And also, since this whole project is contingent upon my interpretation of the SJGames online policy being correct, it could be a flash in the pan. The overall idea though is for it to be an online-only project to comply with the Policy, and if there were interest and permission forthcoming, the possibility of publication in print, assuming appropriate licensing arrangements could be made. Ideally, I'd love to have a space on the Ogre page, or possibly in Pyramid, but that's not my primary goal at the moment - just drawing it, and the experience and practice I'd get from that, is enough for me just now.

However, I'd like input, if anyone has any. Interest? Like/dislike? Would you read it? Would you follow it, at only one page a week? I'd like to know.

Thanks!

--AK

[cedric18]

Go for it. I would look forward to it. I have loved your stuff in the past.

[Marcus Heinous]

Totally. I would read it if it were only 1 or 2 pages a month...

And for my take on things... it wasn't until Ogre Miniatures that I realized just how different my interpretation of the Ogre world was from that of it's creator. Between 1979 & 1980 I sketched out a rough history for me and my gaming buddies for our Ogre campaign game. In a nutshell, it was far darker than the cannon history, as mine was heavily influenced by George Orwell's 1984 amongst other things. There were only 2 world factions and except for name, they were mostly identical.

[Atomic Kennedy]

You know, Marcus, I think you hit the nail on the head. I am pretty much ignoring/avoiding the Nihonese at this point in my plotting the story; indeed, I'm ignoring/changing around a lot of what is now "canon" by GURPS Ogre standards. The Nihonese and the Chinese never really made it for me, to be honest, and the game seemed to me more compelling in the denuded, black-and-white superpower struggle that was an extension of the Cold War paranoia of the time in which it was originally written. And in the context of 6 Commando, I think it adds a great deal to the feel of it for the characters to be trying to bear up under the weight of global events beyond their control, and of which they are only partly aware, particularly in the context of the monolithic powers crumbling around them in a seemingly-uncontrollable way.

The tone I wish to strike in this story is not nihilistic, but certaily tends towards the brutal rather than the super-heroic. I'm rating it for prime-time (no inappropriate content and mostly only mild language), but it is currently pretty violent, and characters will die. It's not superheroism, by any stretch - the characters are all just people. Even the Ogre.

To be honest, though I like GURPS Ogre in its way, I feel that for Ogre-proper, it falls flat, starting with calling the Combine the "North American Combined States" which is backhanded and weak. And clones of the Emperor of Japan? *sigh*

I'm no Shirow, and I don't claim this project, assuming it gets off the ground, will in any way change the Ogreverse. But it would represent very much my own take on it. Previously, my little "histories" here have been cited as contradicting the "official" Ogre material, so this is mainly by way of heading that off - I will pretty much be ignoring large parts of the Ogreverse where they don't work well with my story. But I'll try to do so in a way that doesn't deliberately contradict Steve Jackson's design. On the other hand, I'm already laying the groundwork for whatever graphical and plot changes might need to be made to divest of SJGames if they ask me to, though that would likely gut the story at this point, and I've probably already shot myself in the foot by starting off saying that I'm basing the story in the Ogre universe. Ah, well. I'm sure we can all work it out in the end.

Or go for the tacnukes. You know, whichever.

--AK

[OgreMarkXXX]

I like the sound of this. Are you going to just portray Combine units, or will there we two subplots, one for each side?

[Atomic Kennedy]

It's told from the point of view of the one Combine unit for which it's named, though it does feature units from Paneurope and several minor states as antagonists. I considered parallel stories but I think it might be confusing visually, and the focus is more on the one unit trying to get home, rather than on a larger battle or a unit-for-unit antagonism. One thing I have considered, though, is writing up scenarios and maps to go with the story, for a game tie-in. Again, assuming that sits right with the powers that be.

--AK

[Marcus Heinous]

Originally Posted by Atomic Kennedy

One thing I have considered, though, is writing up scenarios and maps to go with the story, for a game tie-in. Again, assuming that sits right with the powers that be.

--AK

I'd took the scenarios as an unspoken given...

[43Supporter]

Originally Posted by Atomic Kennedy

indeed, I'm ignoring/changing around a lot of what is now "canon" by GURPS Ogre standards.

Y'know, with the sheer number of changes you're suggesting, it may be worth
it to simply write up your own background, and use as few noticeably-_OGRE_
bits as possible, then simply write whatever you feel like writing.

[Atomic Kennedy]

It's possible. However: the changes aren't actually as major as I think I made them out to be, and I think even if I rearranged it it'd still be too noticeably Ogre-like to pass. And the core of the story hinges on some major Ogre plot elements. I think at best it'll still classify as "fan fiction." even in an altered form. I mean, the robotic superheavy tank is a bit of a giveaway.

On the other hand, the robot tank idea is not proprietary, I guess. Vide, Bolos...

Whatever. So far there's just the one drawing and so we'll just see.

--AK

[Atomic Kennedy]

You know, I take it back. Maybe a non-Ogre redesign WOULD be for the best, all things considered.

A little more planning, but a lot less trouble in the long run.

--AK