How I Came To Love Ogre - Page 3

Misplaced Buckeye · 11-21-2017, 02:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brionl

I started sometime around '75 or '76. That's when we turned our high school Chess Club into a D&D/Wargames Club. We had Tactics II, Starship Trooper, white box D&D, Melee/Wizard, Ogre and others. Not all at the same time though. ;)
The first microgame I bought was actually Olympia. Then probably Melee and later Ogre. I owned lots of microgames: Rivets, Hymenoptera, that one with the donut shaped asteroid, and many more I don't remember.

Similar story. 1970 high school chess club turned into a gaming club. Started with the standard AH games but Ogre soon caught my eye as did Car Wars and Battlesuit. The unique thing of this group was we decided the current games didn't provide enough detail so we set about creating our own WW2 game. Each of us controlled a country and we made a map that showed the battlefields of WW2 at 10 miles to the hex!! Massive thing covered two complete classroom. We also were ahead of our time at looking into alt history, ie through an extremely difficult process I was able to have Stalin assassinated before the purge and kept the officer corp and Tukhachevsky alive. As for Ogre, I still have my clam shells, shockwave, GEV and all the other expansions. I think I posted once the evolution of the maps.

ParadoxGames · 11-21-2017, 02:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brionl

I started sometime around '75 or '76. That's when we turned our high school Chess Club into a D&D/Wargames Club. We had Tactics II, Starship Trooper, white box D&D, Melee/Wizard, Ogre and others. Not all at the same time though. ;)
The first microgame I bought was actually Olympia. Then probably Melee and later Ogre. I owned lots of microgames: Rivets, Hymenoptera, that one with the donut shaped asteroid, and many more I don't remember.

The doughnut asteroid is "Black Hole". I own that one. Also Olympia, Rivets and other Metagaming games, like Invasion of the Air Eaters.

GranitePenguin · 11-21-2017, 06:11 PM

A bit of a tangent, but I sometimes wonder what people will say in another 40 years will all the copies I've been sprinkling around the last few years. Hopefully this thread will live for years and years :-)

wolf90 · 11-21-2017, 06:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GranitePenguin

A bit of a tangent, but I sometimes wonder what people will say in another 40 years will all the copies I've been sprinkling around the last few years. Hopefully this thread will live for years and years :-)

Amen, brother.

For if it does last that long, presumably Ogre has lasted another few decades!

D.

GranitePenguin · 11-21-2017, 08:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wolf90

Amen, brother.

For if it does last that long, presumably Ogre has lasted another few decades!

D.

The way I saw it, it's now a family tradition. My uncle gave GEV to me, and before ODE existed, I collected Ogre/G.E.V., Shockwave, and Battlefields, put it in a copy of Ogre: Deluxe Ed. and gave it to my Niece and Nephew for their birthdays; so now I'm the crazy uncle. :-)

GreyHart · 11-22-2017, 04:18 AM

I came to love OGRE in 1981 during my first hitch with the US Navy. I was heavily into RPGs at the time (D&D and Traveller) and hadn't really done much with wargames (dabbled in Star Fleet Battles a bit and a few SPI games). I was looking for small (physical dimensions) games to take with my while deployed since storage space onboard ship is at a premium. The owner of the FLGS showed me his selection of micro-games and I picked up a few, including OGRE (I had read the BOLO books) and Car Wars (Mad Max, yay!). I was hooked on both after playing and returned to pick up GEV, Battlesuit, Truck Stop and Midville. Over the years OGRE, GEV and Battlesuit have always travelled with me and I still have them. I'm very happy to see the renewed interest and support in OGRE and I hope that it continues to grow. I think it's one of the best games out there and it's definitely one that I continue to go back to.

ghostofjfd · 11-24-2017, 08:52 PM

Go, crazy uncle! My yarn? Let's see: During grade school and high school I liked PanzerBlitz and the SPI tank games that followed from it. Saw Ogre in the hobby shop and liked the asymmetrical scenario. Taught my son the game when he was in junior high using Ogre/G.E.V. 5th edn + Shockwave, Battlefields, and Reinforcements. Let him take that set to college. When ODE came out, I gave away lots of copies of the Pocket Edition to family, friends, my kids' friends, and my friends' kids. One of only three wargames that was a hit with everyone I ever taught to play it.

sparky00 · 11-25-2017, 09:22 AM

I've shared parts of my story before, but since we are on the topic...
I was a gamer as a kid in the 70's. I enjoyed chess, but not the snobbery & attitude that came with the chess club. I played D&D occasionally, but was never really into it . I did play a lot of strategy games - Squad Leader (all of 'em), Wooden Ships & Iron Men, Luftwaffe, Blue & Grey, Harpoon, etc. I enjoyed all of them, but they all had complex rule systems and took hours or days to play.
Later, I fell in with the wrong crowd and started playing massive Civil War battles with 15mm minis on huge 3D terrain maps. It was fun, & we played it for years, but the mechanics were clunky. Turns took forever, with LOS checks, morale checks, rule arguments, etc.
I first came across Ogre probably about 1978. I had the one with the B&W map and the counters you had to cut out - I loved it immediately. It was fast, fun and i loved the setting & concept. It was my favorite of all games. I even found a few minis - the original Martian Metals ones. I've kept them all these years. The problem I had was opponents - the D&D people weren't into strategy & the "serious" strategy gamers couldn't get past the futuristic setting to see what a gem the game was. Real Life brutally intervened, and I left board gaming behind for many years, except for the very occasional game of chess.
Fast forward to May of 2017. I was telling my poor kids tales from my youth (back when there were REAL gamers, sonny - we painted our solid lead minis with enamels), and the topic of Ogre came up. I did some searching and found that both SJGames & Ogre still existed. I bought O6E & Reinforcements locally that day. I found the website, discovered all the great things I missed out on (ODE, minis, etc.), but saw there was an organized play event locally the next weekend.
I went to the event with my daughter - we were the only ones that showed up to play Ogre, but discussion revealed that the store owner was an Ogre fan, so we had a great game with his ODE KS set. Looking around the store, I found, in the corner, an ODE retail box. Still sealed! For a reasonable price! I went back and bought it two days later. Then i got all the sponsored counter sheets. and another ODE box to store those it. I'm loving Ogre again. My kids enjoy it, as does my brother ( the kid who lost many of the counters from my original 2 Ogre sets of long ago...).
I've been spreading the word - sort of an Ogre evangelist. I have a game or 2 lined up with my nephews this afternoon. They had never heard of the game until yesterday, but are interested.

Mack_JB · 11-25-2017, 01:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mack_JB

I'm guessing I got Ogre either in the Christmas 1977 era, or Spring 1978 --

(*) I wonder what was the first issue [of Analog] Metagaming advertised in? I know Ogre grabbed me immediately. For a lark, I just ordered the full 1977 year of Analog. I'll find what ad it was ...

So as noted, I found a cheap set of the 1977 year of Analog (minus the August issue). Metagaming's first ad was in the inside front cover of the June issue, and the ad was for Ogre. In the July issue they were pushing the Space Gamer.

While SPI regularly had page 3 -- it was Ogre that grabbed me.

So, June = Ogre ad. I wonder when their newstand date was, as if it arrived in June at the high school, I would not have seen it over Summer break, but upon return in September. The next ad to mention Ogre was in the October issue. November has the classic Ogre / Melee ad and December has Chitin / WarpWar.

Thus began my obsession 40 years ago.

Here are links to the first several ads:

https://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/3854773

https://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/3854771

https://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/3854768

ColBosch · 11-25-2017, 02:19 PM

I love these stories.

11-21-2017, 06:11 PM	#23
GranitePenguin *Ogre* Line Editor Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Plainfield, IL	Re: How I Came To Love Ogre A bit of a tangent, but I sometimes wonder what people will say in another 40 years will all the copies I've been sprinkling around the last few years. Hopefully this thread will live for years and years :-) __________________ GranitePenguin *Ogre* Line Editor

11-22-2017, 04:18 AM	#26
GreyHart Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: West Greenwich, RI	Re: How I Came To Love Ogre I came to love OGRE in 1981 during my first hitch with the US Navy. I was heavily into RPGs at the time (D&D and Traveller) and hadn't really done much with wargames (dabbled in Star Fleet Battles a bit and a few SPI games). I was looking for small (physical dimensions) games to take with my while deployed since storage space onboard ship is at a premium. The owner of the FLGS showed me his selection of micro-games and I picked up a few, including OGRE (I had read the BOLO books) and Car Wars (Mad Max, yay!). I was hooked on both after playing and returned to pick up GEV, Battlesuit, Truck Stop and Midville. Over the years OGRE, GEV and Battlesuit have always travelled with me and I still have them. I'm very happy to see the renewed interest and support in OGRE and I hope that it continues to grow. I think it's one of the best games out there and it's definitely one that I continue to go back to. __________________ "I don't want a driving simulation. I want a game where I drive real fast and blow things up." - Phil Reed on Car Wars R.I.P.T.A. (Rhode Island Pedestrians Targeting Autoduellists) - "You just took a right turn into hell, and ya didn't use ya blinkah!" PETA (Pedestrians Eradicating Troublesome Autoduellists) - "Keeping our crosswalks mined since 2013." Do not meddle in the affairs of OGREs, for you are squishy under their treads.

11-24-2017, 08:52 PM	#27
ghostofjfd Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Atlanta, GA	Re: How I Came To Love Ogre Go, crazy uncle! My yarn? Let's see: During grade school and high school I liked PanzerBlitz and the SPI tank games that followed from it. Saw Ogre in the hobby shop and liked the asymmetrical scenario. Taught my son the game when he was in junior high using Ogre/G.E.V. 5th edn + Shockwave, Battlefields, and Reinforcements. Let him take that set to college. When ODE came out, I gave away lots of copies of the Pocket Edition to family, friends, my kids' friends, and my friends' kids. One of only three wargames that was a hit with everyone I ever taught to play it.

11-25-2017, 09:22 AM	#28
sparky00 Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Parma, OH	Re: How I Came To Love Ogre I've shared parts of my story before, but since we are on the topic... I was a gamer as a kid in the 70's. I enjoyed chess, but not the snobbery & attitude that came with the chess club. I played D&D occasionally, but was never really into it . I did play a lot of strategy games - Squad Leader (all of 'em), Wooden Ships & Iron Men, Luftwaffe, Blue & Grey, Harpoon, etc. I enjoyed all of them, but they all had complex rule systems and took hours or days to play. Later, I fell in with the wrong crowd and started playing massive Civil War battles with 15mm minis on huge 3D terrain maps. It was fun, & we played it for years, but the mechanics were clunky. Turns took forever, with LOS checks, morale checks, rule arguments, etc. I first came across Ogre probably about 1978. I had the one with the B&W map and the counters you had to cut out - I loved it immediately. It was fast, fun and i loved the setting & concept. It was my favorite of all games. I even found a few minis - the original Martian Metals ones. I've kept them all these years. The problem I had was opponents - the D&D people weren't into strategy & the "serious" strategy gamers couldn't get past the futuristic setting to see what a gem the game was. Real Life brutally intervened, and I left board gaming behind for many years, except for the very occasional game of chess. Fast forward to May of 2017. I was telling my poor kids tales from my youth (back when there were REAL gamers, sonny - we painted our solid lead minis with enamels), and the topic of Ogre came up. I did some searching and found that both SJGames & Ogre still existed. I bought O6E & Reinforcements locally that day. I found the website, discovered all the great things I missed out on (ODE, minis, etc.), but saw there was an organized play event locally the next weekend. I went to the event with my daughter - we were the only ones that showed up to play Ogre, but discussion revealed that the store owner was an Ogre fan, so we had a great game with his ODE KS set. Looking around the store, I found, in the corner, an ODE retail box. Still sealed! For a reasonable price! I went back and bought it two days later. Then i got all the sponsored counter sheets. and another ODE box to store those it. I'm loving Ogre again. My kids enjoy it, as does my brother ( the kid who lost many of the counters from my original 2 Ogre sets of long ago...). I've been spreading the word - sort of an Ogre evangelist. I have a game or 2 lined up with my nephews this afternoon. They had never heard of the game until yesterday, but are interested.

11-25-2017, 02:19 PM	#30
ColBosch Join Date: May 2007	Re: How I Came To Love Ogre I love these stories.