Ogre Minis Revision Issue: Mark VII

[43Supporter]

Originally Posted by Apache

Whaddya think, sirs?

*pushes the button*

[footage of a Mk. VII driving by, playing the "Torgo's Theme" music]

>:)

[DSumner]

Originally Posted by CaptainRufus

If its gonna be that big and that slow, some anti cruise missile armament would probably be a must have.

I do believe that Point Defense weapons are already included in its defense factor.

Originally Posted by CaptainRufus

Not to mention a howitzer or two. Maybe even a laser tower.

I might buy it carrying a laser, but Howitzers, why? I'm sure that in "reality" they might be able to get a howitzer on one, but for game play purposes, I'd say no. If an Ogre could carry a howitzer, they would have already built on with it. However, if you want to come up with a howitzer armed Ogre for your own use, or to post here for others to see, I say more power to you.

[selenite]

Originally Posted by Apache

Whaddya think, sirs?

I like it. Since this is a "designed but not built" concept, print 'em both as the competing proposals from Lockrup and Boetheon.

[DSumner]

OK, I've been looking this over, and I still think it's to heavy to move with only 96 tread units. The weights got to be reduced, or more treads have to be added. And I still think that it needs more missile racks, and fewer missiles. It's far to easy to knock out the racks, trapping the missiles inside the main body. Six Missile Racks, and 24 missiles seems like a good mix. As for the rest of its armament, 12 SB may be too many, but I'd have to tinker with it a bit more to see what I think.

[dungeonmasterjax]

Out of curiosity, have any of you guys read the Bolo series by Keith Laumer?
I would presume that you have, since they are the presumptive source of inspiration for this game.
Check out the Wikipedia entry for them!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolo_tank
If your unfamiliar, note the chart on Mark's, what it fails to mention, and this is expounded in one of the Bolo Book anthology series, are the speeds and armaments of these monsters as they are continually improved upon.
Just wanted to bring that up.
David.

[Marcus Heinous]

Looking over the proposed design specs and looking at my Mark VI figure, I can't see how the engineers would get 12 SB onto a frame without a radical change in their design philosophy. I think the suggested 5 MB idea is better and more aesthetically pleasing too. 5 MB, 8 SB, 6 MR, 30 Missiles, 24 APs, 96 Tread Units, 4" Move (1" per 24 treads) Cost 325. I confess I like my bigger OGREs to have lots of teeth.

[CON_Troll]

Sorry for getting slightly off-topic, but all this talk about customizing the MK VII made me think: Would it be possible for Gray Cat Casting to produce "OGRE Templates" That is, different size Ogre hulls (from MK III to MK VII size) but without the mains, secondaries, APs, missiles, etc., mountings molded onto the hull, but instead into the base of the weapons themselves? You could then buy say, a MK V hull and then with a "bag" of weapons (sold seperately, natch) make your OWN MK V variant. Then go ahead and cost it out with the calculator.

You'd need your opponent's permission to field such "customized" Ogres, (since they're not canon) but I doubt most OGRE players would have a problem with that. (Except maybe that they'd want to quickly order up their own selection of hulls and a few bags of parts...)

[Steve Jackson]

Reviewing all this, I'm thinking that a more practical VII than the one described above would be slow, would field upgraded armament allowing longer ranges (maybe not HWZ-class damage, but HWZ-class ranges), and would have some sort of weapon system specifically designed to deal with cruise missiles, or even "nuke 'em from orbit." It would be an Ogre-killer, with main weapon systems that would let it get the first strike on any lesser cybertank. (Maybe not practical in real life, but that would in my current thinking be the goal of the planners.) I may remove the VII from the First Edition Revised, and leave it for later discussion.

[DSumner]

Originally Posted by Steve Jackson

Reviewing all this, I'm thinking that a more practical VII than the one described above would be slow, would field upgraded armament allowing longer ranges (maybe not HWZ-class damage, but HWZ-class ranges), and would have some sort of weapon system specifically designed to deal with cruise missiles, or even "nuke 'em from orbit." It would be an Ogre-killer, with main weapon systems that would let it get the first strike on any lesser cybertank. (Maybe not practical in real life, but that would in my current thinking be the goal of the planners.) I may remove the VII from the First Edition Revised, and leave it for later discussion.

IMHO, I'd leave the Mk VII for a later edition of the game, or an expansion pack as there are far to many unanswered questions. As far as weapons systems go, I could see it having fewer MB than are proposed, but say something like and Extended Range Main Battery, Long Range Ogre Missiles, and a Point Defense System (say mini-pulse lasers, anti-ballistic missiles, etc.) specifically designed to deal with cruise missiles, and lots of AP weapons (which might also be used as part of its cruise missile defense). Either way, it should be a very big, and expensive beast, that even other Ogre would think twice about going toe-to-toe with.

[Toltrin]

Well for the OGRE Mark VII, you COULD input what it is supposed to have and use this tool...
I came up with 259 VPs and 23 VP overloaded.
This is for 4 Missile Racks, 32 internal missiles, 4 mains, 12 secondaries, 24 APs and 96 M2 XHvy Treads. This is just what I got. What did YOU get?