All the howitzers

[ianargent]

I guess this is probably a little late, all things considered, but why in the name of Descartes' belly lint are there so many howitzers in the ODE+ counter mix?

I mean, I've got more PE HWZs than I do PE HTs, and it looks like in general you got 4 HWZ for 6 HTs. (And that's not counting the MHWZs - of which I appear to be very well supplied as well).

Is spending an overwhelming amount of AU on howitzers a common thing? I've read the 4-HWZ defense article (and the 0-HWZ defense article, for that matter), of course, but still...

[Misplaced Buckeye]

Originally Posted by ianargent

I guess this is probably a little late, all things considered, but why in the name of Descartes' belly lint are there so many howitzers in the ODE+ counter mix?

I mean, I've got more PE HWZs than I do PE HTs, and it looks like in general you got 4 HWZ for 6 HTs. (And that's not counting the MHWZs - of which I appear to be very well supplied as well).

Is spending an overwhelming amount of AU on howitzers a common thing? I've read the 4-HWZ defense article (and the 0-HWZ defense article, for that matter), of course, but still...

Artillery is the King of the Battlefield. While the Ogre may argue that, if you took a similar VP/AU equivalent of HWZ, MHWZ, Laser towers and turrets it might be an interesting battle

[brettd]

Everyone wants to be able to do the "four howitzer defense". I always assumed that's why you always get a minimum of 4.

[ianargent]

Originally Posted by brettd

Everyone wants to be able to do the "four howitzer defense". I always assumed that's why you always get a minimum of 4.

It's not the minimum 4 on the backer sheets I was referring to (though that does contribute to the high overall number of tubes in my ODE storage); but the 8 NAC, 12 PE, 8 Black Rose, and 6 "Belgian" HWZ counters in the ODE basic load. That's a lotta HWZ.

[GranitePenguin]

There are a lot of "huh?" moments in the force selection available in ODE. You are asking about all the HWZ, but think about all the Ogres. Sure, the game is called Ogre, but what kind of insanity would have to happen to ever use that many Ogres at one time?

I would have been happy to see a lot more conventional units, instead of the Ogre army I'll never use.

Full Disclosure: My bread-and-butter is G.E.V.; I have a well-documented bias toward conventional forces. :-)

[mstlaurent]

I was thinking the same thing the other day. Trains too, who needs this many trains? There's one bazillion howitzers, a bazillion Ogres, a quarter of a million trains, but when I was setting up to play the Recon in Force scenario with my son, I ran out of Combine GEVs. I'm actually thinking about buying Ogre Reinforcements just to add more counters to the mix.

[jfleisher]

Did someone say 40 howitzer defense strategy?

http://ogreminiatures.blogspot.com/2...e-in-ogre.html

[wolf90]

Originally Posted by ianargent

It's not the minimum 4 on the backer sheets I was referring to (though that does contribute to the high overall number of tubes in my ODE storage); but the 8 NAC, 12 PE, 8 Black Rose, and 6 "Belgian" HWZ counters in the ODE basic load. That's a lotta HWZ.

Originally Posted by mstlaurent

I was thinking the same thing the other day. Trains too, who needs this many trains?

First off, understand I was just a backer at the time these decisions were made, so I have no "inside information". That being said, all of these issues relate to the same concept, that being the multiplicative power of additional sheets.

You had to have a train on one sheet, right? Well, put four sheets in the set and now you're getting a lot of trains. Historically PE had more HWTZ available to them in counter mixes than NAC; one additional is added to the sheet . . . multiply by four sheets, and BAM! Lots of howitzers.

Plus additional faction sheets are based off of prior designs. My Barbarians set didn't need any trains from my perspective. But I was using "sheet B" which carries a train on it. Thus, trains are in my set. (I did make the train on the Sons of Old Nassau sheet a Black Rose train for just this reason. I saw no need for the SoON to have a train! Not that Black Rose really needed it either . . . ).

Originally Posted by GranitePenguin

You are asking about all the HWZ, but think about all the Ogres. Sure, the game is called Ogre, but what kind of insanity would have to happen to ever use that many Ogres at one time?

This was likely in part due to the overwhelming success of the KS. Sheets were being added on the fly; it is not surprising that there is an excess of Ogres. Between all of the Marks, the Fencers, PE having IIIs and Vs, and unaffiliated Ogres (which was a $3k sponsored sheet - he could add what he chose, within reason), it is only surprising we have so few! (Yes, that was tongue-in-cheek!)

Plus, as you've stated yourself GP, you are an avowed lover of G.E.V. and the conventional units. There is definitely an observer bias! <grin>

Originally Posted by mstlaurent

I'm actually thinking about buying Ogre Reinforcements just to add more counters to the mix.

You might find an extra set of counters more cost-effective. Obviously you will get more trains, and howitzers, and Ogres, but you will get more of the other units as well.

D.

[ianargent]

I have 32 Mk.IIIs and quite a lot of Mk.Vs (before the 6e came in). While I wish some of the grey Mk.IIIs were Mk.IIs, and that there was another Dopp or two instead of the excess of Mk.Vs, I recognize that, other than an excess of greys, there aren't that many ogres per faction.

And I also realize the dies limited the unit mix for the sponsor sheets, which is why I didn't mention I have 12 papal HWZ...

[ianargent]

May I request that extra 6e counter sheets be made available, and that an "inverted" (NAC conventional, PE Ogre) sheet be considered? Alas, since the NAC has physically different counters for the HWZ, is not simply a matter of printing in different colors and running the sheets through the same dies.

ETA: I should have looked before posting

http://www.warehouse23.com/products/...sheets-1-and-2. In that case, please strike my first sentence, and merely consider the second :)