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Ogre Scenario Book 1

This is the latest release from Steve Jackson Games for the Ogre/GEV line, and one of the brand new releases since the relaunch (the others being Battlefields and the update of the Ogre Book). As indicated, it’s a collection of scenarios (seven of them) for use with Ogre/G.E.V. and the Ogre game map. There are no scenarios here for the GEV or Shockwave or Battlefields maps, those are to follow in later books (GEV is Scenario Book 2, and it sounds like Shockwave will be book 3). The scenarios are the winners and runners up from a scenario writing contest that was held a while back, and are discussed in more detail below.

As for the book itself: it’s a small, and 16 pages long. The inside cover is colour and has a map with highlights for use with one of the scenarios. The back inside cover is an ad, but the rest of the book is ad free, and basically art free as well. There is the occasional blurred shot of a miniature, or a recycled piece of ogre art from the vaults, but nothing that looks new or even interesting. This leaves the rest of the space for the text of the scenarios.

The scenarios all have an identical setup: introductory fiction/overview, setup, game play, end game and variants.

These are the scenarios, summarized without any play testing (this is a capsule review after all):

Hammer & Anvil – The Ogre is set up deep in enemy territory and then must escape, but not before taking out enough enemy forces to actually accumulate a win. Of course, the more points the ogre tries to accumulate, the more likely it is to get knocked out. This was the first place scenario, and it looks like a lot of fun.

The Black Knight – In this one, there is a crazy Ogre in a gully that is trying to prevent anyone from passing by it. Players both have armies and they roll to take control of the Ogre, and there is a system to ensure that one player cannot control the Ogre too long. Also, if one player is eliminated, he controls the crazy Ogre until the end of the game. As a clever limiting factor in the effectiveness of this Ogre, if it scores too many points, it wins. As well, both sides are supposed to destroy it to win. It’s a gimmicky sort of scenario, but by far the most unique one in the book.

DreadEx – One player has an Ogre and a few small units and must make it across two ogre maps. This sort of annoyed me: how many people have 2 Ogre maps? It seems to violate the rules mandated by the book: “seven complete scenarios, requiring only the basic map from Ogre/G.E.V. or Deluxe OGRE.” I actually do have 2 copies of the ogre map, but one of them is from an earlier printing and the proportions are totally different on it. I suspect most people will either photocopy the map, or just not play this scenario.

Kill the Ogre – Here, an Ogre has just been completed on the battlefield and is just starting up. This is a pretty basic scenario, but the neat twist is that not everything is powered up on the Ogre. Every turn, one more part of the Ogre comes online. Run for the Border – An Ogre has turned-coat and is attempting to get off the bottom of the map without being blown up. This is a pretty basic scenario and most of the text is used in describing the possible scoring outcomes.

Spoiling the Attack – The Ogre is hidden and the attackers are searching or it. It can reveal itself at anytime by firing a shot off. It sort of reminds me of the submarine scenario from the Ogre book, but I could be off base here.

The Thin Line – This is an Ogre-less slugging match in the GEV tradition. It should be fairly straight forward as the terrain on the Ogre map is much less complicated than the GEV map.

In summary: this book has seven new scenarios for a map that has very few scenarios written for it. For those lead pushers, one apparently requires only a copy of Deluxe Ogre and Deluxe GEV to play it, for the rest of us the basic box has (almost) everything you need to play. While it’s not essential like Shockwave nor as expansive as Battlefields, it’s pretty good and it’s about as cheap as anything from Steve Jackson gets. The best thing about this book is that it shows the ogre community is active and the SJ games wants to publish new things for it. Pick it up and take a look.

Ogre Scenario Book 1
Ogre Scenario Book 1 Capsule Review by mark watson on 19/01/02 Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 4 (Meaty) A overview of the product and the seven scenarios contained within. Product: Ogre Scenario Book 1 Author: Edited by Paul Chapman, Andrew Hackard and Steve Jackson Category: Board/Tactical Game Company/Publisher: Steve Jackson Games Line: Ogre/G.E.V. Cost: $5.95 american Page count: 16 Year published: 2001 ISBN: ISBN 1-55634-607-7 SKU: 3204 Comp copy?: no Capsule Review by mark watson on 19/01/02 Genre tags: Science Fiction	Ogre Scenario Book 1 This is the latest release from Steve Jackson Games for the Ogre/GEV line, and one of the brand new releases since the relaunch (the others being Battlefields and the update of the Ogre Book). As indicated, it’s a collection of scenarios (seven of them) for use with Ogre/G.E.V. and the Ogre game map. There are no scenarios here for the GEV or Shockwave or Battlefields maps, those are to follow in later books (GEV is Scenario Book 2, and it sounds like Shockwave will be book 3). The scenarios are the winners and runners up from a scenario writing contest that was held a while back, and are discussed in more detail below. As for the book itself: it’s a small, and 16 pages long. The inside cover is colour and has a map with highlights for use with one of the scenarios. The back inside cover is an ad, but the rest of the book is ad free, and basically art free as well. There is the occasional blurred shot of a miniature, or a recycled piece of ogre art from the vaults, but nothing that looks new or even interesting. This leaves the rest of the space for the text of the scenarios. The scenarios all have an identical setup: introductory fiction/overview, setup, game play, end game and variants. These are the scenarios, summarized without any play testing (this is a capsule review after all): Hammer & Anvil – The Ogre is set up deep in enemy territory and then must escape, but not before taking out enough enemy forces to actually accumulate a win. Of course, the more points the ogre tries to accumulate, the more likely it is to get knocked out. This was the first place scenario, and it looks like a lot of fun. The Black Knight – In this one, there is a crazy Ogre in a gully that is trying to prevent anyone from passing by it. Players both have armies and they roll to take control of the Ogre, and there is a system to ensure that one player cannot control the Ogre too long. Also, if one player is eliminated, he controls the crazy Ogre until the end of the game. As a clever limiting factor in the effectiveness of this Ogre, if it scores too many points, it wins. As well, both sides are supposed to destroy it to win. It’s a gimmicky sort of scenario, but by far the most unique one in the book. DreadEx – One player has an Ogre and a few small units and must make it across two ogre maps. This sort of annoyed me: how many people have 2 Ogre maps? It seems to violate the rules mandated by the book: “seven complete scenarios, requiring only the basic map from Ogre/G.E.V. or Deluxe OGRE.” I actually do have 2 copies of the ogre map, but one of them is from an earlier printing and the proportions are totally different on it. I suspect most people will either photocopy the map, or just not play this scenario. Kill the Ogre – Here, an Ogre has just been completed on the battlefield and is just starting up. This is a pretty basic scenario, but the neat twist is that not everything is powered up on the Ogre. Every turn, one more part of the Ogre comes online. Run for the Border – An Ogre has turned-coat and is attempting to get off the bottom of the map without being blown up. This is a pretty basic scenario and most of the text is used in describing the possible scoring outcomes. Spoiling the Attack – The Ogre is hidden and the attackers are searching or it. It can reveal itself at anytime by firing a shot off. It sort of reminds me of the submarine scenario from the Ogre book, but I could be off base here. The Thin Line – This is an Ogre-less slugging match in the GEV tradition. It should be fairly straight forward as the terrain on the Ogre map is much less complicated than the GEV map. In summary: this book has seven new scenarios for a map that has very few scenarios written for it. For those lead pushers, one apparently requires only a copy of Deluxe Ogre and Deluxe GEV to play it, for the rest of us the basic box has (almost) everything you need to play. While it’s not essential like Shockwave nor as expansive as Battlefields, it’s pretty good and it’s about as cheap as anything from Steve Jackson gets. The best thing about this book is that it shows the ogre community is active and the SJ games wants to publish new things for it. Pick it up and take a look.