The Ogre Project, Part I – Inventory

Regular readers will recall that I am a huge fan of Steve Jackson’s Ogre/GEV in nearly all of its incarnations. The basic premise is simple; in the not-so-distant future, giant cybernetic tanks– Ogres– dominate the battlefield. They wade through masses of enemy tanks, infantry, and hovercraft– GEV’s– in order to obtain their objectives.

Fencers and Ogres awaiting completion.

The game was originally a Microgame, but was soon followed by numerous expansions, scenario packs, etc. One of the offshoots of the game was a version played with miniatures. SGJ has gone through several different incarnations of miniature lines for Ogre/GEV, and I collected quite a few from their Warehouse 23 (and have a few stragglers from other lines).

Everything to be painted or assembled.

Over the years, some of them have been assembled, some painted, and a large number left in silent, disassembled, glittering pewter. I’d really love to break them out for our upcoming Board and Wargames day at the FLGS, so I thought I’d see what state my own armies were in.

The first step was to take an inventory of what I’ve got and what state it’s in. Turns out I have a lot more work to do than I thought. Here’s the breakdown.

The Paneuropean forces so far.

PANEUROPEAN (Painted)

  • 1 Howitzer
  • 1 Mobile Howitzer
  • 6 GEVs
  • 6 Light GEVs
  • 4 Missile Tanks
  • 4 Light Tanks
  • 4 Heavy Tanks
  • 1 Superheavy Tank
  • 1 Command Post
The Combine forces so far.

COMBINE (Painted)

  • 3 Howitzers
  • 6 GEVs
  • 12 Light GEVs
  • 4 Missile Tanks
  • 2 Light Tanks
  • 8 Heavy Tanks
  • 2 Superheavy Tanks
  • 4 GEV PCs
  • 54 Infantry
  • 9 Infantry (Marines)
  • 9 Infantry (Heavy Weapons)
  • 9 Infantry (Combat Engineers)

PANEUROPEAN (Unpainted/unassembled)

Infantry, GEV PCs, and bases.
  • 1 Howitzer
  • 4 Mobile Howitzers
  • 10 Light Tanks
  • 6 GEVs
  • 6 Light GEVs
  • 4 Missile Tanks
  • 1 Superheavy Tank
  • 10 Heavy Tanks
  • 75 Infantry
  • 6 GEV PCs
  • 2 Fencer cybertanks

COMBINE (Unpainted/unassembled)

GEVs
  • 2 Superheavy Tanks
  • 1 Howitzer
  • 10 Heavy Tanks
  • 14 GEVs
  • 4 Missile Tanks
  • 2 Light Artillery Drones
  • 3 Ogre Mark IIIs
  • 1 Ogre Mark V

MISCELLANEOUS (Unpainted/unassembled)

  • 36 Infantry Bases
  • 2 Command Posts
  • 1 Hardened Command Post
  • 2 Laser Towers
  • 3 Lasers
  • 6 Hovertrucks (w/cargo)
Light and Heavy tanks

So, I’ve definitely got some work ahead of me! I’m not sure I’ll be able to get it all done by game-day, but I’ll certainly give it a go. Much of the painting is fairly easy; spray-on olive for the combine units, spray-on gray for the Paneuropean units, and then touch-up with some bright colors for interest. The Ogres are going to be the hardest to paint (and assemble; I’ve got to find something to use as bases for them).

The plan is to spend this weekend assembling, trimming flash, and maybe priming the vehicles, and then the next week and a half painting them up. I’ll try to post some pictures of my progress (if any).

Written by 

Wargamer and RPG'er since the 1970's, author of Adventures Dark and Deep, Castle of the Mad Archmage, and other things, and proprietor of the Greyhawk Grognard blog.

13 thoughts on “The Ogre Project, Part I – Inventory

  1. The offer stands, by the way, to paint up a couple units (Pan-Europeans sound fun) for you. Never painted anything from them and it'd probably be interesting, as well as a good excuse to wet the brushes after a long break.

  2. Looks like we decided on similar color schemes for our OGRE/GEV armies. 🙂

    Do you plan to play on the maps that came with Deluxe OGRE and Deluxe GEV, or are you going to use terrain from traditional miniatures gaming?

  3. Oh, and I don't think you need bases for your OGREs, although I do suggest strengthening the link between the front and rear sections with some brass rod or a paper clip.

  4. @ Desert Scribe: I did try reinforcing the gap between the chassis on the ogres and it still fell apart on casual handling. I'll give it another go. What sort of glue are you using?

    Also, I'm not at all pleased with the glossy finish on the Paneuros I do have painted. I found a nice flat brown that I might use for the rest, and maybe redo the old ones if I've got time.

  5. @ Northy: I am hesitant only because I know your skills at painting will make my units look like I dipped them in a bucket of latex housepaint and let them dry upside-down. 🙂

  6. Joe, have you ever read the Hammer's Slammers series by David Drake? Military Scifi with hover tanks and combar cars, self-propelled howitzers, infantry skimmers, powergun, etc. Tough, gritty military battles and skirmishes are the focus, with all that entails for the nature of those involved in the conflicts. Great stuff. There's even a Hammer's Slammer's wargame based on his series of novels. I highly recommend them given your interest in OGRE.

    http://david-drake.com/

    http://david-drake.com/topic/04-hammers-slammers/

  7. @ Lord Stark: Indeed I have! I've been a huge fan of the Slammers since middle school. I've seen the Mayfair wargame, but never played, unfortunately.

  8. I might also recommend the Bolo series by Keith Laumer. They're a more direct influence on Ogre (since they also feature giant self-aware mobile armored fortresses), but are quite good hard sf as well.

  9. Never heard of a Mayfair Slammers game. There's a new one by Pireme Publishing:

    http://david-drake.com/2010/hs-wargaming-handbooks/

    As well as an RPG by Mongoose for Traveller:

    http://david-drake.com/2009/mongoose-game/

    I read one of the Bolo's back in middle school myself, but honestly I don't remember anything about it other than there was a robot tank of some sort.

    I've been reading the Slammers for a long time myself. I honestly couldn't say how many times I've read the series. I just reread Rolling Hot a last week. The only thing about Drake's Slammers universe that gets no attention whatsoever are space battles. I know the Slammers are all about him telling stories based on his experiences in Vietnam and other battles throughout history, but its a shame that he's never taken any big historical naval battles and set them in the Slammers universe IMO.

    Of course, I guess if you want Drake fiction dealing with space battles, that's what the Lt. Leary series is for…

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