Wanna Save $52 On Ogre Designer's Edition?

I just got off the phone with my Friendly Local Gaming Store, The Sentry Box, and they confirmed they are participating in the Ogre Designer's Edition Kickstarter Campaign.

You wanna pay $100 USD for your copy of Ogre Designer's Edition, rather than the $152 USD that Steve Jackson Games is asking from Canadian purchasers?  Then you'd better give The Sentry Box a call and place your pre-order with Don.

And let them know if you want any other Kickstarter items as well, and they may be able to purchase them for you.

Incidentally, kicktraq is predicting that Ogre Designer's Edition will garner $725,000 in pre-funding.  I'm guessing the number might end up closer to $800,000.

Ground Effect Vehicle -- GEV

GEV was the second game in the Ogre microgame series. Short for "ground effect vehicle", those units were essentially armed and armored hovercraft, at a time when hovercraft were imagined to be the transportation of the future.

Don't hear much about hovercrafts these days. Main battle tanks still command top spot for ground-based military units, but in the 1980's it was neat to imagine wars of the future being fought by hovercraft and other unconventional units.

GEV takes up the baton from Ogre, venturing into territory every Ogre player wanted to explore: battles between the regular combine and paneuropean combat units. Ogre gave us the supertanks. GEV introduced some new units that Ogre players were clamouring for.

Units like the light tank. That unit was half as powerful as the heavy tank, but that meant you could purchase twice as many. The profile of the light tank was interesting, as it looked similar to the Ogre, what with its forward communications and sensor suite tower.

The mobile howitzer was a welcome addition, as the fixed howitzer always felt too vulnerable. As the defender, I was loathe to use the fixed howitzer in my regular Ogre games, despite the effectiveness of the four howitzer strategy.

GEV also gave us an additional infantry unit option -- the one strength unit infantry counter -- and gave all infantry units additional firepower in overrun situations. Prior to that, infantry was incredibly fragile. Infantry was one of the few units that used the old box-and-cross symbol, rather than giving us unit silhouettes.

As I recall, we had to wait for the Battlesuit microgame before infantry silhouettes were finally provided.

Ogre. Original Ogre.

I can't help but feel a bit torn, here.

While i'm pleased by the news that Steve Jackson Games is re-releasing Ogre, the scope of the release and scale of the final package is more than a little bewildering, for someone who loves this game and wants to see others discover its' value as well.

Ogre is the first microgame I ever owned. At $2.95, it is a lot of game in a little package.

The premise is simple. On one side, an array of future-tech combat units: heavy tanks, ground effect vehicles, missile tanks, and nuke-firing infantry.

On the other, one huge tank, dubbed the Ogre.

The Ogre's mission: to destroy the defending army's command post.

Ogre had lots of replay value, as the defender can select different combinations of units, each time she plays, to see which combination of units and strategy is most effective at stopping the Ogre's advance.

I'm not surprised that SJG has decided to re-print this classic game. On eBay, used copies of Ogre command high auction and buy-it-now prices. Nor am I surprised by the price they are asking, for this reprinted game. The bits for SJG's new Ultimate Ogre look gorgeous. No doubt the game will be well-worth the money.

But the $100 pricetag, and limited quantities, means very few will have the opportunity to own and play Ultimate Ogre, and that's a shame, since this is one of those games that everyone aught to have the chance to play.

At $2.95 in 1978, Ogre was accessible to just about anyone. At $100 in 2011, who, but the high-end collector or Ogre fanatic, is likely to purchase Ultimate Ogre?

Microgames in general, and Ogre in particular, embody the essence of what good games are all about. Simple rules. Quick play. High replay value.

It's too bad so few modern games espouse those design goals. And too bad SJG isn't releasing a more affordable version of Ogre for those who would love to own this, but can't afford the $100 touch they are proposing.

I'm A Wealthy, Wealthy Man ...

If the Troll And Toad webstore is to be believed, that is. According to the prices on their website, my metagaming and microgame collection is worth several thousand dollars.

To wit:

Ogre ... $70

Chitin:I ... $40

Melee ... $80

Warp War ... $20

Rivets ... $35

Wizard ... $55

Olympica ... $20
G.E.V. ... $30

And on and on and on it goes. Based on the prices Troll And Toad is quoting for those metagaming titles, i've made anywhere from a 5 to 10% annualized return on each of the items in my microgame collection over the last 30 years. Not a bad little investment!

Sadly, after checking out eBay, I've discovered that a punched version of Ogre went for only $16 at auction, rather than the $70 that Troll And Toad is asking. There go my dreams of selling my microgame collection, buying one of the Thousand Islands, and retiring in style.

Hunting Ogres With Will McLean

Here's another classic Will McLean Dungeons and Dragons cartoon: this time, he's spoofing on Metagaming's OGRE micro-game.

Two adventurers are standing in front of a sign, "Beware of the Ogre" and one is telling the other: "Boy, after that pair of giants and the nest of gargoyles, this should be a real pushover..."

Of course, the tread tracks from the Ogre (a cybernetic nuke-firing supertank) portend a grim fate for the two adventurers.