A slight deviation - Last day for OGRE!

I try my best to keep this blog 40k-themed, but thought that this little deviation would be appropriate as it ties into how I got into the hobby in the first place...

Steve Jackson Games has a Kickstarter campaign going to release the 6th "Designers" Edition of his game from 35 years ago called OGRE. There was a resurgence in the mid-80's when I was in middle school, and it was there that I was first introduced to the nuclear wastelands of the Last War. My science teacher ran the school's Games Club (which ran the gamut from cards to chess to RPGs to minatures) and had several copies of the miniature based "Deluxe OGRE", which was my first introduction to miniature wargaming around '84 or so (several years prior to the release of the 1st edition 40k). I must have played hundreds of games of OGRE, GEV and Shockwave (the two expansions) during the mid 80's, though once 40k got its hooks into me I more or less jumped ship over to the grim darkness.

However, that old game still lurks in my hindbrain, kept alive by occasional re-reading of Kieth Laumer's Bolo books and it was a foregone conclusion that I'd be a backer for a project to bring OGRE back to life. And what a life it's returning to! It's gone from the original pocket box game (about the size of a DVD case today) to its new incarnation as a 15 pound, 21"x18"x5" monster... Only fitting for a game that has some of the biggest, baddest armored units ever to take to the battlefield! In addition, they have dug up a bunch of backstock of the old OGRE miniatures and made them available for sale on Warehouse 23, and I'm not ashamed to say that I jumped in and bought a mess of minis in anticipation of the release of the game! It'll be interesting to paint up some 1/256th scale minis after about 20 years of 28mm. Alas not every model that was made is still available, but I did pick up a couple OGRE Mk.IIIb's and a selection of the Paneuropean models sufficient to run the standard missions in miniature format....

The Kickstarter campaign ends (as of this writing) in about 26 hours. I heartily recommend at least giving it a look - the game is an absolute blast! For $100 you get a tremendous amount of game - due to the stretch goals being absolutely CRUSHED by the supporters (they are at $730k of an original $20k goal) they've added all sorts of extras to what you get in the box. Not only that, but the success of this project has convinced them to bring back Car Wars in 2013, which I am absolutely delighted to hear!

Anyway - chances are there will be another small diversion when the minis I'd ordered show up, but for now we return you to our regularly scheduled 40k programming...