====== Ogre Digest, January 12th (Last: December 31st) ======== ===== Ogre Scenario Book One: "Run for the border" From: David Morse ===== suppressing fire From: David Morse ===== rules question: cruise missiles, towns, D From: David Morse ===== new crud at cp gamma From: David Morse ===== Scenario idea for Ogre Map From: "Alan and Carmel Brain" ===== Orphan Units From: "Alan and Carmel Brain" ============================== From: David Morse Subject: Ogre Scenario Book One: "Run for the border" Here are the total odds of the Mk III being slowed down to M2 in "Run for the Border". This assumes all missile tanks get their one and only shot on turn 2, the superheavy is allowed to tailgate the Ogre indefinately, and no other PE armor units make it in range. All these are decent assumptions at M3. Turn 2: 2% Turn 3: 9% Turn 4: 21% Turn 5: 36% Turn 6: 52% Turn 7: 66% Turn 8: 77% Turn 9: 85% The allied GEVs can be overrunning the PE armor van by the end of turn 2, so the later numbers in the table are kinda irrellevant. ===== [This scenario can be found in the new Ogre Scenario Book. Dave is neglecting to note that sacrificing the GEVs does cut into the Combine's victory conditions. Personally, I would have designed the scenario with the Missile Tanks and a light infantry screen in front of the Ogre (Border Patrol) with other armor chasing after it. -HJC] ============================== From: David Morse Subject: suppressing fire Missile tanks suck. How about this: If a gun is capable of "suppressing fire", in leiu of firing at a regular target, its owner may declare "suppressing fire" into an in-range hex. Mark the hex with a counter. If, during the enemy's turn, he or she moves a unit into that hex, the controlling player may remove the counter and interrupt the unit's movement to resolve a strength 1 attack on the unit. No other units suffer spillover fire. Cruise missiles travelling through the hex may be attacked. If a D causes more units to end the turn in the hex than the stacking limit, then the controller must eliminate units to become legal. All of a side's "suppressing fire" counters are removed at the beginning of their controller's next turn. Example: 3 LGEVs are sitting in the lake on the east side of the GEV map. A MSL is desperatly trying to hold them back from escaping off the N edge. Normally, overruns favoring the LGEV the way they do, the MSL has to retreat a hex a turn or get overrun, and likely destroyed. By laying down some suppressing fire at the 2108 or 2007 choke-points, our hero has a fighting chance. Arguably he even has the upper hand, at least until the LGEVs whiz around to some other weak spot, leaving him in the dust. Guns which can lay down suppressing fire: MSL tank guns (duh) HWZ and MHWZ (lemma from above) Ogre Main Battery (what do you think?) Ogre Missile (expends ammo) Heavy Weapons Infantry (expends ammo) Note that the strength 6 attacks don't get a more powerful result in this case, mostly because I'm more worried about MSL suckage than HWZ suckage. Argualbly the strength 6 guys could cover two adjacent hexes, or one hex twice. Note also that SHVY may not lay down suppressing fire. I'm tired of them being totally superior to MSL. I find that the proposed rules changes are still too whimpy to make the MSL an attractive unit. Perhaps giving it 2 counters per shot would do it. The current braindump is here: http://www.bomberlan.net/~dm/ogre/suppressing-fire.html ============================== From: David Morse Subject: rules question: cruise missiles, towns, D If a cruise missile goes off in a hex adjacent to a town with a light tank, does the LT get to look at the "Effects of Missile Explosion" as if it were a D2 unit, or a D4 unit? Keeping in mind that one already gets to count oneself as two hexes farther away for being in the town. Also, it seems fairly obvious, but just double checking: the town doesn't have to survive the blast in order for it to protect units in its hex. Just thought of another dumb question ... Is a town hex itself considered to be a "target in a town hex" for purposes of cruise missile detonation? ===== [Even destroyed towns provide full protection as usual. (Rubble is a different case, but the current cruise missile rules don't seem to cause rubbling.) Terrain always adds to range, not basic defense value for units against cruise missile, but does not protect the terrain itself. AFAIK. -HJC] ============================== From: David Morse Subject: new crud at cp gamma A few new things: A strategy article devoted entirely to "The Train" http://www.bomberlan.net/~dm/ogre/train-strategy.html A new scenario, Breakout. (HJC: How about this for saturday?) http://www.bomberlan.net/~dm/ogre/contest1/breakout.html A cruise missile reference card http://www.bomberlan.net/~dm/ogre/cruise-missile-refcard.ps or http://www.bomberlan.net/~dm/ogre/cruise-missile-refcard.html ============================== From: "Alan and Carmel Brain" Subject: Scenario idea for Ogre Map Scenario: Above us the waves, Below us the Ogres. Introduction: The Arafura Sea and Timor Gap were the scene of heavy fighting during the Last War, with fighting between Chinese and Nihon forces spilling over into Australian territorial waters.. and rarely on land. The fighting was unusual inasmuch as part it took place underwater, with Australian Marines mounted in GEV-PCs mounting counter-OGRE strikes while the Cybertanks were crawling along the sea floor. Setup: (Basic Game) The Australian Defenders start with 3 GEV-PCs, each carrying 3 marine engineers, 3 GEVs, 12 marines, and 2 Coastal Defence Howitzers. All forces start on land. (Australian forces used a triangular rather than square organisation, due to lack of population - they made up for it by increased use of technology.) The attacker has 1 Mk III Ogre (actually a Steel Warrior or Dragon). Its mission is to make a hole in the Australian coastal defences so that a friendly force can use neutral Australian territory to outflank the enemy. The standard OGRE map is used. The last hexrow at the bottom of the map represents the beach (where the howitzers are), the remainder of the map represents the Sea Floor. The Ridges represent Coral Reefs, the craters patches of soft sand that will irretrievably bog the Ogre. All the standard OGRE Miniatures/GEV rules for water combat are used. For those playing OGRE only, these are summarised below: Marines, Ogres and GEVs count all water hexes as clear, Infantry at double movement cost. Targets Underwater are immune from attack except by Howitzers and Ogre Missiles fired from land at half strength, infantry underwater at half strength, and marines, which fight as normal. GEVs and Marines on the water surface fight as normal, and Infantry on the water surface at half strength. Ogres, Infantry and Marines can move underwater, and Infantry, Marines and GEVs (including Lt GEVs, GEV-PCs) can move on the surface. No other units can enter the water. In addition, the following special rule is used: Each Marine Engineer has a set of demolition charges, giving them a 1-use 3 strength attack (similar to a heavy weapons squad) but with range 0, which they may use instead of their normal attack strength, and only against Ogres and Infantry (GEVs move too fast). Ogres cannot fire weapons while underwater*, so the marines and GEVs are safe from attack from it. However... the Ogre isn't placed on the map. Instead, the attacking player notes down the hex numbers it ends each move in. The defender can only find the Ogre by placing a unit in the right hex. During each defender's turn, after movement, the attacker informs the defender where the Ogre is IF there is a defender in the same hex. It is assumed that all GEVs and marines are equipped with water-penetrating LIDAR, but that the background noise and reverberation of multiple nuclear detonations from the nearby Chinese-Nihon combat makes sonar conditions impossible - even the sound of an Ogre is not distinguishable from the continuous roar . Once the Ogre gets into the Unobstructed part of the map, it is revealed by the seafloor sensors emplaced there. However, it is then shallow enough to fire its missiles at half effect. The defenders must prevent the Ogre from a) destroying the howitzers and b) exiting the bottom edge of the map. (Advanced Game) The Ogre is escorted by 6 GEVs, and 2 GEV-PCs carrying Infantry (Not Marines). The defender has an additional 3 GEVs. (Variant) - 3-way fight (Variant) some Ogres were fitted with subsurface-launched missiles, which may be fired from underwater at underwater targets in the same hex at half effect, and at water targets on the surface in the same hex or land targets at full strength. (Variant) As per Advanced Game, but there is no Ogre. This is kept secret from the Defender. The attacker must destroy one howitzer, inflict more losses than he takes, or exit any unit from the bottom edge of the map. Opinions? Comments? ===== [Do the marines get to launch overrun attacks against the defenseless Ogre or do they just fire at range from the same hex? Marines do only count one MP per water hex, giving them twice the effective speed as the Ogre, right? -HJC] ============================== From: "Alan and Carmel Brain" Subject: Orphan Units Orphan Units Some Ral Partha designs that were never released have found their way into various people's collections. Some of these have been slightly re-worked and released under the SJ Logo, some have been released virtually unchanged, but some have been abandoned for one reason or another. Here is a proposal for using these "Orphan Units", and a wish that these abandoned orphans be made available through Warehouse 23. Mk IV-X(Prototype) & Mk VIII - cost 150 Why the model was abandoned: The Ral Partha Mk IV has little in the way of surface detail. And isn't the "right shape". Finish is a bit rough. Tower slopes too much. But I like it. Justification: "The Mk-IV-X was produced in very limited quantities from 2083, when initial problems with the missile racks had largely been solved. It was always a very expensive design, and continuing difficulties with the power plant led to production ceasing in 2086. A completely new design, more reliable and easier to produce went into service at that time as the "production" Mk IV, just in time to relieve the siege of Mexico City. Surprisingly many Mk IV-Xs survived the Last War, probably because they spent the majority of their time in the repair shop rather than the field of battle. After 2089, most Mk-IV-Xs were eventually refitted with new propulsion equipment, often cannibalised from wrecked series-production Mk IVs. These were re-designated Mk VIII." Statistics: Mk IV-X: As per Mk IV, but with 48 instead of 56 tracks. Tracks have therefore 12 (in Ogre Miniatures, 6) boxes between movement boundaries instead of 14 (7). Mk VIII - as per Mk IV ----------------- Combine “Stilwell” Medium Tank M-Tk - cost 5 Why the Model was abandoned: The Ral Partha model of the NAC Lt Tank was just too big. And the background of the original Ogre categorically announces the demise of the medium tank. Justification: "Conservative elements in the NAC never really recognised that the time of the medium tank had passed. Several experimental versions were produced from 2070, and some saw service in combat, with mixed results. By far the best of these designs was the Stilwell, basically a much enlarged Lt Tank with a limited traverse 130mm gun. However, although a Stillwell was somewhat more effective than it's lighter cousins, it cost nearly twice as much - almost as much as the much more effective Heavy. There were few roles which a Medium Tank could perform which a standard Missile Tank could not, and usually the Missile tank could do so far better. Despite this, production of the Stillwell was authorised in two factories, causing allegations of Pork-Barrelling . Few saw service." Statistics Atk -3 Rng-2(4") Movement-3( 6") Defence-2. --------------- PanEuropean “Elefant” GEV-TD - cost 6 Why the model was abandoned: The Ral Partha model of the PE Lt GEV is just plain butt-ugly. It has a huge trunk-like front gun that wouldn't disgrace a heavy tank, on a small chassis with even smaller propulsion jets. Justification: "The Pan Europeans attempted to make a Tank Destroyer GEV with only limited success from 2082. The LuftPanzerJaeger concept was to put a large gun (135mm) on a new, lightweight chassis with compact powerplant, thereby producing a GEV with increased firepower and otherwise equal performance to the Galahad design. In practice, only the weapons system worked as specified (and even then the non-standard calibre was a logistical nightmare). The light powerplant never lived up to expectations, and consequently weight had to be trimmed so drastically that the point-defences were all but omitted. Even then it failed to reach its designed speed. Although quite effective, the Elefant was cramped, fragile, slow, and noisy. The design was popular with neither its crews, nor supply officers, and relatively few were ever produced." Statistics: Atk-3 Rng-2(4") Movement 3/2 (6"/4") Defence-1 ============================== List Moderator: Henry J. Cobb ogre@sjgames.com Archives for this mailing list may be found at http://www.io.com/~hcobb General online support for the OGRE game is at http://www.sjgames.com/ogre Ogre, G.E.V., Shockwave and other products mentioned here are trademarks or registered trademarks of Steve Jackson Games. All rights are reserved by SJ Games. This material is used here in accordance with the SJ Games online policy at http://www.sjgames.com/general/online_policy.html