Ogre at MillCon

As usual, I ran my Monopolis setup for Ogre at last November's MillenniumCon. This time, however, I had fewer players. Maybe it was the nonstandard time slot.

Anyway, still lots of Ogre-on-Ogre carnage, and I think I even got to roll a few dice myself thanks to the sparse player count.

I enjoy running it, but I'm thinking about doing a differnet sci-fi tank game at the next convention. More on that later.

Monopolis second session (MillCon Day 2)

My second Monopolis game had a little poorer turnout, because I didn't decide to do it until well after electronic registration closed. I figured there was enough demand for another session, and running them back-to-back meant just setting up once and breaking down once. I decided to leave in the craters from the previous game, building a new road and replacing some of the destroyed town hexes with parkland.

Just five players for the evening game, and since the last one was late because of car trouble, I got to participate as one of the defenders for long enough to launch a nuke on some unsuspecting GEVs. 

The final player showed up soon after that, and I was back to refereeing the game. Once again, lots of Ogre-on-Ogre action, with the small guys as kind of an afterthought.

That Doppelsoldner is a beast, with its two mains, eight secondaries, and three missile racks. Because of all the cybertanks running around in this scenario, I warned the players at the start of the game that any time one side ended their turn with more than a single Ogre in a hex, their opponent could call in an off-board cruise missile.

The attackers didn't care, as they needed to cross a ford west of the city guarded by the green Mark V. Lucky for them, they shot down the incoming cruise missile, and it didn't detonate. They also made mincemeat out of the defending cybertank, which at least allowed me to use my Ogre hulk.

They had also destroyed the defending laser implacements, and managed to launch a second cruise missile, which they detonated above the river, rubblizing most of downtown.

The game was pretty much over at this point, but the attackers wanted to get off their second nuke, which levelled the eastern suburbs for a near total destruction of Monopolis. This game was obviously a victory for the attackers, pyrrhic as it may have been. 

So I handed out more prize support, packed up with the help of my brother, and went home late Friday night. It was a long day, and hosting back-to-back games wore me out, but I'm glad I did the second event.

Monopolis first session (MillCon Day 2)

The second day of MillenniumCon, I ran two games (afternoon and evening) of Monopolis, my Ogre scenario using the boardgame rules, miniatures, and 3D terrain on a huge hex map. We got there at 9 a.m., not realizing that the game my brother wanted to play had started at 8. So we wandered around the dealer room (where I scored big; more on that in a later post) and looked at other games that morning, grabbed an early lunch, and started setting up before the 1:30 events started.

The first game, all eight slots had been claimed in online preregistration, but after cancellations and substitutes, we ended up with seven players--and that was fine. This time around, I decided to get all my cybertanks on the board, with around eight for the attackers and five for the defenders, plus conventional armor. I also included the mobile laser, the ekranoplan, and other nonstandard units.

The attackers' Doppelsoldner and defenders' Ogre Mark VI went after each other in a clash of titans in the plains to the east of the city, and the ekranoplan didn't get its troops very far. There was plenty of back-and-forth at the other end of the battlefield as well, including some aquatic action between GEVs and armored boats.

Then the cruise missiles started flying. I'd given the defenders plenty of lasers (and the attackers their own portable energy weapon) for this reason, but eventually one got through, detonating above the main highway into the city, and levelling the terrain for kilometers around. 

I was prepared for this, as rereading the previous Monopolis batrep had reminded me to place the rubble markers first when setting up, then put town and forest on top, to make applying the effects of the nuke quicker and easier and not break the flow of the game. And the players on both sides enjoyed seening the fruits of this nuclear destruction.

This came in handy when the second cruise missile detonated just up the road, taking out the bridge and some of downtown Monopolis across the river--along with some unfortunate nearby conventional units.

By then, it was just about time to end the game. While the attackers made some incursions into the city, the defenders still held Monopolis. It was a good time, and thanks to Steve Jackson Games, I even had some prize support to hand out when we were done.

Between events, I had a chance to wander around some more. Here's a shot of the Circus Maximus setup--a 28mm scale adoption of that classic boardgame. This event is a fan favorite and always fills up within minutes of preregistration starting.

So it was a good afternoon on day two, with my evening Monopolis game still to come. Stay tuned!

The return of Monopolis

After a year's (enforced) hiatus, I will be bringing my Monopolis setup back to MillenniumCon this year. Monopolis, of course, is my big Ogre/GEV minis setup. As the event description says:

The year after the Great Plague, the peaceful City of Monopolis rises above the rubble of the Last War, a gleaming center of commerce and industry. But no peace lasts forever. Now invaders march to conquer the city while outnumbered defenders scramble to protect their home. This is a custom scenario for Ogre/GEV, using the official Ogre miniatures (and a few original units) on a large hex mat with 3-D terrain. With room for up to 8 players, you and your friends can aid in the defense of the besieged city--or help the invaders conquer it. Fight in the Siege of Monopolis!

As the game convention has expanded to start on Thursday, I chose the Friday afternoon slot for my game. Looking forward to attending this game convention again, and I hope to see some of you there!

Mobile Energy Weapon Vehicle

This week's miniature is a Mobil Energy Weapon Vehicle (MEWV--get it? Because it moves!) that I plan to use with my Monopolis setup for Ogre. My brother generously sent me this as a birthday gift after I offhandedly mentioned it when we were talking about gaming.

The casting itself is called the Gojira Hakaisha Laser Projector, from Reviresco's 6mm sci-fi Days of Empire line (there's some other minis in that range that might come in handy for Ogre games, too).

I really like all the details on this model; it has an old-school science fiction vibe. The only thing is, it came in a lot of pieces--with no instructions!

Despite the fact that the vehicle was unassembled, with 24 parts (11 just for the laser arm assembly), I managed to put it together, and with just one piece left over!

Maybe this record cold front that hit Texas this week was an influence in my white paint scheme. I was going for sort of a stark white 1970's aesthetic, but I don't think it came out that way. Still, the model looks pretty cool.

As you can see, it is big in its scale, with the trailer as long as an Ogre Mark III, and the laser arm is even taller than the cybertank's sensor tower. 

It was painstaking to assemble, and I'm not completely sold on the paint job, but all in all I'm satisfied that I finished this monster. The Gojira MEWV will fit in just fine on my tabletop.

Meanwhile, I hope everyone else is staying warm this weekend, and working on a gaming project when you get the chance.

Ogre hulk (work in progress)

I decided to try my hand at modding an Ogre into a hulk, for use as an objective or eye candy. I had some fun drilling, cutting, and melting a plastic Mark V to give it some battle damage. I know, it's sacrilege to do that to one of the glow-in-the-dark minis, but it was all I had.

Once I had that destructive work done, I sprayed it in a tan color, then dusted it over with flat black to give it that burned out look. It still needs some work--a wash maybe, and then picking out some of the impact points in a metallic color--and possibly adding some steel wool for smoke, and then I'm done.

I would never do this to one of my metal minis, but since I have an abundance of these plastic models, I didn't mind sacrificing one for the cause of gaming. Anyone else have second thoughts about cutting up their miniatures, or is it just me?

Presenting the 433rd Lift Wing

The 433rd Lift Wing was one of the first North American Combine military units to purchase its own intellectual property and strike out as an independent mercenary organization during the Factory States Era. Focusing on mobility and logistics, the 433rd consists of the Lift Group and the Heavy Lift Group.

Heavy Lift Group has one independent flight (the Sea Monster-class ekranoplan) and two squadrons: the 136th (a single flight of two Kraken-class Ogre transport hovercraft) and the 712th (two flights of three Sea Steed-class LCACs). Lift Group has three squadrons: the 21st (two El-Dingar-class heavy GEV-PCs, the 56th (four Clydesdale-class hover transports), and the 78th (ditto). Although not a combat unit, the 433rd does have a single battery (two Centaur light artillery drones) for defending beachheads.  

I hope to see this unit in action for an aquatic assault scenario (Monopolis-by-the-Sea!) eventually. Meanwhile, I hope everyone is still doing something game related.

Ogres in progress

Some detailing for my plastic Ogres, which I may or may not use for my Monopolis game at MillenniumCon this weekend. They look a helluva lot better with just a wash, compared to right after I had basecoated them. Looking forward to some minis gaming at the convention. Anyone else on here going to be at the con this weekend in Round Rock?

Ogres assembled

I put together and basecoated three Ogres from the SJ Games plastic miniatures line: the Mark III, Mark IV, and Mark V. Now I just need to do some detailing so I can have these ready for MillenniumCon, where I'm running my usual Monopolis game (plastic minis using the boardgame rules with 3-D terrain on a large hex mat). I'm still not sure if I will use all of these models in my scenario, but I'm leaning that way. I need more time to think about it, but the game convention is just two weeks away. Am I the only one that commits to run a convention scenario and then waits till the last minute to get it ready?

Running the gauntlet

My last Ogre game was over a month ago. I used my Monopolis setup and used the forces from the Mark V Attacking scenario in the original rules. But instead of killing the command post, the cybertank had to get all the way across the long axis of the map with four of its missiles.

I took the Ogre, while Wes played the defenders and tried to intercept me. However, I used the roads and terrain to make sure he couldn't get too many units in the same place--fighting them a few at a time is a lot easier.

Still, prying infantry out of a city is a rhymes-with-witch, and they were able to keep picking at the Ogre, slowing me down.

The defending armor units contributed to my misery, but by aiming at treads, they left me free to strike back. I conserved my missiles, using two of them to take out a howitzer and another long-distance shot (the remainder I needed for victory conditions).

In the end, the cybertank limped off the far edge of the map with two treat units remaining and the rest of the defenders in hot pursuit. It was a narrow victory, and seemed like a balanced scenario.

Speaking of Ogre, there's a crowdfunding campaign to get the two largest cybertanks, the Mark VI and the Doppelsoldner, in plastic miniature form. It ends in a few days, so go on over and take a look if you're interested in more Ogre minis.

Raid on Monopolis

Week before last, I brought all my Monopolis gear to Dragon's Lair for a game of Ogre. We had four players (two each attacking and defending); the scenario was an all-cybertank force raiding the city for unknown reasons. The attackers consisted of a Mark III, a Mark V, and a Ground Effect Ogre. Each model had its own target to eliminate, assigned randomly, along with one objective that any of the attackers could claim. The attackers also got points for blowing up other things, like town hexes and enemy tanks and infantry.

The great thing about this game was that other players had their Ogre minis painted up, so with the exception of some specialized units, I didn't have to break out all my own castings. James and Walter played the defense, with James's green and blue conventional units. Wes and I played the attackers, with him taking the Mark V and me taking the Mark III and the GEO.

My III's target was the prison, Ghódurek Lítu Jail. A few shots later, and that hex was nothing but rubble, achieving our first objective. It paid a price, though, as revenge-bent conventional units soon shot off all the Ogre's weapons, forcing it to flee the battle.

The GEO's target, the House of Government, was further back and well protected by troops and artillery. It even had the Monopolis Emergency Response Department on hand. Some poor dice rolling and poor targeting decisions on my part meant that this objective survived the battle.

In addition to my kitbashed hover Ogre and the emergency response vehicles to put out fires (repair damaged hexes on a roll of 5 or 6), I had some armored boats on the map.

In previous games those aquatic units didn't make much of a difference, but they did in this battle. The boats ended up chasing down and destroying the GEOgre as it tried to escape back down the river.

Over on the other side of the city, Wes's Mark V blazed a trail of destruction through the outskirts of Monopolis.

The big cybertank clawed through defending armor to take out our side's main objective, the Electric Company, plunging the city into darkness (and raising everyone's rates to pay to rebuild it), as well as another neighborhood it had been programmed to destroy.

So with three out of four targets enrubbled, along with additional real estate and defending armor destroyed, the machines had a good day. However, they took a lot of damage, including the loss of the GEO, meaning the Ogres' victory was a marginal one.

Another exciting game, as you can see from the before-and-after pictures. It had been a while since I'd played, so I'm glad I brought Ogre out for a spin again.

Next game, I think I want to use the train as an objective. Time to start planning a new scenario ....