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Post by Finarvyn on Jul 22, 2014 7:44:25 GMT -6
Made an interesting find at my local game store yesterday. Didn't buy it, but I'm thinking of going back to get one. Steve Jackson has released a reprint of the original Ogre pocket game, ziploc bag and all. It has a neat saying on the back (quoted from memory, so apologies if I get it wrong): "In 1977 Steve Jackson games published the original Ogre pocket game for $2.95. Thirty five years later we're publishing Ogre again for $2.95." Ogre has long been a favorite of mine. The basic idea is that there are these super tanks called "Ogres" chock full of guns and missiles, and an entire army of infantry and regular tanks tries to stop the Ogre. The Ogre has a template with hit points and such, much like a Battletech mech or a PC. One player plays the army and the other plays the Ogre. Steve Jackson recently released a deluxe Ogre for something like $100. For youngsters, what Ogre was back "in the day" was a ziploc bag much smaller than the D&D LBB in dimensions, with a small rulebook of only a few pages in length and a folded-up paper map with hexes on it, and a small sheet of roughly 100 counters. The counters are basically printed on cardstock like poster board, and not at all as thick as traditional chit-and-hex wargame counters. And at $3 it's a good price.  www.sjgames.com/ogre/products/pocketogre/ |
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Post by oakesspalding on Jul 22, 2014 21:26:54 GMT -6
Yeah, You gotta love the humor in simultaneously publishing a "pocket" edition for the same 1977 price of $2.95 and a "deluxe" edition for $100 that is the size of a small phone booth. I saw the latter at a comic book store and they had to get the big bruising 250 lb. sales guy to get it down from the shelf. It's a great game and I remember it well from 1977. Don't kill me if I say that I was tempted by the 2014 mega version.
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Post by coffee on Jul 23, 2014 8:20:29 GMT -6
I skipped the Deluxe edition (too much money, who would I play it with, and where the heck would I put it?). But I have a copy of this coming from a friend who was at my FLGS a while back and scored some for the rest of us.
I'm happy it's out there. It was the first adventure game (i.e.; not like Life or Monopoly, that sort of thing) I ever bought. It led to D&D.
And even after all these years, it's still a pretty darn spiffy game. Not bad for Jackson's first game design ever.
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Post by Finarvyn on Jul 23, 2014 10:40:34 GMT -6
CORRECTION TO MY OWN POST: There was a "deluxe" Ogre in the 1980's that had large counters on a thick cardboard mapboard. The $100 version is actually called the "designer's edition" Ogre. Probably no one else cares, but I hate to be inaccurate. Don't kill me if I say that I was tempted by the 2014 mega version. I was tempted as well, but I'll be darned if I could ever figure out where to put it. The box is huge and heavy and, while I loved Ogre back in the day, I didn't think that I'd ever get $100 worth of fun out of it. But I nearly bought one anyway. 
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Post by ritt on Jul 24, 2014 10:55:43 GMT -6
I remember as a kid in the 70's seeing ads for OGRE, THE FANTASY TRIP, and the other Steve Jackson pocket games in science-fiction magazines like ANALOG that hippy-ish friends of my sisters had left at the house. The tiny black-and-white ads fascinated me, yet even after almost four decades I still have never actually picked one up... but for $2.99? Can't turn that down!
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Post by oakesspalding on Jul 24, 2014 19:20:23 GMT -6
...but I'll be darned if I could ever figure out where to put it. The box is huge and heavy... I suspect that the bigness of the box is sort of a joke and that the stuff inside could fit in a much smaller space if one were so inclined. For example, I assumed the game contained miniatures, but I don't think it does. So just what is inside that box? I wish I could have had a little peek to see. |
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Post by Finarvyn on Jul 24, 2014 19:33:38 GMT -6
I've seen inside. It does have miniatures, but not plastic ones. They are made of very thick cardboard and you assemble them like a 3D jigsaw puzzle. Much of the box space is a cardboard storage area with sections so the minis don't get crunched.
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Torreny
Level 4 Theurgist
Is this thing on?
Posts: 171
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Post by Torreny on Aug 4, 2014 14:10:32 GMT -6
Thanks for bringing this to my attention! My friends keep asking about that monster of a box I keep next to the couch. And it would be really nice to have the portable version.
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Post by derv on Aug 4, 2014 15:44:26 GMT -6
Pocket games always draw me in. I guess it's the nastalgia affect. I bought two through SJG. One to use and abuse and one to leave in the wrapper. I'm not really a collector, but I always resist cutting out the chits for some reason. Even as a kid, I bit my lip with regret while I was cutting out the Car Wars, WarpWar, etc. counters.
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Post by Finarvyn on Aug 4, 2014 18:16:06 GMT -6
Even as a kid, I bit my lip with regret while I was cutting out the Car Wars, WarpWar, etc. counters. By the way, I saw in a trade magazine that Car Wars is supposed to be reprinted this fall. I think it's a small boxed set, probably the size if the Munchkin games, and will cost around $20. |
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Post by derv on Aug 5, 2014 16:14:54 GMT -6
Charlie Brown says AAUGH! I guess I'll have to set $40 aside because of course I'll want a set, so I'll have to buy two |
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Post by makofan on Aug 6, 2014 10:14:26 GMT -6
I have the games OGRE, GEV and Shockwave expansion in the pocket modules. If anybody is interested in them, PM me
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tog
Level 4 Theurgist
Detect Meal & What Kind
Posts: 148
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Post by tog on Aug 15, 2014 17:51:55 GMT -6
I still have the original edition I bought back in 1977 for $3.11 (2.95 plus 7% tax).
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Post by desertscrb on Jun 19, 2015 9:59:02 GMT -6
I have the $100 monstrosity known as the Designer's Edition. I have two copies of the $2.95 Pocket Edition. And I put together a massive setup using a 6.5-foot x 5-foot gaming mat with four-inch hexes and 1:285 metal miniatures:  But the Pocket Edition alone provides hours of gameplay, and its portability can't be beat. |
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Post by thorswulf on Jun 21, 2015 10:35:11 GMT -6
I have the designer's edition, and I have space for it! It was Christmas money well spent as well! I got Ogre when they were publishing it in the plastic box instead of the ziplock baggie. Something just appealed to me about big tanks squishing little ones.
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gonyaulax
Level 3 Conjurer
I still miss the 1970s . . . @:^/
Posts: 66 
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Post by gonyaulax on Jun 21, 2015 16:05:25 GMT -6
...but I'll be darned if I could ever figure out where to put it. The box is huge and heavy... I suspect that the bigness of the box is sort of a joke and that the stuff inside could fit in a much smaller space if one were so inclined. For example, I assumed the game contained miniatures, but I don't think it does. So just what is inside that box? I wish I could have had a little peek to see. Hee hee! You couldn't be more wrong! I'd post pictures if I could. Maybe later I'll edit this post and include some links. But to give a hint, the box itself (which weighs less than 0.5 lb.) is only a fraction of the 26 lb. weight of the d**n thing. And I got ALL of the third party official sponsored counter sheets, which barely fit into the box! Oh, GAWD! I've been in love with OGRE since 1978 and I just cannot get enough of this!!!!!! Thanks for indulging me! |
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