The Chico Game Club has recently taken to playing Ogre, that lovable game from Steve Jackson Games. In fact, some of our members have been playing since the game was first released in its Micro-Game format back in the '70's!
Living up to the club motto of, "Everything to excess; nothing in moderation!", the CGC has plunged in head-first, and now the club collectively owns a rather large collection of Ogre miniatures. Because of this, we are able to put on some pretty major battles, with the one below being just the first of many...
This game represents a Paneuropean invasion of France (okay, maybe you should know that we play by our own Ogre timeline, and not the one provided in the book), in which the Paneuropean forces are attempting to regain those parts of Western Europe held by the Combine. The scenario was set up in a way very reminiscent of the French/German border of 1940, when the German panzers rolled across into France for a victory so quick that it stunned the World.
The Paneuropeans were given a large force, but no reinforcements. Their army consisted of the entire contents of four (!) Deluxe GEV box sets (minus the command posts and non-mobile howitzers), two Panzer box sets, Two Ogre MK V's and one Ogre MK III. Coincidentally, they were all painted in early WWII German colors. The Paneuropeans were expecting to roll right over the measly Combine opposition, and with good reason...
The Combine had built the much-hyped "Wavell Line", a series of permanent fortifications, backed by main and secondary batteries in heavily armored turrets. This in turn was supported by several large Combine howitzers, two laser towers and a jam screen to prevent the use of enemy cruise missiles. Because of the expected strength of the Wavell line, however, it was only defended by low grade militia forces. You see, the Combine had adopted a "wait and react" policy for the defense of Northern France. They expected the militia to be able to hold the Wavell Line long enough for more modern forces to be sent to plug the gap. The Combine planners would soon find themselves disappointed by their plans...
Below are some pictures of the action, with some captions
describing what is taking place. By the way, to accommodate those
of you with whimpier connection speeds or little patience, I have reduced
the size of these pictures considerably. Enjoy!
The
first wave of the Paneuropean advance reaches the Wavell Line. Unfortunately,
the GEV's are no match for the emplaced guns!
Three
Combine MBT's (antiquated T-72's) race as fast as their diesel engines
will allow towards the front lines! Of course, considering the size
of the oncoming Paneuropean force, the time of their arrival may be irrelevant...
The
battle for the Wavell Line in full swing! The Combine howitzers and
emplaced main and secondary batteries wreck havoc on the oncoming Paneuropean
GEV's, but enough get through to silence the howitzers. It's the
beginning of the end for the Wavell Line.
In
the background in front of the mountains (and to the right of the giant
pelvis), a column of smoke rises from the location of a recent cruise missile
strike. The Combine had decided to use one of their precious cruise
missiles early in the battle. Although the missile was shot down,
it went off anyway. It's explosion took out an entire battalion of
Paneuropean GEV's and several Heavy Tanks as well.
The
Paneuropean advance through the mountain pass of Shmalmady easily overwhelmed
the Combine militia defending. When they swept out into the Low Countries,
however, it was a different matter. The local militia defending the
riverside town of Haachen put up a particularly stubborn defense.
Here, the Paneuropean vanguard of GEV's swarms the small town and its meager
defense of two militia platoons and two MBT's...
...and
here they are at the end of the Turn. The militia have lost a platoon,
and one of their MBT's has been disabled, but in return several enemy GEV's
have been destroyed!
Meanwhile,
back in the center, the Combine are just about done overrunning the Wavell
Line. Some of the valiant militia defending the Line have sallied
forth to fight the invaders, and several more Paneuropean GEV's are destroyed,
but soon the militia are swarmed and destroyed. This Paneuropean
Mark V is about to ford the Meuse, as the nearby bridge is incapable of
supporting it.
The
Paneuropeans had been unable to use their cruise missiles (located on cruise
missile crawlers) because of a Combine jam screen located on top of this
large hill. These GEV's had raced across the Meuse and, with the
help of some wall placed missiles from the Mk V Ogre on the bridge in the
background, were able to destroy the jam screen.
On
the northern flank, the battle for Haachen continues. Here, the main
body of the Paneuropean mountain column finally clears the pass, passing
by an abandoned Combine bunker. In the background, the village of
Shmalmady burns...
Meanwhile,
the carnage around Haachen escalates as the Paneuropean GEV's surround
the once sleepy town. An invading Ogre Mk III passes in the background
to the right, heading towards a bridge over the Meuse.
In
the City of Brussels, the local militia mobilize and post their forces
on the outskirts of the City, preparing for the oncoming Paneuropean assault
of modern armor. If you look closely, you can see the fabled Parmentorium
between and behind the two closest skyscrapers. No one knows the
purpose of this mysterious building, but the locals are ready to fight
to the death for it!
In
the center, an Ogre Mk V forces its way across the main bridge and storms
the town of Coup D'Ville. The militia prepare to sell their lives
dearly, but how much damage militia can do against an Ogre is left to be
seen...
Paneuropean
Light and Heavy Tanks swarm over the pass! Looks like the Battle
for Haachen will soon be at an end!
With
the Town of Haachen finally over (it's now burning merrily), the Paneuropean
forces reform to continue their advance. Unfortunately, it has cost
them almost 50% of their vanguard to subdue the weakly defended town.
The general in charge of the Northern Army will have some explaining to
do later!
As
the Paneuropean GEV's prepare to forge the Meuse (the Ogre Mk III has preceded
them across), their Heavy Tanks attempt to roll over the bridge (they cannot
cross the river unaided). Defending the bridge is a platoon of militia
hiding behind a truck they have overturned to block the bridge. The
Paneuropeans send three Heavy Tanks in succession against them in an attempt
to overrun their position, but the militia pull a rabbit out of their hat,
destroying all three tanks for a loss of only one squad!
On
the opposite side of the battlefield, Combine reinforcements were racing
to the front. Three Super-Heavy Tanks were nearly to the City of
Acme, where they would be able to put up an effective defense against the
invaders. Unfortunately, the only surviving Paneuropean cruise missile
was launched against them. The Tanks fired rapidly, but none of the
shots hit, and the missile hit home. Not only where the three Super-Heavies
taken out, but the nearby oil storage facility was as well. At least
those victory points were denied to the invaders!
Leading
the advance in the center was a Paneuropean Ogre Mk V, with a few GEV's
scattered about the countryside, wrecking havoc wherever possible.
Here, the Mk V heads for the City of Acme, a major Combine industrial area
and prime prize for the invaders. There is nothing to stand in the
way of the Mk V's advance...
Here,
the Paneuropeans advance on the outskirts of Brussels. Their vanguard
now consists of several GEV's (both regular and Light), and an Ogre Mk
III. Facing them is a motley collection of MBT's, Militia, Infantry,
a couple of Missile Tanks, and a Howitzer. However, a few Combine
Mobile Howitzers are moving into range, and they will prove valuable in
the defense of Brussels...
One
of the first Combine reinforcements to arrive is this Ogre Mk V.
It heads straight for the main bridge, and, "seeing" the oncoming column
of Paneuropean Heavy and Light Tanks, fires a salvo of four missile at
it! The ensuing eruption of atomic fire destroys two tanks and disables
a half dozen more, buying valuable time for the Combine defenders!
The
Paneuropean Ogre Mk V rampaging behind Combine lines turns to face the
new Combine Ogre. It's weapons already damaged during its assault
on the Wavell Line, the Paneuropean Ogre initiates an overrun, hoping to
do some major damage to the enemy's treads in a ram attack! However,
the Paneuropean Ogre had taken damage to its core, and its programming
of the Rules of Engagement were not entirely on-line... As a result
it took heavy damage during the overrun, losing all its weapons and most
of its remaining treads. Near "death", it limped off in the opposite
direction.
The
Paneuropeans hit the outskirts of Belgium as hard as they could.
Their Vanguard took heavy casualties, and lost all their remaining GEV's.
The Mk III continued on, and crushed several enemy MBT's before enemy fire
stripped it of all its guns. The following column of Heavy and Super-Heavy
Tanks was virtually annihilated by the combined Howitzer and Mobile Howitzer
fire of the defenders of Brussels. It was looking like the Paneuropean
advance in the North would get no further.
Back
in the center, the Paneuropean armor swarmed around the Combine Mk V.
Concentrating all fire on its treads, they still only managed to slow it
down a little. Unfortunately, many of the Paneuropean vehicles were
too close to the Ogre when the shooting began, and a half dozen of them
were instantly disabled by the heavy volume of fire! The Mk V followed
up on this by destroying many of the vehicles with a combination of overrun
and fire combat.
At this point, the Combine advance began to falter.
Although they were still strong in the center, their advances on the North
and (unfortunately unphotographed) South Wings were at a standstill after
taking heavy loses. The General-In-Charge decided to halt the attack
for now, while they waited for reinforcement to catch up with the advancing
columns. They would be able to resume their advance within 24 hours,
and by all appearances it appeared that the Combine would still be reeling
from the hammer blow just dealt them. The Paneuropean commanders
had all covered themselves with glory by taking so many important objectives
on the first day of their campaign, and their overlord would be handing
out medals and holidays to all!
Although the Combine had been soundly trounced and had
lost a lot of ground, they had managed to inflict nearly 75% casualties
on the Paneuropean invaders, and any of those had been caused by local
militia and outdated armor. Although the "reaction strategy" had
failed soundly, the local commanders could be proud of their performance.
However, one thought was weighing heavily on their minds: What would
the next few days bring, and could they hold until they were sufficiently
reinforced, or would they be pushed back yet again?
**********************
HOW WE DID IT:
We used an 8x8 wargaming table down at the CGC "club house", known to some as Mangrove Games. All the Ogre figures, armor and infantry were made by Steve Jackson Games, and we love them! The moden Microarmor and militia figures are a combination of GHQ and Irregular, with the vast majority being the later. The laser towers and jam screens are a mix of old resin Ogre-line models, and ones we used to make for Flagship Games' game, Mecha! The rivers and the large bridge are by Scenic Effects. The roads are a mix of Geohex road cloth and hand drawn felt roads. The city bases are also Geohex cloth. The forests are a mix of Woodland Scenics and K&M Trees, placed on custom finished bases. The mountains are hand-made from Woodland Scenics materials. The skyscrapers are some of the lovely pre-finished buildings by Pegasus. The majority of the remainder of the buildings are by JR Miniatures (available through Geohex), and the rest are either Village Green 6mm or some of the old, out-of-print Mecha! range.
*********************
Well, that's it for the first in the series. Next:
Dunkirk 2040!
If you would like to see some pictures of the CGC 2001
Wargame/Party, click here.