My Ogre has landed

My Ogre has arrived. It came on Friday, November 15. I got the email notice that it had been shipped and the notice that it had hit the local sorting facility. I was going to call them about picking it up but when I checked it was already out for delivery. I had a bit of concern as no one was home to receive but it sounds like he tried again later and was able to deliver to the kids – who were able to cover the $28 duty charge. I was glad to pay that to ensure that it did not get stuck out in the weather.

We took it to Jimcon – a local gaming convention – that weekend on the Sunday. They cleared some space for us on the newer tables so we were able to spread it out. We had a few people come by to check it out – some had heard of the Kickstarter and some had never heard of Ogre at all.

My first thoughts? It’s very nice. And big. So very big.

The pieces are nicely die cut – they popped out without any trouble and stayed in until worked on. I still haven’t had time to remove and sort them all. I wish they had been better packaged with the basic sheets together. The over-abundance of the Kickstarter extras made it tricky to find the pieces needed for the classic game. The insert trays are a thing of beauty – nice and solid and look to have enough room to hold everything once done.

I really like the classic Ogre game included – although this one has dice cut counters unlike the original cut-your-own ones. I will need to buy a bunch of them when they become available to give to friends to indoctrinate them. I expect I will also end up playing that version more often as it will be easier to find the space needed.

I played the classic game with my son. I was a bit out of practice, and busy popping out more counters while we played, but still lost. He player the mark III Ogre and was able to pull off a complete Ogre victory. It was his first game with a classic CRT (combat results table) and he was able to figure it out pretty well. The basic map isn’t too huge and will fit on most tables. This will allow it to get more use than the size of the box would imply.

My only negative about this is the sheer size of it. It should really have been made into two boxes. This would allow one to carry and store it much easier and allow you to take only part of it out as needed for most games. It would also have been easier to sell later – with a more “stripped-down” version and a massive extras set. It seems to have done well enough for more support – maybe the supplement box will be able to double as a travel box as needed. If not, I will have to make a box to hold the basic components. At least until I get some of the rereleased miniatures.