OGRE Nihon Rangers*

A long time ago at a Con far far away....  SJGames previewed the (now tabled) OGRE Assault Packs w/ a preview of NAC Ranger chits. I was not at this Con and paid a stupid amount of money on Ebay for one of the cards.

Even before the expansion was tabled I thought "Well that's not fair... what about
 the Glorious Forces of the Nihon Empire?" So on and off I've mulled over how to get this accomplished since I have little to no artistic talents.

Now, thanks to artist extraordinaire 'MadManMike', the same guy that did my PC caricature, my dreams have been realized.  His photoshop expertise created a sheet of Ranger Infantry in Nihon colors.  With some cropping and scaling, I printed out a number of them on 4x6 photo paper.

An advantage of being one of the 4.5K sponsors of the ODE KS is that I have a goodly number of Nihon sheets available.  I didn't want to just leave the counters paper so I sacrificed one of the sheets to create full thickness, double-sided chits w/ some cutting, trimming, and stick glue.

Edging them w. maroon marker and I now have a significant contingent of Nihon special forces.

Perhaps one day 'official' Rangers will see the light of day.

Now I need Engineers.

Update:
and some NA Combine units made by scanning the original card, cropping, printing on photo stock, trimming and gluing to extra counters.

Update 2:  PE Rangers added to the TO&E. I inverted the colors from the card in Paint and did a little 'cleanup' (Auto Correct in the old Microsoft Office Picture Manager).

*Totally unofficial , not for sale, trade, giveaway,  etc. etc.  All rights reserved to Steve Jackson Games.

IGOLD 2017

Since I missed last year due to just starting a new job, I made it a point to attend this year.  Again 4PB attended w. me.  4PA had a track meet (which ended up cancelled due to rain) otherwise he would have come as well.

First off, foul weather, fair weather friends, and complacency (the theme of the podium talks) have taken its toll on IGOLD.  From the peak the year before CCW was passed, attendance was only a fraction of that.  People seem to think that w/ Trump in things are safe. While he will be better than Hillary on guns, Illinois has become the centerpoint of anti-gun legislation, from additional fees and licenses to drive dealers out of business, stripping people of their firearm rights w/o due process based off of rumor or hostile testimony, to banning lead ammo, all of it has been thrown up against the wall in the legislature.  W/ so few people showing up to IGOLD, it makes it that much harder to keep these bills from gaining traction.

So, on to the meat of the day.
In the lobby of the Prairie Capitol Convention Center, Rhonda Ezell's new project, sure to tick off the right people:

The primary speakers, Mike Wiesman (ISRA VP), Richard Pearson (ISRA ED) and Todd Vandermyde (NRA lobbyist)

4PB and the March:

Some photos of her w/ Rhonda Ezell:

Then it started to rain:

The usual running around and dropping off cards at the offices.  Dale Righter, our State Senator, was in committee, Gov. Rauner was busy, Cullerton and Madigan were 'busy'.

We did get to see Sen. Chapin Rose, my former State Rep. and someone I make a point to look up every IGOLD. 

At the last minute, I got a call from Rep. Reggie Phillip's office saying he was heading towards the Capitol building and had time to see us.

The work continues.

No 'Compassion'? No Accountability? No Sympathy From Me.

The driver responsible for the death of three armed robbers who got shot by the home invasion victim says she has 'No Compassion' for the resident of the home.  He should have 'shot them boys in the leg'. 

The grandfather of one of the thugs blames the victim for shooting them after they broke into his home and threatened him.

“They knew they could be punished for it but they did not deserve to die," said Schumacher...“Brass knuckles against an AR-15, come on, who was afraid for their life,"

'Deserve's got nothin' to do w/ it' as the saying goes. His grandson made a monumentally stupid decision, a series of them in fact, not thinking he would have to face consequences except maybe a slap on the wrist from some judge. 

He was wrong. 

And I've got no sympathy. 

OGRE DE: Ceasefire Collapse 4-Way @SJGames

The next round.  This time we played w/ both the G1 and S1 maps.  CinC and 5th Power both joined us. 5th power has played the original OGRE several times but this was his first venture into running conventional pieces and on the GEV terrain boards.  CinC had never played before.  Instructions were given before game and while running.

We each chose a section of the map and selected our pieces.

Me. Nihon. NW portion of the S1 map.  I was asked by a friend to experiment w/ a SuperHeavy focused force.  Normally I split between an armored thrust and fast assault force. This time I went w/ a heavy armor exclusively.

5 Superheavies
3 Missile Tanks
6 Light Tanks
18 Infantry

4thpower Alpha.BlackRose Mercenaries. SE portion of the G1 map. He went with a powerhouse assault force with the howitzer battery as his primary defensive position behind the river w/ lots of infantry support.

2 Heavy Tanks
2 Light GEV's
2 GEV-PC's
2 Mobile Howitzers
3 SuperHeavy Tanks
1 Howitzer
18 Infantry

5th Power. NAC. NE portion of the G1 map.  A very mixed but light force.

6 GEV-PC
1 Superheavy tank
2 GEV
1 Howitzer
4 Light GEV
1 Hvy Tank
3 Missile Tanks
2 Light Tanks
16 Infantry and 1 Marine unit.

CinC. Sons of Old Nassau.  SW Portion of the G1 map. Mixed force heavy on howitzers.
4 GEV
2 GEV-PC
1 Howitzer
2 Mobile Howitzer
2 Heavy Tanks
2 Light Tanks
1 Superheavy Tank
2 Missile Tanks

Initial setup (North is down): 4PA made it clear he wanted to 'take down Mom'.  Turn order was CinC,5P, 4PA, Me.

First round was maneuvering. Adjusting forces and moving towards objectives:

2nd Round:  First blood was by CinC.  She took out one of 4PA's Superheavies w/ a '6'.  That was the start of the addiction. The rest of her forces began moving towards mine. 5P maneuvered towards my lines and 4PA retaliated against Mom.

3rd Round. The powers joined forces to attack my eastern lines and 4PA began moving his heavy units down the center road.  Nihon forces took out the advance GEV's of CinC.   CinC continue to move her forces towards my lines.

 4th Round: The beginning of the backstabs. Faced against the heavily defended and re-enforced town, 5P turned against his brother (4PA) and decimated fast assault force which was finished off by Nihon forces shortly after.   CinC's SoON forces hit hard against the Nihon defenses, losing a number of units.

Rnd 5&6.  Nihon and NAC forces move South (up), mixing back and forth w/ the SoON and BRM units.

 Rounds 7&8: Nearing endgame
A rush by Nihons Superheavies takes out the last of CinC's Howitzers, leaving the rest for mop-up.  The center of the map turns into a free-for-all as BRM, NAC, and Nihon units clash. The BRM units were eventually taken out.

At this point it was time for supper and my back/butt hurt from sitting at the table so long. I turned my remaining units over to 5P for a push to take out 4PA's city fortress.  Once 5P got over there, the struggle to get over the river took out a lot of his pieces but he managed to kill the howitzer and several infantry.  I called it a draw when it was down to 5p's lone howitzer and 4PA had 6 infantry left.

To answer the question asked, using the large number of SuperHeavies worked well especially in coordination w/ supporting units and taking best advantage of defensive terrain.

Both of my new players enjoyed themselves.  CinC said this on her FB: 

Learned to play Ogre today, at Hubby's urging. Drew first blood, and found that I enjoyed the sensation. Not sure that Hubby realizes what a monster he has created.

It is an addictive game.