Nightfall reskins are out!
over 5 years ago – Fri, Jan 25, 2019 at 01:09:49 AM

The PDFs for the Nightfall reskins have been released and they look great! You can download them here. As a reminder, these will also be included as part of the actual counter sheets with the release of Battlefields later this year. Now you can really bulk up the minor factions. And there is a pink Ogre!

In other news, Ogrezine II is progressing well. We have released our latest article on our site, an interesting look at programming a real-world AI to play Ogre . . . and win. Check it out, and the rest of the released articles, at our Ogrezine II homepage.

FnordCon is definitely a "thing". We are still hammering out the fine details, but you can see what the hullabaloo is all about on the FnordCon page. We hope you all can join us for Ogre (and many of our other games!) here in Austin on April 6-7. I know I'll be there!

Finally, don't miss our next Kickstarter, especially as this one involves Ogre as well as other classics. On January 30, we will start a campaign for the return of many of our Pocket Box games that have been out of print for years. In addition to Ogre, there will be G.E.V. and Battlesuit at launch, plus Car Wars, Illuminati, and more. Find out about the return of Pocket Box games and the upcoming Kickstarter at pocketbox.games. 

- Drew Metzger

Surveys Out - Please Wait 48 hours
over 5 years ago – Mon, Jan 21, 2019 at 08:26:42 PM

NOTE: If you have already completed your survey, don't worry. We will work with the BackerKit team to correct the shipping glitches, and then we will contact each of you as necessary to correct your orders. ALSO: These glitches affect only a few specific weight classifications and, in many instances, there is not a problem. We wanted to alert all of you as soon as we noticed an error. We will update in a few days after the BackerKit team is back in the office and we have solved the errors. -PR

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Thank you to everyone for being so patient while we got the BackerKit surveys up and running. Unfortunately, it seems there is an error that I might have introduced in the shipping profiles for specific range of weights for United States pledges. At this time some of you may find that you see a $40.00 charge or a $3.00 charge, depending on what you add. Please note that both are incorrect, and should be $10.00 and $28.00 respectively. We ask that if you fall into these ranges, that you hold off processing your survey, so that we can correct the issue after BackerKit returns to the office, as they are on holiday. 

If you are unaffected by this, you can feel free to complete your surveys, but I will be doubling back as soon as this is addressed to ensure that everything is as it should be. 

Thanks everyone!

- Darryll

Battlefields Update, More Cards, and Pocket Box Games Coming Soon
over 5 years ago – Fri, Jan 18, 2019 at 12:21:17 AM

Yesterday, we sat down and ran the Ogre Battlefields project through the premortem process. This is where our team reviews the final files and approves the work for print. We made a handful of tiny corrections to the material and, early next week, will send the files off to the factory to start the manufacturing process.

We're unfortunately a little too late for the factory to start work before they close for Chinese New Year, but we're early enough that they'll be ready to hit the ground running next month after they open up the factory.

We're on schedule!

Double Cards!

During the premortem, we identified, discussed, and decided that more dry erase record cards would improve the Battlefields box. So, the box will now include fourteen cards instead of the seven that were promised during the campaign. We hope that you won't hold it against us that we've broken a campaign promise.

Pocket Box Games: January 30!

One last bit of news that should prove interesting to many of you: We're launching the Pocket Box campaign on January 30! This project, if you've not heard, is our attempt to bring back classic games in a classic format: The plastic Pocket Box!

Ogre, G.E.V., and Battlesuit reprints are all included in the project at launch, and stretch goals may unlock Ogre ziplock bag expansions of the eighties.

To learn more about the campaign, please see this recent BoardGameGeek post (be sure to thumbs up the post and help others spot it!) and then visit the official pocketbox.games website. We hope that you'll join us on January 30 and help make this Pocket Box project a success.

As always, please let us know if you have any questions about this or any other Steve Jackson Games event.

Thanks!

- Phil Reed

Mission: Accomplished!
over 5 years ago – Fri, Dec 28, 2018 at 11:18:15 PM

Thank you, all 1,401 of you, for a wonderful campaign. Battlefields is now funded, and entering the next stage of production. Due to the amazing support of Ogre's fans, this supplement has grown from two counter sheets to 12; expanded from one double sided map with G3 & S3 to two double-sided maps including G1 & S1; and added material supporting the Iron Mountain scenario such as Ogre Sixth Edition style counters and an Ogre Mark III-B record card. That's not even mentioning the addition of playmat M5 to the new M4 mat unveiled at the campaign launch.

But there is even more; we're investigating a mini-convention the first weekend in April in Austin, featuring many of our games, and certainly Ogre. Plus the possibility of a Battlefields II, perhaps with all-new maps G4 and S4, is very much under discussion! Ogre is alive and well.

It will be a little bit before we get the Backerkit out to you, but we will be sure to send out notices when we do. Plus, you can always sign up for Ogre News at ogre.sjgames.com and never miss out on the latest Ogre releases.

Thanks again for your incredible support of Ogre and Steve Jackson Games. We have the greatest fans in the world, and we are proud to keep working on your behalf. Have a Happy New Year!

- Drew Metzger

Surrrrrrvey Rrrresults!
over 5 years ago – Tue, Dec 25, 2018 at 08:49:15 PM

It's a slow, drizzly Christmas Day here, so I typed in the survey results. (I wish that SurveyMonkey had an "export as plaintext" option, but if they do, I didn't find it.)

Response was a bit less than half the total supporters. This is phenomenal, and indicates that what we have here is a good snapshot of (at least) what this campaign’s backers like. We can assume that, overall, this campaign’s backers are typical of the top crust of Ogre fandom in terms of enthusiasm and probably in expertise. So a professional pollster might say that we have a good picture of what the opinion leaders like. (Any professional pollsters or statistics majors out there?)

Do you play Ogre with miniatures?

I prefer to use minis: 23%

Sometimes yes, sometimes no: 48%

I prefer the cardstock counters: 29%

Analysis: 70% of you will use minis at least some of the time. That is not inconsistent with the results we have seen from past minis campaigns. A relevant comment from Question 5 was “I like the printed stats.” I wonder if we should have molded the stats into the bottom of the figures?

Do you care about having different styles (Combine vs. PE) for the same unit?

Yes, I want the factions to have different styles: 61%

Sometimes I care, sometimes I don’t: 16%

I don’t care: 16%

I prefer it if (for instance) all GEVs on both sides have the same body style: 7%

Analysis: Interesting! 77% want difference at least some of the time; 7% actually prefer no difference. I added the “prefer no difference” at the last minute, and I’m glad that I did. But this tells us that somewhat more than 60% of you definitely want to see the Combine armor units. The rest of you already have what you want.

Do you care whether we mold the minis in different colors?

Yes, I want them to come in different colors: 50%

I don’t care: 47%

I would rather they were all in the same color: 2%

Analysis: We should continue to go to the relatively inexpensive trouble of making different colors, because half the market likes it, and most of the rest don’t mind.

Do you paint your miniatures?

Yes, I paint them: 32%

Not yet, but I’m going to! 31%

I know I’ll never get around to it: 33%

I prefer the unpainted look: 4%

Analysis: Pretty even split. Almost all of you would like your minis painted, but the comments indicate that many of you don’t do it because of time, lack of skill, lack of space, or (quote) too damn lazy (unquote). Some of you will do it when you retire. Many of you mentioned prepainted or pre-washed figures. (We could absolutely do that - it just increases the price.) I should have put in an “I don’t have miniatures” option here, but 45 of you skipped the question and many of you simply commented that you don’t have minis, so we captured the essential data.

If you use minis, do you play on the hex game boards, or do you set up terrain and measure distances?

I use the minis for counters on the hex game boards: 55%.

I use the Ogre Miniatures rules. I set up terrain and I use a ruler and the templates: 5%.

Sometimes I do one, sometimes the other: 40%.

Analysis: I was surprised at how few people are exclusively minis players, and surprising data is often the most useful. There were mentions of Heroscape terrain, battle mats, and Hexon (google it).

Thank you, everyone, for your responses!

– Steve Jackson