Ogre Miniatures - 6mm armour units and another AI Supertank - 3 Ogre-related Painting Challenge submissions

Ogre Mk. V - Challenge Submission #5

A capital addition to my growing forces for Ogre Miniatures, the 6mm scale miniatures wargame based upon Steve Jackson's Games' 45-year-old board game.

The Combine Ogre Mk. V is a very large cybertank, with more than double the firepower of the Ogre Mk. III that I recently built. Above, next to the Mk. V you can see a normal sized 6mm (1:300) scale PanEuro "Jaeger" heavy tank. I went with a traditional Combine = red, Paneuro = blue paint schemes. For the Ogre Mk. V, the base red was accomplished with a light spray of Army Painter Dragon Red primer. I then laid in several glazes of GW Druchii Violet for shading. I painted highlights and some light weathering and damage using various artists' oils, especially Alizarin Crimson, Burnt Sienna, Cadmium Red, Cadmium Scarlet, Cadmium Yellow, and Peach Black.

I was hoping to get several troops of Paneuropean armour units done to go along with this Ogre: GEVs (armed, jet-powered hovercraft), missile tanks, super heavy tanks, howitzers, etc.). It ended up taking a couple more weeks.

I suggested 15 points for the Ogre Mk. V (which is easily equal to or larger than the size of a 20mm T-34 or similar tank). Add 20 points for Skaro (Robots). The Ogre Mk. V is a giant robotic tank! This garnered me 35 points for this entry into the 2022 Painting Challenge.

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Paneuropean "Galahad" G.E.V.s - Challenge Submission #6

The Paneuropean "Galahad" G.E.V. (Ground Effect Vehicle) is my favourite type of  "armour unit" in the Ogre game universe. Something about these jet jockeys zooming in at 200 kph, then zooming out again to try and avoid the Ogre's weapons (two moves per game turn!). This entry is a squadron of such fast attack vehicles. I went with a traditional Paneuro blue paint scheme. 

After assembly, I primed all the units with GW Chaos Black, and laid in flat white zenithal highlighting with an airbrush. The base blue of the G.E.V.s consisted of several washes of GW Drakenhoff Nightshade. I then laid in highlights and details with oil paints, and did some light weathering with oils, acrylics, and powders. 

The relative size of the Galahad G.E.V. is shown against a "Jaeger" Heavy Tank above, and my Combine Ogre Mark V. Some more Paneuro vehicles, artillery, and a Fencer (Ogre), were next in queue for the Challenge. 

(8 x 2) points of 6mm or 1:300 scale G.E.V.s are a modest 16 points. Add 20 points for Klendathu, an Invasion Gone Bad. Some of the classic scenarios from the game I remember playing include Raid and Ceasefire Collapse, deep, fast movements of luftpanzer forces that ultimately did not prevent the rise of the A.I. overlords during the Descartes Revolution. TOTAL = 36 POINTS

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Ogre Miniatures 6mm tanks and artillery - Challenge Submission # 7

"Ajax" Missile Tanks (MSL) are another popular Paneuropean armour unit. Their missiles hit hard and at a longer range than their fellow Paneuropean G.E.V.s and Heavy Tanks. However, the Missile Tank's amour is lackluster, and they are slow. This entry includes a couple of platoons of Ajax's. 

The "Arquebus" Howitzer (HWZ) is the heaviest hitter in the Paneuropean arsenal, excepting only their own Ogres and actual nuclear cruise missiles. Long ranged, but immobile, there was a time when Ogre players tried to devise the perfect "4-Howitzer Defense". A combined arms force of various tanks, G.E.V.'s, and infantry is probably a better bet. I have included a battery of 4 artillery pieces.

The Paneuropean "Thor" Superheavy Tank (SHVY) is almost like a miniature Ogre. Dual main armament that can be combined or fired separately, and some point defense anti-personnel batteries give it a lot of firepower. However, it's human crew is still subject to disablement with a non-fatal hit. I painted up a platoon of two of these beasts.

In the basic game of Ogre, the objective of the Ogre player is to destroy the Paneuropean Command Post (CP). To the Combine, destroying the centralized Command, Control, and Communication at such a brigade or divisional level is worth the loss of an Ogre. What the Ogres think of that is anyone's guess.  

After assembly, I primed all the units with GW Chaos Black, and laid in flat white zenithal highlighting with an airbrush. I used a couple of different tones for the base blue, glazing with washes of GW Drakenhoff Nightshade or Indigo oil paint. I then laid in highlights and details with oil paints, and did some light weathering with oils and powders. 

The relative size of the various units is shown against a Galahad G.E.V. 

(9 x 2) points of 6mm or 1:300 scale amour units (6 MSL, 2 SHVY, and 1 CP), plus 4 points for the 4-HWZ battery, makes for 22 points. Add 20 points for Cybertron (Robot(s). In the basic game of Ogre, all the powered armour infantry, various tanks, and artillery that the Paneuropean player fields are opposed to a single Combine  robotic supertank. And there is a more than even chance that the Ogre will win.

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This completes the contents of SJG's Ogre Miniatures Set 1, plus a couple of the "Thor" Superheavy Tanks from Set 2. Didn't quite finish the Paneuropean Fencer Ogre-class tank. Maybe in a couple of weeks. 

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Thanks again to Curt, Sarah, and all the Minions for a other great Challenge. I fell short of my rather modest 300-point goal, mostly due to work commitments. But, I was able to paint up a couple of my favourite Star Wars characters, and I finally finished these particular Ogre miniatures, which I had assembled back in 2019!

Ogre Miniatures - 6mm Combine Mk. III and Paneuro Mobile Infantry and Heavy Tanks - Painting Challenge Submission #1

I have played Steve Jackson's game Ogre since it was a Metagaming pocket game in the late 1970's. I even got a detention from the Principal at St, Paul's High School once, playing Ogre with a friend instead of attending study hall. 

For those unaware, the game is a fast playing sci-fi game pitting giant, A.I.-controlled atomic supertanks (the "Ogres") against futuristic combined arms forces consisting of various tanks, hovercraft, artillery, and powered Mobile Infantry. Each armour or infantry unit (or each Ogre subcomponent, like its main battery, or its tread units) has a rating for move, attack, and defense. A simple CRT gives odds for the results of (combined) attacks, which include destruction, disablement, or NE. Any reasonable Ogre attack will disable or eliminate a unit, but there are a lot of enemy units trying to slow it down and pull its teeth. 

The original vehicle designs, by Winchell Chung, have stood the test of time. The tall sensor tower of the North American Combine Ogres, and the sleek Paneuropean tanks and blowers, have become iconic. In recent years, Steve Jackson Games started producing 6mm scale plastic models of the various Ogres and Paneuropean ground forces. They have future plans to do Combine tanks, hovercraft, etc. 

My first Ogre is a Combine Mk. III.  To start my Paneuro collection, I completed a battalion of Mobile Infantry; each of the 42 models represents a single 4-6 man squad, and each of the 14 3-model stands is a platoon. They are supporting 8 Heavy Tanks; fast, hard hitting AFV's, whose sole weakness is the relatively short range of their tac nuke shells.

After assembly, I primed all the units with GW Chaos Black, and laid in flat white zenithal highlighting with an airbrush. I went with a traditional Combine = red, Paneuro = blue paint schemes. For the Ogre Mk. III, the base red was accomplished with a light spray of Army Painter Dragon Red primer. I then laid in several glazes of GW Druchii Violet for shading. I painted highlights and some light weathering/damage using various artists' oils, especially Cadmium Red, Cadmium Scarlet, Cadmium Yellow, and Peach Black.

For the Paneuropean forces, the base blue of the tanks and infantry consisted of several washes of GW Drakenhoff Nightshade. I then laid in highlights and details with oil paints, and did some light weathering with powders. The infantry bases were finished with GW Martian Ironcrust, to simulate the blasted landscape of the Ogre Designer's Edition map board (seen in a couple of the photos).

The relative sizes of the Paneuropean models against my Combine Ogre Mark III can be seen in the comparison photos. I had actually prepped the Ogre for last year's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge XII, but only started painting it last month; it does not count for this year's Challenge, only the tanks and MI do. 

I have assembled all the models in Ogre Miniatures Set 1, to which set all the above models belong. Next to be painted for Ogre Miniatures are an Ogre Mk.V, some GEVs (armed hovercraft), Missile tanks, Howitzers, and a Command Post. From Ogre Miniatures Set 2 I also have in queue a few Paneuropean heavy units, a couple of Super Heavy Tanks and an Ogre variant, a missile-rack armed Fencer. Check out all the OIgre Miniatures models available from SJG  here:  http://www.warehouse23.com/products?taxons%5B%5D=558399032-sb

Anyways, (42 x 0.5) points of 6mm  Mobile Infantry, and (8 x 2) points of 6mm Heavy Tanks should come in at  a modest 37 points for The Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge XII. Add 20 points for Caprica (Doomed). The mark of a good Ogre player is how they handle their infantry, but the poor bloody MI are going to die as fast as you send them in, Bi-Phase Carbide battle armour notwithstanding. This should total 57 points for my first entry into this year's Challenge.

Other Long Weekend Painting Bits - Epic 30k Falchion

An Epic 30k Falchion-class super-heavy tank for the Death Guard.

I meant to follow up Part 1 of my Thanksgiving Weekend painting-fest sooner, but other things got in the way, and in the meantime, Mike and Dallas had some great stuff to share, and I wanted to let their posts stay top shelf for a few days. In particular, it's great to see some of the other folks here tipping over into the new Adeptus Titanitcus...great stuff!

Quad lascannons on the sponsons in addition to the huge friggin' main cannon.

This post doesn't have too much to share - while I was working away at that Canadian mechanized infantry platoon for "Team Yankee", I also pulled this out of the huge "soon-to-be-painted-which-turned-into-months-of-waiting-while-primed" pile I have downstairs - this is an Epic 30k Falchion super-heavy tank.  It is painted in the colours of the XIV Legion, the "Death Guard".  I have not painted an Epic 30k tank in some months, and knocking this off gave my brushes something to do while waiting for the Agrax Earthshade to dry on all of those Canadian models.

"Let's power up for that kill shot..."

I had painted three friends for this guy back during Curt's most recent edition of the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge, but for some reason I didn't finish this thank even though it had been prepped and primed at the same time as the other three.  Who knows what distraction caused my squirrel brain to move on.  Whatever the cause, this tank sat primed and based, waiting for paint, since January of this year.

The Falchion is a "super-tank-destroyer" among the ranks of the Space Marine Legions' super-heavy tanks.  It's got a giant super cannon which can knock out opposing super-heavies, and even enemy Titans, in just one shot.  And in keeping with the design-to-overkill tradition of the Space Marine Legions, it also has two batteries of quad-lascannons mounted on sponsons.  I suppose the crew use those for sport in between blasts from the main battery.

Death Guard super-heavies on maneuvers in my kitchen.

So I now have an ominous-looking force of Epic 30k Death Guard - to join Byron's fantastic collection of Epic 30k Death Guard :) If nothing else, we'll be all set for a major confrontation between Space Marine heavy tank companies!

The Battle of Teugen-Hausen in 6mm using Fast Play Grande Armee rules

With our normal host Dallas busy with work last week, Greg and I decided that it was time to further amortize my 6mm Napoleonic forces with another game.   Since it has been a while since the last game, we decided a small battle would be appropriate so we were not struggling with the rules too much in a large game.

Greg being the history buff pulled a gem out of his hat with with The Battle of Teugen-Hausen.  The battle was between the Austrians and French in April of 1809 and focused on some historical issues that were common throughout the period:  French aggressiveness bordering on over confidence and Austria's poor leadership and indecisiveness.  Both played out well in this battle.

We used the Fast Play Grande Armee rules, which have several very flavorful features that played out in this game.  To recreate the leaders involved in the battle we assigned 1 command die to the Austrians and 2 to the French.  Davout was a +2 leader, and his officers were +1, while Hohenzollern was +1 and his officers were 0's.

A brief historical overview:  In mid-April Davout moved his corps southeast, attempting to link up with his Bavarian allies. Dense woods and rugged terrain limited the scouting, so it was with some surprise that French and Austrian units made contact on April 19. An Austrian corps under Prince Friedrich of Hohenzollern stumbled upon Davout, and the Austrian commander sent word to Archduke Charles that he had found the French. Hohenzollern requested the support of the IV Corps, as well as the archduke's grenadier reserve corps.    

The French started with Davout and Saint-Hilaire's Division on the table near Teugen.  Mean while the Austrians started with Hohenzollern cozy and settled in Hausen with Vukassovich's division forward in the woods.  To win the French needed to either break the Austrians or get troops over the stream into Hausen or off the table via point E.  The Austrians had to either break the French or hold them achieving their objectives.  The game would last 6 turns.

The French started by moving forward in their first pulse of turn 1 (FPGA plays out over turns and pulses, each turn being between 1 and 4 pulses) towards the woods.  The Austrians played cagey and pulled back in the woods.  This continued for the entire first turn as the Austrians were not keen on fighting it out alone.

Turn two saw more action start to get underway as both the French and the Austrians got re-reinforcements to join the battle.

The Austrians had two divisions show up to help.  On the first pulse of turn 2, St. Julien's division moved up into the town to cross the stream and join the battle forming in the woods, which Lusignan's division went left of the town to stop the French from reaching point E (one of the French's victory conditions).  The French moved Friant's division up from point B towards the woods to help break through.

Here is where things went badly for the Austrians, but fittingly so historically.  St. Julien once in the town, refused to leave!  FPGA works with a friction system using dice to determine what you can actually do with each division.  Ideally you want between 7+10 on two dice and you can do whatever you want, good commanders give you a +1 to help get into that range, and good Army leaders give you bonus dice to use so that you can roll up to 2 additional dice and pick any 2 of the 4 you want to get the numbers you need.  However, the Austrians lacked extra dice to assign and had to roll 2 dice only for 4 pulses over 2 turns, and had St. Juliens division sit in the town taking violin lessons or something, then retreat for some unknown reason (maybe to avoid paying a bar tab?) before finally moving through the town a full 2 turns later!

Meanwhile in the center of the table, the French force advanced into the Austrian line and combat started. 

Over the next several pulses and turns, the combat raged back and forth in the woods.  Units made contact, shots were fired, attackers were forced back.  However, nothing really significant took place.  There were very few casualties as combat in the woods required 6's to hit, and neither side could roll more than 1 in a combat.  The French got an additional division of reinforcements on turn 3 that came in from point C and started making moves straight across the table to point E.

Turn 4 arrived, and the Austrians had finally setup a solid defensive line and were prepared to attack.  They also were begging the Duke for his grenadier reserves to hold the line and push back the French, but he remained indecisive about committing his finest men.

The Austrians launched an attack, or tried to...  Once again their poor command structure let them down on one flank where they attacked and pushed back the French in pulse 1, then suddenly decided to retreat!  In the center they decided to hold instead of pushing forward when they had an advantage.  The minor fighting continued though as the French launched an assault, only to be pushed back once again.

The time spent delaying on the Austrian side favoured the French, as their command structure was not so indecisive and instead of being concerned that things might not be perfect, pushed forward aggressively.  Friant's division moved straight past the conflict in the woods in an attempt to flank the Austrian force and push through to the town. Turn 5 once again saw the Archduke refuse to release the Austrian Grenadiers which were sorely needed at this point.

After so may combats in the game were only 1 point of damage would be caused, the French hammered into the Austrians and caused a stunning 5 points in one go, annihilating a stand in one combat.  This also set them up to cross the stream and win the game.

The Austrians had one last go at the French, trying to push them back with a lone cavalry charge, since YET AGAIN the Archduke refused to acknowledge that his Grenadiers were actually required.  The attack had no hope of success and was only done so that St. Julien would not have to face the music from the Archduke for having lost the battle (or pay that bar tab from earlier).

The outcome while demoralizing to the Austrians was historically accurate.  The poor leadership on the Austrian side had cost them what could have been an easy victory several times throughout the battle.  The French had very few command failures and pushed through to their objectives.  The French did loose a few units while pushing through the woods, but not enough to cause serious concerns.  There were more times than described in the battle report that the Austrians had something lined up, then failed to act on it due to poor command rolls.  They would either fail entirely and have to hold, or worse fall back for no bloody reason at all, right after inflicting wounds on French units! 

Overall the game was really enjoyed by everyone and once again proved that we really need to play more Napoleonic games as no matter the outcome they are always fun.

Painting Challenge Wrapped Up - Epic Warlord Titan and SAGA Warlords

The seventh edition of Curt's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge has concluded.  In fact, in concluded, like, nearly a month ago, on March 21st...man time flies! Anyway, after a slight delay caused by real life etc. here are the concluding submissions I made to the Challenge.

SAGA Warlords

These figures were submitted as part of the final theme round - which if I recall correctly was "characters from a movie, book, TV or song" or something along those lines.  Anyway, if anyone out there has listened to "Horse Soldier" by Corb Lund, you will recall some lyrics referencing the opponents of the Crusades.  This lined up nicely with my SAGA project, so I did two warlords - one for the Crusaders and the other for the Saracens.

These are 28mm figures from the Perry's incredible First Crusade range. The shield decal on the Crusader Warlord is from LBMS. These shield decals are a total life-saver, as there is just not enough time in the world to be painting all of the shields...

Warlords for my SAGA Crusade warbands...Crusader on the left, Saracen on the right, both 28mm figures from Perry Twins' amazing range of First Crusade castings

Completed four point SAGA Crusader warband

The Crusader warlord figure finished off my four-point SAGA warband for the Crusaders.  The Saracen warlord is the first figure I have painted for that warband, and while I'm keen to get that finished, the Saracens are at the back of the priority list again for now as I try and track down some different figures, and the general waxing and waning of different painting interests. You know how it goes...

Anyway, for the second year in a row I managed to submit something for every theme round, and that worked out rather nicely!

Epic Warlord Titan - "Curtgeld"

Warlord Titan, old school style!!

In each edition of the Painting Challenge Curt will ask participants to submit a figure in line with a theme that strikes his whimsy as he organizes the proceedings.  These figures have come to be known as "Curtgeld". There was a twist this year as he asked for participants to work together - the Curtgeld had to be some kind of joint effort between at least two of the Challenge participants.

WIP photo - you can see all of the black sections and the unfinished base...that would fall to Iannick to complete!

Challenger Iannick suggested we team up for an "all-Canadian" Curtgeld. After we bounced a few ideas back and forth we settled on doing an old-school plastic Warlord Titan from the original "Adeptus Titanicus" game.  Curt loves Epic and loves the old school GW models, while both Iannick and I are big fans of the Horus Heresy, and Iannick is a recent convert to the madness that is Epic 30k.  I was pretty psyched about the project.  Fortunately I had a few of these lovely old plastic models still on their sprues in my hoard, so I dug one out and got to work on it. 

These classic models lend themselves very well to the unique challenge of sharing the painting duties on a single figure. The pseudo-medieval markings used by the Titan Legions, and the style of armour plating they wear, make a divided/reverse marking pattern possible.  It's still tricky, but possible.

I did the basic assembly, priming and metal components, and painted the purple "half" of the armour sections.  Iannick painted the other half of the armour, and finished off the ground work, completed the base (which included the old void-shield-counter wheel!) as well as the Marines on the base, which add a lovely sense of proportion to the machine.

In our hobby-ing I think we have all, at some time or another, over-painted, re-painted or heavily updated a model or figure that we either received second-hand or just wanted to re-do. In fact, as you can see elsewhere in this blog, my good friend Dallas is quite the master of that kind of project.  But jointly finishing the painting of a single figure would be really tricky, and I have to credit Iannick for the outstanding results, because he had the hard part - the finishing!  He did a great job with the bands on the leg armour, the colour and the basing. The model benefits tremendously from his smooth, careful painting style.

The photos of the finished model are so nice thanks to Iannick and his hipster light box.  He did a very helpful set of tips on miniature photography as well, so go check that out on his blog.  You will also see cool halflings, hilarious theme submissions, and more Epic 30k awesomeness, and that is just from the recent Painting Challenge. In fact, Of Marauders and Citadels is a blog you should add to your list!

Great work Iannick - this was a lot of fun!  Your painting skills are tremendous!  Thanks very, very much!

It will also be great fun to light this thing up on the table during a game of Epic sometime...

The Missing Curtgeld...

I was also collaborating with former Conscript Sean M on a Curtgeld, but Canada Post did us in, as Sean's work did not arrive at my place for completion until the day after the Challenge was finished. I have committed to Sean that I will finish it regardless, so watch this space for progress on that score - before the summer I hope. Life has kept me away from the painting table for a few weeks, but I hope to be back at it soon.

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The seventh edition of the Painting Challenge was a real blast. I had a great time in my side duel with Iannick, Jaime and Alex, particularly because I was successful! While it was a lot of fun to send a figure over to Jaime's collection last year, I had been plotting for revenge for nearly a year, so it's nice to see a plan come together!

The best part of the Challenge, however was the spirit of fun and encouragement that built between the participants, and letting your own priorities and focus be tested (and bested) by inspirational jolts which come courtesy of the other submissions.  While I did finish a lot of 30k stuff (yay!) I also ended up dusting off and painting up figures from my Warmaster Collection as well as ending up dipping into a new game and period (SAGA Crusades).   It's more than my own fiddly attention span - it's also the excellent and inspiring work of the other participants!  And while the others continue to inspire my wandering, it is also a lot of fun to see some of the settings and scales which I am so keen on spreading among other participants.  I expect next year will see even more 30k, and particularly Epic 30k, even as I'm already plotting some kind of "Hail Caesar" insanity...

A number of the very talented participants in the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge will be testing their skills in the "Lead Painters' League" as well, so be sure to check that out.  If you can sort out the Lead Adventure Forum and the League's byzantine rules etc. you can even vote for them!