The Steve Jackson game, Ogre, always seemed to lend itself to miniatures wargaming.  The rules were simple, clean, and precise and the number of miniatures needed was minimal.  The original game offered pretty simple terrain.  The follow-up, GEV, improved on that.

The license for manufacture has been held by Martian Metals and Ral Partha.  Currently, the license appears to be held by Steve Jackson Games and can be purchased from Warehouse 23.

The original miniatures were based on the counter silhouettes created by Winchell Chung.  Over the years, other vehicles have been added but the original designs still remain relatively consistent.

The Martian Metals pieces had thin barrels for tank guns.  Howitzers were little more than a rod attached to a base and had a tendency to break.  Ral Partha strengthened the gun barrels and added more detail to the howitzers.  The incarnation of the Ogre miniatures now features plastic Ogres to replace the earlier pewter pieces.  Below, an example of the plastic Mk III Ogre alongside an earlier Ral Partha version of the same piece.  The main differences I noticed were less detail in the treads with no detail on the interior side and the rear and forward portions of the Ogre attached.

Other smaller pieces are still cast in metal.  They are attractively sculpted.  The pieces are a little too small to work well with the massive Battletech pieces even though the scale is supposed to be the same.  I have found that the infantry figures for Battletech appear to me to be a little bit larger.

For fans of Ogre miniatures, these are the natural choice.  The Mega Force toys by Kenner also mix well with these.  With dedicated miniatures support, Ogre provides a nice alternative to Battletech.

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Ral Partha picked up the license to produce Battletech figures for FASA’s boardgame. For those unfamiliar with it, giant robots piloted by humans fight with a range of weaponry while trying to avoid heat overload. Each robot had a rather elaborate chart associated with it to track weapons available and expended, heat build-up and physical damage similar to charts used in many naval games.

A problem apparent in the original figures is that they all tend to look like robots from Japanese cartoons of the time. In fact, many could be purchased as kits or figures from other manufacturers. This eventually led to the discontinuation of a number of figures which are now characterized as “unseen” and remain fairly hard to get.

Some less finished pieces from the lazy painter, he has a bunch of mechs drifting about unpainted or partially painted. These include some resin cast pieces purchased from the Ral Partha booth at a HMGS convention back in the early 90s. The figures are popular enough that they are still in production though Ral Partha has ceased to exist.

Even if the figures did cease production, it is likely that there would still be compatible figures produced in Japan which has never lost its taste for giant robots from such early favorites as Gigantor to the later more sophisticated Mobile Suit Gundam and Macross. Above, a figure from the Bandai Gundam collection alongside one of the Battletech mechs. Additionally, ranges of similar giant robots not carrying the Battletech license also exist and are readily adaptable.

Ogre, a game also about future warfare, has some similarities to Battletech in that the eponymous cyber-tanks must also have available weapons systems and movements factors recorded and charted as the ogres are exposed to battlefield damage.  Smaller vehicles are not so lucky.

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Laserburn was a set of rules and miniatures for science fiction figures in 15mm. The rules were written by Bryan Ansell and figures apparently sculpted by him as well and sold under Tabletop Games banner. The vehicle range is limited but reasonable. The vehicles have a comic book flavor to them and are still available online. These do not have the fine machined surfaces of vehicles like the GHQ line but work well with Traveller which also initially used 15mm figures.

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On some occasions, a toy company produces something unique and Kenner’s Megaforce toy series certainly qualifies. Two countries, V-Rocs and Triax are represented by equivalent ranges of vehicles (alas, no infantry) from tanks and helicopters to enormous command bases and flying platforms. Series 1 was released in 1989 and another series was meant to follow but the line languished and ended up on the racks of Kaybee Toys and Hobbies where old toys went to die.

The smaller vehcles are diecast metal, larger are plastic. All were packaged with some sort of bonus piece. The vehicles seem to mesh well with 6mm figures though I have yet to do much with them. Vehicles can still be found for sale at nominal prices even in the original packaging. For someone looking for a quick inexpensive armor force, these are ideal. All are prepainted and marked. It is one of those nice instances where wargamers can make ready use of off-the-shelf toys.

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