For this post we will slip back in time to December of last year (2014). My oldest son, Scott, came to spend some time over the holidays. He had never been back back to Wisconsin for a visit, so this was an extra special treat. My work schedule went a bit wonky, so I was working much more than I had planned on, but we still got to spend a bit of time together.

In addition to all the usual ‘stuff’ we were able to fit in some hours of good old war gaming. It was all board games; primarily because the game table was covered with, well lots and lots of ‘stuff’. In addition to the usual Avalon Hill classics we played Ogre (Steve Jackson Games). Ogre was on the list because of the stocking stuffers I bought for Scott and Liam; each received a copy of the pocket edition of Ogre.

In High School we played a lot of Ogre, with a second round of heavy play in the late 80’s. Ogre is one of the games on my must have list, and with the pocket edition selling for $2.95 it was a must have purchase for the two boys.

I still have most of the copies of Ogre that I have purchased over the years, so I broke out my punched (cut) counters and one of my maps. We just played the introductory scenario, but had a grand time.

Some of the other games we played include: Civil War, Kriegspiel, Nieuchess, Strike Force One and Privateer. I wanted to get to PanzerBlitz, but didn’t manage to get it dug out until after Scott returned to California.

On the game table today we have three board games: PanzerBlitz (more on this in a future post), ZombiChess (a game Scott and I are designing – a very introductory level miniature/board game hybrid; more on this as the design comes together) and Ogre. Only this time we are not talking about the original or pocket editions, nor even the later Deluxe edition. On the table sits the mega-sized Designers Edition. Our local game shop (The Labyrinth Games) originally had two copies in stock. The first sold a few months ago, leaving one copy in the store. It was a game that I looked at every time I went in to the store. I wanted it, but didn’t at the same time. The game is a bit pricey and there were always other things to spend my gaming budget on. Well I finally broke down and decided that I should own a Designer’s Edition of Ogre.

I’ve always been a sucker for games with larger sized hexes; and with no signs of improving eyesight I just couldn’t resist any longer. There are plenty of reviews on the web, and Steve Jackson Games has sold out of this edition (meaning that unless you get lucky – like me – you won’t find (m)any copies at retail), so another review is not needed. Counters are punched (well, enough for ‘standard’ Ogre scenario) and the Ogre map board is laid out on the table; Liam and I will be playing a number of games over the next few weeks and I hope that this will become a regular on the game table.

Look for more concerning the design and play-testing of ZombiChess as well as a look at my current PanzerBlitz project and even a bit about a miniatures cross-over for Strike Force One. As always there is a lot more to cover, but for now I’ll draw this to a close.

Next time an update on our publications and some shop reorganization.