OGRE, Unger, Segues, Down

I don't know what made me think of Steve Jackson's OGRE miniature game, but it is the impetus for this new blog. I pulled out my box of OGRE minis, and looked them over. All of the tanks were assembled and primed. They will be painted once I determine the color scheme I like. Even though these OGREs are 1/285th scale, they are large and heavy, coming in two pieces. I guess the designer intended the two to be super glued together, but that is a joint doomed to fail. I wanted someway to keep them firmly connected during play, but with a joint that had some flex to deal with 3-D terrain. Let me think, now what could allow me to make such a joint. Hmmmm, could it be................Satan, er, I mean magnets? Yeah, magnets. (Like you didn't see that coming.)


This is an OGRE Mk-V, it's six long guns yet to be installed. You can see how fragile the joint is between the front and rear. (Yeah, that dimple will really help.) 

I started by filing that dimple off and drilling a hole in the tab to fit the 1/8th" diameter magnet. (It's 1/16th" thick.) When drilling metal or plastic, I like to start with a small bit and sneak up to the final size, especially when there will be such a small margin of material left around the hole. I used four bits to do my sneaking.

I pushed the magnet in from the bottom and used thickened CA to secure it.

The section where the other magnet would go was pretty thin. I was barely able to get to the 1/8th" diameter before going through the other side. Basically, all I had was the cone shape of the tip of the bit. This would not secure the magnet. I took a high-speed cutter in my Dremel, and flattened the hole.

Even so, the hole was not very deep. You can see how much of the magnet protrudes. Oh wait a minute, look at the other magnet, it's recessed. That recess captures the upper magnet, creating a perfect pivot point. Don't you just love it when problems work themselves out on their own?

The completed joint. There is a lot of play in it, yet it is firmly connected.

This is the Mk-VI variant. It went together essentially the same as the first one,  though I had to use the Dremel to cut some material around the upper magnet.

Here it is, the largest OGRE produced to date. There are record sheets already for a larger Mk-VII OGRE, but who knows if or when Steve Jackson will make it. Hmmmm, that might make a nice scratchbuilding project.

This is the Mk-IV, and it required the most work of the OGREs. I started with this piece of styrene to hold the magnet and attach to the front unit.

This is the piece cut and filed to fit the slot in the back end. You can see how I had to file the bottom of it, as well as the top of the front end's piece, so they would clear each other.

It was a tight fit, but I secured it with CA anyway.

The Mk-IV ready for paint and its two long cannons installed.

I should mention here that OGREs are the weapons of the side known as the Combine, basically North America and Great Britain. This following super-tank is a Fencer, the OGRE-equivalent of the side known as the Paneuropeans. (Guess where they're from.) The fencer has a choice of two main turrets, and with a few magnets are easily interchangeable.

Fortunately, to simplify painting, I hadn't yet glued the top half of the rear section to the bottom. This really worked to my advantage. You can see how weak the intended joint would be. I started by cutting a piece of styrene to fit behind the cut-out in the bottom rear, and installed a magnet.

I was afraid there wouldn't be enough glue surface to firmly hold it, so I cut another to fit flat to the tops of the treads. Then the piece with the magnet will glue to the top of it.

I trimmed some solid rod to fit the models stub, then glued a magnet on. Before attaching it to the model, I used some pliers to bend the stub down so the assembly would be level.

I had to pull out the Dremel again to enlarge the U-shaped trough to allow more movement.

The rear top in place but not yet glued down.

This is the Paneuropean's behemoth, the Doppelsoldner. This joint is incredibly strong. In fact, you can pick up the whole model holding only one side or the other without them even being glued. It's those ribs with the interlocking grooved recesses.  But remember, I was looking for firm and flexible. So first I made this magnet holder out of styrene strip.

I glued the magnet on to the front connector, and to allow some play in the joint, I filed off two of its ribs. I also had to file off one rib from each of the rear connectors.

Almost ready to kick some OGRE butt.

I'm pretty close to picking a paint scheme, so the next time you see these bad boys, they should be a lot more colorful. See you then. Oh, did anyone get the title of this post?   Don

Welcome to the Table

If I recall correctly, I was making my weekly tour of the Fairborn Hobby Shop, when I ran across a magazine titled Wargamer's Digest. I was familiar with wargames in boardgames form (I had AH's PanzerBlitz), but I didn't know about wargames played with miniatures. Here was a magazine with articles and (most importantly) pictures about battles with minis of Ancients, Medieval, Napoleonic, Civil War, and WWII. I was fascinated, and looking at the advertisements, I saw one of the leading manufacturers of minis in the US was a short drive away in Dayton, Ohio. It wasn't long after that I found myself in their shop, surrounded by walls of lead figures. I had always been fascinated by stories of Greece, and Carthage, and Rome, so I understandably gravitated to the Ancients wall. It wasn't long before, with the help of the owner, I had 25mm Greek and Persian figures, a WRG  Ancient/Medieval rulebook, their Armies of the Greek and Persian Wars supplement, six bottles of Floquil primer, and four of Dio-sol. "Just pour all the primer into a coffee can, thin it so it's like water, then put all your minis in. Wait a minute, then dump them out on newspapers til they're dry." (That's the way we did it back then.) Then he loaded me up with tins of Humbrol paint in all the colors I'd need, along with several paint brushes. All told I spent close to a hundred dollars that day, a hefty sum in 1974. The beginning of my addiction.

About then work, and later a transfer to Lansing MI, interfered with my wargaming. When things finally settled down, I discovered a hobby shop near the MSU campus that featured wargaming supplies at the time Heritage introduced their lines of 15mm figures. Kismet and Nirvana wrapped up in one! I started off with a complete Roman Legion and corresponding Carthaginian Army. Then I began collecting the ACW line. I resisted collecting Napoleonics because, well, Napoleonic wargamers are snobs. Am I right? Even they know it. One day however, I saw a package of MiniFig Scottish Highlanders, and I caved. I was now, sadly, a snob.  I collected  British and  Prussian forces. I didn't go with any French figures because, as everybody knows, the French players are the Snobbiest of the Snobs. (I did have some standards.) Oh, did I mention the GHQ 1/285th NATO and Warsaw Pact armies?

A divorce in '85 and subsequent move to Florida was the beginning of a lengthy hiatus from wargaming. I did very little collecting over the next 15 years, though I did remarry and finally saved enough to buy a house. The Christmas season The Fellowship of the Ring came out I found a copy of GW's Lord of the Rings rulebook at Barnes and Noble, and my interests were rekindled. From LotR, I moved into Warhammer and 40K, then really got hooked on Battlefront's Flames of War WWII 15mm minis and rules.

In January, 2009, my wife died suddenly. During an emotional episode later, I decided to simplify my life by concentrating on model railroading as my as my sole hobby interest, and divesting myself of all other distractions. As a result, I gave away (but mostly threw out) all my wargaming figures, rules and supplies, even those original Greeks and Persians. Well, not quite all. I did keep the LotR figures, all the FOW stuff, and some 18mm Napoleonics I had just started collecting. A year later I did start buying some of Steve Jackson's OGRE line of miniatures. (I had the original $2.95 paper version in the ziplock bag from 1975.)

So, you may ask, am I sorry I got rid of all those miniatures?  Sometimes a little, yeah. But so many eras and genres were a distraction, and the ones I kept are the ones I'm most likely to finish and use, so from that point of view I made the right decision. And one thing I've learned from Eve's passing, there's no profit in worrying about things you can't change anyway. So here I am.

How often will this blog be updated? Can't say for sure, at least once a week I hope. There may be times I 'resurect' a project originally posted on FOW's forums that has been 'lost.'  I do know I am in an OGRE mood, and the first real construction post will involve OGREs and magnets. Til then, Don

Why a Second Blog?

Welcome to HobbyDr's Game Table, and I hope........Say, aren't you that fella who has the WorkBench blog?    Ah, yes, that's me. As I started to say, I hope.............. Now just hold your horses mister, we'd like to know "Why a Second Blog?"  Ah, well, it's because I have two different interests. My main focus for the last few years has been model railroading, which is the primary focus of HobbyDr's WorkBench. The other long standing interest is miniature wargaming. I don't do as much with it as I have in the past, but every once in a while the mood hits me, and I'm magnetizing the minis. If this madness only strikes you 'once in a while,' why don't you just sneak it in on the WorkBench?  A few reasons, I suppose. Model railroaders can be very serious about their hobby, and I want to be taken seriously by them. I worry that many of them may look at my wargaming articles as frivolous, and discontinue visiting HobbyDr's WorkBench. And the other reason is simply, You wargamers are ANIMALS, PARTY ANIMALS!  Which is why I like you so much. You guys are like buddies from school, and railroaders are like friends from work. If you all met at the same place, I'd have to spend all my time separating you and breaking up fights. It's a fair cop. No, it's better if I meet you both at different locations. Makes sense, we suppose. Besides, while the WorkBench has a light, slightly humorous tone to it, the Game Table will be much looser, maybe whimsical. I find wargamers have, oh I don't know, that 'je ne sais quoi' sensibility and humor. Except Napoleonic wargamers, those guys are all assholes. (Oh yeah, you may find the occasional curse word sneak in here or there.) Well pardon your French. As I've been trying to say, "Welcome, and I hope you enjoy yourself here."

Don