Are You Ready to Battle? - Ogre Battle Box

10/3/2018

Have you enjoyed playing Ogre in the past? Are you ready to take it up a notch? Then you may be ready for the Ogre Battle Box! Fully equipped with plenty of quality minis, this one will be a favorite, if it isn't already, with all battle game lovers. Let's take a closer look!

What Is It?

A tactical combat game pitting one ultra-massive tank (known as the Ogre) against a number of pitiful units in an unrelenting tug of war for power. Ogre Battle Box is at its core an upgrade to previous Ogre games replacing cardboard chits with detailed miniatures.

Who Is It For?

This particular set is definitely for those already familiar with the Ogre game(s), for reasons we’ll take a look at a little later. Other than that though, I think this would be a great game for anyone 12+ as it is not very difficult to play once you get going. It is also ideal for all those war/battle game lovers out there!

Quality of Components

The minis are a very nice quality, very stable, and pretty easy to assemble overall (though some do need glue which can be a hassle). The map is large and all the spots/terrain are very clear which makes movement and battling very streamlined. The rule book is printed on good quality paper, and there’s a few cardboard chits, and those are also nice quality, thick cardboard, and any writing on them is very clear. Overall really nice components making it a very worthwhile cost for a game.

PROS

Handy quick rules available online so you know what you can skip or skim over (since there is a lot to take in!)
The minis are great! I think they’re really nice, and very detailed which that really helps to absorb you into the game.
Combat is done with only a D6, so changes are typically pretty high for a hit, which keeps things tight, and really helps to grip you into the battling and put that positive tension on the game.
I liked checking the boxes on the Ogre record sheets to track damage. I thought that was neat and also really convenient and easy to understand.
Ramming was also a ton of fun; it makes sense thematically and it’s definitely just entertaining to smash into other tanks, at least for me!
I liked the simplicity of the range rules also. Line of sight was straightforward and it made it even easier to take turns and move the game along.

CONS

Overall, I don't have a lot of cons. But, those I do have are significant hits for me. On the bright side, they likely aren't cons for everyone!

*deep breath* Okay, I have to say it. The rulebook is a nightmare. But, to be fair, this is coming from a gamer who has never, ever played Ogre before, and I honestly think that is a huge factor. The effort was to combine the rules for all Ogre games into one convenient place, which was a good idea in concept. However, since this is supposed to be a stand-alone game, it didn’t work for me as a newcomer, which was unfortunate It needed its own rule book to outline what’s included and how to play with only the pieces in the box, in my opinion.
We did a lot of referencing between the rulebook and the play area because the minis don’t have stats on them, of course. I think this definitely would have been streamlined by a single reference sheet instead of pages in the rulebook so that there wasn't as much flipping back and forth when a rule also needed to be referenced.

Difficulty

For the units included in this box, the difficulty is not very deep. But,you can combine sets to make it more intense and, thus, more difficult. For this box alone, I would rate it a 3/5. I think once you get over the hurdle of the rulebook, gameplay is pretty simple and the game is fun!

Final Thoughts

Overall, I have to say that I can not recommend this to people who aren’t already familiar with Ogre. HOWEVER, if you have played another version, or know someone who has and who can teach you, go for it! What I really wanted was for a seasoned veteren to teach me this game, and I think I could have enjoyed it even more. But, once I got down to playing, I did like it a lot! I think this set could really elevate the game as a whole because the minis are excellent and really put you fully into the battle experience.

Happy Gaming!~

Additional Information:
Publisher - Steve Jackson Games
BGG (Ogre) - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/5206/ogre

*I was provided a copy of this game to do this review*

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