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INDIVIDUAL SOLDIER TO SOLDIER COMBAT IN THE WORLD OF OGRE / GEV

"From what I've seen of your rules and concepts, "TROLL" is what BATTLESUIT should have been..." -Trey Potter, via Email.

"There will always be survivors."  -Robert A. Heinlein

Thought I would give you all an update on my project of producing a soldier to soldier tactical combat game in the world of OGRE and GEV.  Plans have again changed, somewhat, and I'm moving away from the original BATTLESUIT style of rules to more seamlessly integrate these rules into OGRE and GEV.  I always wondered why BATTLESUIT was never a 'OGRE and GEV' interfaced product, but rather a stand alone game that somehow seemed ... distanced, for want of a better word, from the 'family' of OGRE products.  OGRE and GEV built upon each other, while BATTLESUIT just kind of, well, stood there by itself.  It was an odd game when it appeared, and I think I've met four people online who actually liked it but all had deep criticisms of the rules as being very 'non-OGRE' in nature, that is, if you played OGRE and GEV and then played BATTLESUIT, you were in for a shock!   BATTLESUIT has a small following from what I can tell, but most of the time when the game is mentioned, I get the response of "Oh, that thing...".  It never really caught on (we abandoned it after about four games, but some of the rules that we used in our games have at last made it to the TROLL rules).

It is my intention to play and fight individual soldiers on a map that uses the SAME terrain as that displayed on the OGRE and GEV maps.  This will allow current map making programs (and SJG, if so inclined) to be able to produce custom maps for TROLL without any retooling or new graphics.  It also means that you can use OGRE and GEV counters on the map to represent vehicles, etc. where you could not within the context of the original BATTLESUIT (and TROLL before the mid-course correction) rules.   This will also allow you to move seamlessly from OGRE / GEV to TROLL and back again for 'in-hex' fighting.  It should be interesting...

The advent of items like contour lines, while initially interesting to toy with, especially the aspect of negative contour lines representing craters, dry washes, creek beds, etc., has been stricken from the rules as needlessly complicating things.  I figure that with all of the advanced weapons and technology available, terrain is going to be the least of a soldier's problems when trying to draw a fix on another target or defense when trying to avoid such fire.  Clever, Brilliant, and Genius class weapons will simply ignore terrain as they skim over the surface in NOE flight toward the target.  Indeed, LOS is pretty much not a question in either the OGRE or GEV games, and only comes around again as an interesting throwback to traditional miniature wargaming in OGRE: MINIATURES.  I tend to follow the OGRE and GEV rules and technology with TROLL, that is, LOS isn't really important given the aspect of combat on the 21CB.

The rules are being finalized now and the modular suit design rules will be integrated soon.  Stay tuned.  I told you before that the rules were about 40k on a MS WORD file.  Now they are up to 90k.  Shows you how much I've done lately on this project.

Before that...

Work continues on TROLL, the game of individual and squad infantry combat in the world of OGRE / GEV with a heavy emphasis on the mechanics and technical aspects as outlined on this site.  This game moves the world of OGRE and GEV right down to the individual armored soldier!  An interface allows you to play either on the large TROLL maps or to 'macro up' the action to the standard OGRE and GEV maps to cover large distances quickly!

So far, there are 13 types of power armor (including the mysterious Combine APBX Advanced Prototype Battle eXosuit!).  Other units include portable, semi-portable, and emplaced support weapons, several kinds of explosives, TAC nukes (satchel and missile), over thirty-five individual battlesuit upgrade modifications, and no less than forty different weapon systems ranging from light sidearms and snubmachineguns up to emplaced VHMGs and TAC missile launchers!!!  A variety of different ammunition only makes these weapons even more deadly, with rounds ranging from anti-personnel up to and including TAC charges, micro-nukes and nuclear satchel charges.

Guidance options for direct-fire and indirect fire munitions take into consideration such aspects as clever, brilliant, and even genius class guidance systems as well as full hand off capacity from one squad member to another.

Point defense rules for squad integration as well as shared squad resources availability.

Integrated rules for spillover fire and close assault as well as hand to hand and melee combat.

Suits are provided 'as-is' with a basic frame and components.  The players then can either use standard designs (created by taking the base model and type of suit and adding extra cost 'modules') included in the basic game or design their own specialty suits for different missions using the templates and configuring the individual suit types to meet their needs.

Each type of suit is given a full page (OGRE / GEV size rulebook) construction / capability sheet (CCS) for the players to record vital data on each individual suit as well as a place to illustrate the suit.

A limited role playing aspect is presented, so that players can create memorable individuals or entire squads of favorite soldiers and advance them through the Last War.  Rules for engineers, commandos, recon, medics, commechtechs, and other career choices are included as well as rules for skills and character advancement.

Tactical and Squad Support drones are included, along with non-power armored infantry and other 'soft' targets of opportunity. 

Combat pharmaceuticals to heighten aggression, lower reaction time, and increase inititive are included, most notably the Combine's "White Tear"

Suits are rated for EM Signature, Electronics, Defense, Strength, Hardpoints, and Weapons Sockets.  With over 35 options alone for suit modification, the possible models of individual suit deigns begin in the hundreds...

Yes, the SLICS system is included, as well as the Lewis-Carmichael "CYCLOPS" Advanced Optical Targeting System and of course, your favorite weapons like the Thompson and the Ibarra!

There are six types of suits available to both the Combine and the Paneuropean forces.  These six types range from the LGI Light General Issue up to the AHGI Advanced Heavy General Issue.  The Combine has one additional suit that is the most advanced and expensive suit ever made; the APBX or the Advanced Prototype Battle eXperimental Suit, a quantam evolutionary leap over the other main line battlesuits.   Combine suits tend to have better electronics and higher speed while the Paneuropean suits are stronger and can take more punishment.  The Combine suits are about twice as expensive as the Paneuropean models, but suitably more advanced.

Combat still features the six sided die system and a CRT based table of combat results, but the results are much more varied.

Suits are protected from being hit by various forms of electronics, defensive tactics, and defensive countermeasures while each suit is protected from taking physical damage through armor and various counter defenses.

Rules are presented for mine fields, guidance options for mines, grenades, and missiles.  Rules for contamination, full NBC integration, and a host of other battlefield dangers are implemented.

So far, just the rough notes on the NEW version of TROLL (which has no tie in with Car Wars or other products, sorry, TROLL really just came into being one night and took off on its own vector, far, far away from what I had originally intended to produce and present!) takes up about forty K on a file!