Taiga by the Tail

by Mike Fischer
Last revised: 11/01/2004

"However, the Mark I remained in production as long as the Combine lasted, simply because it was the only Ogre small enough to be transported by conventional means. It proved to be effective as a light raider unit in terrain where human troops did not perform well, such as remote jungles and tundra." -- Ogre Miniatures (Steve Jackson Games)

This scenario takes place in the Great White North -- the Canadian Northwest Territories. The PanEuro's have sneaked some forces across the polar ice cap and are building an advanced base near Great Bear Lake. The garrison is small because no interference is expected in this remote region. But the Combine found out about it from a bush pilot, and they are going to interfere!

Use the standard GEV map. The "top" of the map is considered to be facing west, and the water side is to the north. Because you are fighting in the climate known as taiga, in the dead of winter, the following terrain is different from normal:

Cut out the numbered Objective Markers below and mix them up in a cup. Draw one at random and put it in a town hex, number side down so the players can't tell what it is. Repeat for all 26 town hexes. One marker will be left over; put this in hex 1408, so that hex has two markers. These represent Player 2's military facilities, and Player 1's objectives -- barracks, supply dumps, training areas, and the like. Player 2 can peek to see what each number is, after they're all placed.

Player 1 (the Combine) gets two Ogre Mark I's, coming in from the west after being rushed to the nearest Combine base in Alaska. Player 2 (the PanEuro's) gets 2 HVY, 2 LT, 2 GEV, 2 LGEV, 2 MSL, and 12 cold, miserable INF. All PanEuro units and infantry must set up on normal ground adjacent to a town hex. Each town-hex cluster (there are eight of them) must have at least one vehicle and one infantry next to it. The large town on the island and the 2-hex town in the center of the map get two vehicles nearby. The extra infantry can be next to any town.

The cold has affected the PanEuro equipment, whose support facilities are still under construction. At the start of the game, roll a die for each vehicle (not INF). Any unit whose roll comes up 1 is disabled by the cold. At the end of each turn, roll for each cold-disabled vehicle. A roll of 2-6 means the crew got it started and it's no longer disabled.

Player 1's Ogres enter the map in any forest hex in row 1. The entry hex counts as one move.

The long journey from Alaska to Great Bear Lake has played havoc with the Ogres' treads. For each of them, roll a die at the start of the game. Odd numbers mean the Ogre has lost one tread unit; even numbers mean it lost two.

Player 1's goal is to take out as many of the objectives as possible, and then escape off the top of the map. An objective is destroyed just like a CP, by firing on it with any weapon or by ramming it (no harm to the Ogre's treads). If all PanEuro units in the same hex as an objective are destroyed, the objective is automatically destroyed. Player 1 gets one victory point for a "1" marker, two for a "2" marker, and so on. He gets no points for knocking out enemy units, reducing towns to rubble, or anything else except the objectives. An Ogre that leaves the map cannot return.

Player 2's goal is to knock out the Ogres before they wreck his base. He gets 25 victory points for each Ogre that is destroyed (immobilized and main gun knocked out).

Play until both Ogres are either destroyed or off the map. Victory is determined as follows:

Playtest Notes

As of this writing, I have playtested this game solitaire twice, and it seems fair.

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Objective Markers

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