davesimpson | 13 Apr 2014 8:01 a.m. PST |
With the increased expansion of Oddzial Osmy's excellent 3mm science fiction line, we're rapidly reaching the point where playing Ogre Miniatures in 1/600 scale is becoming feasible. For the ogres themselves, 1/300 scale tanks can be used or kitbashed. Here's an example of an Ogre Mk III that has been kitbashed from an old Heroics & Ros German E-100
and here're some Plasmablast Marhaf Legion tanks, in 1/300 scale, serving as an Ogre MK V and Ogre IIIBs:
With SJG basically pricing themselves out of the Ogre Miniatures market, I did some back-of-the-envelope calculations to determine how much it would cost to field an entire Ogre/GEV/Shockwave OoB in 1/600 scale. 21 packs of 1/600 figures at 4.50 USD each would get you everything you need to field pretty much every vehicle and infantry counter in the three game set: USD 94.50 or basically what it now costs for you to field a company of 1/600 scale vehicles. If we presume that you buy 24 ogres and that these cost an average of 7 USD per, then that´s 148 USD – or basically the price of 4 1/300 scale Ogres. Of course, these won't be official minis, but they'll look damn good! O8 already has vehicles that can easily take the role of Heavy Tanks and Missile Tanks (and a new Heavy is on the way that looks even more ogre-ish to me). What´s currently lacking for the basic game are GEVs and howitzers, but I'm pretty sure something will be coming along,sooner or later, that will fill those gaps. But aren't 1/600 just too small? No, they are as easy to see and play with as 1/300 figs. Plus they fit the new ODE gameboards much better. The photo is a bit washed out, but here you can see an Ogre Mk V (Plasmablast) being attacked by 2 Heavies, 2 Infantry platoons and 2 GEVs.
As you can see, the Ogre fits comfortably in the hex while the conventional units can actually now "stack" at two per hex. |
Bashytubits | 13 Apr 2014 8:32 a.m. PST |
That is some very well done work. Great paintjobs and scratchbuilds. |
commanderroj | 13 Apr 2014 8:52 a.m. PST |
ODE game boards, where are those from, they look very nice for a hex map. |
Lion in the Stars | 13 Apr 2014 9:52 a.m. PST |
ODE is Ogre Designer's Edition, that monster Kickstarter. Expansion maps: link (Note that 4 maps is 11lbs weight, and these are heavy-duty chipboard maps like what's used in Risk) I hate to say it, but the reason prices on the OGRE minis went out of sight is because SJG was losing significant $$ on each mini. Apparently they hadn't done a pricepoint audit in quite a while (since the price of tin went through the roof), and were rather appalled at the losses when they went to re-order some minis. |
Dan Cyr | 13 Apr 2014 1:44 p.m. PST |
The reason I'm moving over to 1/600 is not the pricing, but the lack of stock that SJ bothers to have on hand. Dan |
Stealth1000 | 13 Apr 2014 3:10 p.m. PST |
I am really thinking of doing some 1/600 for larger tank battles. I got a pack of 1/300 APC's to see what they are like and they are not to tiny to cope with. |
artbraune | 13 Apr 2014 3:36 p.m. PST |
If Khurasan can sell this for $18.99 USD and make a profit – not sure what SJG's issue is
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Coelacanth1938 | 13 Apr 2014 9:35 p.m. PST |
Anybody ever talk to their senator or congressman about getting tax breaks for miniature companies? |
Lion in the Stars | 15 Apr 2014 11:01 a.m. PST |
@Art: That's mostly resin (so unaffected by costs of metal), and according to Khurasan, his prices to us are essentially wholesale costs. If he sold through distributors, the minis would have to cost twice as much just to break even at his end. |
artbraune | 15 Apr 2014 2:35 p.m. PST |
@Lion – agreed on it being primarily resin. But size-wise and with SJG's current sale model – it falls into the comparable. It is not like either are a licensed product requiring additional fees? I would buy a primarily resin (with metal fiddly bits) OGRE model for a similar cost point. |
Hombre | 15 Apr 2014 5:39 p.m. PST |
I sincerely doubt that SJG is losing a significant amount of money on each mini, at least, not according to how normal people view a loss (as in, it cost me X to make it, but I sold it for X-1). More likely it's two-fold: First, they're not making the margin per mini that they want. Second, they're not getting the overall sales that they want, so they're not making it up in volume. And they're not getting the volume of sales they want for several reasons. It's an old, tired line with many designs that are really showing their age. They don't sell through any distributors or retailers, so no one not already interested in Ogre ever sees it at they're FLGS. Not only do they not market them, they routinely let the line go out of production. The vast majority of people who would be interested in buying the minis likely already have what they want, or most of what they want, so they're marketing to a saturated audience. And the only people who want them are the people who play the game. Put another way, Ogre players will go out and buy proxy-suitable minis from any manufacturer, like Iron Wind Metals, that has something that looks cool and offers a good price. Battletech players, OTOH, are not likely to seek out SJG for Ogre minis, especially considering the design, quality, and the price. They are NOT in a catch-22. It's just not a market they want to be in, nor have they ever wanted to be in it. And we all get to "suffer" because of it. |
Zakalwe64 | 16 Apr 2014 7:33 a.m. PST |
Oddzial Osmy has just announced that they will be launching a sci-fi tank based on the one in the Aliens Colonial Marines Technical Manual. This tank is very similar to the Alamo Heavy Tank, except that it doesn't have that wierd-looking ship's bow. In other words, it's neater than the Alamo. I am a big fan of Ogre minis, but I have to admit that most of the designs just leave me cold. The Ogre and the Paneuropean GEV are iiconic, of course, and I admit to liking the Combine's shark-like GEV. But most of the rest of the designs leave me cold. I am thus very excited the O8 may be giving us 3mm designs that remind us of Ogre, but are a bit less cartoonish. |
Lion in the Stars | 16 Apr 2014 12:27 p.m. PST |
@Lion – agreed on it being primarily resin. But size-wise and with SJG's current sale model – it falls into the comparable.It is not like either are a licensed product requiring additional fees? I would buy a primarily resin (with metal fiddly bits) OGRE model for a similar cost point. Did you miss my statement that Khurasan has said that he would have to double the price if he sold through distributors like SJG does? Now you're talking about a $40 USD model, and I don't think you're going to see very many takers at that pricepoint. |
artbraune | 16 Apr 2014 8:16 p.m. PST |
@Lion – I read and understood your entire post. My focus is that SJG are currently not selling to distributors, but instead going direct like Khurasan. |
Robert Kennedy | 17 Apr 2014 4:59 p.m. PST |
I love using 1/600 for all of my gaming. O8 and javelin68 at his National Cheese Emporium store over at Shapeways are offering some great new miniatures. Marcin at O8 is releasing some SciFi miniatures every month. This month a Warbot and another Battle suit. Robert My 1/600 Miniature Wargaming Yahoo Group link 3mm_miniatures · 1/600_miniatures Yahoo Group link |
sharkbait | 17 Apr 2014 7:09 p.m. PST |
Those 3mm minis are soooooo tempting! I've been collecting 6mm SciFi minis, but there's just something about these 3mm minis. Nothing like spending about $5 USD for 15 tanks! |
Robert Kennedy | 17 Apr 2014 8:27 p.m. PST |
Exactly :). I love the Price. And the same for 8 aircraft. Robert My 1/600 Miniature Wargaming Yahoo Group link 3mm_miniatures · 1/600_miniatures Yahoo Group link |
Kirk Alderfer | 08 May 2014 3:21 p.m. PST |
Just to thrown in some of the 3mm pieces I working on for my game. A Mjolinar Class Ultra-Sized Combat Unit along a mucg smaller Destrier Heavy TRAX. Quarter and little dude tossed in for scale.
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Kirk Alderfer | 08 May 2014 3:23 p.m. PST |
Here's an example of an Ogre Mk III that has been kitbashed from an old Heroics & Ros German E-100
[\quote] Dragon Models has an excellent 1/144 scale plastic E-100 that is great for this |