OGAM is loosely based on Song of Blades and Heroes, which I freely admit to not having played, though I know Neil of Meeples and Miniatures is rather fond of it. I pitched a force of Greeks headed up by Ares, God of War against Carl's Celts - perhaps with hindsight we should have gone with smaller forces, but either way it was a decent introduction to the game.
The core mechanic's quite cute - when it's your turn you can pick a unit and roll 1-3 d6 activation dice, looking to equal or exceed the unit's Q (Quality) rating. For each success, the unit gets an action: if you fail once, the opposition get a reaction with a unit of equal or better rank (Gods > Legends > Mortals). If you fail twice, your turn ends, otherwise you can carry on with another unit.All ranges and measures are (Saga-style) Short (7.5cm), Medium (12cm) or Long (18cm). Combat is opposed rolls - combat level + a d6 + bonuses. For every +3 you win by, you do a casualty (remove a figure from a unit, potentially kill a legend or God).
Your mortals can add extra dice to your God by sacrificing their activation for an Invocation - if they succeed he or she gets bonus actions - additionally, if your God loses in combat and is 'killed', an Invocation can bring him or her back. If all your mortals die, you lose (other victory conditions are available, but I don't own a set of rules yet!)So? Overall impressions...
Hrm.
I suspect I was probably still a bit fried from the general anaesthetic on Saturday, but I found the rules somewhat unclear (and badly indexed/cross-referenced) in a number of places. Action is very fluid - battle lines didn't tend to form much if at all, and this isn't helped by the 'you can set up anywhere not within 2 x Medium moves of an enemy unit' rules.
I'm still not sure about it as a system. It was good fun (and for once I won!), but I found it a little tricky to follow in places. It probably benefits another game after another read of the rules, and I'll buy myself a copy before I do!
And if anyone can explain why Short isn't half Medium, i'm all ears!
The Celts have Toutatis, then? Can they make the sky fall upon the heads of their enemies? Can they make sky look as though it might fall on their enemies heads? I'll bet they get nervous when seagulls are flying overhead...
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