Ogre/GEV in Lego

Ogre is an addictive game by Steve Jackson games. Ogre is a beer and pretzel type wargame, where one player gets a monstrous robotic tank, and the other player gets lots of Ogre fodder (tanks, hovercraft, artillery and infantry) to try and stop the Ogre. GEV is the follow-up to Ogre, though it stands by itself as a game. It focuses on combat between the various non-Ogre pieces, including the GEV hovercrafts. Don't worry, there is an Ogre or two in GEV, also. Someday, when I have tubs and tubs of grey, and lots of tread links I will create a Lego Ogre. For now, I have my GEVs.

GEV

The GEV, or Ground Effects Vehicle, or even hovercraft, is the second most distinctive vehicle in the Ogre/GEV milieu, the most distinctive being the Ogre of course. Everyone know what a tank or a howitzer is. A missile tank is nothing special. Now a GEV, a fast, jet powered hovercraft, gliding over the terrain at breakneck speeds, that's exciting!

GEV types

GEVs fulfill many functions in the military, being roughly analogous to the roles of helicopters in the late 20th century. The picture to the left shows the most common GEV, the Assault GEV, painted in a low visibility night/urban camouflage scheme.

Power for the GEV is provided by an MHD turbine under the cockpit. This power is used to power the lift fans, the electronics, and the dual rail guns in the front turret.

Propulsion is prouided by a pair of vectored thrust turbofans, at the rear. You can see the FOD screens protecting the front of the turbofans. The thrust deflectors can't be seen well in this picture.

Controls are all fly-by-wire. The fly-by-wire program is integrated with the targeting programs, automatically having the targeting compensate for the dodging and weaving of the GEV, and having the thrust vector automatically compensate for the recoil of the high velocity dual rail guns.

The front turret contains two high velocity rail guns, passive target acquisition instruments, and follow-up missiles. The rail guns fire two kinds of ammunition; 10 mm depleted uranium slugs at 1500 m/s and 600 rpm for use against armored targets, and flechette rounds at 700 m/s and 1200 rpm for use against soft targets and incoming missiles. The rail guns aren't capable of quickly destroying a heavy tank or Ogre, hence the follow-up missiles.

Since a broadcast signal is an invitation for targetting by homing missiles, all communication is by line-of-sight microwaves. You can see the microwave dishes perched atop the turbofans at the rear.

Assault GEV

The Assault GEV is the most common GEV on the battlefield. With it's dual high velocity rapid fire rail guns, it can devastate lightly armored targets. With it's follow up armor piercing missiles, even heavy tanks aren't safe.

Troopship GEV

The Troopship GEV was born due to a need to quickly carry troops to the front lines, or to carry troops to quickly exploit a hole in the enemy's defense's.

It uses the same chassis as the Assault GEV, with the turret replaced by the troop compartment. Armanent includes the cockpit mounted machine gun turret as well as a light auto-cannon mounted on the troop compartment. Enterprising field commanders have also added door mounted machine guns and anti-armor missiles.

In combat, the troopship deploys and picks up troops by slowing to about 30 km/h and allowing the troops to drop off.

Evac GEV

There is no more welcome sight to a wounded soldier than an Evac GEV coming to pick him or her up. Evac GEVs range from a simple ambulance to a full fledged mobile operating room.

The Evac GEV is built on the same basic plan as the troopship, but without the weaponry.

Given the fact that the Geneva Convention is mostly honored in the breach, newly deployed Evac GEVs quickly undergo field modifications. Since a bright red cross is an irresistable target, the crosses are either painted over, or repainted in low contrast colors. Affixing easily dismounted "defensive" weaponry it another very common modification.

Command GEV

The Command GEV is also built on the same basic plan as the troopship, but with more commo and computer gear.

GEV missions

The GEV, Ground Effects Vehicle, is designed as a rapid strike assault vehicle. It's comparable in cost to a heavy tank, but fulfills different roles.

The most glamorous role of the GEV is as a breakthrough exploiter. Heavy tanks and artillery combine to create a hole in the defender's line, and the GEV's rush through the hole to attack lightly defended supply centers and Headquarters units. Of course, the GEVs must be sure to get back to their own lines before the enemy counter attacks.

A second, less glamorous and more dangerous role is as a vanguard to an offensive. The GEVs range ahead of the heavy tanks, flushing out hidden enemy units and identifying strongpoints. The GEV commanders hope to shoot down any incoming missiles with their forn turrets before they strike the attacking tanks or GEVs. Such a mission is hazardous indeed.

A third mission for the GEV is infantry insertion, recovery and evac. A typical infantry insertion mission involves a few troop GEVs, escorted by a few assault GEVs, slipping behind enemy lines for a raid, then returning to friendly lines. Recovery missions involve a few GEVs heading behind enemy lines to recover the crew of a downed GEV. Nothing heartens a wounded soldier like the sight of an evac GEV coming in to ferry them to a field hospital. It's not uncommon for a casualty to be at a hospital within 15 minutes of their being wounded.

A final use for the GEV is as a rapid defense force. GEVs can quickly get to the scene of an enemy breakthrough to blunt the enemy's attacking force. This is also a risky mission, when GEVs meet attacking heavy tanks, the GEVs rarely get a chance for a second shot.

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