G.E.V. ("Ground Effect Vehicle") is a science fiction board wargame that simulates combat in the near future between armored hovercraft, supertanks and other futuristic weaponry.
The game was designed by American game designer Steve Jackson as a sequel to his Ogre board game when he was working for Metagaming Concepts. When Jackson left Metagaming to form his own company, he took the rights to both G.E.V. and Ogre with him, and all subsequent editions have been produced by Steve Jackson Games.
Description
G.E.V. is a two-player wargame set in the late 21st century that features GEVs as well as Ogres (large intelligent tanks), conventional tanks, infantry, and artillery. It developed as a sequel to Ogre, which had already featured GEVs as a secondary vehicle. GEVs were lightly armed hovercraft that moved more quickly than the huge, lumbering Ogres. The new game expanded the GEV gameplay and gave scenarios fitted to a high-speed vehicle. A feature of the GEV gameplay was that the original move-fire turn sequence of typical combat games became a move-fire-move sequence, with GEVs allowed a second movement phase. This could be used for either hit-and-run attacks with a retreat phase out of range, or a charge emphasizing a high-speed advance, even without time to adequately defend.
Components
The game components of the original 1977 edition published by Metagames Concepts are:
Victory conditions
Each scenario uses a points-based victory condition system.
Publication history
In 1977, Metagaming Concepts published Ogre and pioneered the microgame, a small, cheap and simple solitaire or two-player game, often with a science fiction or fantasy theme. Ogre was created by Steve Jackson, who then designed a sequel, G.E.V., which was published by Metagaming as their 6th MicroGame in 1977.
When Jackson left Metagaming in 1982 over a dispute about some of his other games to found Steve Jackson Games (SJG), he took the rights to Ogre and G.E.V. with him, and immediately published new editions of both games. He followed this with a number of popular sequels, including Shockwave,
Ogre Reinforcement Pack, and Ogre Battlefields.
In Issue 30 of Phoenix, (March–April 1981), Michael Stoner thought it was a very quick-moving game, noting that in most scenarios, one player gains the upper hand within ten minutes of play. He concluded, "It is not as much of a 'fun' game as Ogre but is, rather, a realistic (and quite complex) game that tests your skill to the limit."
In the 1980 book The Complete Book of Wargames, game designer Jon Freeman thought that "GEV suffers from the problem of all sequels: it's hard to live up to the reputation created by the original. Since Ogre is one of the most remarkably successful games ever, GEV has a hard act to follow. It can be perhaps forgiven its small failures. As a game in its own right, it’s somewhat dull. Though the situation is hypothetical, the feel is exceptionally conventional. The battles could be lifted whole from [ Avalon Hill's wargame] PanzerBlitz. Only when Ogres are added and the situation is reduced to the uncomplicated objectives of the earlier game does it come to life." Freeman concluded by give the game an Overall Evaluation of "Good", saying, "It's a good expansion kit, but only a fair game. If you have Ogre and like it, you'll want this. If not, get Ogre first."
In Issue 27 of Simulacrum, Brian Train noted, "Probably the high point of microgames. Small, fast and has a reasonable punch, just like the titular units."
Reviews
- Galileo