"Can y'all recommend a Sci-fi/Fantasy skirmish game?" Topic

Hey all, I'm looking for a small skirmish game to get about 5-10 miniatures for each side.

We played Infinity for about 3 months but most of my group hated the whole "it's always your turn" aspect of the game (something I loved)

Malifaux, like Infinity dies because of one little aspect :rollseyes:

Hell Dorado is "repulsive" to 2 members of my group because of their beliefs.

We already play Warmachine/Hordes

I'm looking at Bushido and Cutlass! with interest but not sure, they seem over the top difficult.

Thanks

John D.

5150 for sci-fi. The basic dice engine is Chain Reaction, which IIRC is *free* to download from the Two Hour Wargames site so you can take it for a spin. There's also a fantasy variant, again working off the basic Chain Reaction mechanics.

Hope this helps!

Leland R. Erickson

In the Emperor's Name! link

It's a great little skirmish game, mainly set in the 40K universe. But it works extremely well with generic minis. I've been using it for 15mm sci fi skirmishes.

Chris K.

Necromunda is nice if Infinity is out. It has a nice little campaign system and you can use as much or as little of the outlandish sci-fantasy stuff as you want.

FUBAR…and it's free.

I just got a copy of Galacta 3 and it's VERY sci-fi fantasy.
It is a Star Wars rip-off but looks to be a very fun system. I would love to try it out with some Star Wars mini's.

For a simple game, the Star Wars figs and CMG rules work, and are good fun.

Beamstrike is free too.

There are some other ones I haven't tried, including Flying Lead, Use Me, etc.

Dawkins, you haven't mentioned Two Hour Wargames rulesets and you're missing something. Check the links from my blog below:

BATREPS of Chain Reaction 3.0 (Sci-fi): link

BATREPS of Warrior Heroes Armies and Adventurers (Fantasy): link

Cheers,

Reaper Warlords has card-activation, and can be played with small warbands.

song of Blade and Heroes has an IGO-UGO system, but you roll to activate each unit, so you may not get to act with all your figures during your turn. Suitable for small warbands too.

Chain reactio or Necromunda both would work.

Anima Tactics is really at the small end of what you're looking for, but it's an option. You roll a die, not play cards like Malifaux, but otherwise it's pretty similar detail.

Not sure what to tell your for scifi if the group doesn't like "it's always your turn". My friends all though that was the biggest selling point of the game!

Savage Worlds and Savage Worlds Showdown is good for what you're looking for.

Do a search of Sci Fi games on TMP and you will fine hundreds of discussion on this discussion. It seems to come up every week.

Necromunda would be my vote as well. Still my favorite game!

MERCS looks fine: mercsminis.com

Hell Dorado is "repulsive" to 2 members of my group because of their beliefs.

I'm astonished…

John T

Some links:

WarEngine – it's free! – link

Chain Reaction – it's also free and the core of 5150 – link

Nercomunda – amazingly enough, it's free, as well, though you may have to choose a country of origin before GW lets you go to the appropriate page – link

Where Heroes Dare! – yes, it's Pulp, but put the word "radium" in front of all the weapon names and now it's sci-fi. ;) It's not free, but worth the price of admission and my favorite of the bunch – link

Al | ravenfeastsmeadhall.blogspot.com

Ganesah Games, Song of/Flying Lead series is an IGOUGO but with random turnovers so it might meet the requirements of both sides. Not quite scifi but there are near future/stargate rules in the basic flying lead rules.

Robert

How does an IGOUGO game have random turnovers?

It's interesting how there is such a variety of choices for this subject, with a less than clear-cut following for just a few of the better ones.

Has there been a recent poll on the subject here on TMP, or some sort of a review by people who have tried many of them?

I'd love to see which rules sets should be grouped with one another by type, and which are believed to be the best of the various initiative, and/or combat mechanisms. Of course, perhaps that is asking a bit much, and is obviously very subjective.

Categories I'm thinking of are:

1. Best IGOUGO system

2. Best modified IGOUGO system – some possible changes to the IGOUGO phases (not sure how that occurs though)

3. Best Card Driven initiative system

4. Best "Other" type of initiative system

Obviously, there are then other things to consider, e.g. D6 only combat; multiple D6 combat; Dx combat using various sized dice; man-to-man combat, movement, and initiative; fire-team level initiative, movement, and combat; squad-level initiative, movement, and initiative; has saving throws or no saving throws; WWII; Modern; SciFi; other historical periods; etc.

I'd love to see the various rules categorized in some way, as above, but it is a bit complex with all the rules offerings.

I guess in the end, I'd settle for groupings by genre, level of game (man-to-man, fire team, squad-level), and which rules people think are best, with perhaps a short explanation as to why.

Rogue Trader 40k by Priestly. Not bad for small scale games. Still stands up well, as a fun game.

What was the one little thing they disliked about Malifaux?

I'll post links to my skirmish game when it gets released in December of this year.

We've enjoyed Urban War from Urban Mammoth quite a bit. The second edition recently came out and changed a number of things, primarily making the game a lot more streamlined, but we've not been able to put in any games of that yet so I can't really comment if it's a change for the better or worse.

urbanwarthegame.com

@John Treadaway:
Don't be so astonished. It's more common than you think.

Certain people seem to think that games can threaten their belief system. This just means their faith isn't as strong as they think it is.

Oh please, chromedog. That is such an ignorant statement said simply to justify your lifestyle. If you don't understand then you are lost.

For a simple game, the Star Wars figs and CMG rules work, and are good fun.

Not a great game, but inoffensive and fun.

Reaper Warlord may also fit the bill. A simple game to start, but with deep tactics.

I played in two convention games of LOTR SBG over the weekend. A popular game well-liked by players. Good rules…especially for small groups of heroes like the OP describes.

Hysterical Agent 13, truly hysterical.

Best modified IGOUGO system – some possible changes to the IGOUGO phases (not sure how that occurs though)

I have been playing a modified version of Necromunda for a while now and me and my brother have enjoyed the change.

I tacked on GW LotR priority roll structure for my necromunda games.

So each player rolls a d6 at the start of the turn and who ever has the higher number gets to go first. Sequence is still the same, movement, shooting, HTH, and recovery but this way both players get to act in each step rather than losing the whole game in one bad first shooting spree.

With the randomness of not knowing if you get to act first or second in each of the phases it has made our games more dynamic.

We also play for fun, I don't know how it would work in a more competitive area?

I don't find Cutlass! rules "…over the top difficut." The turn sequence IS different but works pretty well. However it would fit into the "always your turn" complaint.

Two Hour Wargames has just released "5150: New Beginnings". It uses the standard THW engine but is more of an RPG than a straight forward wargame.

As has been mentioned, if you would like to try out the system "Chain Reaction 3.0" is available as a free download. The website has several BATREPS of the games.

The Other Tim

I'll second MERCS. Its small (5 models per team, no more, no less, unless you want to play house rules), fast, and each model has its own initiative, so the pacing is mixed up each turn. Plus a few actions like suppression and overwatch allow you to interact with your opponent's actions.

I'd also suggest Warlord, although I'm not sure that it'll be small enough for what you're looking for. It used to work well with small armies, but the current system is aimed more towards larger armies in the 12-20 range. Even larger if you play one of the mob-oriented factions. Its still a great game tho.

PS – if you can find any of the plastic Confrontation figs on clearance, they make great proxies for some of the Warlord armies.

mercs sounds interesting from their site.

what is warlord?

5150 New Beginning. Though it isn't IGOUGO… its more like each side activates (like IGOUGO) but while the other side is active your guys will react… thats kinda the whole point.

Honestly if your players don't like games that have that more interactive (and realistic, and tactically interesting) element, then I don't see why you wouldn't just play 40k with them and find some other people to play really good games with = )

You could also try Salvage Crew, Star Mogul rules. A free download from Mega Miniatures.

Future War Commander has a skirmish variant within the rules. Not tried it but the main rules are good fun.

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Dawkins, Warlord is a game by Reaper minis.