"Why the Sci-Fi gaming explosion?" Topic

For those who want to war game Science Fiction just about any aspect of the genre is possible. We are beginning to have an embarrassment of riches. Whether it is 15mm or 28mm you have everything from Space Opera, Dystopian, to hard science fiction available and much beside. And this does not include some of the sub genres such as VSF and Star Wars which also have a plethora of figures and rules available. With a little creativity and the right miniatures and terrain you could do you favorite battle from a Hammer Slammer's novel, Keith Laumer, E.E. Doc Smith, you name it, or your favorite Science Fiction film. I know my friend Nazrat plans to get a number of the Khurasan's "Space Demons" and the appropriate Colonial Marines for some alien scenarios.

There are of course excellent rules available as well, such a Star Grunt, Tomorrow's War, FUBAR, and 40K still has a special place in my heart. And let us not leave out all those miniatures and rules for battles in Outer Space.

So is this a chicken and egg kind of situation? Did the genre spawn the craze, or was it the fact that manufactures started producing such a wide range of possibilities? Is it both?

I think that the explosion of sci-fi in popular media was the spark – and manufacturers are keen to follow new trends

Well, I think it's basic economics … With more and more Sci-fi movies and TV shows being released and coming out, the Sy-fy Channel, etc., Sci-fi is becoming a bit more main stream. And as we saw with Osprey Publishing, who only did historical subjects, if I remember correctly, published a book on Zombies. So I think it's a good move to diversify product lines. Many companies do this, for example – M&Ms, Peanut M&Ms, Peanut Butter M&Ms, etc., etc. Or in some cases new companies get on board to ride the Sci-fi economic wave … all the way to the bank. Look how often we see Games Workshop jumping on someone for copywrite infringement …

Oh I should not forget 6mm and 10mm as well. Maybe that is why Angle Barracks comments are deleted. Sorry about that mate!

My interest has been fueled by the products produced, specifically Dropzone Commander. I started wargaming sci-fi but my interest waned as I became more interested in historicals, DzC has re-sparked that interest in a big way.

Ah-ha, not at all.
I tried to get a picture to show but it kept showing as a link so I deleted it.
I will try later!

:D

I have always enjoyed sci-fi. Books, movies, comics and computergames so I was a safe bet I'd try sci-fi minis too. As to what came first, I guess I am just a child of my time.

I certainly think that the casting quality available to even the smallest of miniature companies nowadays has certainly had an impact, as has this world wide web.

With people/groups able to produce a sets of rules to a high standard and then promote it across the world coupled with the ease at which one can buy miniatures from a company on the other side of the world in the click of a button, this has helped exapnd the genre

And I think, crucially, new crowd sourcing sites, such as kickstarter, are enabling small companies (which may have otherwised lacked the necessary capitol to make the models they wanted) to be able to produce an entire range of minis in a very short space of time.

So when everyone is able to do it that much more easily, people are going to try and fill the gaps to have a product that stands out!

"Why the Sci-Fi gaming explosion?"

Whatever the reason, I approve; especially the games where players can stat up figures already in their collection.

Al | ravenfeastsmeadhall.blogspot.com

The frustration voiced here as recently as two years ago that the flagship of SF miniatures rules was still 40k. The rise of digital sculpting may have had something to do with it as well. Why publish something new and interesting if the market is just going to end up using GW stuff to play your game?

I have always wanted to do larger battles with a fair amount of armor on the table, so for me I would say it was the availability of more and more cool stuff that really sparked my interest and hence, my buying.

Because the first generation of twelve-year-olds who stared in awe, on multiple visits, as Star Wars played upon the screen, is now approaching 50 and has the disposable income to finally fulfill their childhood dreams— and they have kids they want to share those dreams with. That this has branched into other avenues of the genre is not surprising, as the tastes of those twelve-year-olds certainly changed and expanded within the SF realm— but it's still that same initial fascination behind it all. Plus, we're now the adults who make the stuff— so we make what we wish we'd had when we were twelve, and could believe anything.

"Why the Sci-Fi gaming explosion?"

Why not?

For me it was Star Wars, a friend showed me an advert for Spacefarers (GDW ?) figures by citadel, even had imperial marines, space pirates, bounty hunters and rebels, for a thirteen year old was as close to the film universe as I could get. Gradually other book and film influances came in.

becasue Pirates are "So" 2006.

I have been playing 28mm Sci-Fi for years now and it seems the same.
However 15mm has exploded in a way that is amazing to watch and can only benefit the hobby.Also FoW may have helped people to move to this scale more easily too.
I must admit to being tempted by all these new fantastic 15mm miniatures and vehicles that pop up every now and then.
I do have some small Dak units and larger desert Rats force for FoW.could not resist the M3 Lees 88 guns and qwirky british tanks from North Africa.
I do agree though with the sudden popularity .many things have made it happen though.

Ah but you can have Space Pirates, even Space Pi-Rats victor. Therefore, you get two for one.

@Nazrat, glad to know you want to do a big armor plus everything else battle my friend. But then again I knew this. I just have to put that giant walker model I got from Khurasan together and painted and the Robot Legion will be ready to march on mankind.

Oh and of course I found out here today on TMP that Dirtside II, Stargrunt II, and Full Thrust are all available free to download from the GZG website…

TMP link

And Angel Barracks posts in the News for TMP today his KR 16 rules for 6mm Sci-Fi as a free download.

TMP link

Plus there are at least two or three other adverts on TMP right now in the NEWS section for either Sci-Fi scenarios or supplements.

I could devote my entire time to this genre.

Its all about the minis for me Manticore. The production of high quality multi-part plastic kits brought me back into this era, much against my wallet's protest.

We've always been here; maybe you're just now noticing us? :)

Seriously though, I've been shooting aliens with lasers since 1996, first with 40k and then with other games that let me collect and paint whatever figures I wanted.

Maybe what you're seeing is just a byproduct of the whole movement toward DIY/Kickstarter publishing, where everybody with an idea gets his or her chance to publish it on the web.

I think it's because the kids who saw Star Wars in the theaters not only have the disposable income, but the motivation to make and sell stuff for gaming.

I mean, you've got the Quar in 28mm and 15mm, Khurasan's stuff, etc…

Heck, even Battlefront got a little drunk one night while watching We Were Soldiers and got inspired to do a Vietnam range!

I haven't noticed an explosion. There is more stuff today than 15 years ago, but there always seems to be more Sci-Fi than a person can possibly game in a lifetime. I have seen a small spike with X-Wing Miniatures in spaceship gaming. Star Wars skirmishes in 25/28mm seem rather sleepy right now. While I read a lot here about 15mm Sci-Fi, I see almost nothing at conventions, stores or even local man-cave games.

Regional?

religon I do not think it is regional otherwise how could so many small manufactures be producing figures. I think like most war gamers I know we all collect a wide range of eras and genres as well as scale/sizes. 15mm Sci-Fi is clearly riding a high wave at the moment. But as to your observations about not seeing games I do not have a good answer for you. I know the next convention I am able to attend (which sadly will be a while due to my schedule) I will be running a Tomorrow's War game using 15mm figures and it is going to be a pretty big game.

Maybe with so many rules for the genre that seem on the rise you will see a change.

Because fantasy has always sucked and SF hasn't, but it has taken this long for the masses to figure it out?

But honestly it is cyclic,I have nearly 40 years of SF rules and wargames so I have noticed no real change in the amount of rules being produced, but there has been a up swing in the number of SF figures and models, mostly in 15mm. (while there are a lot of 40k and 40k-inspired models out there they are pretty much variation of that old theme)

The biggest change recently is the proliferation of access to Rules and Figures via the WWW, which has allowed a lot of tiny niche products get wider availability/access to market. Added to that the Web has allowed like minded individuals to share information without Geographical Limitations.

And Lastly, SF is oddly diverse in what people are interested in, i.e. it is a Niche of Niches, while with fantasy and historic are much broader in that their subject matter is limited by their period/trope thus easier to make a figure for than SF.

For me it was the discovery of the brilliant rules Ambush Alley and later it's bigger brothers: Force on Force and Tomorrows War. Playing the Iraq and Afghanistan scenarios at conventions was great but when I wanted to build my own forces I realized these would be more flexible as Sci-Fi scenarios. When these scenarios are played as Modern there is a very defined sense of good and evil for the players. When these scenarios are disguised as Sci-Fi scenarios there is a new vibrancy injected into them. You can be the 'insurgent' and identify with your side as a player in Sci-Fi. I had absolutely no interest in Sci-Fi and Modern until I played Ambush Alley. It has become my major wargame project for 2 years now.

Quality and customer service unparelleled in the gaming 'verse.

Look at the latest 15mm sculps, they make the "heroic" look like the plastic comic book toys of youngsters.

Check out the winners of the polls on here.

I was wandering in Newcastle on Tyne this week and saw an X-Wing fighter in our 'Travelling man'store, while looking for something else.
I now have lots of little space fighters arriving in the post – and hopefully the rules pack!

Sigh! – another period!!

It's all glorious…. I've managed to limit myself just to spacecraft, 6mm and 28mm sci-fi, but I will admit to having a slight 'wobble' after seing some of the 15mm stuff last year….

Must resist….

infojunky and agrippavips you both have excellent points.

"…SF is oddly diverse in what people are interested in, i.e. it is a Niche of Niches, while with fantasy and historic are much broader in that their subject matter is limited by their period/trope thus easier to make a figure for than SF."

I read this and realized you had struck the nail on the head as it were. And then agrippavips follows nicely on that note with…"When these scenarios are disguised as Sci-Fi scenarios there is a new vibrancy injected into them. You can be the 'insurgent' and identify with your side as a player in Sci-Fi."

Yep, I have to agree. I have been play testing a scenario for Tomorrow's War with Nazrat that has an insurgent force of former "retired" corporate mercenaries and local militia fighting against the mostly automated, i.e. robotic forces of the "Corporation" that owns and controls the colony. You can of course, read just about anything into this. But it allows me to have a fun combination of high tech vs. mid and low tech. The robotic forces while hard to take out and have high confidence and morale are tactically less flexible than the insurgents.

It's Star Trek The Original Series all over again! 8)=

"Why the Sci-Fi gaming explosion?"

Why ask "why?" Enjoy it!

Leland R. Erickson
Metal Express
metal-express.net

For me I grew tired of hyper detailed debates over classified information related to modern armor penetration and performance. I'm all for modeling broad, relative capabilities and it seems that WWII and modern games often get stuck on technical details.

So, we moved our games to the near future+ so we still get MGs, tanks, etc. and nobody can say "such and such an ATGM could ever penetrate THAT AFV!". And we get to lots of interesting models as well as old hardware from the Cold War.

SF gamers just seem more Chillaxed compared to WWII/Modern gamers.

I don't know, but some of us have been gaming 15mm SF since the 70's. All I can say is…It's about time!

The "explosion" seems to be more about "Today's Wars, just with different looking gear" than Sci Fi per se IMO

But some of the vehicles are very nice, and reasonably priced (real pity Old Crow have gone offline)

I do get a bit grumpy about troop prices though – why does a bloke with space-helmet and laser rfle cost 2x more than a bloke with helmet and rifle

I've just been more into the sci-fi than fantasy, with historicals in 2nd place. And back when Star Wars first came out there was very little in the way of sci-fi back then. Now there is enough out there to play nearly anything from Alien to Zone of the Enders style games. (got to have my anime fix in there some where)

@whitemanticore,

Perhaps we disagree about what constitutes an explosion. I have long been a Sci-Fi gamer. I think to this point we have had a lot of excellent rules.

I do not think it is regional otherwise how could so many small manufactures be producing figures.

I question whether Sci-Fi has exploded. It has long had a healthy manufacturing base. Considering the size of my personal collection, I don't question the manufacturing breadth, capacity or commitment. Sci-Fi gaming is very healthy.

But as to your observations about not seeing games I do not have a good answer for you.

I did not ask about my observations. I know what I observe. My question was, "Could the different conclusions about whether a Sci-Fi gaming explosion exists be differing regional popularity of Sci-Fi gaming?"

This TMP thread for 'SF Discussion' may just be preaching to the choir. I would think that going to old PEL's of game conventions and trying to discern whether the proportion of Sci-Fi games to other types has increased or declined might suggest an answer to as to whether a Sci-Fi explosion exists.

Rulesets that have lists for armies for other systems rather than just their own stuff have helped. FWC allows people to use their GW Space Marines against Dark Realm Pax Arcadians.

Sure, this was possible before but now the work to translate effects and stats has been done so it's much easier to port armies.