"I'm Designing a 15mm scifi skirmish game" Topic

Hello everyone!

I'm working on set of fast play skirmish rules for a scifi setting that I'm developing.

I chose 15mm as a scale because it is affordable, and does not take much space to play.

There are 3 factions so far that I would like to represent. I'm having trouble finding models for some of them.

The three factions are

Fortisians: think space dwarves. I want these guys to be very tech savvy and heavy weapons oriented.

Erbans: Think desert nomad psychics, tuskan raiders meets thri-kreen meets Saracens. Stealthy, psychically inclined, light armor, fast.

Infested: The remnants of human kind after coming into contact with mutagenic spores. Think tyranids+necromorphs. Melee oriented, some psychics, minor shooting.

The basic story is that Humans sent out wave after wave of mining and research ships about 20,000 years ago. Some of the ships were lost, and never returned. Other ships were able to land on small planets, rich in ore. These people would eventually lose contact with earth, and evolve into the Fortisians.
Basically, the infestation wiped out earth, and has since wiped out the Fortisian planets. The Fortisians fled to the farthest reaches of the galaxy and landed on a planet previously unknown to them, inhabited by the Erbans. The Erbans were pretty friendly with the Fortisians until the infestation came to their planet too. Now, they blame the Fortisians, and want them off their planet.
The Fortisians came to colonize, but now they face a double threat.

That is the basic story. There are some characters thrown in for flavor, but I'm sure you guys get the jest of it.

This is going to be a skirmish game, I'm not sure if I should add a points system or not, but Ideally the table should look something like this: Fortisians 3-7 models, Erbans 2-5 models, and Infested 5-15 models.

The basic mechanics are pretty easy to follow.
every model has a stat card that has all of the info you need to know about it.
a stat card may look something like this:

Fortisian Soldier
AP1 RP1 PP0

Spd:3
Thr:2
Mis:3
Mel:3
Arm:8
HP:2
Special: Stocky- Fortisians are relatively small, anybody shooting at a fortisian soldier beyond half range recieve a -1 penalty to hit.

Eqp: Ulfberht Assault rifle, Saex dagger

Ulfberht Assault Rifle
Range:6-16
Str:3
Attacks:2
Special: may reroll one missed shot per turn

Saex Dagger
Range: melee
Str:2
Attacks:2
Special:none

Okay so that was probably a lot!
Let me break it down for you

AP: activation points, every unit in the game generates a certain number of activation points per turn. At the beginning of your turn, you put these activation points into a pool, then activate your models one at a time, spending these points as you go.

RP: Reaction points, these are very similar to activation points. Whenever an opponent declares an action, before they complete that action, you may declare a reaction, and spend a reaction point. The difference is, in order to react, you have to test to react. Roll a d6, on a 4+, you may react.

Reactions take place at the same time as actions.

Example: your opponent declares he is going to shoot at your soldier, you declare you are going to react and jump behind cover. Your opponents first shot will count as him shooting you in the open, then the second will count as him shooting you while you are behind cover.
If there is ever a disagreement, err on the side of the actor, not the reactor

PP: Psychic points, these form a pool of points every turn, that stack. Some characters have access to psychic abilities, like manipulation, mirages, storms, seeing the future etc.
Psychic points can also be stored up to try to resist psychic powers.
Each psychic power has a power rating, between 1 and 7. This power rating is how many psychic points the power costs to cast.
Casting psychic powers is a lot like a reaction test, in that you declare, and have to roll to check.

Example, if you want to cast "Mirage", it costs 1AP and 3PP. After you spend that 1 action point, you may add as many psychic points to the power as you want, each point generates a d6, then you roll your d6s, for every 4+ you have successfully generated a PP. once you reach the required amount of PP the ability is cast.

Your opponent may try to cancel your psychic ability however, by spending PP, and requiring 5+'s. They need to roll as many 5+s as you did 4+s
Anytime you are casting psychic powers, and a 1 is rolled, you must roll a die. On a further roll of 1, you lose 1 hp.

(I can try to clear things up a little better so it isn't a big wall of text, really sorry that's what it is turning into)

Spd: This is how many inches a unit can move per move activation.
Thr: Threshold, this is how many times a unit can be activated in a turn.

The next sets of stats are the the mechanical stats of the game. Basically, the way these stats work, subtract the stat from 7, that is the required number to score a hit.
EX: My unit has a missile stat of 3, they are shooting a target in the open within range of them, they need a 4+ (7-3)

Mis: Missile, how well your unit can shoot

Mel: Melee, how well your unit preforms in close combat

Arm: Armor, this is the number your opponent needs to hit to deal damage to you. After a successful hit, look at weapon strength, roll a d6. If d6+weapon strength>=Arm value, unit loses 1 hp

Hp: Hit points, how much damage a model can take before it dies

Spec: any special abilities a model possesses

Eqp: the equipment the model has on it's person.

Models have abstract line of sight, in that if your model's base cannot draw a line to any part of your opponent's base, you cannot see them, and therefore cannot declare actions against them, except suppressive fire.
Additionally, your models have a 180 degree arc to their front, that is all they can see. It requires a move action or reaction to turn around.

This is what I have so far.
I Won't bore you with modifiers.

In the games I have played with this, so far it works.
Psychic powers have some kinks that need to be worked out.

Let me know of some models that could be used for this!
Also let me know what you think of the story and mechanics I have posted here.

Really sorry this turned into a wall of text, if you read through the whole thing, good on you.

Once I get all the kinks worked out, I'll write them out in a smoother format, and distribute them freely to whoever wants them

Anybody who wants to screw around with the rules I have posted may do so. Feel free to invent units and psychic powers etc. and try them out in whatever scale you want etc.
It may be interesting.
I plan to base all of these 15mm guys on American pennies, in case you really want to try these out.
There isn't much here, but enough to try some of the most basic mechanics.

If you come up with something cool, let me know, I may be able to use it ;)

Thanks for reading
Be Gentle
Austin

Fairly certain he means the post; to be fair, it's more understandable than most things I come up with.

However, had to print to paper before I can read coherently.

Doug ΔΝΨΦ

The Game is a d6 game through and through.

I could make the rules a bit more generic, to allow for other factions/settings etc.

Special abilities are attributed based on the specifics of the universe being played in. So Fortisians are very small and hard to shoot at, therefore I have them a rule to show this.
Not all troops get special rules either, it just depends on the race. For example, if you were using the star wars universe, and the character was a wookie, they would get some sort of berserk ability etc.

On the topic of model count on the table, because I want to keep the games small, and the sizes I list represent the factions.
Erbans are a sneaky race who are few and far between, 2-5 models at a time represents this well
Fortisians are a little more organized, and a little more regular, not much special going on, so a few more regular guys on the field makes sense.
Infested always attack in force, large amounts of infested models makes sense with the established lore.

The mechanics I have listed in the above thread represent the type of duck and cover warfare I want to play with relatively well, I however am probably experiencing confirmation bias, and need people to playtest.

As for the screwing around with the rules comment, I have some of the mechanics of the game posted throughout the thread.. enough to invent some units, and test out the shooting mechanics etc.
I don't have enough listed for melee or special weapons etc.

Thanks for the feedback
Austin

The numbers I have are based mostly on abilities and equipment carried.
You COULD build an infested list of 5 models, they would be very powerful. etc. The max I want on the table is 15 models, no more.

The dwarves are very shooty. The infested are going to have a slightly higher HP than the shootier people.

They are relatively mindless, and need to be controlled by infestors, who are psychics who succumbed to the plague.
The way I've offset the Infested was by making enemies reroll successful hits, and give them a move of 7.
They also have some poison stuff, and stealth units etc.

Mental ability is more like a utility than anything else. It will allow for units to be stealthed, It will disable wepons, create forcefields, and take control of enemies. Some powers will deal damage… damage akin to a hand grenade.

I've decided for points values.
add all of the stats together, +1 per special ability, and +1 for each equipment beyond the first.

That warrior I posted earlier would be 25 points.
I think an average game should be 150 points.

Thanks
Austin

So what's the game's thing? What makes it unique? Right now, I'm reading skirmish 40k with action points, give or take a few details.

subtract the stat from 7, that is the required number to score a hit.
EX: My unit has a missile stat of 3, they are shooting a target in the open within range of them, they need a 4+ (7-3)

Why subtract? A stat of three means you hit 3/6 ie half the time, four means you hit 4/6. You could use roll-equal-or-lower and skip one step or to-hit table.

I think reaction and movement are going to be its thing.
In 40k, you have 360 degree line of sight, whereas with this system, you can only see directly in front of you.
This allows you to pull off complex maneuvers, and outflnk your opponent.
A lot of other games don't allow for reaction, nor do they allow flanking, because 360 LOS is the norm.

Snipers, suppressive fire, and stealth are all going to be a relatively big deal, because as long as a unit with the stealth ability is in stealth mode, they cannot be targeted or reacted against etc.

I thought reaction was relatively unique.

As for the dice mechanics, that is a good suggestion. People generally don't like low numbers.

Thanks
Austin

Hi Austin,

here are some ideas for suitable 15mm miniatures you may find useful:

15mm.co.uk
Fortisians => Space Vikings range =>SVP05 Niflung Squad
Erbans => HOF Science Fiction range =YHOF78 Arid World Warriors
Infested => HOT Fantasy range =>HOT21 Fantasy Zomies

For the Infested take a look at the Undead range from Splintered Light Miniatures:
=> 15/18mm Fantasy > Undead > Leaders and Magic Users
= > 15/18mm Fantasy > Undead > Core Units => 3 different packs of Zombie infantry
= > 15/18mm Fantasy > Undead > Special Units > Ghouls
= > 15/18mm Fantasy > Undead > Special Units > Stitch Giant
= > 15mm Post-Apocalyptic > Zombies
= > 15mm Post-Apocalyptic > Crazed Gangers

Also check out RebelMinis website for some alternatives:
Fortisians => 15mm Sci-Fi Armies and Vehicles > Alien Races > Sons of Thunder
Erbans => 15mm Sci-Fi Armies and Vehicles > Sahadeen Army
Infested => 15mm Zombies, Werewolves and Horror

Hope these hints are of some use.

Lupus

Some of those are incredible!

Thanks for posting, great finds!

Thanks
Austin

Maybe it might be helpful if you wrote up a blow-by-blow list of what happens when I activate a unit, pick a target and shoot at it?

That way it'd be a bit clearer to everyone :-)

Weasel, easily done:

We will use the above sodlier as the example.

Let's say you have a pool of 5 activation points, you may only spend 2 on your soldier, because he has a threshold of 2.

Your soldier has line of sight to an infested walker 18" away.

that is just out of range of your Ulberht, you declare a move action.

Your opponent does not choose to react

You remove an activation point from your pool

you may now move anywhere, up to your speed

you move your soldier 4 inches to a piece of cover, where he still has line of sight to the walker

you then declare you are going to shoot

your opponent declares a reaction

he spends a reaction point, but rolls a 3, reaction failed

you remove an action point

you may fire 2 shots, because the Ulfberht has 2 attacks
since the walker is in the open, but not at close range, you get no shooting modifiers

you roll 2 dice to fire

(under the new mechanics, suggested by Lupulus) you need to roll equal to or under a 3 to score a hit

you roll a 3 and a 1

2 hits!

You now roll to try to pierce the armor of the walker.

The walker has an armor of 6

the Ulfberht has a strength of 3, which means on a 3+ you will deal 1hp of damage

you roll a 3 and a 4

you have dealt 2 hp of damage to the walker, he has 1 remaining

normally, your target would be suppressed after a successful hit, and he would have to spend extra activation points to unsuppress his model

However, infested are immune to this rule because they are mindless monsters.

after this, you would then begin activating other units, and continue to do so until you ran out of activation points

Hope that helps

Thanks
Austin

Did the above post help?

Thanks
Austin

I'll have to read over it again after I pick my kid up from the school bus but yes, that's exactly what I meant :)

I'll go ahead and post the shooting modifiers

when shooting, you get a +1 to your MIS score for:
-shooting at your weapons short range
-shooting at a target in the open
-shooting from an elevated position
-shooting at a large target

you will get a -1 to your MIS for:
-shooting at a partially concealed target
-shooting at an elevated target
-shooting at a small target
-shooting at your long range, unless a sniper

and you get a -2 for shooting at a target in cover.

If you are shooting between your short in long range, there is no modifier to your shots

Soft cover adds +1 to armor
Medium cover adds +2
and hard cover is +3

I removed the Fortisian special ability stunty, I just made it a modifier instead.

Thanks
Austin

I'll also post suppression rules:

For each successful hit roll, even if you do not break their armor, they take a suppression token.
For every suppression token, the model costs one extra activation point to activate. If the model costs more than it's threshold to activate, it cannot be activated that turn, but activation points may still be spent to remove suppression tokens.

Thanks
Austin

Hi Austin,

for the Infested take a look here:
TMP link

Thanks for sharing, Austin. I have one main suggestion right off the bat. Collect and organize the rules you have into one place and then share the link here. It would by much easier for people to look through and Im sure you'd be more likely to have someone try them out when they don't have to search through multiple posts in this thread to find rules. Also, you can update them as you change things and not confuse people as to where to get the most recent version.

I also have a question. What sets your rules apart? For example, why would I play your rules instead of say Infinity, Deadzone, 5150, or Mutants and Ray Guns? These games seem to cover the same ground as what you're describing, and yet are already well developed and have followings. To be absolutely clear I'm not trying to discourage, I'm simply trying to identify what it is about your rules that inspired you to start working on them. If you can make this clearer to people I'm positive you'll have a better chance of success getting attention to your project.

I'll be writing them and posting them soon

Thanks
Austin

check out FUBAR rules. one pager. simple and fast.

Not to be negative about your endeavor, but there are so many rules out now, why not look into those and see what works for you? Just about every one of them has a thread here on TMP. FUBAR, Fast and Dirty, 5 Parsecs, GRUNTZ, Strike Legion Platoon Leader, and so on and so forth…
-Edgar