Looking For 28mm sci-fi skirmish rules

[Dalcor]

I am looking for sci-fi/Near future skirmish game, for about 10-20 models. Each model of its own, not units. , with easy to lear ruleset not attached to any background.
I quit infinity due to learning curve and huge complexity. I like Black Ops basics, but dont want to rewrite the system (and hate its armylists and skill parts). Me game preference is Blood Eagle/En Garde type of games.

I am looking for your recommendation. I want to play Ghost Recon Phantoms/Mass Effect/Star Wars style games

Please help, you are my only hope.

[hummus]

If you like Blood eagle there's in the emperors name made by the same guy but free and uses d6s
also if you join the in her madjestys name facebook group he has a firefly version of in her majestys name there.

[psullie]

give 7TV 2nd Ed a go, there is also an unofficial Star Wars version which is very good for small games.
the rules are free to download:
http://www.crooked-dice.co.uk/wp/rules/7tv-2nd-edition/7tv-2nd-edition-downloads/

[hummus]

Try one page kill team
https://onepagerules.wordpress.com/
also free and interesting

[Billchuck]

Check out Five Parsecs From Home. http://www.wargamevault.com/m/product/132176

[Harry von Fleischmann]

To be honest - I've been working with Nordic Weasel Games on "Starport Scum". Very simple rules engine but with a lot of room to create characters/troops/aliens that reflect what you want your figures to be like - ideally standing at the end of the game. I'll scout up some blurb and post.

[Sangennaru]

Have you tried Flying Lead? It uses the Ganesha Games engine of SoBH, but with more rules for firefights. It's brilliant, although not too solid. There are people playing Pulp Alley too!

[Jagannath]

Another vote for 5Parsecs... It's by no means a tornament game but great for this type of thing. Got Nordic Weasels's email about Starport Scum this morning, so looking forward to that. Don't Osprey have something coming out soon too?

[eilif]

I'm very much looking forward to Osprey/Ganesha's upcoming Rogue Stars for exactly this sort of game.

I would also recommend  In the Empror's Name. I realize that it's technically a 40k themed skirmish game, but under the hood it's really a nice basic sci-fi skirmish system with full customizability.  We've used it in other settings such as ALIEN and it works great.  Really fast to learn and play, easy to customize and free.

Also if you go the star wars route and want to have both detailed Heroes and squads of stormtrooper/rebel henchmen types. Check out Blasters and Bulkheads. It's a goalsystem game so you get main characters and even though there are squads of mooks they function as easy to single units with multiple figures.

[Harry von Fleischmann]

This is a gratuitous information release......hope it's not too COMMERCIAL...


"Be any one.
Travel any where.
Die any time.

Starport Scum is the upcoming space adventure game from Nordic Weasel Games.

So what is it all about?

What are the rules like?

The basic rules engine is quite simple, intended to move quickly and with minimum fuss.
Roll a small handful of dice, count off 5's and 6's, with 1 success pinning the target down, 2 successes knocks them Down and 3 or more scatters their remains all over the battle field.

Ranged combat and hand to hand work similar, with cover and armour providing a basic saving throw.

Initiative is an opposed roll, allowing an aggressive player to maintain initiative and move several figures in a row, while in a tightly contested battle, actions may pass back and forth between the players.

All in all, the rules could be squeezed into a single page, with a bit of small print. The goal is to play with virtually no explanation needed.

So how do I tell my guys apart?

Characters will have traits that set them apart.

A trait can be almost anything you can think of, but mechanically they boil down to either giving bonus dice or enabling an action to be taken.

A gruff old space marine sergeant may use his IRON WILL trait to resist alien mind control, while a HACKER trait might permit a roll to break into a secured door.
Meanwhile, an alien with LEVITATION can move up and down buildings without penalty.

This allows you to create characters for a scenario by literally just writing down a few keywords for each notable character.

That sounds a bit too freeform for me?

If you want a more robust system, we give you that as well.
Traits can have Conditions applied from a supplied list (and you can add your own).

Let's say we have a SHARP SHOOTER trait that gives us an extra firing die.
Nice, right? But maybe that doesn't quite feel right.

Lets give it the Static condition. Now, we can only get the bonus die while standing still.
Or we could make it Mobile. Now, we HAVE to move to get the bonus die, maybe suitable for a hit-and-run assassin?

Okay, that's cool but can you get a bit more crazy?

Sure.
Let's start with a trait we invent called HIDE.
When used, it lets the user disappear from view.

A good candidate for Static, but what if we also apply Exclusive (which prevents other traits from being used in the same turn)?
Now it's a demanding stealth power that strains the alien using it and requires them to concentrate.
Or what if we make it Targeted to Droids. Now we have an alien race that is invisible to non-organic lifeforms. Wild.


The idea is that you can simply scribble some notes on paper but if you want to get creative, you have an incredibly robust build-system that is also incredibly simple to use.
Simply pick your traits and apply any conditions you need.


shortly we'll talk about GUNS. Because what good is space adventure if you can't shoot things?"

More to follow....

[SotF]

You can probably utilize the Mutants and Deathray Guns ruleset, probably also using things from the various Song Of games as well to upgrade it.

[fergal]

Have you tried Flying Lead? It uses the Ganesha Games engine of SoBH, but with more rules for firefights. It's brilliant, although not too solid. There are people playing Pulp Alley too!

I really like this game for a skirmish of 10 or so models.  Very quick and easy to play, I love the simplicity.

Also if you go the star wars route and want to have both detailed Heroes and squads of stormtrooper/rebel henchmen types. Check out Blasters and Bulkheads. It's a goalsystem game so you get main characters and even though there are squads of mooks they function as easy to single units with multiple figures.

I'll second this one as well, Blasters and Bulkheads is a GREAT game and I'm going to be using it for some Star Wars gaming, it really, really handles groups of mooks in a very easy way.  This one will give you a great 6 heroes vs 2 big baddies and 4 squads of troopers in an easy and fun game.

You can't go wrong with either.

I'm also not looking for super complicated rules at this point.  I'd like a fast moving game that comes to a resolution in a quick and easy manner based on my decisions rather than building the best/most optimized list.  I think either of these two choices will get you there.

[krieghund]

Starport Scum sounds interesting, any idea on a release date ?

[Seal]

As stated already, Mutants and Deathray Guns and Flying Lead from Ganesha Games, or One Page Kill Team may be worth checking out.

[Genghis]

How about the forthcoming Rogue Stars from Osprey, due Oct 16 I believe.  There's a thread about it here: http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=84272.0

And this explains it a bit:

Rogue Stars is a new system from Andrea - it has elements in common with SoBH, but with significant changes. For starters, it's a d20 system, target number-based, combat is more detailed (22 melee weapons, 31 ranged weapons, 5 grenades), there are rules for environmental conditions (including high and low gravity)... and more, but it's a long road to October 2016, so I should save some things for later.

Creating a squad is fun. Characters are built individually, with all kinds of traits, skills and equipment, and alien races can be built on the fly by combining traits in different ways. The squad as a whole is then given a theme (Pirates, Bounty Hunters etc.) that determines some of the traits and equipment to which it has access, and a tactical discipline (20 in the rules, from Sharpshooters to Gestalt) that gives it an edge when sticking to familiar tactics.

And, yes, Psionic powers and a Force Sword can be combined in the obvious manner.