Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Future Wars => Topic started by: Rick on June 01, 2025, 07:40:19 PM
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Just seen these new rules from Osprey, not sure when they came out but they look interesting and slightly familiar. From the blurb it almost seems like a hexless re-imagining of the Silent Death game with the same different dice mechanic - could be quite good and might well pick up a copy.
Has anyone got this already? Thoughts, a review perhaps? A bit more info than is just on the Osprey site?
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I've not read or seen much about it, but as a big fan of Silent Death back in the day, you've got me curious.
Do we know any more than what is posted on the Osprey page for the book?
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I've not read or seen much about it, but as a big fan of Silent Death back in the day, you've got me curious.
Do we know any more than what is posted on the Osprey page for the book?
I'm a big Silent Death fan as well and in a similar position to you. I haven't seen any reviews or additional information anywhere else, except to note that the author also wrote the 'Space Weirdos' rules, which seem to be quite good, so maybe a positive thing.
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For anyone looking for Silent Death ships, I recall there was a third party that sold a box of them, but I can't remember what they were called for the life of me. They weren't labelled "Silent Death" at all. It's like a third party had the molds or something and they had a generic name. I wish I could find them again...
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eM4 have them. £5.99 per dozen or £22.50 for 60.
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Aha. I did a search for 'Void Fighter' rather than Voidfighter and Wargamer.com has more information - and it's a bit as I thought but also a little bit surprising at the same time.
A little while after 'Silent Death: the Next Millenium' came out an article appeared, possibly in Dragon magazine (or another games mag), entitled "What's the use of Snub Fighters" which was a selection of Star Wars fighters converted to the Silent Death game and a very brief set of the Silent Death rules. Casey Garske has taken these basic rules and created a set of not Star Wars-ish space fighter rules (absolutely not, in no shape or form, a way to use X-wing ships, nuh-uh, honest guv!), stripping out the hex board but (possibly) keeping in an idea of the manouevres from X-wing. It's got a fairly generic background and seems simple enough (it uses some of the Space Weirdos mechanics as well) to use a dozen or so fighters on each side so should appeal to both Silent Death players and ex X-wing players alike.
And it's on pre-order, not due out until August 28th - I may have jumped the gun a wee bit! lol
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Also - why not use Star Wars Armada fighters on individual bases rather than the larger fighters? I previously bought some individual Armada fighters and have based some of them on individual bases, planning on doing a simple squadron game at some point - now, as luck and Casey Garske would have it, I don't have to make up my own rules, whew! lol
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eM4 have them. £5.99 per dozen or £22.50 for 60.
Those are definitely the Silent Death ship. Awesome.
I’m not sure if it’s the box I was thinking of, but no problem. These are indeed the ships I’d use for VoidFighters.
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Those are definitely the Silent Death ship. Awesome.
I’m not sure if it’s the box I was thinking of, but no problem. These are indeed the ships I’d use for VoidFighters.
I think there was an earlier thread on here about these ships (which are repackaged but essentially the same as the ones in the Silent Death box) and some others which were bigger and coloured softer plastic, released in the US.
They are very popular (someone suggested them for another of Osprey's rules a while ago, prompting a mad rush to buy them!) and EM4 tend to run out of stock from time to time, however they do re-stock in a few months if you're patient.
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Most interesting development indeed... and just to bring everyone up to date, (1) after 50 years of operation RAFM Miniatures closed down, leaving Metal Express without a metal caster for our metal Silent Death ships. (2) The plastic ships sold by Em4 are indeed the original 2nd ed. Core Ships for Silent Death. (3) We've been exploring 3D printing as a viable alternative, however that is taking time given our frustratingly small budget made even smaller by the loss of our contract caster.
The books are still available as PDFs via our online store.
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Most interesting development indeed... and just to bring everyone up to date, (1) after 50 years of operation RAFM Miniatures closed down, leaving Metal Express without a metal caster for our metal Silent Death ships. (2) The plastic ships sold by Em4 are indeed the original 2nd ed. Core Ships for Silent Death. (3) We've been exploring 3D printing as a viable alternative, however that is taking time given our frustratingly small budget made even smaller by the loss of our contract caster.
The books are still available as PDFs via our online store.
That is a blow, I hadn't realised that RAFM had still produced your mini's. Given what's been happening 3d printing does seem like it's the way forward, for many companies, although it's a huge investment in time and money given the size of your back catalogue.
As to these rules; it's certainly an interesting idea, given the provenance, and we'll have to see if they can be as broadly generic as possible or if they are geared more towards just the not-X wing ships.
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A bit of a tangent, but 3D scanning has come a huge way and is now a serious, financially viable option, even for hobbyists. So perhaps scanning the back catalogue (plus the inevitable minor 3D cleanup) would be a huge time (and effort) saver?
Just a thought.
Also; I'm very interested int he rules too :)
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I spotted the tittle as upcoming a while back and was struck but the absolute lack of promotion on any front at all.
A bit of a tangent, but 3D scanning has come a huge way and is now a serious, financially viable option, even for hobbyists. So perhaps scanning the back catalogue (plus the inevitable minor 3D cleanup) would be a huge time (and effort) saver?
To give a bit of push back here, the scans have gotten way better, but making a scan isn't quick, and the cleanup needed is a couple of steps beyond minor, especially on "hard surface" designs like vehicles, and small scale stuff especially. Minor irregularities of say 0.25mm height, bit like a orange fruit skin, are frequent. On say a 28mm figure or creature that can easily blend in with cloth, flesh and hair. but in a 1/300 sleek space fighter, its going to stand out as a blemish on what should be smooth and mechanically perfect plating. cleaning it up and keeping good symmetry etc can be a tedious job, and quite its own skillset similar to different from 3d sculpting itself as well.
That said, those 3d scans do make great reference for a digital re-sculpt, starting from scratch with a fully 3d reference to go from can be much faster than trying to perfectly clean the scan itself. Grain of salt, I personally mainly work in software that delivers "meshes" at the end, but doesn't really work well with them in the actual process, so I have a ingrained distaste for meshes like the ones scanners produce, other opinions may be available.
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Yes, so far very little advance promotion to be seen, but it isn't out until the 26th of August (I think) and Osprey don't over-promote a lot of their books so we'll have to see.
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Hi, BWP! *waves furiously*
Small FYI, after the injection moulds left ICE, I think they went to an Italian manufacturer. XXX Century? At least I see boxes for sale, now and then.
With the unlicensed use of the IP out of Asia, all murky...
....A little while after 'Silent Death: the Next Millenium' came out an article appeared, possibly in Dragon magazine (or another games mag), entitled "What's the use of Snub Fighters" which was a selection of Star Wars fighters converted to the Silent Death game and a very brief set of the Silent Death rules.
There was a magazine, Star Wars Informer(?), that one occasionally sees up for sale, and I have seen PDF's of the article from time to time.
/rambling mode off/
Doug
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It looks like in the US Void Fighter was pushed back in the release schedule and Pacific Command was moved up.
No idea why or if this is a worldwide thing or not. I hope it does not get Operation: Flashpoint'ed!
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The Osprey website still has it as August 28th, most outlets have it as that date. Where is the information that it's been pushed back from?
I don't think it's going to be operation flashpointed - for one thing, the author got Space Weirdo's published ok so that's points in his favour!
According to the release schedule from this January, Pacific Command was always due out the month before Voidfighter, although this was originally May and June so they are already overdue! From what I can see on the Osprey website, Pacific Command has already been released and selling since May.
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It looks like in the US Void Fighter was pushed back in the release schedule and Pacific Command was moved up.
No idea why or if this is a worldwide thing or not. I hope it does not get Operation: Flashpoint'ed!
There was a rumour floating around that Voidfighter was pushed back because someone was bringing out a space fighter computer game (Galactic Intrusion?) at the same time. Whether that's true or not, I've no idea - Osprey can be a bit opaque at times!
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The Osprey website still has it as August 28th, most outlets have it as that date. Where is the information that it's been pushed back from?
I don't think it's going to be operation flashpointed - for one thing, the author got Space Weirdo's published ok so that's points in his favour!
According to the release schedule from this January, Pacific Command was always due out the month before Voidfighter, although this was originally May and June so they are already overdue! From what I can see on the Osprey website, Pacific Command has already been released and selling since May.
Not pushed back from the August date, pushed back from an earlier date. It wss supposed to come out before Pacific Command when I saw them first announced the end of 2024.
I am just glad it is coming out.
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Not pushed back from the August date, pushed back from an earlier date. It wss supposed to come out before Pacific Command when I saw them first announced the end of 2024.
I am just glad it is coming out.
You really should've led with that! It would have saved me a lot of time scratching round for little snippets of information!
Osprey being Osprey, we probably won't know anything about it until after its release, but I'm also kinda looking forward to this one as well. Could be quite good.
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So I pre-ordered the Voidfighter book a couple of months ago and I've just had a notification that my order has been despatched, so (hopefully) I should get it in the next few days.
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The only information I saw in the Hobby press said, 'August' for both Void Fighter & Pacific Command.
Saturday I was at Brit-Con & saw PC on a stall. I asked about VF & the nice man said that he had been told 'next week'.
Hope to get a copy at Colours.
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The date I'd found previously was the 28th August, but I preordered mine through Zatu games and they reckon I'll have it this tuesday, around lunchtime! lol
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I saw the 26th of August a few places. However, I am waiting to try and get it at retail. I am quirky that way.
I will say, I have seen more "Social Media" advertising for it than I have seen for other Osprey Games rules.
Edit: GMG has there copy.....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clEAGD_wKXA (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clEAGD_wKXA)
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Well I think this set of rules would likely come up as 'eagerly anticipated' - ex X-wing players are hoping for something to use their collection with, Silent Death and other game players are looking for a simple set that will bring players of the different games together and people who hadn't thought of playing are looking at this and thinking about getting a dozen models or so.
I hope I didn't miss anyone! But you get the idea - I think this set has generated a bit of a buzz around and about, I wouldn't be surprised if this sold very well indeed.
As to this video, it's a common way of presenting such things but it's a terrible format - pages of text you can't read and a narrator who sounds like he picked the book up for the first time less than 5 minutes ago and is stumbling through it, reading out the irrelevant and ignoring the relevant. Ugh - I got less than a quarter of the way through and I think I'll just wait until my copy arrives. It's pretty much what we thought might be the case - the rules are a 'Silent Death lite' with some mechanics from 'Space Weirdo's' - 3 main ship types, a load of special rules, and it's likely to be the flavour and variations of these special rules/traits that will make or break this game.
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I preordered on Kindle. Delivery date is 8/28
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I got my copy just before lunch and it does look quite good at first glance - the basic rules are clean and fairly simple with few surprises, although the 'unopposed roll' appears a little clunky; it could have been made a little bit simpler. A good list of upgrades and traits for the 3 ship classes gives quite a broad range of ship types for your squadron. Players familiar with X-wing will find a lot to like in this game; plenty of manouvres and actions that are a little reminiscent of X-wing and enough variation to keep their models gainfully employed on the table. Players who are familiar with 'Silent Death' will find some of the gunnery and defence opposed roll mechanics simplified but familiar, although the lack of different ship types compared to SD will feel a bit restrictive.
All in all it's a good, solid set of rules that I do like a lot - I can see myself playing this as a default set without losing interest, after all, if you do lose interest in your ships, just redesign 'em and field them again.
However, I do find myself hoping that Casey Garske is looking towards a 2nd edition with more variation in ship types and traits; personally I think it would add a lot more depth and flavour to this game and establish it as the spacefighter game, rather than SD or X-wing lite.
Anyway, get a copy and enjoy playing this game.
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Just noticed that EM4 miniatures have a sale on their plastic spaceships - 60 fighters (12 designs) for £22.50.
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Even more interested now :)
And I'd vote for an expansion rather than a new edition to introduce new ship types. You know; as with Frostgrave, just to cut down on the tedious edition thing...
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Even more interested now :)
And I'd vote for an expansion rather than a new edition to introduce new ship types. You know; as with Frostgrave, just to cut down on the tedious edition thing...
Do be interested, it's a good, solid set of rules - the only minor quibble I have is the 'unopposed roll' which is exactly the same as the 'opposed roll' except you get anyone else to roll the dice instead of the opposing player. I get that the author thought it was a good idea at the time but having a set target number to beat would be simpler in the case of space junk like asteroids where you have 2d10 of them on the table. The more exotic terrain (where there are fewer of them) could benefit from the randomness of the throw so there's a case for keeping it for them. Apart from that, there are a couple of places where the rules could've benefitted from a little more info (how many gravitic anomalies?) but overall, virtually no typo's (Osprey proofreaders earning their corn again!) and a set of rules that I really think I'm going to enjoy playing with (which is great after the disappointment of 'A Billion Suns').
I've already started rebasing my ships (not strictly necessary as the rules cater for square, hexagonal or round basing) on sturdier, square bases and I'm dusting off my Night Brood hatchling fighters to use as bioships. Also digging out my asteroid stands (I think I may have overbought some years ago - I appear to have 50 bases of asteroids, I feel a very special scenario in the works!)
So, I'm enthusiastic about these rules - Silent Death certainly has more crunch but there's quite a lot of book-keeping involved which is largely absent from these rules - a much simpler but just as fun set that should get you playing with more ships and less time needed to finish a game.
👍
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My main concern in what to use for gunshots and corvettes. I have a couple of X-Wing ships which may do, but for something more generic, I am at a bit of a loss, except scratchhbuiling.
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what ship types are there?
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3 categories, in increasing size, are any fighters, gunships, and corvettes
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so you couldn't differentiate between an X-wing and a TIE? No bombers or anything like that?
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so you couldn't differentiate between an X-wing and a TIE? No bombers or anything like that?
That's the part where 'upgrades' come in - most ships can have 2-3 and these add flavour and detail to the ships, anything from agile, fast, targeting computer, torpedoes, and several others - some can be taken by any ship, some only by fighters and gunboats, some by corvettes. There are also some leader traits and fleet traits - the former can have an impact on the pilots whilst the latter is more of a doctrine for your whole flight or squadron.
As to X-wing ships, these are going to be of a slightly larger scale than many other fighter miniatures so you may need to look at compressing the scale somewhat; a VT-49 might be an Imperial corvette, Alpha class Starwings would be gunboats (even though they're not much bigger than many other models). Rebels have the Ghost, Falcon and the Outrider, which could be used as Corvettes whilst the HWK, Wookiee gunship, K-wing, ARC-170, U-Wing could be used as gunships. Even the B-wing could be classed as a light, agile (for a gunship) gunship, given its firepower.
Just take a step back, squint a little and think outside the box for a bit, unless you're going to tell me you don't have any of those models at all! lol
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I've X-, Y-, A- & B-wings, TIE fighters, advanceds, bombers & interceptors, a YT freighter, a Rebel Transport, a star courier and a blockade runner. plus snowspeeders, ATATs, ATSTs and imperial troop transporters for ground actions.
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I've X-, Y-, A- & B-wings, TIE fighters, advanceds, bombers & interceptors, a YT freighter, a Rebel Transport, a star courier and a blockade runner. plus snowspeeders, ATATs, ATSTs and imperial troop transporters for ground actions.
There are a couple of ground-attack scenarios in the book where your ground forces can be used very effectively but these would be scenario-driven models, not in general use for your squadron.
Your squadron is built up with your ships, snubfighters costing up to 14 pts, gunboats up to 20 and corvettes 30 (without pilots - pilots cost extra); up to 50% of your points must be used for snubfighters, the rest being used for more fighters or gunboats and corvettes. Each ship size has a base size associated with it but there is no reason why you shouldn't use the small, medium or large bases from x-wing - just sort out with your opponent how you both want things to work in your game.
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I plan on trying this with my old Aeronautica Imperialis forces and other assorted bric-a-brac.
I went to my FLGS to get them to order me a copy now that it is officially out.
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I plan on trying this with my old Aeronautica Imperialis forces and other assorted bric-a-brac.
I went to my FLGS to get them to order me a copy now that it is officially out.
Ah, that's what you meant by 'retail' - you meant 'bricks-and-mortar' retail! lol
Aeronautica Imperialis could be a good option, not sure what bases they come with, though. You'll need between 4 and 15 or 16 ships for a squadron, points values vary between 75 and 150 points a side, and you will be making compromises on points for your ships and squadron along the way. And, of course, there is the age-old quandary of quantity or quality, do you take a horde of cheap attrition fighters or a smaller number of space-superiority fighters? It'll be interesting to see what happens when we've all been playing for a while - usually this question comes up in the fairly decent rules and I've a feeling it'll come up with these as well.
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All part of my efforts to get more Osprey Games into people's faces at the FLGS.
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My main concern in what to use for gunshots and corvettes. I have a couple of X-Wing ships which may do, but for something more generic, I am at a bit of a loss, except scratchhbuiling.
Apologies, I wasn't clear. I have enough models for Star Wars, although not too many larger ones: Lambda, Landed Class and a B wing and Falcon. But if I want to use the Silent Death ships I've painted for something more generic and less Star Wars, what are my options for gunshots and corvettes short of using the highly recognisable ships mentioned above. Where can we find some generic larger vessels to match my generic fighters? Any suggestions?
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Apologies, I wasn't clear. I have enough models for Star Wars, although not too many larger ones: Lambda, Landed Class and a B wing and Falcon. But if I want to use the Silent Death ships I've painted for something more generic and less Star Wars, what are my options for gunshots and corvettes short of using the highly recognisable ships mentioned above. Where can we find some generic larger vessels to match my generic fighters? Any suggestions?
Ah got it now!
Well I'm using some of the 'Red Alert' ships as Corvettes and Gunboats but nicely sized starship models from manufacturers such as GZG, Kallistra or Brigade miniatures would do as well, you could also look for some 3d printed starships online or stl files if you know a printer. Toy ships could work but it's all a matter of what size ship you want (maybe a bit bigger than a fighter or twice the size) that looks right for you.
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The thing is, Commander Roj, you don't need Corvettes or Gunships in the game - it works very well with just snubfighters. Given what I've mentioned about the size of the squadron and the way they're worked out, it should be obvious that, at most, you'll only need about 3, maybe 4 (if they're cheap) gunships, less if 1 or 2 are corvettes. I'm a sucker for punishment so I'm going to convert a couple of different ones for my Red Star squadrons, a couple more to use with a potential squadron
and then I'm likely to have to model and cast a gunship and corvette for the Night Brood bioship squadron (only because I couldn't find any good ones hunting around).
Actually, I'm an idiot; I should, of course, have mentioned the range of Silent Death ships available from the silent-death.mx website (good if you're in the US) and sometimes available on Ebay. The gunships and small escorts are a good size and fit in well with the plastic ships (they should, they're designed to, after all) - I just found a couple of the larger ships which will save me the bother of making gunships for the Night Brood squadron.
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All part of my efforts to get more Osprey Games into people's faces at the FLGS.
As a co-owner of such, I appreciate the effort, though our experience trying to carry Osprey has on occasion been... challenging.
However, reminds me to call our office manager in the morning to order a couple.
Doug
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Sad that FLGS have problems getting these: Amazon.ca delivers them in 2 days.
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Yep, still waiting on my copy from the FLGS, but as mentioned above that dealing with Osprey is very challeng8ng to deal with.
Grimm
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Ah got it now!
Well I'm using some of the 'Red Alert' ships as Corvettes and Gunboats but nicely sized starship models from manufacturers such as GZG, Kallistra or Brigade miniatures would do as well, you could also look for some 3d printed starships online or stl files if you know a printer. Toy ships could work but it's all a matter of what size ship you want (maybe a bit bigger than a fighter or twice the size) that looks right for you.
I'm in the UK but I'll have a look for the larger ships. I have the Red Alert ships too but I don't use for Red Alert, love the game though I do (I prefer other models), so I could use some for converzions. Good suggestion.
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What ships are people using that are easily accessible?
I’m thinking of Battlestar Galactica kind of ships?
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What ships are people using that are easily accessible?
I’m thinking of Battlestar Galactica kind of ships?
I have a lot of the Silent Death fighters (including a nice selection of night brood), I've mentioned some bigger ships I've got for Gunships and Corvettes. It's all about looking at the size of the model in relation to the size of fighter, size of the bases and the size of table - the size of table suggested is 4'x3' (although I'm using a 4'x4') so you don't want models that'll be too big on there.
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Like you say, I'm guessing ship sizes are relative.
Would I be right in saying all distances are measured from the stem of the stand and NOT from the actual model?
Given the distances in space, most rules say the model actually only accommodates the head of the stand and the model itself is a scale enlargement to show which vessel it is.
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Measurements are actually done from the base, which is why having a consistent base size/shape between players can be important. If I was to use my X-wing ships against somebody else's X-wing ships, it'd be alright as both our base sizes would be consistent (I hope!) Alternatively, if someone used the suggested base sizes from the book, I couldn't use the X-wing ships as the bases are a bit bigger - I'd have to use my SD ships which ARE on the suggested size of stand.
If you have a regular opponent or club, this is probably something to discuss with them.
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Oh.
That's a bit silly.
They'd have saved themselves a whole host of problems with model size and base sizes if they'd have said that measurements are taken from the stem.
Nothing that can't be house-ruled and sorted out.
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In the very nice WRG game, 'Sea-Strike' the ships vary in length, but all have a dot on them (the bridge?)
& measurements are taken from dot to dot.
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Sorry to gatecrash this thread a bit but the old Aerotech fighters and dropships may be worth a look for alternative models, bit more pricey but some of the designs are nice :D, others not so much ;).
https://www.ralparthaeurope.co.uk/shop/battletech-c-1/miniatures-c-1_3/aerotech-c-1_3_12/?sort=20a&page=1 (https://www.ralparthaeurope.co.uk/shop/battletech-c-1/miniatures-c-1_3/aerotech-c-1_3_12/?sort=20a&page=1)
https://www.ralparthaeurope.co.uk/shop/battletech-c-1/miniatures-c-1_3/aircraft-c-1_3_8/ (https://www.ralparthaeurope.co.uk/shop/battletech-c-1/miniatures-c-1_3/aircraft-c-1_3_8/)
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Dice Roller, Has_been; if your ships and bases are consistent then it works, otherwise, arguing over where, exactly the stand is from above, is a conversation I don't want to have (assuming your ships don't have more than one stand supporting them) - buy the book then house rule it, everyone seems to be reading mine at the moment! lol
Stormwolf - those are nice models, a slightly larger scale than the Silent Death ships, but a smaller scale than the X-wing ships, I'm a big fan of the Battletech mini ranges.
Of course there is one range out there that would be lovely, but much more difficult to get hold of now (not sure what stock Agent 1 might have left). That is the 'Babylon 5 Wars' range of fighters at a similar size to the Silent Death ships - they are lovely figures, paint up well (oh yes, I have a few!) and look ever so nice en masse. I mention them because, before I got a copy of Silent Death, I had a copy of the snubfighter rules (same ones Casey Garske used for Voidfighter) and was using them for nice little skirmishes.
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Yep, still waiting on my copy from the FLGS, but as mentioned above that dealing with Osprey is very challeng8ng to deal with.
Grimm
It was published on the 28th.
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It was published on the 28th.
Yes, I pre-ordered mine and it arrived on the 26th, even allowing for the bank holiday. Easy E is ordering though his local shop (who seem more accomodating than mine - "Osprey wargames? Not heard of that one, tried the bookshops?" lol) so will get his a little later. It's a good game though - I encourage everyone to buy a copy so Casey Garske publishes more material for it! lol
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Sad that FLGS have problems getting these: Amazon.ca delivers them in 2 days.
Often, one issue is finding which distributor handles which product. We've had plenty of Osprey, though there's times when we can't find what we need anywhere. Other times, some titles aren't the match to our particular clientele.
The advantage of scale, such as Amazon, B&N, others, includes both a large staff to navigate same as well as publishers make sure they are found.
Our store's over twenty years old, and we constantly find things we've not done the best way possible.
Doug
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I've been eyeing up Brigade Models' Squadron Commander range with a view to using them as gunships or corvettes. They are a similar-ish aesthetic to the Silent Death plastics I already have.
https://brigademodels.co.uk/product-category/squadron-commander/ (https://brigademodels.co.uk/product-category/squadron-commander/)
Rulebook due Wednesday
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Yeah, I saw the Brigade models figures as well, lovely models and a little larger than the SD miniatures - some of them will make good gunships.
I've just been rebasing my Babylon 5 fighters on 30mm bases and trying to make some bigger asteroids out of polystyrene balls - I may actually have something to play with soon! lol
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Just got my copy of the game.
Therefore, review inbound once I can fit it into the schedule for the blog.
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It's going to be interesting to see what conclusions you come to and whether we have a broadly similar opinion of the rules.