Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Future Wars => Topic started by: Ajsalium on August 06, 2016, 03:11:18 AM
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With not much to do at work this week, I've spent quite a lot of time thinking about my own sci-fi setting. It's just an amalgamation of the sci-fi settings I like most, so not original at all; it's mostly based on Stargate SG-1, with cylons replacing replicators, and AvP added to the mix.
And a few other alient sentient races. To be honest, those other races were included mostly as an excuse to add more pretty minis to the pile. ;) But at this point I have started to wonder: how many aliens are too many?
Personally, I prefer hard sci-fi to space opera. Even with interstellar FTL travel, I prefer the stories that include only humans, or perhaps just one or two alien species as antagonists. With universes like Star Wars, there are so many alien species that it hurts my suspense of disbelief; I consider those kind of films more fantasy than sci-fi (I still love them, mind you, but not as sci-fi settings). Yet, I liked Stargate very much, probably because they had a rather limited set of races; many were mentioned, or even appeared occasionally, but only these had true importance in the series: goa'uld, replicators, ori, asgards and ancients. Quite constrained for 214 episodes plus two films. lol
But what do you all like? Which type of settings do you prefer? Those in which humans are the only sentient race, one of a very few advanced species, or just one amongst dozens or hundreds of them?
I'm talking about novels, comics, films, games... whatever. Bonus points if you not only tell us what you like, but what you think works best in a game (from rpgs to boardgames and wargames).
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All of my sci-fi settings tend to be based around the interraction between different races (human and alien) with a background of a 'big evil' versus either a single race or a mix of races that gather together to face it.
I like having my sci-fi with a base of 'possibility' but occasionally, I cross over to the fantasy realm of magic and myth in order to add some chaos in the programmed environment.
Obviously, I tend to have a lot of dwarf/squat based races floating about and there is always a grudging suspicion about the human races but there is also heroism and love and a bit of 'hippyness' in there... but there is also a wide range of aliens that are there to either be helped, fought against or teamed up with.
It's a great big universe so why not mix it up a bit :D ?
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I suppose it sorta depends on what level of hardness* the setting is aiming for. The harder it gets, the more I would want to have less-is-more. This applies to most things fantastical incidentally, not just the number of sophonts around. While I tend to prefer harder end of the spectrum (not necessarily rock solid but at least kinda firm) myself it doesn't mean that a work playing it fast and loose can't be done well -- Farscape with its plethora of wonders is IMCO a good example of a great work despite having all things squishy.
Since it's rare to find a miniature game background setting that even attempts to do more than present you with some token motivation for different factions shooting at each other a lot I find it rarely matters how many or how few sophonts or godtech there are in the grinder -- the setting doesn't make much sense anyhow. The term "fluff" is most often quite appropriate.
On the subject of wanting to have a bunch of different pretty minis on board while paying a lip service at least to hardness, there is the "posthuman universe" option. Seeing as something like 90+%^ of miniatures available at least in the-so-called 28mm scale (which for one isn't a scale really and for another encompasses pretty much anything from 28 to 35mm these days, depending on how you want to measure and who's using the term) are humanoid and thus could more reasonably in my view be though of as geneered or phenotyped human glades than as xenos. Beyond the Gates of Antares is one of the few games that's on the right tack in this sense as all the humanoid species in the setting so far are in fact derived of human stock.
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*) one possible classification, expanding on the better known 'Mohs scale': http://freehauleralcione.com/2015/12/07/scale-of-science-fiction-hardness/
^) the percentage has been derived using the Stetson-Harrison method
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For me, I base mine around a small central universe almost, so for me it's a gritty sci fi. A sort of concoction of a lot of different influences blended in. Centered around the human explored space and the conflict between the two main players in the human sphere.
Other things are looking in from outside of that. Alien races that some frontier planets trade with become interested in disputed planets and perhaps others that have been left poorly protected. Other aliens have always been there, just dormant until the human habitat domes arrived.
I like to keep my sandbox more of a sand pile so that there are no bounds to what I can add should I stumble across a cool miniature I like.
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*Googles the word 'sophont'*
Oooh...
I like different levels of sci-fi, though leaning towards space opera. (My basepoints being the obvious - Star Trek and Star Wars) I like the idea of lots of alien races, although for some properties, sometimes I wish there was more variety than the ubiquitous, overtly humanoid 'forehead' aliens. Even for universes not limited by the need for make-up or special effects, like 40K. Where did all the Puppeteers, Nevians, and Great Old Ones disappear to?
Though I'm also impressed by Red Dwarf, where humans are extinct (bar one) and all other intelligent life are human-created droids, holograms, replicants, GELFs...
... and a cat.
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I've been mulling this over recently. I made some notes in my head, but haven't yet got around to making them more permanent...
Hardish SF, with Traveller physics.
However, I'm leaning towards Babylon 5 for general Universe setup - a few core large races with a bunch of smaller ones (who can be added to when I find figures I like). There will also be one or two Ancients, mostly long gone, although with some elements still left (again, B5 and a bit of Stargate there). I see each race having its own internal issues, as well as interacting with others along the borders, which should give plenty of scope for things to happen.
I'm not a fan of "project earth countries into the stars" backgrounds, so there won't be a New Britain etc, and hopefully Earth itself won't really turn up. There will be no "almost dead Emperor" or Eye of Terror (tm)(c)
Where I'm struggling figure wise at the moment is that I don't want everyone running around in full armour - even aliens are gonna go casual at some point. There are plenty of human adventurers out there, but not enough of an alien race to really buy into. Zombiesmith do loads of interesting alien figures, but generally they appear to be the sole survivors of their races :(
At the moment I'm thinking small skirmish games, although I do have some 6mm stuff and appear to be on a bit of a spaceship buying binge.
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Don't have a favorite, my tastes change from day to day. Sometimes I like 40K's Grimdark vibe, idiotic as it is. Sometimes I want Niven or Heinlein style settings. Sometimes I want classic space opera, which usually means EE Doc Smith. And sometimes cyberpunk and posthumanism appeals.
Variety is the spice of life, and there's no One True Scifi.
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Definitely Space opera, though I'm not averse to a bit of grity and even some reality.
I enjoy both the 40k style grimdark, as well as space opera's that are less medieval.
Here's the "Galactic Frontier" homebrew setting that we've used for many of our past wargaming.
http://chicagoskirmish.blogspot.com/p/galactic-frontier-homebrew-sci-fi.html
Definitily not grimdark but definitely leans toward opera as a setting that doesn't require alot of science background. We also made it deliberately broad so it can include the various sci-fi armies in our collection and a wide variety of games. It contains worlds as shiny as Infinity and as post-apoc as Mad Max, sometimes in the same world!
http://chicagoskirmish.blogspot.com/2014/05/oxiddon-alpha-troubled-world-on.html
Somewhat in harmony with a general preference for pulp/opera, the rulesets we use tend to be fast and easy to learn. Mech Attack, Alpha Strike, Panzer 8, ITEN, Warpath, etc.
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Thanks all for your replies. I see there's not a clear trend, and all sci-fi tendencies get some love. Perhaps there's a small preference to keep the cast of sophons (great word) limited, but not ruling out the posible inclusion of others.
I admit that I'm a bit obssessive (something quite common amongst us nerds/geeks), so I likely fret over nothing. My setting, Galaxtar (yes, I went for a pure 80s videogame name), was initially created as the basis for a rpg. Now it's very unlikely that it will be used in a rpg, but it remains the background for my own version of the AvP boardgame.
So, obviously, the more important aim is to be fun! But in my case at least, for sci-fi to be fun I must keep the suspension of disbelief, and I need a degree of plausability for that (plausability is likely a better concept than realism). And there are a couple of ideas lying around the scientific fields that should guide my setting. The first is the Fermi paradox (Wikipedia link for those that don't know about it (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_paradox)). In a nutshell: if there were many sophonts, we should have made contact. So why haven't we? There are many possible explanations (the wiki article lists them), but in my humble opinion the more likely one is that intelligent life is quite rare. Again, there are quite a few possible reasons to explain that: one is mere probability, and other is that intelligent life either destroys itself (think nuclear armageddon) or destroys others (only apex predators can become technologically advanced, so any space-faring species will be predators, and react violently when clashed with competitors).
And there's also the hypothesis of the "great filter"(wikipedia article (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Filter)). In my setting there will be xenomorphs, and I envision them precisely as a great filter. This, actually, was the basis of the plot from "Apocalypse: The Destroying Angels ", an aliens comic book published by Dark Horse.
Also, since I want to incorporate elements from the Stargate setting into my own, there's a explanation to the Fermi paradox that must be included: we are deliberately isolated (since the main contact means through the Galaxy is by the use of stargates, and Earth buried its own).
So, all things considered, I have decided to use these guidelines:
1) The setting will deal primarily with humans, which are one of the youngest civilizations to expand beyond its homeworld system.
2) The number of other big civilizations will be kept to a minimum. So far, only gou'alds, asgards and cylons have a guaranteed seat, so to speak.
3) But there will be a few minor sentient races, that will mostly be allies, slaves or mercenaries working for the major ones. The only ones 100% guaranteed are xenomorphs and yautjas (although those two happen to be completely independent and a wildcard of sorts).
Now, I'll let you catch a deep breath after this wall of text(TM), and will come back with more ramblings later. ;)
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The trouble with most Sci-fi settings I find are plausibility. Here then science needs looking at and the problems are:
1. Einstein is always going to be right. Hence FTL travel will be impossible - with the possible exception of Alcubierre drive which requires near limitless negative energy and hence an engineering impossibility. So any Sci-fi setting that contains FTL travel is in my boof Science-fantasy.
2. So the only way to appear to travel FTL is via wormholes - and here we'll assume that a) they exist, b) one is close to earth, c) it leads to somewhere interesting, and 4) travelling down one is possible without doesn't ripping all matter apart.
3. Regardless of this entrances and exits to wormholes are likely to be very rare and millions of miles away - so we are at best looking at a world which relies on space travel taking 10s of years and with crews in suspended animation.
4. Life is likely to be very common with all planets in the Goldilocks zone and with liquid water being teeming with life. However, intelligent, civilisation building and colonizing life is likely to be far less common, especially as it can't travel far (see points 1-3 above). Hence if secies are going to meet then they will do this in close proximity to a valuable system where a number of wormholes meet.
5. BUT because of the action of gravity on forming solar-systems planets that lie in the Goildilocks zone are likely to be limited to 1 (at the most two) per solar-system. One perfect one like earth, is flanked by one that is far to hot (Venus) and one that is far too cold (Mars). So you could have one perfect one or a very hot one and a very cold one per solar system. So lets now introduce a binary star system so that these 3 planets can be supported in close proximity.
From this we can postulate a Sci-fi universe where very few planets can support life but where you could have a confluence of 2-3 wormholes (one of which is close to the solar system) meeting up in close proximity to a binary star system with 2-3 life supporting planets. This may justify 4-6 species (including man) maximum and of these man plus 2 others will be inter-sellar, with the others being indigineous and/or lower tech unless we find a way of getting many different human civilisations into the mix......
Building on these ideas and throwing in the potential for a "great filter" plus the probability that if mankind was aware of a wormhole and habitable planets beyond (i.e. had sent probes into the worm hole and found M class planets) but had yet been able to send manned spacecraft through the wormhole bacuase they get ripped apart) but was then faced with an impending "black swan" extinction event - how would humankind react. Well one possibility is to build "Seedships" equipped with frozen human foetuses (from slected humans), machines that could nurture human life untill the age of 8-10, computers that contained all the world's knowledge - with whatever slant the seedship builders desired. The plan would be to preserve human life by sending it through the wormhole to land on the 3 planets of the binary start and establish colonies based on the values programmed into the various computers that guided it.
Now we have a scenario where a number of human based civilisations can evolve, to various tech levels and with various themes accoring to the size of the planets (i.e. big planets = high gravity = squats etc.), the temperature of the planets (i.e. hot and sandy desert civilisations etc.) or the builders of the seed ships (i.e. various nationalities / reliogions). Into this mix we can send a higher tech human civilization (i.e. man form earth who survived the extinction event, but possibly gearing uo for another and found out how to send manned spacecraft through the wormhole) plus 2-3 other alien inter-stellar civilisations travelling though wormholes plus one 1-2 indigineous low tech alien civilisations.
Now I think most of my ramblings lead to a similar space to yours as it gives a Sci-fi universe mixing:
1. Very High Tech Humans
2. High Tech Astargar (large snakelike creatures)
3. An Extremely evolved High Tech civilisation (i.e. Praesentia)
4. A Mechhanical civilisation tbc but probably Borg rather than cylons (don't need wormholes - can shut down for centuries)
5. Xenomorphs (probably parasitically travelling or a Bio-weapon gone wrong)
6. Medium to Low tech "human" squats
7. Medium Tech national based colonies (i.e GZG Hammers Slammers, New Israeli, NSL, Scandanavians or PAU etc)
8. Medium to Low tech religious colonies (i.e. GZG Islamic Federation or cults)
9. Indiogineous Low tech colonies (i.e. kobalds with lazer rifles, Spugs, Kaamados Dominion Naga or Kravak)
10. Bugs (various)
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Favorite: cyberpunk (a mix between oldskool and Deus Ex). So humans, cyborgs and some drones. Style is everything and it mostly is about cool miniatures, scenery and rules. So the setting is what makes the game, less important than rules.
Then: self made settings, mostly around miniatures I have.
But for all they mainly for skirmish games. Lost my appetite for large scale games a while ago. Aliens are cool, but mostly in style... So not too weird in rules. Makes it all unnecessarily complicated.
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Star Wars is a great influence of course, but I'm also inspired by the old serials of Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers.
Swashbuckling adventures along rockets and ray guns through the galaxies. Maybe it's more pulp...
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As a "conceptual wargamer", i.e. I have no time to actually play any games or do more than collect unpainted figures...
I have over the years developed my own sci-fi setting, World of Spod, which functions as a reality blurring nexus world. Its kind of fluffy, space opera style nonsense, an isolated planet where dimensions intersect (think the city of Cynosure from Grimjack, or Tanelorn in Moorcock's fantasies...).
Isolated communities of subsistence farmers and research stations exist here, often being exploited or "protected" by Space Marines, Grey Alien probe-jockey raiders, Space Captain Smith, the SG-1 Team, Buzz Lightyear's Star Command, exploring Grymn, a Mega City 1 d-hop equipped H-wagon or a team of super-evolved astronaut apes.
Basically, anything I like the look of gets to fight whatever else I like the look of for whatever reason enters my head at the time.
Hard sci-fi might make for consistent and believable narratives , but I find it really dull to play out, either in my head or (once in a blue moon) on the tabletop.
This post brings nothing of value to the thread. I accept that .
Play on. :)
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I'm with Jollybob, take all the bits you like, put them in a pot, stir and serve.
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I once developed my own planetary system within the 40K universe, in such a way that all armies that my friends and I played at the time could be incorporated. So there was an Imperial colony (obviously), a Dark Eldar pirate presence, a necron tomb on the moon of some other planet etc.
I also used that setting to write (in hindsight, rather mediocre) fiction to flesh out the system.
Now that I'm not really active with 40K settings and also older, my preference for settings has hugely expanded and diversified.
For instance; I really enjoy the Infinity universe (but the alien elements not as much) and I really like the Battletech universe as well. Come to think of it, that one actually qualifies as pretty hard... Also, I'm a huge fan of the Deus Ex universe, Star Wars and Gerry Anderson's UFO. And if anyone's familiar with John Scalzi's Old Man's War universe; I really like that as well.
In the end though, I just like anything scifi, whether it's diamond hard or comic-booky. I have my favorites, but in the end, I suppose I'm just easily amused... lol
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Personally I've always been much more of a fan of the idea of grittier science fiction. Despite my love for Eldar in the 40K universe, if I made my own fluff it'd lean far more towards humans vs. hostile alien forms. About as far from Star Trek as you can get. The idea that aliens are just humans with an occasional extra eyebrow is extremely "meh" to me. It works okay for things like Warhammer which I see as a bit tongue-in-cheek Dungeons & Dragons in space...for "real" science fiction I prefer aliens to be just that; alien.
I figure humankind has enough dangers going to planets with inhospitable atmospheres, deadly infections, not to mention the danger of space travel. If an alien is discovered I'd expect it to be animal level intelligence (eight legged gelatinous cows which feed on algae?) or an extremely deadly "ultimate predator" ala the Giger aliens. Settling a vaguely hostile alien world would take hundreds of years, regardless of human technology (short of nuking the planet from orbit - it is reportedly, the only way to be sure).
As far as sentient beings able to travel the stars before we encounter them? We'd lose. I always joke with my friends and tell them if a genuine alien space ship ever showed up on Earth, we've already lost. It would indicate this race is already thousands of years ahead of us in technology - we'd stand no chance. lol
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...As far as sentient beings able to travel the stars before we encounter them? We'd lose. I always joke with my friends and tell them if a genuine alien space ship ever showed up on Earth, we've already lost. It would indicate this race is already thousands of years ahead of us in technology - we'd stand no chance. lol
True. But then, I've always been drawn to settings where it becomes apparent that we, Terrans, are in fact the most dangerous species in the galaxy. Primitive and small in number, but the most ferocious apex-predator to have ever developed sentience (and space travel).
There are several series of books that build on this idea, and they're all highly (and guiltily) entertaining... :D
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Fascinating to find this thread at this time, because the group I'm in (Skirmish Wargames) is just about to embark on a SF campaign and has been thinking about this very issue - where/when to set it. For us the solution was under our noses all the time - the rules we use. Our own SF rules (called TODD-STAR, for Tales of Derring-Do - Space Terrors, Aliens & Robots) are cross-genre, ie they are written to enable them to be used to play any of the known SF genres from TV, film, fiction and video games. This is almost their USP, as we all had a favourite genre which we wanted to play some games in. The idea is to allow the mixing of well know SF films and shows and comic books (Serenity/Firefly, Star Wars, Star Trek, Galaxy Trek, Warhammer 40K, Alien, Predator, Starship Troopers, Flash Gordon etc, retro 50's types like Dan Dare, Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers etc and the gritty reality side Blade Runner, Riddick etc and all the SF TV shows too) to be played. We could each take our favourite (or part of one) and then they could interact as ‘factions’ in our own new galaxy. The challenge here is the dearth of suitable 54mm figures – there are some but extensive conversions would be needed too.
What we realised was that our setting therefore should be one which was inclusive rather than exclusive - an unexplored area of space containing hundreds of planets and thousands of moons, left on purpose as a sort of buffer zone between the several rival civilisations thrown up by the TV shows/movies etc. This is a wild lawless area; refuge for Pirates, Outlaws, Fugitives etc. Attempts by the various civilisations based on the shows (or indeed straight out of your head.) to utilise or pacify various areas are carried out by stretched lawmen and military forces.
We each do the crew of a small ship; 4 to 6 figs to start, based on the TODD requirement for Stars, Supporting acts and Extras. We can merge bands to take on officialdom or fight it out between ourselves for the possession of a coveted clue. We could build bars from frontier towns, space stations, mines etc. We tie the whole thing together with some sort of overarching plot-line; a search for missing treasure/weaponry/mythical religious or rebel leader etc.
and the Black Swan/Kraken Nebula emerged to provide the answer.
Galactic Survey Bureau Report 20160811
SUBJECT: The BLACK SWAN NEBULA (aka KRAKEN NEBULA)
Executive Summary
1. Basic Information
1.1 Recently discovered and located on the edge of known space, the nebula consists of a core with several ‘arms’ that spiral out from the centre and change location unpredictably.
1.2 At times it appears to assume the shape of a black swan, hence one of the names given to it.
1.3 Located within it are numerous star systems, many with planets and planetoids appearing to be capable of sustaining life forms.
2. Hazards
2.1 Within the Nebula many of the normal rules of physics seem to no longer apply or be distorted; it is riddled with worm holes, black holes, shifts in the space-time continuum and subject to ion or other high energy storms which distort sensors and interfere with control systems.
2.2 If has been speculated that these factors may mean that the nebula can act as some kind of gateway or portal to others parts of the galaxy or even other dimensions. This hypothesis is supported by the number of previously unknown intelligent species and spaceships which appear from time to time within the nebula.
2.3 Many of these other species have brought problems with them, including aggressive tendencies which have created inter- , and even intra-, conflict, with ourselves and other visitors to the nebula. Some seek peaceful coexistence or are searching for ways to return to where they came from or on a special quest, whilst others seem bent on conquest (sometimes euphemised as ‘assimilation’), or even simply destruction for its own sake.
3. Nebula Species
3.1 The full report documents the many planets and planetoids discovered so far, which of them are capable of sustaining life and those where full civilisations or colonies exist. Some remain uninhabited by rational beings but are host to alien native species, many of which are dangerous or hostile.
3.2 Some low tech native species also exist, some of which are friendly and curious, whilst other remain hostile to all visitors to their world.
3.3 The natural native flora and fauna runs the full range from carbon based to mineral based life forms and include thinking plants capable of movement and hunting their prey, intelligent crystalline life forms which emit energy and a wide variety of carnivorous plant species.
4. Items of Special Interest
4.1 The Nebula is the only known source of Mysterium. This is a crystalline mineral capable of providing an almost inexhaustible supply of energy which can be harnessed to power vehicles (including space exploration vessels), fuel cities or create weapons of mass destruction. To date only small quantities have been found but many explorers and miners have entered the nebula in search of the mother lode – so far none have returned.
4.2 The Nebula is also the suspected source of what, for want of a better description, has been labelled ‘Anc-Tech’: devices have been discovered occasionally which appear to predate galactic civilisation. There has been intense speculation as to the origin and these artefacts. They have been attributed by some to a ‘Founder Race’ (often referred to as THEM or THE ANCESTORS). So far only small numbers of such technology have been found but governments, scientists and collectors pay huge sums for such objects, even though the purpose of many is unknown. As many of the planets and planetoids in the Nebula have ruins from an unknown race or races on them, many speculate that it may be the original source of such technology.
5. Recommendations
5.1 The nebula presents both unique opportunities and unique challenges. It is the committee’s recommendation that sufficient funds and resources be allocated to its continued study and that regular exploratory missions be sent into the nebula to explore and examine ways to exploit the unique opportunities it offers.
5.2 Such missions should be two-fold; Overt and Covert.
5.2.1 Overt Missions should be jointly funded by the government and industry, and have goals with clear humanitarian and commercial aims.
5.2.2 Covert Missions should be entirely government funded and operated under the egis of the Department of Planetary Security, reporting to MAJIK; knowledge of all such operations should be on a strictly Need To Know basis only.
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Thank you all for your replies. Some good ideas, and much food for thought.
Going back to the settings I've looked at while developing my own (apart from Stargate), these are some and what I've "learnt" from them.
Babylon 5. Back in the day it didn't struck my fancy, because of the alien characters. But that was unavoidable, with Babylon 5 itself being the equivalent to the UN headquarters, wasn't it? It featured a small selection of main alien races, and then some minor ones. My main gripe is that, with the alien races being humanoid, they could have well been different human factions. The overarching menace of the shadows (and their enemies the ancient vorlons) sets the theme for a pan-galactic menace and an overarching plot through the series.
Then there's Farscape. Another one that I missed because I didn't like having alien (yet very humanoid) characters in the main cast. It also had some elements quite fantastic, like the sentient space-ships, or the protagonist's power over wormholes. But other than that, the main plot regarding the peacekeepers, was anything but fantastic in tone (military science fiction, it would be). It also granted a tight and self-contained overarching plot.
In the wargaming world, I'd like to mention Infinity. I think Corvus Belli nailed it in the head with the way they developed the game. It started with a bunch of human factions, that represented the main (current) human civilizations: PanOceania is our western world; Yu-Jing is the amalgamated asian one; Haqqislam is, quite obviously, Islam; Nomads are a nod to the more futuristic cyberpunk elements; while Ariadna cater for the less futuristic look. All with a very manga-inspired aesthetic and cyberpunk elements. And then... the Combined Army appears. An unified empire of different sophonts. In other words, an excuse for the sculptors to create cool minis. Genius, I tell you. A terrific way to integrate the desire to sell more minis, going off a tangent, while still having it integrated in the existing background. With the current third edition they have released the Aleph, that takes the cyberpunk elements up a notch towards A.I; and the new aliens, the Tohaa, for those that don't want to play with humans yet were not attracted to the scattergun approach the Combined Army had (the look of which, by the way, has been standardized into a few races).
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One more thing.
From your replies here, and what my friends said when I asked them, I think I have detected the following tendency. It's not too obvious, but I think it's there.
For books, films or tv series, there is a preference towards a more hardish closed setting. Only humans, or humans and very few sophonts. My guess is that allows for more focused and better woven plots; whereas space operas risk turning into a xeno-zoo show (monster-of-the-week syndrome).
For wargames, tolerance for space opera, more open settings, increases. Again my guess is that it's a better excuse to buy minis (the oh-shiny syndrome), and helps cater for all the gamers' different tastes.
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True. But then, I've always been drawn to settings where it becomes apparent that we, Terrans, are in fact the most dangerous species in the galaxy. Primitive and small in number, but the most ferocious apex-predator to have ever developed sentience (and space travel).
There are several series of books that build on this idea, and they're all highly (and guiltily) entertaining... :D
Examples? I only know of the Alan Dean Foster one, and that was...less than satisfying.
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Examples? I only know of the Alan Dean Foster one, and that was...less than satisfying.
Foster wrote a short story called "With Friends Like These" that does a much better job with the "apex predator" trope than the trilogy I assume you're talking about. It shows humanity (or more accurately, Terrans) being re-released in a war emergency after millennia of confinement behind the impenetrable-from-within force field they got caged in nearly conquering the galaxy way back when. The title should be a clue as to how well that's going to probably going to work out for the rest of Civilization in the long run.
John Ringo's Posleen series springs to mind as a relatively modern example of the same idea. Humanity recruited as allies of a largely non-combative galactic civilization against a similarly aggressive reptilian centauroid species and given advanced tech to bootstrap us into being more effective fighters. Or at least that's the initial premise, and anything else would be spoilers. We aren't the only "fighting" species out there, but they're rare.
Settings where we're the only aggressive species are fairly rare, but there's tons of early scifi where we're the baddest of the bad. E.E. "Doc" Smith's entire Skylark series is a pretty good example of humans (mostly just our heroes, really) kicking the stuffing out of anyone who dares to look funny at us, and even Flash Gordon's another fine example of the Earthman conquers the universe concept.
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For books, films or tv series, there is a preference towards a more hardish closed setting. Only humans, or humans and very few sophonts. My guess is that allows for more focused and better woven plots; whereas space operas risk turning into a xeno-zoo show (monster-of-the-week syndrome).
For wargames, tolerance for space opera, more open settings, increases. Again my guess is that it's a better excuse to buy minis (the oh-shiny syndrome), and helps cater for all the gamers' different tastes.
Give that man a pint! Bang on. :D
"Hard" SF gaming I find pretty dull, with drones, counter-drones, hacking, smart weapons, anti-smart weapons. Something softer or more pulpy and I can have a but more fun. If I wanted to just roll dice and consult tables, I could play Cold Steel.
That said, fantasy and space opera media leave me a tad bored (Dr Who being the exception), maybe it's my Lit/Film background, but I like a little intelligence and consideration in my books, films and television.