Greetings - and advice needed

[Lord Bang]

Hello all!

Happy to be here.

My name is Anders, I'm from Denmark and mainly play GW games like Warhammer Fantasy 8th edition, Mordheim, a little bit of Warhammer Underworlds and dipping my toes in Warcry (and a lot of board games).

I'm getting more and more interested in "alternative rule sets" - I've tried a single game of Saga and am trying to bring my gaming group onboard as I really liked it, and have the rules for Dragon Rampant, This Is Not A Test, Planet28, Bushido...

However, I'm looking for something special and have been thinking of mashing some rule sets together to fit my idea and requirements, but thought I should ask for advice from you lot of Longbeards first.

I hope this is the right place to ask - if not, what forum should I use?

Is there any -great- miniature games with a focus on really small warbands - say 2-6 models - and interesting, tactical mechanics? Preferably with a fantasy/historical bent, ie not dominated by shooting, mechs or robots. And not too crunchy, as I already have a hard time introducing new miniature games to my group. Theme, models and setting isn't important, as I would just use the miniatures and background I like.

I'm looking for something that lets me fight duels between a couple chaos champions and their buddies, or clashes of techno barbarians in the wasteland, small teams of gladiators battling it out...

Something where combat feels both dangerous and with tactical decision making and not just dice rolling (like Bushido, maybe) - and with action economy and a need for planning (like Saga, maybe). Bushido seems great, but 1) the warbands and boards are a little too big for what I'm after and 2) the game is too crunchy with an endless list of powers, statuses and abilities, not to mention literally hundreds of different unit types. So preferably easy to learn, hard to master (like the impression I have of Saga). Bonus points if there aren't just combat dudes but also support models.

I'm hoping there might be some game for duellists, gladiators, ninjas or street brawlers or what have you that fits the bill somewhat.


Cheers!

[OSHIROmodels]

Welcome 

The Fistful of Lead rules would be worth a look. There's plenty of games that have been played and posted here and I'm sure someone better qualified than myself will be along to explain further.

If you do fancy them, they are available from here

https://oshiromodels.wixsite.com/oshiromodelswebshop/rules

[Malamute]

I second Fistful of Lead, a very versatile rule set. 

[Hobgoblin]

Hello!

Fistful of Lead is excellent. I'd also recommend Pulp Alley for the small warband size you mention. It works for any genre, and while it has shooting as a default, there are recommendations on how to tone that down to arrows in the rules. And you can easily make the majority of characters non-shooters for a fantasy or pre-gunpowder setting. It also allows you to customise your characters tremendously.

Another great game for the 2-6-figure/player set-up is Song of Blades and Heroes - either the basic rules or the Advanced version. The rules are deceptively simple: characters have just two stats (quality and combat) and - potentially - a number of individualising traits. It's not crunchy at all, but it does have lots and lots of decision-making. The basic mechanism is "push your luck" with activations: you can get more actions at the risk of ending your turn prematurely.

Song of Blades is also an incredibly quick game to get on the table. There's a warband generator on the Ganesha Games website that allows you to knock up printable rosters in about two minutes flat. The Advanced version breaks up the turn sequence even more by allowing reactions as well as turnovers when activations are failed. Both are very cheap as PDFs.

Song of Blades is the kind of game where you tell your friends to bring round six miniatures and then stat them up on the spot. And it's loads of fun.

Also, if you want to play with ninjas and the like, the Hong Kong kung fu version of the rules is available from Osprey: A Fistful of Kung Fu. It's possibly the best variation on Song of Blades.

If you wanted to do chaos warbands and their followers, another possibility would be Of Gods and Mortals, also from Osprey and also a variant of Song of Blades. It's designed for skirmishes between gods, 'legends' (monsters/heroes) and mortals, but you could easily read those as demons, chaos champions and cultists/followers/beastmen. It's another brilliant game with quite a big following.

[BaronVonJ]

You can play anything from Cowboys to spaceships, from Vampire gangs to SciFi with Fistful of Lead. The Core rules are a good start, and if you don't want to commit too much financially you can get a pdf for about the same price as a fancy coffee. The rules really are a toolbox for you to play whatever game you want.
https://wiley-games.myshopify.com/collections/catalog
A quick search around the web or here will give you plenty of reviews and AARs.

[Dr DeAth]

Another vote for Fistful of Lead here - a very versatile gaming system that's easy to learn with no complicated calculations or modifiers etc., so ideal for introducing board gamers to figure gaming.

I've used it for participation games at conventions and find most players have the concepts and basic rules understood after a handful of turns. 

[Patrice]

Hi Anders, welcome,

"Argad!" works for different periods with a handful of characters, the basic system is utterly simple (although complicated situations can happen) and you can upgrade some characters by giving them a better class and/or more hit points. It's often played on very long tables, but if you take only a few miniatures a smaller table could do.

However for a good game it's useful that someone takes the time to imagine a story/scenario and acts as Game master, as these rules are very RPG-minded.

[The Dozing Dragon]

I'm not a gamer, purely a figure collector but greeting anyway!

[warlord frod]

Kobolds & Cobblestones by Osprey Publishing is a neat skirmish style rule set for fantasy miniatures. I also highly recommend Pulp Alley which can be used for a wide range of settings.