Looking for a Sci Fi Skirmish Game

[twrchtrwyth]

Best one we have found is Void Pirates from 4ColorStudios.
Great fun, very easy to pick up and can fit in virtually any sci-fi setting you want to use.

http://www.four-colorstudios.com/void-pirates.html

+3

[spect_spidey]

Thanks for all the replies.

I have read through 7TV. I played a game of its offshoot Otherworld Skirmish. It seems intriguing. I am not sure if it would fit what I am looking for. It doesn't appear to be enough sci fi. It also seems to be one of those that is a bit pricey as you start to buy into the needed cards and such.

I see several people mentioned Void Pirates. It seems hard to find many details on this game. What dice are used? Are their stats? Is their weapon variety, etc.?

Pulp Alley looks intriguing. I am not sure about doing the sci fi I am looking for though. It also seems like it could get a bit pricey based upon the cost of their PDFs (individual price is ok @ $9.99 until you realize that it is only about 44 pages and then you need to buy cards as well). I would like to see some basic weapon types and maybe some equipment. Pulp Alley doesn't seem to care what weapon or armor that a character has. Am I wrong in this assumption?

Some people mentioned the Ganesha Games rules. I have two of their sci fi based games. I am not a fan of having just the two stats and everything else being done by skills/traits.

I guess the more I look at it, I would prefer something with maybe 4 to 6 stats for the members of a crew with a couple of skills sprinkled in with some variation in weapons, armor, and equipment.

A big plus would be a game that would give me reasons to buy certain plastic miniatures that I would love to play with but don't have the time or inclination to build big armies to use. Some examples of this would be things like Beyond the Gates of Antares miniatures, Heavy Gear Miniatures, or maybe even some of the Rebs/Brokkrs from Mantic.

[d phipps]

I am looking for a good sci fi skirmish game. There are a few preferences that I have, but these items are not mandatory for me to consider a game.

1. I would prefer that the game allow you to use any 28mm miniatures rather than requiring the use of system specific models.
2. I would prefer a rules set with a campaign system whether a narrative one or an experience point driven one.
3. I would prefer something with between 5 to 20 models per side.
4. I would prefer something that is played on a 3'x3' area.

Pulp Alley definitely has you covered.

FYI -- The cost of the PDF also includes pages to make your own Fortune deck cards. Or you can simply download the Fortune deck pages for free --- http://store.pulpalley.com/product-p/f103.htm

Also, you can download our free Quickstart rules -- http://store.pulpalley.com/product-p/f100.htm

Pulp Alley doesn't seem to care what weapon or armor that a character has. Am I wrong in this assumption?

Players are expected to take a character's weapons/armor/whatever into account when they are selecting their Skills and Abilities. Basically this means that a Character Profile represents a fully outfitted character - not a naked character.

Of course you can also spend resource points to add on extra gear and gadgets, hire mercenaries, and so on...

This is a fairly low sci-fi scenario, but here's an example of Pulp Alley play ---

Video Scenario #2.1 -- Part 1 of a full Pulp Alley scenario play-through (turns #1 and #2)...



HAVE FUN

[Warren Abox]

I see several people mentioned Void Pirates. It seems hard to find many details on this game. What dice are used? Are their stats? Is their weapon variety, etc.?

I haven't picked up Void Pirates yet, but I'm looking through the fantasy version, GoalSystem Delves, and gearing up for some skirmishes.  It looks like a tight little system.

Figures have a few stats - not as heavy as 40k, nor as light as Mutants and Death Ray Guns - which I like because MaDRG compensates with an overreliance on special abilities that make the game hard to track with too many figures.

The meat of Void Pirates in play is the GoalSystem, which is basically a dice pool mechanic.  You roll a number of d6 dice (modified by figure stats and conditionals) and count the number that beat the target.  That will usually be 4+, but might be increased or decreased by modifiers.  For things like shooting and melee, this will be a contested roll.  Whoever gets the most success wins, with that difference adding to the results.

So in a melee, if I get 5 successes on my attack, and you get 3 on your defense, I hit you and do my weapon damage plus 2.  Then you have to make that many attempts to negate the damage by rolling against your toughness/armor.  Each failure costs an HP, and once those are gone, your dude is out of play. 

Here's a bit more detail:  http://deltavector.blogspot.com/2012/12/goalsystem-delves-rules-review-generic.html

[Alcide Nikopol]

Pulp Alley +1.

[NurgleHH]

Necromunda

+1, totally forgotten. The new version got some very good reviews and is still developed.

[Genghis]

Furthering the support for Necromunda, as well as the new edition, the Necromunda Community Edition (NCE) is a collective fan-written evolution of the classic Necromunda rules.  I've has a look through, although not played it myself, but it looks good - and also forms the basis for Inquisimunda, which uses the NCE as a base ruleset and then expands the setting/rules to the wider 40K universe.  If 40K per se isn't your thing, I'm sure you could tweak things to suit.

The NCE, Inquisimunda & all sorts of expansions, etc can be found at https://yaktribe.games/community/vault/.

[Battle Brush Sigur]

I was just about to mention that. Nobody needs GW in anything related to what used to be the "Specialist Games". It's nice that GW are re-releasing all the stuff now, but the communities took over a loong time ago and do an amazing job. 

[dinohunterpoa]

I was just about to mention that. Nobody needs GW in anything related to what used to be the "Specialist Games". It's nice that GW are re-releasing all the stuff now, but the communities took over a loong time ago and do an amazing job. 

Well said!

And GW now is using fan-made material without paying them the rights! 

 

[Elk101]

Void Pirates sounds very interesting. Is it pretty flexible in terms of the types of characters you can create?

[spect_spidey]

I am definitely not considering any game or models made by GW. That community in my area is toxic. I will probably never play another GW game in my life!

[YPU]

I completely forgot to mention!
Our own forum member sSngennaru is soon publishing his own ruleset "round of fire" you can find more info here:
http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=71748.0

it can be played with 28mm miniatures on a 3x3 board fine!

[Sangennaru]

I completely forgot to mention!
Our own forum member sSngennaru is soon publishing his own ruleset "round of fire" you can find more info here:
http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=71748.0

it can be played with 28mm miniatures on a 3x3 board fine!

Indeed something you might be looking for! We've got a facebook group too: www.facebook.com/groups/roundoffire/



It's something quite different from the usual wargame, and generally people either love or hate it, a very quick overview on my site too: http://thelazyforger.com/games/round-of-fire/

For more traditional wargames, i'd endorse pulp alley if you're into RPGesque gaming!

[robh]

Void Pirates sounds very interesting. Is it pretty flexible in terms of the types of characters you can create?

Very flexible, we have not found any figures that cannot be "created" as characters using just the classes/attributes/skills in the game.

There are 6 basic character types (classes):
Hero, Lurker, Shooter, Specialist, Thug and Trooper.
Each of those has basic traits inherent to the class and one special trait which the player chooses from an extensive set of options.
Then you can choose one (single use) "boost" that adds dice to either attack, defence or non-combat skills. These are free form and players are encouraged to create unique boosts that suit the character or the figure.

So you get a good balance of stats, preset abilities and personal choice which means that you can pick up any or all of these amazing figures:
https://cpmodels.co.uk/product-category/28mm-ranges/sci-fi/alien-federation/
and be certain that you can build unique characters for each one.......other figures work as well

[zemjw]

I hadn't heard of Void Pirates either, but I do like the Goal System, so may give it a try. I like Goal System's dice pool mechanic for solo games, as it introduces a level of randomness that works for me.

There's also Five Core - link - which I have read but not actually played. They seem to take the special rules over stats approach as well, which I'm not so keen on. I find trying to keep track of even 5 figures a side in a solo game to be challenging, and having to remember half a dozen different skills for each figure just removes my enthusiasm for the game.

There's a review of five core - here, although I'm not sure if it's third edition