Looking for a Sci Fi Skirmish Game

[Ultravanillasmurf]

There is always Laserburn.

[n815e]

I would suggest Pulp Alley, but I understand your reasons.

A game that is sort of forgotten and out of print, but you can find pdfs of the three books online for free, is Star Mogul: Ruins of an Empire.

The game had an official line of miniatures, some can be found in production still by Armorcast, but you can use anything that is fitting -- no need to worry about official.

In the game you control the crew of a salvage freighter, outcast alien nobles, alien headhunters, cybernetic scrappers or robots on a murderous rampage.

The game is built around a campaign, much like Necromunda.  For most players, the goal of the game is to earn money by competing over salvage.  That means getting to it, loading it onto your vehicles/mechs and then getting it to your dropzone.  Robotic rebels are more interested in killing everyone and the headhunters want to collect heads instead of salvage.   There are equivalent economies to salvage-collecting built into collecting heads or killing others if that is your faction's bag.

Use your money to hire more crew, purchase new equipment, etc.
Models have skill sets.  Equipment has attributes.  Each faction feels distinct.

[dinohunterpoa]

There is always Laserburn.

In which the spaghetti-western-spoofed scenarios are PRICELESS!!! 

I guess it's available free on the web nowadays, right?

I remember there was also a 2nd Ed. with several non-combat skills and ideas for a more RPG-lite game...

[Ultravanillasmurf]

Not sure on the status of Laserburn.

I have a copy somewhere, though it inspired...

[Ultravanillasmurf]

Alternative Armies are selling the range:
https://www.alternative-armies.com/collections/15mm-laserburn

[Mako]

FUBAR is a great option for a free set of rules, and is better than many for sale.

Some people dislike the high propensity for poor troops to not activate.

Switching to D10s will alleviate that considerably, and yet still provides for a good game.

[Elk101]

Thanks for the information Robh, for the price I probably can't go wrong with the Void Pirates pdf.

[Hobgoblin]

Interesting discussion (I've just bought Pulp Alley on the recommendations here).

I'd certainly recommend Mutants and Death Ray Guns. I've never found the "false economy of only two stats" a problem with the Ganesha stable; I think the Song of Blades engine is really robust, and I've never found the traits to be burdensome. Most are committed to memory after a game or two, and they tend to work intuitively: "I'm C3, but you're Big, so I'm adding 4 to the die for this shot ...". And because most characters don't need many (or any) traits, the game is fast-flowing. We've had a lot of fun with MRDG. That said, I'd argue it works best with small warbands (three to six models), especially if you have more than two players.

I'd also stick up for Rogue Stars, with the caveat that it gives a very specific sort of game: intense, sweaty firefights with a high level of risk as characters dash from cover to cover. I think the ideal format for Rogue Stars is a band of heroes progressing through several scenarios - perhaps played with asymmetrical forces - to represent a raid deep into an enemy stronghold or whatever.

[Momotaro]

Shout out for Two Hour Wargames and their various SF games.

You want to try their free Chain Reaction rules on Wargame Vault first of all - they're not everyone's cup of tea.  The reaction system treats one figure as you, and the rest as your troops.  They don't always do what you want them to...

The rules have a reputation for pinging back and forwards endlessly between sides in a shootout, but the latest versions are much more streamlined and come to a conclusion pretty quickly.

What's good about them? 

1)  Reaction tables.  Different alien species behave differently.

2) Campaign.  Tons to do here, THW are famed for their detailed campaigns.  There's also same-side/solo rules built into the game - a warning, not every encounter will go your way.  Sometimes the answer is to get the hell off the table, not hang around and die.

3)  A 3x3 board is standard, and the game scales nicely from individuals to squads (I personally don't like the dice-fest that company-level games become).

Which games?

Star Army is a military SF campaign - the focus is on the grunts and their gear.  Detailed vehicle rules included.  This game is more a traditional THW game, and I kind of prefer the focus on the tabletop aspect.

Fringe Space and Urban Renewal are more abstracted, as the campaign is the thing here.  The board has dropped to 1x1, for one thing, as the tabletop encounters are only one part of a larger campaign universe.  Characters are less likely to be tooled up than in Star Army.

Fringe Space is basically a Traveller campaign - your characters fly around, trade, meet people, fall out with them.  Ground combat, boarding actions and ship combat are just part and parcel of life on the fringe.

Urban Renewal is more of an "underworld caper" game in the far future.  Meet people from different strata of society, find out heo needs "jobs" doing, travel round the city, get into scrapes.

Chain Reaction.  Free on Wargames Vault, no campaign but co-operative/ solo rules are included.  We're run some cracking "Low tech" SF games, so maybe that's a good starting point to see if you like the style of game.

[Gibby]

Very much agree with Momotaro. The THW rules, if you find their style to your taste, are excellent. Most of the books offer a full on campaign system which you can take as far as you want. It allows some real immersion, and the reaction system makes the figures seem more "alive".

[Hat Guy]

I've had a lot of success with Judge Dredd Miniatures Game for SF skirmish. Played games of "40K", "Star Wars" and "Doctor Who" using the basic gangs and weaponry. There are also psychic powers and vehicle rules, a really underrated set of rules.

[twrchtrwyth]

I've had a lot of success with Judge Dredd Miniatures Game for SF skirmish. Played games of "40K", "Star Wars" and "Doctor Who" using the basic gangs and weaponry. There are also psychic powers and vehicle rules, a really underrated set of rules.

Yes, good call.

[dinohunterpoa]

I've had a lot of success with Judge Dredd Miniatures Game for SF skirmish. Played games of "40K", "Star Wars" and "Doctor Who" using the basic gangs and weaponry. There are also psychic powers and vehicle rules, a really underrated set of rules.

Agreed 100%, JDMG is an AWESOME and sadly underrated set of rules!

[Warren Abox]

I'd certainly recommend Mutants and Death Ray Guns. I've never found the "false economy of only two stats" a problem with the Ganesha stable; I think the Song of Blades engine is really robust, and I've never found the traits to be burdensome.

My beef with Ganesha is that the system breaks down when used to model firefights.  Wait, that might not be right.  The system might be great at modelling firefights, but the game breaks down.  Our Flying Lead games were two turns of maneuver followed by everybody just hunkering down and trading dice rolls until hits were scored.  Which is probably a great model of a firefight, but it doesn't make for the kind of exciting game of fire *and* maneuver that we prefer.

[Major_Gilbear]

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned AE: Bounty yet. It has all the things requested in the original post!

Despite the game having some official models that were sporadically released over some indeterminate period, you can pretty much use whatever models you like just fine.

The rules are easy and cheap to buy (physical or digital), and there are plenty of reviews online too.

If I had any real criticisms of it, it's that action points are king, that certain fast flying melee builds are very powerful, and that not having points makes the list-building part more complicated than it needs to be (to me). These are all truthfully pretty minor issues though, and there are easy ways around them.