Sci-Fi Skirmish Rules?

[Dolmot]

I just finished reading Crimson Dusk yesterday. Looks quite neat. I'm in the same situation as the original poster - need some fairly simple rules for my varied collection of modern/future stuff. CD seems to do all I currently need, without any extra clutter. It's beta, alrigth. There were a few sentences I didn't quite understand, but that obviously means I can contribute with some suggestions. Let's see if I can find someone to play.

[dijit]

The next test version of CD should be going up in not too long. The main rules are edited and I think I've caught all the odd sentences that didn't make sense (though if you find any feel free to let me know, so I can be sure I've got them all). There's also been a few modifications to the rules system, after the all the adding and subtracting irritated some people, so I've now tried a slightly different mechanic involving re-rolls instead. I'm currently in the process of updating the section on points values (where the worse problems where/are) so it should be up in not too long.

[Pentaro]

Essentially, I'd like to do a game with a few squads and perhaps a vehicle or two on a side.

Fast and Dirty 4 (FAD) is pretty much like Stargrunt II, but simpler and faster. It's got a new points system that seems to work well and allows you to create custom forces. I think it's fun, easy to learn, and, well, "realistic" (for a SF game):

http://www.freewebs.com/weaselfierce/

[Sterling Moose]

I really like Combat Zone.  The rules are not perfect but they are easy to pick up and it's infinately adaptable to any period/genre.

[dijit]

Essentially, I'd like to do a game with a few squads and perhaps a vehicle or two on a side.

Fast and Dirty 4 (FAD) is pretty much like Stargrunt II, but simpler and faster. It's got a new points system that seems to work well and allows you to create custom forces. I think it's fun, easy to learn, and, well, "realistic" (for a SF game):

http://www.freewebs.com/weaselfierce/

I only found out about FAD last week. I liked the concept and feel its similar in effect to what I'm trying to achieve myself. Has anyone tried them?

[Pentaro]

I only found out about FAD last week. I liked the concept and feel its similar in effect to what I'm trying to achieve myself. Has anyone tried them?

I've been playing for a couple of years and I love them. You should join the Yahoo group or the new forum. The author is a very nice guy and is always willing to help players. The rulebook has a "basic rules" chapter which can give you an idea of how the game works.

I specially like how firing at units not only kills people, but also pins them to the ground and sometimes injures them (bad news for your opponent then). Everything is solved with a few die rolls, so the game moves very fast.

[dijit]

Thanks. Are there ways in the rules to have forces that aren't randomly generated? It's just I like my model with a flamethrower to actually have a flamethrower, or my model with heavy combat armour to have that; I couldn't see straight away how that worked. I also seemed to have missed how to have very different alien races.

[Pentaro]

Yes, near the end of the book there's a chapter explaining how to create army lists. There's a long list of traits which allows you to create different kinds of units. Many people use this to play with their old 40K armies. Just ask in the forum as probably someone has already written the list you need.

[KeyanSark]

Yep, and their solo rules are also good when no gamers are near...

[Mark Plant]

Customisation in 5150 comes not just from REP, but from reaction tables, attributes, weapons and armour.

<snip>

Your Stormtrooper doesn't have to be REP 3.5, he could just use a Military rather than a Basic Reaction Table and have armour the offers good protection against solid rounds and poor verses Lasers and armed with a Laser Carbine and be REP 3 for cannon fodder troops and REP4 for Good Soldiers.

Thank-you for that clarification. I think I might have to try them after all.