Preferred rules for 15mm sci-fi wargaming

[Metternich]

Am interested in finding out what are the preferred rules these days for 15mm sci-fi wargaming.  I have both Stargrunt II and Striker (bought that when it first came out), and am thinking about getting back into 15mm (I particularly like the Traveler universe, and would like something adaptable to that - midtech can always be planetary defense militia).  Am looking for a set that won't beggar you with dozens of vehicles, and where infantry still plays an important part (and could be played as infantry only.  The WH 40K style games leave me cold - want something that feels more realistic, yet is playable.  I think at most a battalion's worth of troops, but company-level (or even platoon level) would be preferable.

[Dr DeAth]

I'd recommend Gruntz, very flexible and very playable.

Review here > https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/82863/gruntz-15mm-sci-fi

Some references in the AARs in my 15mm Sci-Fi thread here > http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=71705.0

[Metternich]

Does it allow for advantages of being a few tech levels higher (as in the Traveler universe), as well as High Tech vs. Med. Tech ?

[tnjrp]

While hardly preferred by much anyone, Defiance would seem to be a good fit for the requirements outlined so far:
http://mj12games.com/defiance/

I've played it as a ca. 28 game but the author has opinioned that it actually works better as ca. 15mm game (as long as you use a single model basing scheme).

[Dr DeAth]

Does it allow for advantages of being a few tech levels higher (as in the Traveler universe), as well as High Tech vs. Med. Tech ?

Yes, very much so - the traits and ratings work very well and it's very easy to represent different levels of tech.

[Metternich]

Thank you gentlemen.  I'll look at them and compare them to the two old standbys I mentioned.  And I welcome other comments - in particular, I'm trying to see what ruleset(s) most people are playing with now. 

[Daeothar]

I bought it for the same purpose, but the project basically stalled before the physical stage: Tomorrow's War.

It has tech levels and plays on about the same force level you prefer. Apparently, it's quite adaptable too, but I have to mention that although I have the book, I've never actually played the game, so I can't comment on that...

[Metternich]

Daeothar, thank you for the suggestion.  Anyone play Tomorrow's War ?  Any comments ?

[bermanj]

TW is reputed to suffer from atrocious editing making the whole experience very much a labor of love.

[psychomo]

Bit late to this thread, but my go-to system is FAD (which I also curate and edit when I have time).

Link is https://fadwargame.com

I usually half all distances for 15mm. Some of the pre-written units are based of 40k, but the rules themselves are quite hard Sci-Fi with the option to add a little bit of space opera (via advanced rules/traits).

Mo

[katie]

"Tomorrow's War" is, indeed, rather a difficult read -- it has a tendency to go into the detail before finishing the overview parts. (And it's not helped by the background printing in the physical book.)

On the other hand, it's definitely GOT all the sci-fi you'll need and the system looks workable for mid-size forces. (I'm looking to use it for "Moongrunt" so it'll be ~20 figures a side. So far, I've painted two...). The mechanisms seem sound although I haven't actually played it yet.

I think it's one of those rulesets which work if you're willing to sit and read it properly a couple of times.

[Sangennaru]

I might recommend my own Round of Fire. Platoon level tops (but can be played with half a dozen figures per side too), unfortunately no vehicles for now. Definitely more simulative and less grand-tactical than Tomorrow's wars, with a pretty unique activation system. I played it in 15mm for years, now mostly in 28.
And being able to play on a 2'x2' table is practical. And plays on tiles too, if desired.

https://www.wargamevault.com/product/227996/Round-of-Fire--Core-Rules

Here's a link to the LAF thread.
http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=71748.0

cheers
Jack

[Metternich]

Thanks Psychomo, but FAD looked a bit too generic for my taste (and would want to show the difference between eg. Traveller Tech 14 equipment and Tech 13 or 15), and I thought using just D6 is a bit limiting.  And thanks to Sangennaru, but I would like the option of having a few vehicles in the game (but not have to have the far future equivalent of Kursk).  Overall, am trying to get an idea of what is the popular game(s) rulesets that most people are using, so if I were to form a force based on that I would be more apt to find opponents (so a niche system wouldn't really fit that bill).

[psychomo]

I have played quite a few games of FAD where one player is the higher tech faction. Usually you can do this via traits (http://fadwargame.com/sci-fi-wargames-rules/traits/) also setting the quality level of the high tech faction higher by default.

For example a high tech faction might all have "tough" (as they have better armour) and "save" (maybe they have some kind of energy shields). You could also use "supreme weapons" or "supreme armour" (or both).

The way dice work in FAD is quite different from a lot of games, you don't really roll against a statistic on a characters profile, so granularity of the dice roll is less important.

Hope that helps in some way :-)