Hex-grid fantasy skirmish games?

[Longstrider]

Hi all,

Kind of an odd question here, but I have all these boards and warbands from Warhammer Underworlds, a game which I liked once but can't keep up with anymore, and I was wondering if there were other hex-grid fantasy skirmish games I might use them for, rather than pitching them to recycling. The art on the boards is quite nice, and I have enough to make fairly large fields.

So far I've come across the - legitimately ancient, by gaming standards - Melee/Wizard/The Fantasy Trip by SJGames, and someone's mentioned using Andreas Sfigoli's SBH with hexes. I'm curious to hear if anyone's got some comments on either, or more suggestions yet. Thanks!

[tikitang]

Yes, The Fantasy Trip: Melee would be my first choice.

SBH with hex grids is another viable solution (though the hex grid rules were removed from later versions of the rulebook).

Another option is Man to Man, also from Steve Jackson Games.

[Cat]

The Fantasy Trip is still superb and going strong!  Big Kickstarter revival some years ago, and lots of new material, adventures, and a zine have followed.  The Melee rules are a free download (the box set comes with great components).
https://warehouse23.com/collections/the-fantasy-trip

[Hobgoblin]

Melee/Wizards/The Fantasy Trip is a terrific game (and Melee is free to download here, so you can get hold of it without cost or commitment).

We have the first Underworlds game in the house and have been planning to use it for Melee for a while now. I also have the big Fantasy Trip box, and we've used its 'megahex' floorpans for both roleplaying and skirmish games. The Fantasy Trip is probably the easiest RPG to run for a large group of players and has much else besides to recommend it.

Melee's just great in its own right, though, and when you add Wizards, it gets even better. It's not necessarily realistic, but it is impeccably balanced and makes combat very tactical. That's why it's great as an RPG combat system: a room with three orcs, a chest and a table in it becomes an interesting tactical challenge.

Song of Blades is a brilliant game too - and certainly the skirmish game we've played the most. I don't think it gains anything from being played on hexes, though, so I'd keep the boards for Melee (or use them for SBH and just ignore the hexes!).

[Hobgoblin]

Another option is Man to Man, also from Steve Jackson Games.

It's essentially (very) Advanced Melee - the combat system for GURPS. I've had it for ages but have never played it because of its complexity; I think you'd definitely want to familiarise yourself with Melee first. But it could be a good option thereafter if you want (much) more detail and (perhaps!) realism.

[Logain77]

One Page Wargames also made an Fantasy Arena game targeted at exactly folks like you. Similar to underworlds but static- no collectible aspect.  Rules are floating around free.

[tikitang]

Actually, come to think of it, I reckon almost any skirmish game might work on hex grids, if you simply replaced the rules for movement from inches to hexes.

[ced1106]

Actually, come to think of it, I reckon almost any skirmish game might work on hex grids, if you simply replaced the rules for movement from inches to hexes.

Agreed. I have Loke Battlemat maps, and they're square grids. When a figure moves over different terrain, it's faster to add up the movement cost when using spaces than distance, assuming each space has no more than one type of terrain. Diagonals cost 1.5 movement, and you can position a miniature on an edge or intersection for 1/2 a space of movement. It's still approximate, but works.

[blacksmith]

Warrior Heroes Adventures in Talomir from Two Hour Wargames can be played in squares as the board is divided in 9 square sections: https://twohourwargames.com/products/warrior-heroes-adventures-in-talomir

[Longstrider]

Thanks all. I got the free copy of Melee - I'll try making a couple of small posses with that and see if we like it, and if so, we'll get Wizard. As I understand it, Advanced Melee and Advanced Wizard are both now contained in Into the Labyrinth?

I'll see if Warrior Heroes can be hacked for hex rather than squares, too.

Given that the WHU warbands are nice little gangs we can use them in SBH. I suppose if we give each player a budget for equipment (assuming just melee) that should act as a good enough balancing method.