Getting started in VSF - skirmish rules?

[BountyHunter]

Looking to dabble in VSF with some British on Mars type scenarios maybe 50 figures a side or so. Can anyone recommend suitable rules? Photo for attention and flavor!

[misterdirector1]

Check out "In Her Majesty's Name", the second edition with the purplish cover. Very flexible rules you can customize to your heart's content

[has.been]

I would recommend the Fistful of Lead stable of games.

[black hat miniatures]

I still think that the GASLIGHT sets of rules provide a very good VSF skirmish system.

Mike

[Captain Darling]

You could try FUBAR VSF, it is a free download so nothing to lose…it’s my go to VSF set of rules…my thoughts on the rules below…

https://captaindarlingsminiaturesemporium.blogspot.com/2015/12/fubar-vsf-rulesyep-another-rant-on-rules.html

[Sunjester]

We are using The Men Who Would be Kings with mods for VSF weapons and vehicles.

[FiatRevelli]

I second GASLIGHT, but FUBAR and the Fistful of Lead: Bigger Battles work great, too. I've played all three and enjoyed them all.

I don't know the history of the FUBAR VSF rules,but I feel like GASLIGHT is part of their DNA.

If you're not using vehicles, jet packs, wacky weapons (that you can't fudge as rifles), or that sort of thing, The Men Who Would Be Kings can work right out of the box (so to speak).

I recently used the free One Page Rules to play an encounter between French Foreign Legion vs Lost World Lizard Folk and they worked fine (I used Fantasy but the Grimdark would work as well). The hard part was finding something to function as a Gatling gun in the OPR force builder.

[Aethelflaeda was framed]

I would recommend the Fistful of Lead stable of games.

Seconded. FFOL Bigger Battles will easily handle up to 10 units per side or even more. Units could be a single figure or a mob of 20+

Even regular ffol will handle  more than 50 figures… just add more cards to the activation deck a two deck game can handle a hundred figs but the team play would be essential.

[iDreamofMinis]

I would also suggest FFOL.

That being said, I do have In Her Majesty's Name, second edition hardcover, for sale on eBay, if you're interested.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/115934561495
I just never used the rules.  The book is really nice though.  A lot of inspiration.

For me, FFOL is entirely more flexible and easy to customize and get on the table quickly.

[Redshank]

I've tried Soldier's Companion, MWWBK, and Death in the Dark Continent. Out of the three I currently prefer Soldier's Companion.

I found MWWBK a bit too binary in a typical "natives" vs "Europeans" battle. Either the natives get destroyed by the Europeans' fire, or they close to melee and massacre the Europeans. I am no expert in the rules and there could be subtleties and nuances we missed, but that was my impression.

I liked DitDC, but there is a peculiarity in how charges work that rubbed me up the wrong way. Basically, fire happens after moves, and if defenders' fire is good enough to degrade the chargers' morale, you "rewrite history" and move the chargers back out to a certain distance. I don't like this feature so much. That is a very personal reaction though and it's by no means a bad game (it's also a beautiful book and a great resource on Africa with dozens of army lists). You need plenty of terrain and smart tactics for the "natives" to have a chance.

I found Soldier's Companion gives a more interesting to-and-fro battle. The key reason is the morale rules. Units take penalties to their morale throws based on hits, not kills. So units can get suppressed/thrown back, but then come back for another go. Plus I like the Space:1889 setting.

SC gets knocked because in each turn only one side gets initiative and the other is restricted to reaction. Regular armies get a bonus for initiative. In practice I have never found this much of an issue.

[Metternich]

I also give a nod to the venerable Soldiers Companion.

[Red Orc]

...
I don't know the history of the FUBAR VSF rules,but I feel like GASLIGHT is part of their DNA...

I'm pretty sure our esteemed comrade Froggy the Great wrote them while we were running the Atlantis Campaign on here about 12 years ago.

That was before IHMN was our, for most of us GASLIGHT was our go-to ruleset, so there may be some influence.

[Red Orc]

Sorry, double post because I'm an idiot.

[leadfool]

Xenos Rampant!

[Metternich]

Xenos Rampant would work, but IMHO it lacks period detail that would make it inherently VSF.  Kind of a DIY for the period.