Looking for 28mm Sci-Fi Skirmish Rules 30 - 40 Figures a side plus vehicles

[armchairgeneral]

As the title says, I am looking for a good set of 28mm scale sci-fi rules with back story (not GW/40K or Star Wars) for games 30 - 40 figures a sides with a few support/heavy weapons and the odd vehicle.

[LouieN]

One Page Rules - Grim Dark Future

[Leadjunky]

I like as LouieN suggested One Page Rules Grimdark Future, but would equally suggest Xenos Rampant from Osprey and Glactic Heroes/Bigger Battles from Wiley Games.

[Seal]

I have to agree with the previous posts. Xenos Rampant and One Page Rules’ Grim Dark are both winners.

[Chief Lackey Rich]

Stick with the classics.  That's about what a platoon-sized Stargrunt game handles whether you use 15mm or 28mm figs, which is a comfortable size once you're familiar with the system.  Benefits include having a system where troop experience, leader quality and morale are all meaningful factors instead of getting abstracted into a die roll or two, clever mechanics for passing actions down the command structure chain, and the chance to watch realistic tactics actually work on the tabletop.

Of course an entirely free rules set downloadable from Ground Zero Games doesn't hurt any either. 

Been around for decades and while some its tech assumptions are getting a little out of date (it could use some updated drone rules, like almost all games pre-Ukraine) the core of it still hasn't been beat by anyone.  Closest I've seen was Tomorrow's War, but that one kind of stumbled somewhere along the line.   

[nozza_uk]

I'd recommend Xenos: Rampant or Fistful of Lead: Bigger Battles.

[mellis1644]

The 'Mass Brutality' rules might work  as well.

[Cat]

For classics with solid backstories, but clunky 1980s rules if you're willing to deal with that, there's Striker for the Traveller RPG, and BattleTech: Battletroops.

[armchairgeneral]

Thanks for all the comments so far. I have Xenos Rampant which is really good. I suppose it is more the back story I am after.

[Aethelflaeda was framed]

pick a novel by Larry Niven or Jerry Pournelle, and a copy of fistful of lead and you have all you need.

[Basementboy]

What is it that you mean by backstory? If you’re talking about one with a pre-made setting then Dottskrieg, Solar Sign Alpha, and Hyper Sleep Saga are all good, and FREE!

[armchairgeneral]

What is it that you mean by backstory? If you’re talking about one with a pre-made setting then Dottskrieg, Solar Sign Alpha, and Hyper Sleep Saga are all good, and FREE!

I suppose a pre-made setting with brief intro and lists for the various armies. Something a bit like Gates of Antares I suppose. With GoA I didn’t like the rules or the figures. I play WW2 Chain of Command a lot so a sci-fi version of this would be ideal.

[Battle Brush Sigur]

Well, about 10 years ago a friend and I tried playing 40k with CoC rules. Here's the battle report: https://tabletopstories.net/language/en/2019/08/chainsword-of-command-the-40k-ening/

There never was a follow-up though. For the size bracket you're lookig for I suggest Xenos Rampant (review and battle report: https://tabletopstories.net/language/en/2024/03/xenos-rampant-review-and-test-game. It's not complicated, it's not fancy, but it does get the job done and can be applied to a ton of different settings. Right now, I'm also kinda impressed with Battle Suit Alpha, for its excellent card activation mechanism.

Personally I currently prefer to steer clear of any rules sets that come with their own setting, because when it comes to sci-fi I bring my settings with me depening on which figures I use. Keeps the rules focused rather than trying to 'do their own thing'.


I mean if you wanna go proper sci-fi and crunchy, there's always Tomorrow's War. Stargrunt's been on my to-do list for about 10 years, but I never got to try it myself.

[Rick]

I have Striker (both), Battletroops and DMZ (Battletroops for Shadowrun) - all suffer from trying to shoehorn a skirmish wargame into an rpg or bigger scale wargame - frankly Battletroops seriously needs an Alpha-Strike style overhaul to make it playable. I have Tomorrow's War as well and, although it's very good, it takes a lot of pre-game set-up for each game. For a fairly simple game, minimal set-up and a fun game, get Xenos Rampant or Stargrunt II (get the Dirtside rules as well for vehicle design). Stargrunt II is one of those games that got the balance of crunch and playability just about right.

[Cat]

Yassss, Battletroops Alpha-Strike would definitely be in order!
 
Also a pity that Frank Chadwick never revisited Striker after he levelled up his design skills with Command Decision several years later.