Beamstrike

[Vinlander]

Hi all,
       Anyone around here play 'Beamstrike'? I've tried a couple of solo games and find it a decent little system. I'm wondering what other people's thoughts are...

Anyone know of any fansites/blogs I could look at?

If anyone wants a look-see, you can download the game here:

http://www.neilandannettec.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/beamstrike.htm

Cheers!

[Dewbakuk]

What kind of game is it?

[commissarmoody]

yeah what is it? LOL

[dijit]

The only thing I really know about it is from TMP which seems to be having a 15mm frenzy at the moment, it sometimes gets named after they've run out of other rulesets, like stargrunt and FAD4.
Duncan

[Ruarigh]

Beamstrike is a sci-fi skirmish rules set that takes its inspiration from Imperial Commander with a little Laserburn thrown in. It is aimed at individually based figures and copes with around 50 figures a side or so. There are some notes on a game we played on my blog with a few thoughts about the rules:
http://ooh-shiny-complex.blogspot.com/2009/06/beamstrike-battle-summary.html
The rules are freely downloadable and there is excellent support on the Beamstrike Yahoo group. The chaps running with this project have done a very good job of staying true to the spirit of Imperial Commander, which is an excellent rules set in its own right, while expanding on the material that was available in Imperial Commander.

[Vinlander]

Ah yes, I remember those batreps. They looked like great fun!

Very nice paintjobs Ruarigh, I quite like particoloured upper torso armour against the more conventional military green battledress. Anymore action on the Bwendi front since? 

[Ruarigh]

No recent action. Since the Bwendi Republican Armoured Troop (BRAT) beat off the perfidious Albion Defence Forces (Albion DufFors), things have been quiet. We did have a scrap on a larger scale using FutureWarCommander and our 6mm armies, but no Beamstrike or Imperial Commander. Both rules sets are on the list of games due to be played, but other things keep getting in the way. We really need more time for gaming. Once a week is not enough to play everything that interests us before we are too old to pick the figures up.

[keeper]

I've used Beamstrike for some solo gaming, and I've got a couple of GZG mechanised platoons painted up and ready to play - just struggling to get the lads I game with to plan a sci-fi wargame!

CoC again next week! (not that CoC is bad - I just need more scifi!)

[Vinlander]

Seems we're in the same boat then.

Welcome aboard! 

[keeper]

I forgot to mention that there is a Yahoo group for Beamstrike which is quite active and has some interesting files uploaded there too.  Worth signing up if you haven't already, Vinlander

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/Beamstrike_Sci-fi_Game/

[dijit]

How small games can beamstrike handle? Could it be used for small scale skirmish games with a reasonable amount of detail/character? This is my only problem with 15mm that the minis seem to loose character and I'm afraid the rules would too.

[keeper]

As small as you want.  IIRC the Beamstrike rules encourage you to flesh out background to your heroes and there is nothing to stop you taking a small unit of your heroes against a small unit of enemy heroes.  Only played it solo with small forces, but I've had quite successful 5 vs 5 games on my own in an hour.

You don't get huge amounts of details like you would if playing GW Inquisitor or Anschluss' Through Smoke and Fire - in Beamstrike gunfire is lethal if it hits you and it can get through your armour.  As with any ruleset, especially a free one like Beamstrike, grab a copy, scan through the sections of interest and look at the tables and see if it is the sort of game you want to play.

Beamstrike is also very open to house rules and customisation.  If you're feeling that its almost OK, if only ... then change whatever you don't like for a different rule you like better.

I'm going to stop now before I start rambling, but I think you get the idea I like the Beamstrike rules for 15mm gaming

[Vinlander]

 I'm a member of that group already Keeper!! 

 Good bunch with a lot of great resources.

Anyone have any experience with 'Imperial Commander' then? How do the two stack up?

[Ruarigh]

Here are some notes about, and a battle report for, Imperial Commander.
http://ooh-shiny-complex.blogspot.com/2009/05/imperial-commander-nostalgia-fest.html

Imperial Commander does not have the same range of vehicular rules as Beamstrike, but plays in a similar manner, which is unsurprising because Beamstrike draws its inspiration from IC. Having played both, I prefer the feel of IC over Beamstrike, but I like the additional rules that Beamstrike supplies. I am not sure why I prefer IC, but I think it has to do with using inches versus centimetres for movement. Strange, eh? It could also be because IC focuses on the infantry and does not use vehicles much, and, finally, I think that IC has the nostalgia value. I played IC to bits in the eighties and sporadically through the nineties, so coming back to it is like settling into a worn and tatty but familiar chair. It is comforting!

FWIW, both games are probably equal in terms of game play, but Beamstrike draws on and expands IC into new territory, as well as clarifying a number of issues that occur in the IC rule book.

Hope this helps,
Ruarigh

[Vinlander]

Hmmm. Food for thought.

I have the Beamstrike rules already and have given them a try. As a Christmas present to myself this year I ordered the Imperial Commander rules as well as two small forces from 15mm.co.uk (Imperial and Redemption). I really do enjoy the "retro" look of the minis. The whole quasi-arcane "science fantasy" asthetic has always turned my crank.

I'm looking forward to trying out IC and seeing for myself how they compare! I'll post a batrep if I can get hold of a decent camera...