No Limits, Fast and Dirty or......?

[Onebigriver]

Been thinking for a while of doing something sci fi that requires 20 to 40 figures per side and ideally could make use of the plot generator in the Rogue Trader rulebook. For the background I've plumped for the Dr Who universe in the 26th Century as it can make use of figures that I have (all those placcy Daleks for one) and there is an Earth Empire bordering the Draconian Empire, so there is potential for using some of the RT scenarios. Plus the background isn't so rigid that I can't bring in other alien species.

Question is, I've looked at Fast and Dirty and No Limits as potential rules for this, but which is better? Or should I be considering another (preferably free) rules set?

[Froggy the Great]

FUBAR is everything I wanted FAD to be, and is only one page.

[midismirnoff]

I haven't played anything mentioned  but I'm a fan of Two Hours Wargames for this kind of stuff you have in mind. And CR 3.0 is free; it isn't scifi, but you can customize it.

[Pentaro]

I used to play FAD a lot. I really like it, it's very fast and easy to learn. There's different levels of training, suppression, medics and vehicles. You can build custom armies but it takes a while to calculate the point costs, if you really need them. It's great for 20+ miniatures and a few vehicles.

[Hupp n at em]

I have both FAD and FUBAR on my computer, haven't yet played a game with either.   I'm more inclined to try FUBAR as it's simpler (to say nothing of Tomorrow's War which I will likely play when it comes out.)
I also looked at No Limits at one point, but at a glance, they seemed like a "not 40k" ruleset, which to me isn't a good thing.
Jim

[Hat Guy]

I'm giving FAD a decent go on Friday night, it looks good, but I'll do a proper report.

[Ulu Elsomalien]

I haven't played anything mentioned  but I'm a fan of Two Hours Wargames for this kind of stuff you have in mind. And CR 3.0 is free; it isn't scifi, but you can customize it.

5150 is the scifi variant of Chain Reaction. Costs 20/25$ (pdf/printed)

[dijit]

I quite like FAD4 my self. You could also try some that I wrote: Crimson Dusk, http://www.crimsondusk.webs.com/. It's got potential, but needs work. What it does offer that FAD4 doesn't are more personality driven games. Can't say how it compares to FUBAR not having tried. If you're using the plot generator from RT, why not just use RT? It's a fairly decent ruleset, when used with a little common sense.
Duncan

[Hrothgar]

Another vote for FUBAR here. In addition to having clean, elegant core set of mechanics, FUBAR has a crazy amount of support from its community, with new supplements being created by fans on an ongoing basis. I really like FAD4, but I feel that FUBAR gives me a very similar feeling game with less work and abstraction. Also, I like how FUBAR scales more easily than FAD. You can easily have a platoon sized engagement or a five man/side skirmish with FUBAR.

All that said, the core mechanics of RT are still pretty fun and give a good game.

Jason

[blacksmith]

Chain Reaction is great and free and easily converted into sci-fi. Here you can see a sci-fi 4 scenarios campaign using CR3.0: http://javieratwar.blogspot.com/search/label/Battle%20Reports.%20Chain%20Reaction%203.0

[Onebigriver]

Thanks for the input, folks. I'm leaning towards No Limits as FAD seems to be a bit deadly. I worry about FUBAR rendering all the alien races I want to include a bit samey, but I will have a look at Forge of War.

The CR3 system is something I want to give a go but I don't see it as suitable rules for 20+ figures a side. I'm willing to stand corrected though!