Looking for rules sets advice

[Willypold]

I currently have a fairly large number of Red Blok figures for AT-43 (plus a number of Karman minis), and recently bought the Dust Tactics game.

I've been wondering if SOTR could be a possible rules set, particularly since reading Anatoli's entry on the vehicle design rules. Would it be a good choice? Is it fun? Can I use my existing figures? I've also been looking at Warlord Games Bolt Action series of figures and vehicles as complements to a weird army or two.

Any thoughts on this?

[Hat Guy]

SOTR is one of the best wargames systems I've ever played. No hyperbole, it's solid and fun to play. At my local Club we use Warlord, Crusader, Dust Tactics, AT-43, Heroclix, Wargames Factory, Eureka, Grindhouse and Games Workshop figures in our armies, maiking each one unique, even when they're the same faction. Each Army has 3-4 different lists to build from, giving you options to expand.

Also, sometime this year, there should be a Pacific Theatre book being released.

[SBMiniaturesGuy]

Two Hour Wargames has a weird war 2 source book coming out in June called "War Without End" that will have WW2 mecha, rocket troops, weird weapons, real tech, zombies and all sorts of stuff:

http://2hourblog.blogspot.com/

[Willypold]

Sounds good, both systems! Seems like I really should check them out!

One more question... Do any of them have room for cigar-chomping albino gorillas in power armour, flying around in fifties style washing machines? Or put differently – is there room for a Karman army in any of these rulesets? I like AT-43, but what I really like is the idea behind the weird war, using things like Tigers, mechas and supernatural stuff together...

[infelix]

I can definitely recommend Secrets of the Third Reich. We have just started playing it in my club and this far in we love it. The rules are pretty solid, mixes some quite 'old' mechanics with new ones and it works well when you had a couple of test games. Using miniatures from AT-43 and Dust shouldn't be any problems at all.

The only downside I've found this far is that the rulebook can be a bit confusing sometimes when you first read it and it doesn't have a index.

I can also recommend that you check out the official forum, they answer rules questions quite fast there if there is anything you need help with.

[Commander Vyper]

SOTR is a great system, the forum has a number of updates and errata sections which help clarify some of the issues. Figures wise you don't need to use just West Wind stuff so go creative!

Oh and Soviet monkey mutants/ape abominations are a definate!

The Commander

[Aldramelech]

Also check out FUBAR, a free online set of rules that can be customized to suit anything.

[SBMiniaturesGuy]

<q>Do any of them have room for cigar-chomping albino gorillas in power armour, flying around in fifties style washing machines?</q>

Yep! In NUTS! War Without End you'll have a lot of flexibility on how to create things. You can design supersoldier types, so perhaps the Gorillas (if they are tough) could have enhanced strength and so on. Power armor rules are in there, and you could create your vehicles using a new vehicle design system. But as with any gamer, it never hurts to try out some systems until you get the one you like the best.

[Willypold]

Ok, a good selection of games to try out! Thanks for the advice guys!

[infelix]

While I haven't tried NUTS! I have played a lot of All Thins Zombie and standard Chain Reaction and can highly recommend their rules as well as Secrets.. They might not be everyones cup of tea but they are definitely worth trying out. And the Chain Reaction system, which the others are based on is free to try.

[richarDISNEY]

I know there are a lot of folks here who like SotTR, but it was not for me.

I preferred AE:WW2.  Neat system and and fairly fast playing.

Nuts! is also excellent, and I am really looking forward to that new supplement!

[infelix]

AE:WW2 is most definitely a option and it also has some good and solid rules. I have the rulebooks and the starters, just never got around of playing it for some reason.
The thing that made me start Secrets instead of AE was the scale, we went for the bigger then skirmish. I do use the odd miniature from AE as they have some really nice ones.

[SBMiniaturesGuy]

You can try the Chain Reaction system (used by NUTS and other Two Hour Wargames rules) for free, and there are some free scenarios on the left side. The "Gangsters" one has 1930s weapons in it that are close enough for a WW2 test drive:

http://www.angelfire.com/az3/twohourwargames/pages/cr3.htm

There's also a VERY active Yahoo Group where you can can any question you may have answered pretty quickly:

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/twohourwargames/

[vaganardi]

AEWWII is a great system for squad vrs squad, SotTR is a great system for Platoon level, and if your looking for a reat board game, give Incursion a go.