Simple SF skirmish rules?

[Ddogwood]

So it's the time of year when I start thinking about what kind of games I'd like to introduce my students to in the autumn. It occurs to me that I have a big 'ol stack of 28mm SF minis - Necromunda, Reaper Chronoscope, 40k, Future Wars, etc., and a fair bit of sturdy SF terrain (including a couple of sets of the old Necromunda terrain, which is great stuff).

I'm looking for a SF skirmish game that I could teach easily and play quickly. Any recommendations?  My preferences are that it should be:

• Infantry-focused - rules for vehicles are nice but not necessary
• Generic, so I don't have to spend a lot of time making up unit profiles or coming up with "counts as" rules
• Skirmish scale - 5 to 20 models per side
• Simple to teach and learn - if it takes more than 5-10 minutes to explain all the major rules, it's a no-go
• Leaning towards realism - keeping in cover, using suppressive fire, and so on should be rewarded; walking around in the open should be a bad idea
• Fast-playing - a game should take 2 hours, tops, from set-up to take-down (the shorter the better)
• Free or inexpensive is a nice bonus

I don't want a game that is tied closely to an existing IP, so games like Necromunda, 40k, Mercs, Deadzone and so on are out. I have looked at Tomorrow's War but it seems more complex than what I want. I have Mutants and Death Ray Guns, which is close to what I'm looking for, but that's a bit too focused on wacky campaigns and post-apocalyptic Gamma World style play, where I'm looking for something a touch more gritty.

It would be cool to have something like Lion Rampant, where there are only a few unit profiles that can cover a wide variety of models.

I don't know a lot about what's out there in SF skirmish rules, so maybe my perfect game exists and I just don't know about it. Can anyone help me?

[Jagannath]

5 Paraec from Home (a 5Core spin-off) is brilliant for more pulpy, adventure type sci fi and is really light on rules. Cover works excellently for the type of battle it's designed for and you can stat up anything basically.

I'm a big fan.

[Drachenklinge]

5 Paraec from Home (a 5Core spin-off) is brilliant for more pulpy, adventure type sci fi and is really light on rules.

Potzblitz ... since I have registered in here there is usually not a week - often not a day - without a new link worth a bookmark found in here. I feel like such a noob ... and I am doing tabletop since around 2000 ... or maybe not. 

Thanks! actually also thanks to no one in particular 
DK

[dijit]

First stop would be to have butchers through here:
http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=60567.0

Personally I like Fantastic Worlds for pulpy scifi, though it has damage tracks, which I find rather annoying.

[Momotaro]

If you like Mutants and Death Ray guns, there's a more realistic version of the game for modern firefights called Flying Lead.  It covers near-future SF like Stargate, although you'll be looking back to MDRG for the SF trappings.

In The Emperor's Name is free - it has a huge range of stats so it doesn't have to feel like 40k.  Its successor game is In Her Majesty's Name, published by Osprey - although it's steampunk, it wouldn't take much to use the core rules for SF.  Main differences are IHEN uses a D6 and is free; IHMN uses a D10 and is about £12.  Not massively realistic though.

Judge Dredd is actually a decent generic SF game with straightforward rules.  It has a wide range of character, weapon/armour and equipment stats, as well as psionics and vehicles.  The core rules are a free download from the Warlord website and will give you a taste of the game.  Not vastly realistic either.

5 Parsecs from Home is built for campaign sandbox play - your crew will have adventures, some will die or retire, others will prosper.  Think of it a bit like Basic D&D.  Neat game, very simple and elegant rule system.

Two Hour Wargames do a couple of Scifi games - 5150 Star Army for military characters and 5150 Urban Renewal for civilians.  There's also Chain Reaction, which uses the same core rules and is free to download.  Worth a look but VERY different from most wargames - they use a reaction system when a figure is shot at, charged etc.  More experienced characters will shoot back, take cover; rookies will run away or huddle down and not move again.  Once you've played a game or two you get the hang of it.

THW games are certainly realistic, but perhaps too much - the feel is of you leading a gang or team that doesn't always follow orders as you'd planned.  Can handle a couple of figures per side up to a squad or two plus vehicles easily.

The difference between the 5150 games and Chain Reaction is two-fold - first, they will have more SF trappings (a range of armour and weapons) and second they come with an excellent campaign systems that includes single-side or solo play.

Lastly there's FUBAR (and its variant 1-page 40k which has more SF stuff already baked in).  Simple but elegant game system including infantry and vehicles, covered completely in a couple of sides of A4.  There are various advanced bolt-ons floating around the web if you want more detail.  Remember with games like this, as with Lion Rampant, what "X hits" means is up to you - five guys or one tough hombre?

[Ddogwood]

Ah, FUBAR looks very close to what I want, thank you!  I'll have to check out Flying Lead, too - I like the Song of Blades and Heroes system quite a lot.

[magokiron]

I'm a big fan of PULP ALLEY.

Pretty much meets all your criteria.

AND there is a free download with the core rules (simple version) so you can check if it suits you.

Hope that helps.

[comet5]

A friend of mine has being playing Lion Rampant using his Marvel Heroclix figures.  It seems to pay very well.  No rule changes just unit names changed.  For instance Shield agents are played as bidowers.

Or as someone else mentioned Flying Lead is OK, a bit clunkier than Songs of Blades though in my experience, probably due to more weapon types. 

[Mr. Peabody]

Another vote for Pulp Alley as a very flexible and fun set of rules. Folks have adapted it to sci-fi settings with little or no trouble at all, but it is at heart a very cinematic game.

At the other end of the spectrum, 'No Stars in Sight' also by the author of '5 Parsecs from Home', offers some very nice sci-fi play with an emphasis on command and control.

[Hat Guy]

Another vote for Dredd, used it to play 40K and Star Wars as well as Dredd so far.

[Earther]

KR 16 rules from Angel Barracks: http://angelbarracks.co.uk/rules.html

And they're free!  

[emosbur]

Generic: Hell by Starlight, by Jim Webster.

No fully generic: Stargrunt by Ground Zero Games.

May be these ones not are as simple as you need.

[krieghund]

The Use Me rules from 15mm.co.uk might be worth a look.

[hummus]

+1 for fubar
and one page 40k and also try onepage killteam