Another "Looking For Rules" Topic...

[Stavros Banjo]

A friend of mine is looking to get back into some skirmish gaming & so we're trying to wade through the endless rule sets out there to see if something tickles his fancy. Never been a sci-fi gamer myself & can't really come up with much so was hoping you fine fellows could throw some suggestions into the ring.

Looking for skirmish rules for around 10-20 figures per side, 15mm or 28mm, individually based. I know from past experience that he like his rules pretty crunchy & with plenty of meat so wouldn't be interested in fast-play basic games. Leaning more towards hard sci-fi than fantasy stuff. Infinity was my obvious suggestion but the miniatures & Anime styling's not pushing the right buttons.

Anybody got any ideas?

PS. Should probably mention that printed rules would be preferred. Not a fan of those new-fangled PDF thingies in these here parts.

[Elbows]

Wish I could help ya...perhaps download the old Necromunda rules or look into Inquisitor 28? 

[Agis]

Shameless plug: Maybe try my Victory Decision Future Combat rules.
 
http://www.adpublishing.de/html/future_combat_vide.html

[Stavros Banjo]

Shameless plug: Maybe try my Victory Decision Future Combat rules.
 
http://www.adpublishing.de/html/future_combat_vide.html

Thanks Agis, already looked into that one. It certainly ticks most of the boxes & is on the short list. However, when I mentioned that it's only available as a PDF, I got one of those looks that I normally only get from my wife when I've been naughty. We're a bit old fashioned in these parts, preferring olde worlde printed rule books.
 

[Cherno]

I like the Goalsystem games from Four Color Studios. Blasters & Bulkheads is vey adaptable and features enough templates to do anything from Star Wars to Aliens (1986).

[tnjrp]

Not much to add to what I said here
http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=84928
and here
http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=75724
already. Ten to twenty models per side is a bit on the low side for Defiance but it should work with some careful troop selection (and it gets "crunchier" too if you do so). If you don't find the normal rules complex enough to your liking, there are various genre option in the full rulebook, including "realistic" option which gets pretty detailed.

In the case of Infinity, if you really like the system you should be able to use it with models other than the official ones. We do, for a large part. We do have some official minis too of course since we happen to think they are actually pretty nice -- or were, before they upped the size with N3 edition

[c0cky30]

Black Ops

[Agis]

Thanks Agis, already looked into that one. It certainly ticks most of the boxes & is on the short list. However, when I mentioned that it's only available as a PDF, I got one of those looks that I normally only get from my wife when I've been naughty. We're a bit old fashioned in these parts, preferring olde worlde printed rule books.

LOL!  Perfectly fine!

I have two books that are also available as Print on Demand (ViDe WWII and Gear Krieg).
Both books are around 95 % pdf sales! I expected something different, but somehow printbooks seem to decline for small run rulebooks...

[dijit]

You could also give AE bounty a try. It's got a slightly retro style to it, but played well, even if there are a few niggling problem (mainly with heavy weapons - grenade launchers out do the others). And it can be picked up in print.

[mellis1644]

Tomorrows War by Osprey may be an option but may need a few more figs than you want. It's not got points though (although there is an unofficial version by the authors) so as long as you are good at creating scenario's this may work.

[Stavros Banjo]

Thanks all, much appreciated 

Defiance from MJ12 looks promising after a quick read through the freebie copy of the basic rules. Certainly looks like it's got some depth & a bit of crunch to it. I'll pass it on to Mr fussy. Sounds pretty much what he's looking for, thanks.

Not quite so sure about Tomorrow's War. We spent a lot of time trying to get to grips with Force on Force, which I assume uses the same rules as Tomorrow's War. Once we'd finally got our heads around the much hyped 'action-reaction' system, we actually found the game quite dull. Maybe we missed something, but really couldn't see what all the fuss was about 

[n815e]

Judge Dredd rules from Warlord are pretty flexible and adaptable (you can use them for non-Dredd settings).  The main rule book has a free pdf you can download from the company to check out.  If you like them, there is a well produced hardback book you can get in stores.

[hummus]

some good free rule sets:
In the emperors name
https://iten-game.org/downloads

one page kill team
https://onepagerules.wordpress.com/portfolio/one-page-kill-team/

and a lovely simple set flashburn
http://panzer8.weebly.com/rules.html

[eilif]

Tomorrow's War would be good, though you'd want to lean a bit towards 20 figs per side than 10.  Definitely crunchy and realistic and of course it's available in print.

No Limits is PDF, but it's also free and offers a medium-crunchy experience.  https://nolimitswargames.wordpress.com/downloads/

If you find that Tomorrows War gives you too much control or you like a REALLY deep reaction mechanic, 5150 might be a good option and is available in print.
http://www.twohourwargames.com/5150stararmy.html

EDIT:  Just saw that you didn't like FoF.  Tomorrow's War probably isn't for you then.  If you like the reaction system mechanics though I'd still take a look at 5150 by Two Hour Wargames. You can get a feel for the THW reaction system via their free ruleset "Chain Reaction" here: http://www.twohourwargames.com/free.html

[mcfonz]

Gruntz might be worth a look. I believe the rules are free too. As for pdf, print em off and get them bound!