STARGUARD! (Finally!)

[Cosmotiger]

Those hills are really impressive.  I hope we'll see some pics of the whole table put together.

Regarding 5150, it's a decent game once you get used to it, but I have two comments: 

1.)  The rulebook is not very well edited or laid out, IMO (common to the THW rulebooks in general).  My experience was that the formating and writing of the books can be a hindrance to understanding the rules, which are quite different from most SF rules I've seen.  A very fluid turn sequence, definitely not IGO-UGO.
2.)  The way the system works makes it hard to customize alien races. There are a bunch of alien races laid out in the rulebooks, but no official 'make your own' rules.  It would be possible to mix/match atributes from the given races to make your own, but I'm not sure what that might do to the game balance and playability... you'd have to experiment.

[wolfgangbrooks]

That's my experience too. It's not a bad game, but it so totally fails to live up to it's own hype it's ridiculous.

[dijit]

2.)  The way the system works makes it hard to customize alien races. There are a bunch of alien races laid out in the rulebooks, but no official 'make your own' rules.  It would be possible to mix/match atributes from the given races to make your own, but I'm not sure what that might do to the game balance and playability... you'd have to experiment.

This is exactly what turned me against 5150, otherwise I'd have been a convert. I missed the ability to form my own units with my own inspiration and choice of models.

[Doc Twilight]

2.)  The way the system works makes it hard to customize alien races. There are a bunch of alien races laid out in the rulebooks, but no official 'make your own' rules.  It would be possible to mix/match atributes from the given races to make your own, but I'm not sure what that might do to the game balance and playability... you'd have to experiment.

This is exactly what turned me against 5150, otherwise I'd have been a convert. I missed the ability to form my own units with my own inspiration and choice of models.

That's extremely distressing to hear. I had been "hyped up on it", told that it was very customizable, etc, which is important to me.
So, this would be sort of a setback for me in terms of wanting to try those rules, personally.

On the GASLIGHT front, my previous gaming group literally played those for months on end. They are certainly adaptable. The problem with them, in my opinion, is that they completely lack any period feel for the period they're supposed to represent. They are essentially a good boiler plate set of rules for adapting to multiple situations, which may in fact suit your purposes well, Grubb. But don't go to them looking for the ultimate in VSF feel, let alone Sci-Fi feel. You really have to make them your own to have them work for you.

Don't get me wrong - it's a fun system. Just doesn't grab me and scream "Welles, Verne, Haggard".

Also, one drawback to GASLIGHT may be that the vehicle rules are definitely designed for clanky, cantankerous machines (like landships, Interwar tanks, etc), you'd probably have to re-work the damage chart somewhat to fit the more "streamlined" technology of Starguard, though I suppose not necessarily if you made it all Analog tech.

-Doc

[Cosmotiger]

I have high hopes for the upcoming SF rules fromt Ganesha Games.  I believe they will be out later in 2009.  (MDRG is a cool game, but very specifically meant for the post-apocalyptic genre).  From what I've read, the SF rules will be very flexible/customizable, like Song of Blades and Heroes.

[grubman]

I have high hopes for the upcoming SF rules fromt Ganesha Games.  I believe they will be out later in 2009. 

Huh, I didn't even know Andrea was working on that...but that's very cool.  I'm a huge M&DRG and SoB&H.

Of all the rule systems people have suggested so far, I think No Limits looks like it has the most potential ( http://www.wargamesunlimited.net/nolimits/index.html ).  But I haven't done more than flip through the free PDF rules.

Anyone have any experience with No Limits?

[traveller47]

  Like I said earlier in my post Starguard is a great game. But like many sets of rules there have been many editions of this game. The people like myself that have played the game for 30 years or so. Don't play 5th edition. The game was written back in the mid 70's by a guy named Mike Scott. His first edition rules are very rare and hard to come by. The 2nd edition rules with the Orilla supplement are by far the best set of of the Starguard rules to have.  It is a great game. You see them on Ebay 3-4 times a year. The second supplement Lightning Bolts and Lasers completes the golden age Starguard rules.
 The game went down hill after that with Warbots and Death Machines. Starguard 3rd edition is not too bad,  it added the the two action order phase that stopped you from having large battles. The 4th edition rules gutted the game and is not worth the paper its printed on.
 And 5th edtition is tough to play at best, find the 2nd edition with Orilla and play that its worth the time for you to hunt them down. 

[grubman]

And exactly two weeks after I decided to build an alien world for a Starguard game, I’m finished!  Ta da!

IMHO the table looks spectacular in person, but, the picture doesn’t really do it justice.

Needless to say it can always use more and different terrain, but, this is more than enough to stage a first battle (no matter what system we end up using). 

This was certainly a lot of fun to build and I thank everyone for reading alone, offering motivating praise and useful advice and opinions.

Game On!

One sample configuration of the terrain built for the table:

[Dr. The Viking]

Wow... the progress of this thread has to break somekind of record! Of speed and strangeness! 


Looking really good - I'm tempted into doing something similar... of course!

[Torben]

Having played quite a fair bit of No Limits I can give some run downs on the game:

Pro
- Create your own army with point values
- Doesn't attempt to break any moulds (i.e. you still roll for "to hit, to wound and armour saves")
- Great for skirmish games (20 figures a side)
- Very well written rules!
- It's free!

Con's
- Hard to get a decent game in with more than 20 figures a side. (The fact that each individual model has ~10 Action Points can lead to some players starting to fiddle around with every single action point)
- Fast units are also fast shooters (IMO this just "feels" wrong but may not annoy anyone else)
- Can take a long time to play (again, individual models each with their individual 10 action points; depending on players of course)

And man, your terrain board is looking awesome!

[Argonor]

Woot, woot!! 

That table is really stunning.


As for No Limits, I have read them through, and they look as if loosely based on the rules from a big company - just with the leeway for creating your own troop types. And alternate activation, like Warzone - if I remember correctly?

[Braxandur]

I also tried No Limits and though I did like the system, I have to agree that being able of firing often if you have more actions feels a bit strange. I don't have this feeling if models just have a movement value or if the weapons have a maximum number of shots per turn.

 Song of Blades and Heroes (and spin-offs) was just a bit too oversimpliefied for me and missed it's mark completly. Especially the fact that you close combat and shooting capability are based on the same stat made no sense to me, and made it a dull game (at least in our case)

As far as generic rulesets go, I like Ætherverse and Vor. Both have nice army generation possibilites. And of course both are not for sale at the moment...  Ætherverse had the most impressive army generation system, but will probably never be back, but the skirmish rules based upon them are still for sale as a pdf(http://www.wargamedownloads.com/item.php?item=242).  Vor on the other hand managed to dissapear before they brought out the army generation book that should still have been brought out...  Luckily work on VOR 2.0 seems to progressing well and there is good hope that it will be back as a nice good rulesystem.

Then there is Stargrunt. I heard good stories and even bought the rules, but just can't seem to get them in my head.

Another option would be Combat Zone. The rules are dirt easy. To use alien races you would need to make some rules adjusments (well actually only the profiles of the aliens and their weapons need to be made up) but everything is very easily modified and it just plays like a train.

[Pil]

Lots of comments on rules systems so I'll just say that taht's a great looking table you built there! It really reflects the atmosphere the miniatures have as well. Also, the moss rocks work like a charm Great work!

[Ray Rivers]

 

That is what I have come to enjoy so much on these forums... the great imagination and skill of its' members.

First rate job on the board!

Thanks for taking the time to show us how you did it.

[Argonor]

Looking really good - I'm tempted into doing something similar... of course!

Careful, there! When I joined here, I only played Lotr Battle Companies (and some 1/72 napoleonics).... Now I'm into Future Wars, Dead Walk Again, Pulp, Pirates, WWW, and walking on the narrow edge of VSF.....