15mm sci fi. How do you eat yours?

[Jockjay]

Hi guys,
(the title is a cadbury's cream egg reference, for anyone from a place with no cream eggs.)

I have been looking into 15mm sci fi and some of the models are just plain lush, I have seen Gruntz pop up a bit, but I just wanted to ask if that is the 'main' rules set that people are using or are there any others you could recommend?

Things I look for in a game:

Tactical, with a bit of overwatch, suppressive fire etc. A linked campaign would be nice and forces numbering around platoon strength plus support. Or even a skirmish 8-12 model game. Just can't seem to dig out any deeper info on any such games.

[predhead]

Most of what you seek is covered within Tomorrow's War.  Small scale, can run fireteams of elite troops up to a platoon a side.  Has overwatch (reactions).  Published by Osprey.

No campaign really, but lots of background ideas.  Expanded in their By Dagger or Talon supplement with alien races, etc.

[Jockjay]

Thanks bud, i will have a peek. Had not heard of that one.

[capthugeca]

Or even a skirmish 8-12 model game. Just can't seem to dig out any deeper info on any such games.

For skirmish, I quite like the "Five-Core" and "Five Parsecs from Home" rules by Nordic Weasel and they do "Clash on the Fringe" for slightly larger games.

[Bergil]

Well you can use any ruleset you like really. I've used home brew games, and one or two others just changing the measurements a little.

[Dr DeAth]

Gruntz gets my vote - lots of flexibility.

[Sangennaru]

I started back in the days with Gruntz, but it really didn't strike me, since the whole system is rather plain and old-style, not to mention that it's an explicit copy of warmachine, which i find a little disturbing.

I then decided do make my own, basing it on the peculiar concept of the Turn Wheel. The system allows a dynamic activation, much more linear than an action-reaction system (that sometimes becomes a little cranky) and since the activation order depends on the unit actions, each activation offers a strategic choice. As for the size, it usually requires from 10-20 men per side, but due to the simulative approach the game can be scaled down or up without big changes.
If you fancy taking a look, for now it's still in a heavy beta-testing phase, and the manual layout is being prepared as we speak. If you'd like to try it you can PM em or join the facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/roundoffire/

The link to the LAF thread is: http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=71748.0

Needless to say, the game can be played in 15mm (on a 2x2 board) or in 28mm (on a 4x4 board) with the very same results!

Cheers!
Jack

[Froggy the Great]

I'm a fan of FUBAR for 15mm.

[john Hollyoak]

Horizon Wars is catching on at the club. I haven't played yet but the consensus seems to be that they would work in 15mm.
John

[Hobby Services]

Ground Zero Games' Stargrunt is still my first choice, with Tomorrow's War a close second.

[dijit]

With my 15mm Scifi I've played Fireteam Andromeda, AE Bounty, 40k Rogue Trader and FAD4. Also played 5 Parsecs from home (though in 28mm) - wasn't that much of a fan tbh, I think his other offering, FAD4, is far better. Gruntz seems very popular, but as has been mentioned it's very close to warmachine, and requires 2D6 rolls for each model shooting, which turns me off if you're trying to do platoon or larger scale games. Played Horizon Wars a couple of weeks back, with some tweaking it should be ok for 15mm too.

[seldon]

I've been trying rules forever and couldn't settle on one till platoon leader from legionnaire games.

I like it because it looks like a good evolution of all the things I liked from star grunt II.

Lots of pins, not so many kills. Very hard core sci fi. Solid unit design system. Overall, excellent infantry tactical game, with a few vehicles in support.

Here you have an AAR. http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=90443.0

You can get the rules in wargame vault and you can get a demo for free called infantry primer.

Only con that could be considered is that it has a learning curve, it is certainly not a beer and pretzels game, so you'll have to consider if that works for you. The author is great at answering rules doubts. For me it certainly works, can't wait for this year's expansions for the rules.

cheers
Francisco

[YPU]

Fast and dirty (FAD4) is free, so why not give it a look? I really like it, it has all the things you mention including a campaign system IIRC. I've also found the point building system to be one of the more balanced ones I think. It also has a few ways of generating "random" forces if your into that kind of thing. We found it useful if you have two forces that both look a bit bland without suggesting any kind of theme by themselves. (there are a lot of variations on slightly more sci-fi modern stuff)

[Conquistador]

Working on learning 5150:Star Army, 5150: Platoon Leader, and 5150:  Battalion Commander.