VSF Game recommendation: Somewhere between skirmish and mass combat

[Lawful Evil]

Evening all, I'm after a game recommendation, if you don't mind.

Like many of you, I'm sure, I've got a bunch of rulesets in the works, mostly with the intention of creating something I like or filling a particular niche I want to play. I'd say my rules have a distinct Matakishi flavour, in that they are designed to recreate one setting or support one genre very well (I can't make the claim they are in any way comparable to the quality and playability of Matakishi's rules, however).
My Resident Evil rules do this; they simulate (in my mind, at least) the feel of the newer RE games, small groups of skilled mercs and soldiers surviving a T-Virus outbreak, fighting hordes of zombies and mutating enemies, scavenging ammo and resources. It doesn't do anything else particularly well; it's clearly a RE game and it's good at that.

One ruleset I've neglected for a while is a VSF Mars game at a scale larger than skirmish but smaller than full on mass combat, probably around 50 figures a side, max.
It has powerful heroes that can stand up to a squad of enemy grunts and come out the victor, infantry, cavalry, war machines, giant beasts, elite and unique units. Most squads are loose groups of 3-10 figures. There are psychic powers, magic, orders issued by barking sergeants and volley fire for the redcoats.

I really like the flavour of the genre and the fluff I've assembled around the setting, loose though it is, and most of it cribbed from the manufactures of the miniatures themselves. Mindless Radon Zombies shuffle to war at the command of the She Valkyrii of Helene while the Galactic Rangers, lead by Dash Daring, protect Mars from the merciless hordes of the sub zero, cephalopodic Uranians.
One of the key mechanics is the use of many different dice types; the stronger the character, the higher their dice type. The John Carter pastiche rolls a D12 in combat while your average redcoat rolls a D4. Obviously the average rank and file plinker should have Buckley's chance of besting the Warlord of Mars. As a group though, a half dozen Tommys have better odds or surviving.
Shooting is handled with dice from DUST Tactics; a crosshairs is a hit, a blank a miss and more accurate or faster firing miniatures roll more dice, improving their chances to hit (two out of six faces of the D6 show a crosshair, giving each die a 1-in-3 chance to hit).

The reason I've neglected the game so long is the last few times I tried to playtest it, the whole thing fell apart. It just didn't work. Individual parts function on their own, such as the magic system (which I'm quite happy with, very risk vs. reward), but as a complete game it couldn't hold up. I was aiming for the granularity of a skirmish game, replete with individual special rules, but the squad dynamics of something larger.

I'm asking you knowledgeable lot if you know of a game that does all of the above that I could shoehorn this into? A game where small squads and individuals can rival each other, where there is space for magic and psychic power and morale. Where squads can make actions together and lose individual miniatures when taking damage.

I look at my list of requirements and the first thing that comes to mind is some early version of 40k, and it'd be what I'm most familiar with and it's probably what I'll default to if nothing more suitable arises.

My goal is to finish and play this game, not to sell a ruleset. I'm not looking to crib anyone's work, I'm trying to find a system I can tweak in my garage (I've already bought most of the minis, it's too late to back out now!).

Thanks in advance for your recommendations and a special thanks if you read all the way to the end.

[warrenpeace]

Sinewgrab's VSF thread, "Martian Alley: the Capture of the 'Golden Malagor'," is something that you probably want to look at. That game used Pulp Alley, and included use of "gangs" of 5 figures each, along with individual characters of varied ability. Sinewgrab has a European colonial faction that has invaded Mars, the "Free Norwegians." But he also has a variety of Barsoom inspired figures from Bronze Age Miniatures and elsewhere. That game was one of the most fun that I've ever played.

I think I understand the scale of action that you want to depict, although your use of terms is a bit different from mine. One set of rules that aims for the size of battle that you describe, while including individual leaders and heroes, is Triumph and Tragedy. However, that does not include the use of the different die sizes that you like. And it seems as if you want to give heroes a more prominent role. Perhaps more Pulp than "military" in feel?

Pulp Alley is what I would recommend. With the use of the "gangs" and "crews" rules Pulp Alley would allow perhaps 25 to 40 figures per side if there were two "leagues" per side. Normally a player runs a single league. Pulp Alley was designed for 2 to 4 players per game, each playing one "league," and can handle about 5 players before it starts to bog down.

Pulp Alley isn't about military games, however. The emphasis is on Pulp, as the name suggests. Pulp Alley does use d6, d8, and d10, with some limited use of d12. Doesn't use any d4 though, but you could "house rule" a use of d4 into the game, as I'm thinking of doing for "down" characters (who are not normally the target of attacks, and don't attack themselves). Instead of using a more complete range of the available die types, Pulp Alley also varies the number of dice rolled, while also allowing for some rerolls.

The six levels of character in Pulp Alley are:
1. Terror (a leader level character on steroids)
2. Leader
3. Sidekick
4. Ally
5. Follower
6. Gangs and Crews (groups of 5 or 6 figures which act as a single character)

The gangs and crews can give a scenario a military look without detracting from the emphasis on the heroes/villains and sidekicks. I'm thinking of adapting Pulp Alley for a Spanish Civil War game by using gangs (military fire teams) and crews (for larger weapons and vehicles).

Although the original aim of Pulp Alley was to depict pulp style hero vs villain actions in the 1920's and 1930's, it's not genre bound. Players are using Pulp Alley for everything from Ancient Greek gods and heroes to fantasy to westerns to futuristic sci-fi. It handles weird abilities and magic through use of special abilities and perils. It also now has some specific horror stuff available. The Pulp Alley Leagues supplement includes some suggestions for adapting Pulp Alley to several different genres.

I don't regret a dime that I've spent on Pulp Alley stuff, rule books, cards, figures, etc.

Another game that makes use of d4 through d12, while emphasizing heroes/villains is Savage Worlds. I've read of players and GM's using up to 50 figures in a game. I've played in a Savage Worlds tavern brawl, and I can say that it's a fun system. Although I will probably stick with Pulp Alley for most of my games, I like the Savage Worlds supplement books. I have the Savage Worlds books for pirates and Pulp. Savage Worlds has a specific Mars setting, which is more of a broad "sword and planet" thing rather than being too specific to ERB's Barsoom. I plan to translate a lot of Savage Worlds ideas into Pulp Alley scenarios or campaigns. I'd say that Savage Worlds is well worth the money.

[Froggy the Great]

Also check out VSF FUBAR - it works well for 15-30 soldiers plus steam toys.

[d phipps]

If you'd like to take a look at the Pulp Alley rules, you can download a free version. It doesn't include everything but it has enough to get you started -- https://store.pulpalley.com/


HAVE FUN

[Lawful Evil]

Thanks for the recommendations, all.
I own both PA and FUBAR, but never thought to scale them up to battles equal to the size I'm envisioning. I'll give them a go and see what I come up with. Hopefully I'll have some pictures of the miniatures up soon, since that's why we are all really here 

[warrenpeace]

One way to scale up the size of the Pulp Alley game is to select the "Commander" ability for the leader. That gives extra "slots" to the league, at the price of a less formidable individual leader. There is also the "Rally" ability for a leader that helps make "gangs" more durable in action, again at a cost.

[Froggy the Great]

You can find VSF FUBAR here, by the way:
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B6HUGmJgXqKHYmhQLUJ6QWMweGs&usp=sharing

[Lawful Evil]

Thanks for the link, mate. I used FUBAR as the basis of the aforementioned RE rules, adding campaign elements and zombie specific flavour as necessary. It's a simple, solid ruleset, and best of all, it has vehicle rules!

[vodkafan]

Wasn't there a Big Battles Gaslight which could be possibly tweaked for this?