Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Sounds like you're leaning toward Heavy Gear, but if you want to dabble in fantasy I second the calls for Advanced Song of Blades and Heroes or Frostgrave. Both games are quite affordable at aroudn $20 in print or much less in PDF so buy both!

Both games have some proprietary figures, but are designed for you to play with any figures you wish. If you haven't already done so, the freedom of being able to buy any of the best (or just the ones you like best) miniatures and play them in a well-designed and fun skirmish game is quite wonderful.

Necromunda.

Pulp City.

Superfigs.

Frostgrave.

Salvage Mogul.

Deepwars.

This is Not a Test.

1st edition D and D.

I also want to +1 Frostgrave and This is Not a Test

Games I recommend:

Necromunda
Shadow War Armageddon

Games that have been recommended to me:

Malifaux
Frostgrave

have you seen 1-48TACTIC?
it's a very fast-paced skirmish scale WWII game, which uses stat cards and tokens to produce a brutally realistic simulation without tables etc...

The game works great already with as few as 4 figures per side and the rules are available for free, including some cards and all tokens needed... check it out: http://1-48tactic.com/

 Zygrot24 wrote:
Song of Blades and Heroes. Inexpensive, quality ruleset.
Use any minis you want, from cheap Reaper Bones to whatever you can imagine.
So it's as expensive as you want it to be. Honestly, this game rekindled mini gaming in my gaming group. Being able to build super modular force lists using any minis we want to a theme (or not) was liberating and made everyone want to revisit other settings, like 40k.

I second this (technically 'third' as I have already commented once about it.). Advanced Song of Blades and heroes (Advanced mostly just meaning more skills available to give figures than the original game) is going to be my go-to for my son's first mini game, using Lego Minifigures as they are nigh-indestructible.

Gangfight Games looks fun but I'm not sure I like the current wounds mechanic as it takes lots of successful attacks to kill an opponent. But the rules otherwise work really well and are free, as well.

Song of Blades and Heroes is notably cool as it isn't dependant much on what the models are specifically holding or their armor type, so can handle pretty much any genre aside from tech-heavy 28mm sci fi (mostly because there isn't a ton of ranged skills and I find the weapons ranges in the game to be pretty short). But hell, my buddy and I are currently in talks to repurpose his old Golem Arcana models into a 10/15mm scale "fantasy Battletech" game just for fun, while at other times using Test of Honour samurai to play an L5R- esque game as he's a giant fan.

Glad I noticed the age of the tread before answering off the cuff.

Since my last post, I have to say Batman has risen in my estimation. Since cutting models to standard and releasing Batboxes its super easy to pick up and play without a huge commitment and its a solid game system overall. Really great bang for your buck.

Malifaux 3rd Edition makes that game a better deal as well, as you can now buy in more master specific silos and have a good set of options.

Infinity is also very good and while it comes across as intimidating, I find it quite approachable if you don't wade in to the deep end and instead play with something like the Operation starters and their corresponding Beyond expansions. It's the kind of game where if you just play a bit with a pre-built army you'll see how it works well enough to cut the complexity in half.

 supreme overlord wrote:
what about heavy Gear of battletech? are they drunchy/beardy or fast paced and simple?

Heavy Gear is overcomplicated to the point that I never want to play it; however, if you love the HG minis as I do, then KOG light exists as an ultralight alternative ruleset.

Locked due to thread necromancy.