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http://www.mercsminis.com/

This company just finished development on the own game and rules for a heroic scale scifi skirmish game. They've had beta rules on their forums for a while that I just found after I registered to ask about the rules (which they have been way too secretive about).

The miniatures are all pretty good, have more animation stylings than realism (similar to Infinity, but chunkier). I think many of us have seen their cool Yellowjacket Trooper models.

Looking at the beta rules...
It's a very small skirmish game not sure how it scales, but it's meant for just a few models, 3-5. Limited reconfigurability. The space you need to play also seems very small, 2x3 or so, considering how movement is handled.

Distances (movement, shooting, etc...) are handled via cards. These also double as the stat cards for a model. On each stat card there are cut outs on the top, bottom, and sides. When you move, each MP the model has allows you to line up the card with the miniature at the bottom half circle cut out, and place the miniature in any of the other 3 cut outs. You have to maintain a model's facing as it moves, however you are allowed a free turn of up to 90 degrees before or after movement, any extra turn has to be paid for with 1 MP. Also, you cannot place the card in a way where you move into an area where the model doesn't have line of sight (180 degrees front) so no moving backwards while facing forward (at least not that I read).

Shooting range is once again determined by cards lengths. It's interesting to note that short range is basically only one card distance and gives a bonus to hit, melee is one 30mm base distance away (short ranged weapons can be used in melee) and some weapons are only short ranged. Anything else is long range which has no penalties. There is no max range. Considering the maps and scale are so small, it works. There are a lot of modifiers to shooting, things like leadership, cover, the usual stuff, but it seems to matter more.

I didn't read much about the initiative system, but there's reactions, simultaneous actions, and more, which sounds good at this small scale. But unlike infinity, there's a limit to them so things don't get bogged down by them. Facing really matters

Most troops have 3 "Blood", AKA hits/wounds.

Overall, it seems like a very detailed and interesting system. There's a lot of tactical options while playing, although right now there's a limited number of troops, and what looks like no real way to configure them. I'm not too keen on the cards for movement though, the same thing could be accomplished via tape measure and something to track facing, but it shouldn't be problem considering the very small scale of the game.

There's more elements to the game, like little free moves to snap to cover and such, but I'll respect the devs and not reveal everything. Although you can go and see for yourself.

From my read through, I'll probably invest in a pack of cards to try out the rules, although I'll be making my own movement templates for use with 3D terrain. I'm already planning to buy a set of miniatures to use in other games. It's an interesting system that's made for very small firefights between 3-5 man fireteams on very small playing areas (think Clix game maps) and lots of cover use.

Vertrucio, Thanks for posting about this new MERCS game. I had not heard of it before. Your post prompted me to head on over to their website and check the beta rules out (registration required).

The rules seem pretty straight forward, but I am hesitant with the whole card measurement system - it seems like it was developed as a 2D game, and they decided somewhere along the way to add minis, then they also decided that you COULD play with 3D terrain as well. (I come from a Necromunda background, so I don't feel at home without lots and lots of tall structures on the tabletop... and lots of cover too.)

If it plays as fast and furious as the developers make it sound, then this could be a quality game.

I would almost just want to house rule the movement, and say that you could move up to 4" for each movement point (MP) your character has. -- I know... I'm thinking about how to "improve" the game and I haven't even played it as written yet.

To be honest, you can just handle movement with an index card where the edges are cut down to the correct distances that represent 1 "card" worth of distance. And the beta rules mention something about using the edge of the current cards already, which will be marked with movement distances too.

They do use the cards in some other nice ways, but for movement, and the notches in the cards is a bit much. Especially since the game is to take place in heavily urban areas.

Overall, still buying the minis and some test cards when I get the chance.