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Hi all
I’m looking for a set of miniature rules for 28mm for skirmish up to mass battle in a sci-fi setting. The game doesn't need to come with a model range to support it as I'm looking to use random figures from across my collection. I tried performing a search with no luck. I look forward to hearing your responses.

Sounds like you might want to look into Tomorrow's War: http://ambushalleygames.com/products/store/product/show/cid-66

BrookM

Do you have experience with Tomorrows War? I read a review and it made me a little concerned that it wasn’t that good.

Haven't played it myself yet, can't get anyone interested in it, but you can check here for good feedbackL http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/557822.page

Unfortunately the link to the review does not work. I guess I can search for some more reviews though, it looks like thats the most popular option at the moment.

You could always go with urban war/ metropolis from urban mammoth

Welsh, do you have experience with those/that rule set?

You could always go old-school and try Stargrunt II. You can get it as a free download from Ground Zero Games, though to be perfectly honest I find it a bit clunky at first look.

One of the things you have to be mindful of is that both SG II and Tomorrow's War are scenario-driven. They are not like 40K where you have two armies of "X" points that fight each other. So if that is what you are looking for, you may be disappointed in those two game settings.

There is also a game out there for 15mm called Gruntz. I have heard good things about it and everything for an army (infantry vehicles, mechs) can be build from the ground up with associated points costs to them. Making the setting into 28mm is as easy as doubling all ranges.

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/82863/gruntz-15mm-sci-fi

Yes! Thank you! Star Grunt II is Definitely what I'm looking for.

Cool, glad I could help.

 The_0perator wrote:
Hi all
I’m looking for a set of miniature rules for 28mm for skirmish up to mass battle in a sci-fi setting. The game doesn't need to come with a model range to support it as I'm looking to use random figures from across my collection. I tried performing a search with no luck. I look forward to hearing your responses.

First off, don't try and find a ruleset for both Skirmish and Mass Battle. I've played many and have yet to find one that does both well. In general I find that it's best to use different rulesets for different scopes of gaming. There are good sets for Skirmish, Platoon and even Company or Battallion (what many folks refer to as "mass battle")

Secondly, are you looking for a more realistic "Hard" sci-fi setting, or something a bit more sci-fantasy like Warzone or 40k.

If you're definitely settled on SGII, then that's cool, but I've got experience with a number of rule-sets and would be happy to make other suggestions as well.

 The_0perator wrote:
Welsh, do you have experience with those/that rule set?

I do have experience with urban war the skirmish size rule set its a d10 alternate activation system with some very nice rules. Not had any experience with metropolis but if its anything like urban war then its well worth a go.

 Eilif wrote:
If you're definitely settled on SGII, then that's cool, but I've got experience with a number of rule-sets and would be happy to make other suggestions as well.

Drop some other suggestions, man. We can all learn something.

Ellif

From a first glance of the rules Star Grunt II seems to be what I'm looking for in a smaller game. I'm open to any suggestions though for rule sets at different levels of play. Star Grunt II seems to be geared to smaller games. Do you have any recommendation for massed battle?

I'm going to second Tomorrows War, I had some of the same concerns from the reviews around, but once you get down to it it isn't bad by any stretch of the imagination, just a little poorly laid out clarity wise. Be prepared to get a good few things wrong your first few games.

I would say stay away from Tomorrow's War, unless they made even more significant changes to its core systems from its force on force days.

That system is not well designed for mass battles. Great for semi-realistic warfare, but not for the kind of mass battles most people expect.

I haven't tried it lately, but WarEngine should work. Also, Aetherverse is back in development and growing strong.

Mass Battle is a tough one. The problem is that unless you have a really huge table (like 12x12 or bigger) you can't play a "hard" sci-fi game at company level (80-250 soldiers per side) or above in 28mm. There's just not enough room. Cramming that number of troops on a battlefield that size really only happens in sci-fantasy. As far as that goes I really enjoyed Warpath 1.0 (still available free online), but it skews towards fast play and is very similar to Kings of War. Warpath 2.0 could probably handle company sized engagements, but I haven't given it a chance yet. http://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?315682-Compilation-of-Warpath-Army-lists-and-rules

For Mass Battle I really recommend 6mm or 10mm gaming. It's actually fairly affordable and it opens up options for many different rulesets. My club plays 10mm using rebased mechwarrior figs (still findable cheap). Some good options for company actions and above in smaller scales or in 28mm on big tables would be:
-Future War Commander: SImilar activation mechanics to Warmaster, but that's not a bad thing. http://www.blitzkrieg-commander.com/default.aspx?Area=FWC
-Alpha Strike: The newly released tabletop version of Battletech's "Battleforce" game. Based on a few readthroughs it looks like fast-play fun, but haven't had a chance to try it yet. http://bg.battletech.com/?p=5162
-Dirtside 2. The companion game to Stargrunt 2. Not my cup-o-tea, but if you like SG2, it's a good option.
-Panzer8 Sci-Fi. Free online ruleset that fits on 2 pages. Battles in around an hour. A personal favorite of mine. One of many games based on the same system. I've got my club's "CSW" version (better layout and a few very minor tweaks) posted on the PZ8 yahoo group. http://panzer8.weebly.com/

Back to your initial question.
For a platoon or two. Stargrunt is not my cup, but it's a long-respected system. If you enjoy it, then more power.

I also recommend Tomorrow's War. It definitely works best at lower platoon level and though the rulebook is poorly organized, once you get the hang of it, it flows pretty well. There's a recent review and 2 AAR's of it in the blog in my sig.

Another ruleset that isn't my flavor, but is very respected is Two Hour Wargames' "5150 Star Army". It has reaction mechanics like TW taken to a whole new level. It's also one of the best systems for playing Solo. It's not free, but the base version of the ruleset "Chain Reaction" is. I've played both and if you like Chain Reaction, you'll love 5150. If you don't like Chain Reaction than run the other way. http://www.twohourwargames.com/free.html

If you want something a bit more sci-fantasy, I highly recommend Warengine, which is available free from the warengine yahoo group. It is well respected among vet gamers and plays really fast and has a nice unit creation mechanic. Works well at platoon level, but only handles small vehicles.
http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/WarEngine/info
Based on a quick reading, Warpath 2.0 is worth checking out as well.

Best of luck in your rules journey. As you try different rulesets you'll likely end up with a few that -assuming you can find opponents- you'll rotate through every so often.

In case you decide you're still looking for systems, this thread may help. It's technically a 40k-alternative thread but a fair amount of the systems posted can be used for figs from other lines as well.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/369662.page

Skulldred works perfectly for Sci-fi. While its initially set up for Fantasy.. the rules work awesome for Sci Fi too. Its the rules I've been playing the most with right now and the best part is that you can change settings so easily.

I've played Skulldred, and it's a good system to be sure, but I don't think it will handle a platoon of troopers, much less a company.

On the other hand, maybe I misread the initial post...

The_0perator,
When you said "Skirmish" (which technically means one miniature equals one trooper) how many figures were you thinking of?

 Eilif wrote:
I've played Skulldred, and it's a good system to be sure, but I don't think it will handle a platoon of troopers, much less a company.

On the other hand, maybe I misread the initial post...

The_0perator,
When you said "Skirmish" (which technically means one miniature equals one trooper) how many figures were you thinking of?

I think most skirmish games are under 20 models. More commonly anywhere from 5-15 models.

 The_0perator wrote:
Ellif

From a first glance of the rules Star Grunt II seems to be what I'm looking for in a smaller game. I'm open to any suggestions though for rule sets at different levels of play. Star Grunt II seems to be geared to smaller games. Do you have any recommendation for massed battle?

I believe the mass battle version of StargruntII is called Dirtside and is also available as a free download.

Also, as for Tomorrow's War, I like it a lot. The action/reaction system is amazing but can take a bit to wrap your head around. Also, the emphasis is on troop quality and not gear.

However, I find the Injury system a bit fiddly.

This game is best at Platoon level and reinforced platoon level.

Dirtside is indeed the company and above version of stargrunt, but it is aimed at 15mm scale and smaller. You'd really need a big table to effectively play dirtside in 28mm.

Not that it couldn't be done. It could, and would probably be fantastic, but it'd be big.

One other option for actions above platoon level that has a small, but dedicated following is the Hammers Slammers "The Crucible". It's currently not in print, but still available if you look around.
http://www.hammers-slammers.com/updates.htm

Horizon War could likely be converted to a larger scale. I remember seeing a post somewhere of MechAttack being done in 28mm and it looked rather good, could probably do it with this too.

Also In Her Majesties Name for skirmish. The book's examples are steampunk, however it gives clear formulas for unit creation so could easily be done to sci fi.

 doc1234 wrote:
Horizon War could likely be converted to a larger scale. I remember seeing a post somewhere of MechAttack being done in 28mm and it looked rather good, could probably do it with this too.

Also In Her Majesties Name for skirmish. The book's examples are steampunk, however it gives clear formulas for unit creation so could easily be done to sci fi.

I've never heard of Horizon War. Sounds cool, what is it?

As for Mech Attack in 28mm that was me!
http://chicagoskirmish.blogspot.com/2013/05/epic-photo-dump-from-little-wars-2013.html
A favorite game of mine in 10mm (using rebased mechwarrior clix) or 28mm (on a 6x7 board). It does bog down a bit once you get past 10 units per side though, Ends up being similar in size to other games, but does focus much more on vehicles if that's your thing.

In Her Magisty's name is a great suggestion. I have the book and it's really well done and looks to be very flexible in terms of applying to other genres. Haven't had a chance to play it yet, but I've played the free ruleset it's based on "In the Emperor's Name" a few times.
http://iten-game.org/downloads
They're in a bit of a transition as they transition the retinue lists to third edition, but it's worth checking out. Even though it's fluffed in the 40k universe, it's a nice, generic and very simple and easy to play rules system that gives you quite a bit of latitude in creating your own characters. Note that it's definitely a warband-skirmish game and tops out at under 20 figures per side.

 Eilif wrote:

 doc1234 wrote:
Horizon War could likely be converted to a larger scale. I remember seeing a post somewhere of MechAttack being done in 28mm and it looked rather good, could probably do it with this too.

Also In Her Majesties Name for skirmish. The book's examples are steampunk, however it gives clear formulas for unit creation so could easily be done to sci fi.

I've never heard of Horizon War. Sounds cool, what is it?

As for Mech Attack in 28mm that was me!
http://chicagoskirmish.blogspot.com/2013/05/epic-photo-dump-from-little-wars-2013.html
A favorite game of mine in 10mm (using rebased mechwarrior clix) or 28mm (on a 6x7 board). It does bog down a bit once you get past 10 units per side though, Ends up being similar in size to other games, but does focus much more on vehicles if that's your thing.

In Her Magisty's name is a great suggestion. I have the book and it's really well done and looks to be very flexible in terms of applying to other genres. Haven't had a chance to play it yet, but I've played the free ruleset it's based on "In the Emperor's Name" a few times.
http://iten-game.org/downloads
They're in a bit of a transition as they transition the retinue lists to third edition, but it's worth checking out. Even though it's fluffed in the 40k universe, it's a nice, generic and very simple and easy to play rules system that gives you quite a bit of latitude in creating your own characters. Note that it's definitely a warband-skirmish game and tops out at under 20 figures per side.

Precinct Omega makes it, I think the sites down but if you message them on fb you can get i think either their air or mech based rules with the army beta rules free. The 3 sets interlock but work fine on their own too, their "thing" being "£1 wargames".

Thanks for that,
I have Precinct Omega's Mech Game. It's a great deal for a buck fifty, but I hadn't picked up the rest as I've been so happy with the rules I'm currently using.

 Eilif wrote:
Thanks for that,
I have Precinct Omega's Mech Game. It's a great deal for a buck fifty, but I hadn't picked up the rest as I've been so happy with the rules I'm currently using.

They aren't bad, the air rules are a nice and easy take on a niche genre, and the battlegroup rules really are just there to flesh it all out. Basic 6mm wargame but each unit is on one 25mm base instead of on multiple strips. They aren't be all end all, but they ARE a nice cheap way of trying to nudge people into 6mm

 The_0perator wrote:
Hi all
I’m looking for a set of miniature rules for 28mm for skirmish up to mass battle in a sci-fi setting. The game doesn't need to come with a model range to support it as I'm looking to use random figures from across my collection. I tried performing a search with no luck. I look forward to hearing your responses.

Give The Battlefield a look [especially since it's on sale right now!].

Although it's a 'modern' warfare game, it definitely works for a sci-fi setting. The turn architecture and activation mechanic are unique and open up a wealth of tactical opportunities and interesting decisions without bogging you down with complex minutia. The game features both first person shooter [FPS] and third person shooter [TPS] basing to give you options for both miniature scale and game size. Speaking of options...

In addition to the 8 classes, 9 vehicle profiles, 35 loadouts, and 9 game modes, The Battlefield also supports up to 8 players in a single game.