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Hey all,

Had a bit of long overdue good fortune and interested in getting into a couple of new systems. Does anyone have any recommendations for Non-GW starter sets. Any system/genre as I'm just looking for something interesting and fun. Wargames or mini heavy board games preferred. If they had expansions/ranges supporting them that'd be great but not deal breaker if they are stand alone.

Thanks in advance
O

The new Guild Ball starter goes in sale tomorrow...

http://steamforged.com/kick-off/

X-Wing
Guild Ball
Infinity
Batman

I'd recommend either X wing or Armada by fantasy flight games. Both come with pre painted models that are of surprisingly good quality. And have solid fairly easy to learn game sytems. Armada is a bit more complex and requires some planning ahead. X wing is initially the cheaper of the two, with a starter set of something around 30 bucks. luckily the game has movement templates and guides so you don't need to be taking measurements and fiddling with that too much.

If you like Star Wars its pretty much a no brainer.

If you are avoiding pre-painted miniatures and don' mind if it's a a skirmish game then Mantic have just released the Walking Dead miniature game that it is getting good reviews.

Official site

Not had a chance to try it out myself yet though but seen a few of the miniatures and they look nicely detailed.

Not to be a spoil sport regarding all the great, less-popular games out there, but I think the best place to start is with what games are being played near you. The best game in the world isn't really a game if you don't have any one to play with.

Assuming you want to actually have opponents, I would start by checking at your FLGS's, and local gaming scenes and see what games are making headsway. From that list, we can make recomendations that will likely result in more long-term-fun for you.

Bolt Action 2nd edition Band of Brothers
https://us-store.warlordgames.com/collections/bolt-action-starter-sets/products/bolt-action-2-starter-set-band-of-brothers

Also look into systems that are completely new but use what you already have. Some indie rulesets are incredibly good for 15-30 bucks for a ruleook (or even free).

Dropzone or Dropfleet, both are pretty decent, and both have two decent sized very playable forces straight out the box.

 Ossified wrote:
Hey all,

Had a bit of long overdue good fortune and interested in getting into a couple of new systems. Does anyone have any recommendations for Non-GW starter sets. Any system/genre as I'm just looking for something interesting and fun. Wargames or mini heavy board games preferred. If they had expansions/ranges supporting them that'd be great but not deal breaker if they are stand alone.

Thanks in advance
O

https://www.perry-miniatures.com/product_info.php?products_id=3356

2 Generals, 145 Infantry, 12 Cavalry, 18 Artillerymen, 4 guns, 1 Farmhouse, over 4 feet of fencing

£95.

Contains all you need for a historical army, and the rules are in my humble opinion good and easy to understand as well
https://store.warlordgames.com/collections/pike-shotte/products/pike-shotte-for-king-country

Contains the following
58 pike and musket including command
12 Cavalry
12 infantry with Firelocks

Malifaux.

Skirmish game set in an alternate Earth, in the Victorian era with Steampunk ovetones. Mashes together a lot of different themes - nightmarish monsters, gunslinging cowboys and outlaws, necromantic mad scientists, martial arts, etc. Driven by a card mechanic which replaces dice with a deck of poker cards, complete with a hand you can use to cheat - but so can your opponent.

Starter has two small crews, which are also all 'mercenaries' in game which lets them be used by anyone, which neatly sidesteps the issue of going with a different faction than the starter box contains.

Board games!

Kingdom Death Monster 1.5 is a good choice for $250.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/poots/kingdom-death-monster-15

Lots of expansion potential there!

Chess sets are easily had and you don't have to paint the pieces to play.

Get Codex: Bobby Fisher and the Spassky supplement and learn some openings and how to control the center of the board.

Heroes of Normadie!

If you want minis, just buy some 1/100 minis (say, Flames of War) to attach to the cardboard counters.

Miniatures Games:

Bolt Action 2 - WWII Skirmish game. Newly released 2nd ed. rulebook. Publisher offers starter armies in two sizes for most nationalities.

SAGA - Dark Ages skirmish game. The publisher offers starter armies for a number of nationalities (Vikings, Anglo-Saxons, etc.).

Frostgrave - Fantasy warband game with some similarities to the old Mordheim game. Plastic boxes of Soldiers, Cultists, Gnolls and Barbarians can be used to build your war band, supplements with metal special characters available from North Star or any number of other miniatures makers.

Board Games:

Star Wars: Imperial Assault - Has a starter set with full rules and a selection of figures. There are already several boxed expansions as well as a large number of add-on figure packs.

Descent: Journey's in the Dark - A dungeon crawler style board game, with several boxed supplements plus expansion character packs.