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So I've been getting involved with my LGS lately, and they play a variety of games. This is pretty awesome for me, cuz my previous gaming group sort of fizzled out.

I want you guys to recommend a miniatures based tabletop game for me to try out. I won't list the games they play at the LGS, or the ones that I play or have played (and hopefully no one will be sneaky and read my previous posts). Here's some info about me:

I like games that have a strong story component to them. I enjoy painting and modeling quite a bit, but I also want the option to just do a quick monochrome scheme and get to playing. I would prefer something that costs under $100 to start playing (rules, army core, tools, etc). I like games that are quick and fun but can be expanded to larger battles. ALSO! I would prefer a ruleset that is well crafted and easy to pick up.

What do you think?

I am of course biased...but Warmahordes has been giving me a good deal of fun for the last few years! Good rules, nice models, and you don't need a lot of them to start playing.

Look up two threads and here are the answers you seek...

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

Infinity is a great game that I would recommend to everyone. Great rules, amazing models, and just all around fun. And the rules are free

Looking at the points you mentioned though I think I'd go with Dystopian Wars/Firestorm Armada.
I don't play Firestorm but it's pretty much Dyst Wars in space so everything I say should cover both of them, and I think the choice should simply come down to which you like the look of more or what one is played at your FLGS.
In case you don't know Dyst is Victorian Era steampunk where through the magic of SCIENCE! they now have aircraft carriers that can themselves fly, tesla weapons and giant robots. Firestorm Armada is space ships.

The story is pretty easy to pick up since it's just alternate history and is pretty compelling once you get into it but the reasons I am suggesting it over Infinity here are:
1) It is something like 1120/1 scale, everything is tiny and a quick and dirty paintjob doesn't look bad, whereas you have to put in a ton of effort to do justice to an infinity sculpt.
2) The starter box (assuming you go a core faction) will give you around 750 points. That is a decent sized game right there. Average game sizes run between about 750 and 1500 depending on where you play but starter set vs starter set is actually a really good way for new players to get into it, they give you everything you need for a balanced force and everything you buy on top of it is just bells and whistles.
3) While it starts at 750 points a mate of mine and I put together about 6000 points on a 14 foot long table and smashed a game out at that size over about 4 weekends. And the best part is unlike say 40k and Apocalypse it scales up really, really well.
4) The rules aren't as good as Infinty imo, but they are easier to pick up with a much easier learning curve.

 filbert wrote:
Look up two threads and here are the answers you seek...
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/369662.page

That thread isn't what I'm looking for, but thanks. I feel that thread is better suited as a repository of awesome, and I was hoping for a discussion.

When you say "has a strong story component", do you mean "has a good background" or "has a narrative feel to the game"? I think Malifaux might fit, if you meant the latter.

OOH! I didn't think about this. the appropriate answer is BOTH!

My vote would land on Infinity. Gorgeous models, small warbands, and very deep, active, and tactical play.
The fluff is quite expansive and pretty well written, and creates a pretty convincing universe.

Use Tomorrow's War rules and develop your own background, use whatever scale/minis you want.

Can't believe I forgot about that one, but what about X-Wing?

X-Wing and Infinity. Definitely.

 melkorthetonedeaf wrote:


I like games that have a strong story component to them. I enjoy painting and modeling quite a bit, but I also want the option to just do a quick monochrome scheme and get to playing. I would prefer something that costs under $100 to start playing (rules, army core, tools, etc). I like games that are quick and fun but can be expanded to larger battles. ALSO! I would prefer a ruleset that is well crafted and easy to pick up.

I absolutely love Infinity, so would recommend it. I will say that for the 'easy to pick up' requirement you start off small, with a starter set, and the 'easy' version of the rules (download for free from Beasts of War). The game's universe is progressing with each new book, so you can kind of be part of creating the background as you go, which is kind of cool! You can paint them monochrome or however you like, there is a tremendous variety in player-chosen paint schemes for this game.

As has been mentioned X-Wing is going to be the best game for pick up and play - pre-painted minis, you will get a force for less than 100$, even playing with another newbie you will have the rules sorted within 30mins. And strong story component, well you have the whole of Star Wars to use.

Or something that hasn't been mentioned, how about a historical game? Saga is a wonderfully crafted set of rules, very fun to use with its 'battle board' mechanic, easy to learn and very well balanced. You will have a lot of change from $100 for a force, can start with a small army (4pts) and move up to the standard 6pts.

Just a few recommendations that would hopefully fit your criteria, although depends what kind of rule mechanics/miniature scale/model count you are aiming for - will probably be easier to go from there.

How about Warhammer 40K Kill Team?

Deadzone sounds exactly what you're looking for. The rules lend themselves to fast, tactical, cinematic and narrative gaming, and there's an included campaign ruleset as well. Games tend to take around an hour and there's never long periods of not being involved, as all rolls are opposed, meaning that whenever your opponent rolls, you roll directly against them.

The base games clocks in at around $100 and includes 2 starter factions, the gaming mat, rulebook, cards, dice and a bunch of terrain. I say starter factions, but you really get more models than will see play in a single game, so you get a complete experience right out of the box. Other faction sets are cheap as well so it should be easy to get friend/other gamers involved.

Here's a link if you're interested, and there's plenty of discussion of it down in the Mantic Games subforum:
http://www.manticgames.com/mantic-shop/deadzone/getting-started/product/deadzone-the-sci-fi-skirmish-game.html

I really can't recommend it enough.

Well crafted rules that are easy to pick up,was one of the requirements of the OP.
40k rules fail that requirement.(Even kill team/in 40 minuites variants.)

These are all really awesome suggestions, and luckily there isn't a lack of neat games out there to try.

I don't think I need all four of these points to be addressed, but I think a few of them come pretty close:
1) strong background story or narrative component
2) painting/modeling opportunities
3) elegant ruleset that is easy to pick up
4) won't break the bank to get started

40K: definitely not so cheap, rules are convoluted. SPOILER I've been playing 40k recently and it hits 1 & 2 so well.
Malifaux: hmmm, if I could get used to the card mechanic... love the models, love the fluff.
Infinity: some of the best models I've ever painted, hands down. Not sure on the background story side of it, but I know the missions have a strong RP feel.
X-wing: LOVELY rules, not much room for painting (i guess you could re-paint)
Warmachine/Hordes: SPOILER, I love this game. It has the best rules system I've ever played, and I only got out of it because it hasn't caught on in my area and their plastics aren't that great.

I haven't looked at Deadzone, Saga or Tomorrow's War, but they all look really cool. My LGS has been playing Dropzone Commander as well, but that seems to require quite a bit of money to get into (though the story is neat).

Thanks guys! Any more?

7TV obviously, crooked dice games.

Songs of Our Ancestors, Zombiesmith.

I win.

Lanrak wrote:
Well crafted rules that are easy to pick up,was one of the requirements of the OP.
40k rules fail that requirement.(Even kill team/in 40 minuites variants.)

Not to light the bonfire here, but I thought that people believed 40k was simple and the complaints are that its poorly optimised/balanced due to business shenanigans?

My main beef with it (as a new player) is that the rules, while being fairly simple, as laid out in a very counter-intuitive way. I played a demo game of Warmachine 3 or 4 years ago and understood the mechanics and most of the special rules. In 40k, you have to either flip pages or just memorize it all (which is what I'm doing).

blood lance wrote:

Lanrak wrote:
Well crafted rules that are easy to pick up,was one of the requirements of the OP.
40k rules fail that requirement.(Even kill team/in 40 minuites variants.)

Not to light the bonfire here, but I thought that people believed 40k was simple and the complaints are that its poorly optimised/balanced due to business shenanigans?

40k is not simple. It's an incredibly shallow game without much at all in the way of tactical depth, but the rules themselves are obscenely convoluted.

Essentially, it's the absolute worst of both worlds in that regard.

Warhammer 40k it is! Pick up the Dark vengeance set, great way to start with lots of models!!!

We are waiting on Kingdom Death to roll off the presses. You should as well.

The Mars Attacks game looks like a hoot, as well, as well as Mythic, though I am getting tired of thier gak excuses and am seriously considering asking for a refund if they don't put out without dinner and a movie first.

Good looking game as well? Flying Frog games. I like Last Night on Earth. Great games, all of them. There are a couple of crossover games in there as well, and then there is the cowpoke vs cthuhlu stuff.

MMM.... can't wait for AVP on the tabletop as well.

 melkorthetonedeaf wrote:
So I've been getting involved with my LGS lately, and they play a variety of games. This is pretty awesome for me, cuz my previous gaming group sort of fizzled out.

I want you guys to recommend a miniatures based tabletop game for me to try out. I won't list the games they play at the LGS, or the ones that I play or have played (and hopefully no one will be sneaky and read my previous posts). Here's some info about me:

I like games that have a strong story component to them. I enjoy painting and modeling quite a bit, but I also want the option to just do a quick monochrome scheme and get to playing. I would prefer something that costs under $100 to start playing (rules, army core, tools, etc). I like games that are quick and fun but can be expanded to larger battles. ALSO! I would prefer a ruleset that is well crafted and easy to pick up.

What do you think?

Systems that won't fit :
Warhammer / 40k : nice lores, but way too expensive. Bloated rulesets, convoluted and slow.
Blood Bowl : nice ruleset, the lore is good enough, but it's football : no expandability, few storytelling.
HOTT : good ruleset, but very, very synthetic, and no lore at all, you basically have to build it yourself.

Systems that may fit :
Infinity : nice lore, can be quite cinematic but complex ruleset and limited expandability.
Mordheim : nice ruleset, awesome lore, campaigns that works well, but limited expandability.
FSA/Dystopian Wars : nice setting, the rules are good, but sloooooow. DW can deal with Air/Sea/Ground units.
DBA : good ruleset, designed for mass battles, so it's quite synthetic. Lore/campaigns ? It's historical wargaming : sky's the limit !
SAGA : the rules seem ok, historical wargaming too, but more on the skirmirsh side.

Systems that definitely suit your needs :
Kings of Wars : nice, fast rules that works well with both small and (very) large battles. The lore is ok, and the minis quite inexpensive.
WarmaHordes : can be quite competitive, but the rules are tight, and work well with both small and medium/large engagements.
Warmaster : seriously, if someone is still playing this game, you HAVE to give it a try. Miniatures can be hard to find though.

Dust Tactics board game is easy to learn and the same Mini's are used for the Dust Tactics Wargame.

Bolt Action is tons of fun.

Infinity is also great, but a bit rougher.

To throw in an oddball - a sports game, and a game that I, personally, do not much like - Dreadball.

Fast play, with interesting strategy and tactics, solid rules, engaging background... but I don't like it.

Dreadball is in that odd niche of being a good game that I do not like.

All my friends like it, and play the heck out of it.

So, I am going to go out on a limb and say that it really is just me - I just don't much like sports games.

The Auld Grump

Another vote for Infinity. Very easy and cheap to start - all tokens, templates and rules are free to download. Also a common way to start a faction is 'buy the models you like the look of and make a list from them', which is fantastic if you're into painting. Not more painting boring models to get to the ones you actually like.

I realize you wrote you didn't want to disclose it, but I would consider what games are played at your LGS. I love Warmachine/Hordes and enjoy Infinity, Saga, Dystopian Wars and Dropzone Commander, but Dystopian Wars and DzC is not played anywhere locally so my poor Shaltari have no opponents.

Also, a good way to get into a game is slow-grow leagues and other starting player events. It is always good to have something to build up to.

As for story components, Saga is strong on that one (because of the game mechanics), as is Malifaux (due to the scenario system). Warmachine/Hordes, Infinity, Dystopian Wars, DzC and WHFB/40k come second here, but can still provide the experience.

Infinity has a very steep learning curve (and is really difficult to learn properly without an active scene - we messed up the rules constantly in our first year and haemmoraged players), but can be very rewarding when you've sunk a year into it. Saga and Dys Wars have very simple systems. The others are somewhere in between.

For tournament games and competitive play, WM/H is the superior system at the moment.

For variety. WM/H, Malifaux and Infinity give you many options for expanding your collection and playing other stuff.

A local club or LGS with an active scene is quite important, good job on you for engaging in it!

Here's another vote for X-Wing. Everry mission is narrative, you paint as much as you want, rules are simple but elegant, and you can play from the starter set.

Given your criteria, I would suggest having a look at some of the popular miniature board games. They are usually <$100, everything you need is in the box, the rules tend to be easy to pick up and well balanced, and you often get quite a lot of miniatures for your money.

Zombicide (by Guillotine Games):
Is a good one. It's simple but a lot of fun. All my friends love it (even the girls). And it comes with something like 70+ miniatures. Also the expansion is pretty decent too.

Super Dungeon Explore (by Soda Pop):
Has some really cute miniatures done a chibi/anime style, and is loosely based on the old square-soft style computer games (if you like that soft of thing). It comes with about 50 miniatures in the box, and there are quite a few expansions out already if you want even more.

City of Thieves (by Fantasy Flight):
This is real simple, but can be loads of fun if you fancy a quick game with a few friends. It comes with 20 miniatures, but they are all really nice reproductions of OOP Rackham figures. so each one is beautifully sculpted. I haven't played the expansion, but I read the expanded rules and it looks fun (albeit a bit overpriced).

Fantasy Flight has a lot of other good miniature board games. Mansions of Madness is an amazing game, with a sort of pseudo RP feel to it. The rules can be a bit daunting, but it's easy once you get going, and a ton of fun. Gears of War is another good game which is purely co-op, but it has a unique AI card system which makes it very challenging.