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 wikkedj wrote:
Hi guys,
Recently my wife said that she's kinda not digging 40k because of the larger scale and found it a little overwhelming. Are there any games similar to 40k but on a smaller scale?

Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots

http://us-store.warlordgames.com/collections/beyond-the-gates-of-antares/books

Iam sure you could use your 40k models with these better rules

 frozenwastes wrote:
And They Shall Know No Fear
Acute Senses
Counter-attack

These are in the BRB

 Chute82 wrote:
http://us-store.warlordgames.com/collections/beyond-the-gates-of-antares/books

Iam sure you could use your 40k models with these better rules

Heh.

Here's others you can plug your 40K minis into without also having to buy a stack of GW's overpriced books.

 Skinnereal wrote:

 frozenwastes wrote:
And They Shall Know No Fear
Acute Senses
Counter-attack

These are in the BRB

D'oh...

I have heard nothing but good regarding the Heralds of Ruin Kill Team, but I have not played it myself.

You could always use the weapon profiles from the little 6th Ed. books for HoR, because those haven't really changed. USRs have remained pretty stable too.

So.... Is the consensus Kill Team or Gates of Antares?

I am in the market for a 28mm Skirmish Sci-Fi game that isn't 40K (If it was still in the 80's or 90's, 40K would be ok).

I keep thinking about Infinity, as I am WAY into Anime, but I want something steampunkish-Sci-Fi-Napoleonic as well.

MB

No consensus needed.

Infinity, Antares, and that version of Kill Team are all free to download and try.

Do a read through of the rules and see what you like. Antares is pretty much an updated version of Bolt Action, Kill Team is mainly the 40k rules. Infinity has a simultaneous action thing going on.

Fubar and the One Page rules are also free. As well as that Warengine game and a million others. When a friend of mine and I were first getting sick of 40k we did a series of games with free rules from the net. Same forces, same terrain, different rules, swapping sides and replaying the battle so we got to play both sides (Chaos Marines vs Guard). It was great fun.

 Vertrucio wrote:
No consensus needed.

Infinity, Antares, and that version of Kill Team are all free to download and try.

Do a read through of the rules and see what you like. Antares is pretty much an updated version of Bolt Action, Kill Team is mainly the 40k rules. Infinity has a simultaneous action thing going on.

Sounds like Gates of Antares and Infinity would be best fits.

MB

For a more gritty "Hard sci fi" I rather like No stars in sight:

http://www.wargamevault.com/product/141577/No-Stars-in-Sight-Hard-scifi-platoon-action

The focus is more on shooting and reaction fire then close combat, but things like Genestealers are still possible.

The vibe is probably closer to 2nd edition with smaller forces, hugging terrain and shooting anything in the open.

Do yourself a favor and get into Infinity. Some of (if not the best) miniatures out there and some of the most fun, dynamic rules.

Infinity is awesome mechanically, but I haven't jumped in just because there are a lot of weapon stats I haven't wrapped my head around yet.

The reaction orders and action point system are incredibly intuitive. And, aside from that really really crappy YuJing box I got that one time, they do produce some beautiful white metal.

Tomorrow's War is an option. It's not for everyone though.. it doesn't do points.. doesn't do IGOUGO.. it's really involved.. but the games tend to be smaller in scope. It's also very versatile.
I had been trying 5150 but man.. that book is just too hard to get through. No diagrams, no illustrations to break it up.. just solid rules and tables.

Another one that's free .. Void 1.1 http://www.scotiagrendel.com/Products/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=59
When it was still on the shelf I played a bit.. it's actually a good bit of fun. Scotia Grendel has a free download of the rules or you can buy the rulebook for pretty cheap. He's got pretty much all the models too.. but if you look at the site.. you can figure out that a lot of that stuff tranlsates to 40k models you already have. The size of the matches tends to be smaller as well.. 10-20 for a pretty full sized match.
There's a new incarnation of Void as well
http://www.urbanwarthegame.com/news.php
I haven't tried it but the models look pretty nice.

MLaw wrote:I had been trying 5150 but man.. that book is just too hard to get through. No diagrams, no illustrations to break it up.. just solid rules and tables.

It's a good game, but the rules aren't the best way to explain how to play it. I'd recommend checking out the free Chain Reaction rules. There are diagrams in there and once you get the basics from there, reading through 5150 will make a ton more sense.

Another one that's free .. Void 1.1 http://www.scotiagrendel.com/Products/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=59
When it was still on the shelf I played a bit.. it's actually a good bit of fun. Scotia Grendel has a free download of the rules

Void 1.1 is a solid game. The only reason it didn't really take hold locally was Rackham's Confrontation metal miniatures were the current new hotness at the time and Void 1.1 as a game got overlooked.

EDIT: I don't know if Scotia Grendel is hosting the points calculator, but you can get it here:

http://bofthebb.com/void.php

WarMachine.

Steampunk style.

Easier Rules.

Lower investment cost.

 frozenwastes wrote:

MLaw wrote:I had been trying 5150 but man.. that book is just too hard to get through. No diagrams, no illustrations to break it up.. just solid rules and tables.

It's a good game, but the rules aren't the best way to explain how to play it. I'd recommend checking out the free Chain Reaction rules. There are diagrams in there and once you get the basics from there, reading through 5150 will make a ton more sense.

Another one that's free .. Void 1.1 http://www.scotiagrendel.com/Products/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=59
When it was still on the shelf I played a bit.. it's actually a good bit of fun. Scotia Grendel has a free download of the rules

Void 1.1 is a solid game. The only reason it didn't really take hold locally was Rackham's Confrontation metal miniatures were the current new hotness at the time and Void 1.1 as a game got overlooked.

EDIT: I don't know if Scotia Grendel is hosting the points calculator, but you can get it here:

http://bofthebb.com/void.php

The other thing that really hurt I-Kore's games was their distribution.. Back then online shopping had not evolved to where it currently is and according to my FLGS owner back then, he had to order everything either over the phone or snail mail from Scotland.

KILL TEAM!!! Skirmish version of Warhammer 40K.

Not warmachine, it's a terrible system, plus the miniatures are the worst looking things ever.

When you say "Kill Team", are you referring to the living rulebook that is regularly updated by Heralds of Ruin, or the "official" one that didn't get updated for 7th edition?

Also, the Kayazy resent that last comment:

 Kelly502 wrote:
KILL TEAM!!! Skirmish version of Warhammer 40K.

Not warmachine, it's a terrible system, plus the miniatures are the worst looking things ever.

Terrible system?
Your credibility just went down. It may not be for you, but it's a great set of rules and a far sight more in depth and balanced than killteam.

Worst looking miniatures ever?
Yeah, this is fugly...oh wait, it's fething gorgeous. (Clearly a matter of opinion and not fact though.)

Eh, there's good and bad models in Warmachine.

The latest darling of the forums, Infinity, still has absolutely terrible models, both active or replaced by newer sculpts.

However, for the purposes of this thread, Warmachine is still not a good recommendation because the OP wanted games like 40k but smaller, which assumes scifi.

 Vertrucio wrote:
Eh, there's good and bad models in Warmachine.

The latest darling of the forums, Infinity, still has absolutely terrible models, both active or replaced by newer sculpts.

However, for the purposes of this thread, Warmachine is still not a good recommendation because the OP wanted games like 40k but smaller, which assumes scifi.

Yeah, but their newer sculpts are amazing.

Let's not turn this into a warmachine good/bad thread.

Warmachine is a fine game and so is 40k. My reservation would be that the OP asked for something "like 40k". Warmachine as a game is almost as unlike 40k as you can get. This is also my reservation regarding Infinity.

However if the OP decides to look at 28mm wargames-in-general that are smaller in scope than 40k, then either game would be worthy of consideration.

Of all the different games I play the only one that intrested my wife is xwing. You don't need very many models to play and you don't need a lawyer present to explain the rules.

Anyone interested in a giant 40k vs Warmachine argument can have their needs met by this rather long thread about the matter:

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/608128.page

Warmachine isn't just not suitable for the original poster because it's not sci-fi, it's also more rules intensive and more likely be more overwhelming than 40k. I agree with Eilif that Infinity is probably also not a good fit for the same reasons.

EDIT: Wrong link

 frozenwastes wrote:


Warmachine isn't just not suitable for the original poster because it's not sci-fi, it's also more rules intensive and more likely be more overwhelming than 40k. I agree with Eilif that Infinity is probably also not a good fit for the same reasons.

I don't mean to continue the argument.

But I have to disagree. I started 40k around the same time as Warmachine. The games have the same level of rules difficulty.

I found Warmachine easier to pick up because it wasn't full of charts and in need of two rule books to play (Rule book and Army Codex).

On the other hand, Warmachine requires a bus ton of cards to play, Markers, and card sleeves. so each have their ups and downs.



Also, some of the newer armies are very Sci-fi-esk.

Hordes of the things.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hordes_of_the_Things_%28wargame%29

For Sci-fi miniatures try Infinity 10-15 models

For Fantasy miniatures try Malifaux. 4-10 models.

Warmachine/Hordes plays smaller (usually), however, you need a large selection to enjoy the game IMO.

 D6Damager wrote:
For Sci-fi miniatures try Infinity 10-15 models

For Fantasy miniatures try Malifaux. 4-10 models.

Warmachine/Hordes plays smaller (usually), however, you need a large selection to enjoy the game IMO.

Hey, Infinity looks pretty cool.

What's the average price point for a decent army and/or starter?