Dan (DaBard) and I were talking at Games Day about different minis games, so I told him I'd send a summary of what games I own/play and my thoughts on each. Well, as I started compiling the info, I figured it would be good to share with the community at large.
So, without further ado, here is my take on a select set of miniature games. Of course, this list is nowhere exhaustive, there are many more game systems out there, but I focused on the ones I play or have played.
First, some definitions
Skirmish: Every miniature moves individually and is usually a unique character, typically no more than 10 miniatures/player
Skirmish+: Every miniature moves individually, includes mix of ordinary soldiers and unique leaders, typically more than 10 miniatures/player
Squad-Based: Miniature movement has elements where you activate an entire squad together (movement, combat, etc). There may be some individual activation as well with some models, mainly leaders.
Scale: Typically this is how tall a man-sized miniature is (e.g. 6mm, 20mm, 28mm) or how big a ship is compared to its “real life” counterpart (e.g. 1:100, 1:900, 1:1800)
Bushido (GCT Studios)Website:
http://www.bushido-thegame.com/Style: Skirmish
Scale: 28mm
Rules: Free, including the character cards
It’s a fantasy setting, with an Asian theme. What I like best is the combined combat pool, where you secretly split up your dice between attack and defense. It also plays on a small 2x2 board, so you don’t need much terrain. We've played a few times at Games Day with proxie minis, and the rules and character cards are all available on-line for free. I really like the game, but it didn't initially catch on at GASP. I'd like to play it more; it's got a nice back story with a fantasy mix into the game. The minis are good quality. The rules recently went through a revision after a few years on the market as well.
Ronin (Osprey Publishing)Website:
https://ospreypublishing.com/ronin-skirmish-wargames-in-the-age-of-the-samuraiWebsite (2):
https://ospreypublishing.com/gaming-resourcesStyle: Skirmish+
Scale: 28mm
Rules: Full color book by Osprey, $15
It's a purely historical Samurai game, but I like the force building and combat system. It also plays on a small board like Bushido. You can get samurai minis from Wargames Factory cheap, and there are a bunch of other manufacturers of Samurai minis as well (both unpainted and pre-painted).
Wrath of Kings (Cool Mini or Not)Website:
http://wrathofkings.com/ks/Style: Squad-based
Scale: 28mm
Rules: Free, including the character cards
Rules and cards are available for free, and the minis are really nice, great detail and fun to paint. It’s a squad-based game, but the squads are typically a low number of troops (about 4-8) per squad. All models have a level (only 1 or 2 now), and force building is based on X level 1 models. So if it calls for 12x level 1, you can take 6x level 2, or any mix of level 1 and 2 that equals 12 (4x level 1 (=4) and 4x level 2 (=8)). I like the model activation rules and the combat resolution. Plus there are a lot of synergies, reminds me of early Warmachine. So far only myself and ‘Kodiak’ (Craig) have the game I think, it hasn't caught on locally yet.
MERCS Minis & MERCS Recon (Megacon Games)Website:
http://megacongames.com/games/mercs/Style: Skirmish
Scale: 28mm
Rules: Free, including the character cards
MERCS is a skirmish game of miniature combat taking place in the future. You control a squad of 5 soldiers, and each has special equipment and skills. The miniatures act simultaneously, using a system of initiative and reaction to determine the exact order of turns. There is also another game in the series called MERCS: Recon, which is a co-op boardgame (we Kickstarted it, hasn't arrived yet). I did KS Recon, since the same minis are used for MERCS, so I can play both games. ‘Clap!’ (Jim L.) is also heavy into MERCS, and it's a really fun game. Again, it hasn't caught on (yet), but I think there were several people that KS Recon. Also, same company that makes Myth.
Infinity (Corvus Belli)Website:
http://infinitythegame.com/Style: Skirmish
Scale: 28mm
Rules: Free
Another skirmish sci-fi game. The rules are also available for free, and I like the game a lot since it has action/reaction elements to it, so you aren't just sitting there while your opponent moves across the field and kills your guys. Running a guy in the open is deadly. It just went through a re-write of the rules, to clean them up and it worked. The rule system can get a bit clunky still, especially if you don't play very often, mainly in referencing special rules (which there are a lot of). Has an active community here in Pittsburgh, with about 10+ players. An Escalation League is starting soon as well (May 2015). ‘Scifi_Toughguy’ (Ethan) on the boards that is the main promoter for the game.
Lord of the Rings (Games Workshop)Website: Games Workshop used to have a ton of supplemental info online, but it’s all gone now.
Style: Skirmish+, 1 hero for every 12 warriors
Scale: 25mm
Rules: Hobbit rulebook (2012, $85) is newest, though most of us still play with the 2005 edition rules
What can I say, the game has been out since 2001-ish and it’s one of my favorite miniature wargames. It was a direct release to tie-in with the LotR movies, so many of the minis resemble the actors. Perry Brothers did the sculpts, so they are more realistic-looking as compared to other GW games. GW touts this as a skirmish game, but it really isn’t (too many miniatures on the board to be a true skirmish game), so I listed it as skirmish+. There are no squads, so all models move individually. It’s a blended ‘I Go You Go’ activation system, as both side move models in turn, then both sides shoot in turn, then combat is resolved simultaneously. Heroes also have Might/Will/Fate stats, which allows them to do heroic stuff ordinary warriors can’t do. The game plays best (I feel) with scenario-based games, and we’ve done a few of them over the years.
Anima Tactics (Cipher Studios)Website:
http://cipher-studios.comStyle: Skirmish
Scale: 28mm
Rules: Full color rulebook, ~$50
Fun fantasy skirmish game, 4-6 minis per side, think Japanese Anime-style. Alternating activation, where each character has a number of action tokens per round. You can use them all during your active turn to attack, or save some for defense. The game is very chess-like, with moves and counter-moves, trying to force your opponent’s hand into spending his action tokens so you can go in for the kill. Just Paul and I play at this point, the game was recently discontinued, but there are a ton of minis that were produced. The minis are gorgeous, very slender and detailed. These have been my favorite minis to paint, as I can spend days on each since they are all unique characters.
Robotech RPG Tactics (Palladium)Website:
Style: Squad-based
Scale: 6mm (1:285th)
Rules: Boxed set available, ~$80, includes both UEDF and Zentraedi
This was another KS that took forever to release, and even so only the first wave is done and out. The rules are fairly tight and well put together, with a few issues that have been FAQ’d. The minis are like tiny models, lots of pieces to assembly, but once together that look fantastic painted. Same scale as Battletech, each mini represents a giant robot, but are a couple inches tall. There was a ton of hype around the KS, but it died out as the release dragged on. Palladium had some PR issues as well, with international backers and their shipments. All in all a fun game and the Command Pool adds another element to the game, to boost attack and defense options. If you like transforming mecha, then you should give this one a try.
Heavy Gear (Dream Pod 9)Website:
www.dp9.comStyle: Between skirmish and squad-based
Scale: 12mm (1:144)
Rules: Free online
Another ‘Mecha-style game. The scale is different from Battletech and Robotech, but the minis are still about an inch or two tall. The game has been out for years, and had several rewrites, the most recent last year. They also had a KS for plastic minis (which I backed). It’s a fun game, more wargame-ish than Classic Battletech, more like BT Alpha Strike.
BattleTech Alpha Strike (Catalyst Game Labs)Website: bg.battletech.com
Style: Skirmish
Scale: 6mm (1:285th)
Rules: Rulebook ~$30, all the unit cards are online for free
Battletech has been around since the mid 80’s, and has a dedicated following within GASP. Alpha Strike came out a couple years ago, as an attempt to bring in newer players more used to fast-play hex-free wargames on terrain, with all the unit’s stats on a single card. Alpha Strike is faster and more wargame like than Classic BT, and uses the same minis. It’s more suited to large scale battles, taking significantly less time than Classic BT. You can run a 40+ unit Alpha Strike game in 90 minutes, where the same game would take 4-6 hours using the Classic BT rules. Speed does come at a cost of less details with each unit, but it’s worth it in most cases. The last few years Catalyst Game Labs has really turned around this franchise, and brought new life into Battletech.
Full Thrust (Ground Zero Games)Website:
www.groundzerogames.co.ukStyle: Skirmish
Scale: capital ship space combat
Rules: Free
I would call this game the grandfather of space combat games. It’s been around forever, and has gone through many rules iterations. When the game first released, it had dedicated factions and minis, but the big appeal of the game is the ability to adapt the ruleset to any universe. We’ve played Star Wars, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Babylon 5, and many others using the Full Thrust rules, both on the tabletop and large scale floor games. Ship building is relatively easy, made easier with several free computer programs out there. The movement system can be done vector-style, where your speed builds off or reduces from the previous round, or cinematic-style, where you have a set # of movement points each round, basically starting at zero thrust each turn (we prefer vector-style). The most recent reiteration of the rules is the “Blood and Steel” done by
www.mechworld.de, dedicated to the Battlestar Galactica universe. We typically run these games as convention games at GASPcon.
Firestorm Armada (Spartan Games)Website:
www.spartangames.co.ukStyle: Squad-based
Scale: capital ship space combat
Rules: Free, including the stat cards
Space combat game, ‘Clap!’ (Jim) is a big FA player. I played the game and like it, but haven't bought into it yet. It just went through a major rules overhaul (what they learned from Dystopian Wars), all free online. It has a sister game, Planet Fall, for 10mm ground combat. With the updated rules, this is probably the premier space combat game on the market. The minis are really nice as well.
Dystopian Wars (Spartan Games)Website:
www.spartangames.co.ukStyle: Squad-based
Scale: 10mm
Rules: Not sure, I think they are free like all other Spartan Games rules.
The original Firestorm Armada was SG’s first big release. After a few years they took what they learned and made a new ruleset titled Dystopian Wars. It was a very cleaned-up ruleset, much tighter than the original FA. Think of Victorian-era steam punk, mainly sea battles I believe. I don’t play this game, but am including it since there is a decent following at GASP.
Bolt Action (Warlord Games/Osprey Publishing)Website:
www.warlordgames.comStyle: Squad-based
Scale: 15mm-25mm
Rules: Full color rulebook (~$25), many country specific army books and some campaign books as well.
WWII historical, squad level, minor focus on vehicles, fast and fun. Same guys that designed LotR for GW designed this game, some very minor similarities. Lots of options for miniatures out there, besides Warlord Games official minis (Wargames Factory makes plastic US and German infantry sets). Most people around here play 25mm scale, soldiers aren’t too expensive, but vehicles are ~$20-$30 each. 15mm scale works too, even more options for figures, and vehicles are much cheaper.
Force on Force (Ambush Alley Games/Osprey Publishing)Website:
www.ambushalleygames.netStyle: Squad-based
Scale: 20mm-28mm
Rules: Full color rulebook (~$25)
Modern-era wargame rules, typically the “good guys” (i.e. marines) vs the “bad guys” (i.e. insurgents). In earlier versions of the game (Ambush Alley), the games were asymmetric (meaning the marines were allowed both actions and reactions freely, while the insurgents were mainly reactionary). Force on Force balances the field and allows you to take two action/reaction forces against each other. It’s a solid ruleset, fairly inexpensive, and you can find modern-era miniatures around the web, both unpainted and pre-painted (for example, I use Battlefield Evolution pre-painted minis). The turns can get a bit muddled with all the reaction steps that can happen, but other than that it’s fun to play. The rules have undergone some updates with the Force on Force release, and there are quite a few scenario books released as well. Best played with scenarios.
Boardgames that have unpainted miniatures as a focusD&D Boardgames (Wizards of the Coast)Website:
www.wizards.comStyle: Co-op boardgame
Scale: 25mm
Rules: Need the game to play
I’m including this here, mainly because it has a butt-load of minis included in the game. It truly is a boardgame though, but for those that like to paint minis, you get a lot. There are 3 games out in the series. #1 was ‘Ravenloft’, #2 was ‘Wrath of Ashardalon’, and #3 was ‘Legend of Drizzt’. They all play the same, and are even interchangeable with monsters and such. They are all scenario-based games, with an exploration element to them (you must explore tiles (add them from the random stack to the board) until you get to the final tile to try and win the game). It’s a co-op game, everyone vs the board, and based on 4th ed D&D. They are fun games, and easy to learn/play.
Myth (Megacon Games)Website:
http://megacongames.com/games/mercs/Style: Co-op boardgame
Scale: 25mm
Rules: Need the game to play
Along the lines of the D&D boardgames, Myth takes it to the next level. It’s still scenario-based, but there are more options for running a campaign and tracking player experience. A butt-load of minis are included and the components are high quality. An update to the rules was just released, and a second KS just finished for the next expansion. The game is fun, and frantic, and you can easily take on more of a challenge than your characters can handle, as you get to decide some elements of what dangers to include in the scenarios. This is best played with the same group of people over an extended campaign run.
Imperial Assault & Descent (Fantasy Flight Games)Website:
www.fantasyflightgames.comStyle: Co-op boardgame, vs. a dedicated “GM”
Scale: 25mm
Rules: Need the game to play
I listed these together as they are very similar game systems. Descent was released several years ago, and underwent a 2.0 update within the past few year. With the explosion of Star Wars interest from X-Wing, FFG made a spin-off game call Imperial Assault. The games are all scenario based, with a campaign tracking system that can be used if desired (and personally why not do it). The idea behind the campaign is sort of D&D light, you get to play the same character throughout a story arc, but without all the prep work that is traditionally required for RPGs. Unlike RPGs, the “GM” is encouraged to pull out all the stops and make the game as challenging as possible for the other players. And believe me, the game is challenging. At its heart it’s really a board game, but again included here, like the D&D boardgames and Myth, since it has a butt load of unpainted miniatures included with the game. The nice thing about Imperial Assault is the minis are very similar in scale to the collectible Star Wars minis game by Wizards of the Coast, so if you don’t want to paint 20+ stormtroopers, you can get them cheap online.
Here are a few pre-painted mini games that get played every so often.Axis and Allies Angels 20 (Wizards of the Coast/Avalon Hill)Website:
www.wizards.comStyle: WWII air combat
Scale: 1:100
Rules: Free rulebook download, need that stat cards to play, could use other miniatures
This is my favorite WWII air-combat game. It plays fast, minimal rules, and feels like air combat. The pre-painted minis are great, and are easy to repaint if desired. It was released as a collectible miniature game, and WotC discontinued the game after the 2nd expansion. It’s a shame, as they did a bang-up job with both the rules and minis. We try and run a big scenario game each year at GASPcon. We also ran the “Over Macho Grande” home-brewed campaign a few years ago (many Airplane 2 jokes were had by all.)
Axis and Allies War at Sea (Wizards of the Coast/Avalon Hill)Website:
www.wizards.comStyle: WWII sea combat
Scale: varies, ~1:1800 for ships, ~1:900 aircraft
Rules: Free rulebook download, need that stat cards to play, could use other miniatures
Another solid game from WotC, it built off the Axis and Allies miniatures game, taking the fighting to the seas. There’s a decent following at GASP, with ‘Tioch’ (Paul) leading the pack. He runs an event each year at GASPcon. It is a collectible game, and I’m not sure if they are still producing minis. There’s a bunch of expansions that were released though.
Sergeants Miniature Game (Lost Battalion Games)Website:
www.lostbattaliongames.comStyle: Skirmish
Scale: 20mm (1:72)
Rules: Need the game to play, very few distributors
This game is a unique bird. It’s really a boardgame, but it comes with pre-painted metal minis. It’s all scenario-based, and the boards are laser-cut boards that lock together. Each board has all the combat modifiers for it printed on, so when shooting at someone you just add all the modifiers between you and your target. It’s all card driven (no dice), even what actions you can take each round. Every single soldier is unique, and comes on a base with his ID # and name. Every soldier also comes with a unique set of cards, and your deck is built by combining all the cards from all your soldiers. Some soldiers have different ranks, so if playing the sergeant version, you add the sergeant cards, not the private cards. All in all I really like the game, and it started out gangbusters at GASP but has since died down.
X-Wing (Fantasy Flight Games)Website:
www.fantasyflightgames.comStyle: Skirmish
Scale: 1:270
Rules: Free rulebook download, but nearly impossible to play without their miniatures
X-Wing changed the landscape of pre-painted miniature games. With its fantastic models and innovative flight path system, it was a huge hit and continues to be a strong draw. Each miniature comes with several versions (both unique and generic), for instance the YT-1300 could be Han, Lando, Chewie, or a generic freighter. Stats change based on the ship card chosen, plus you can add select upgrades to each ship. Everything is points-based, and so far very well balanced. The game doesn’t suffer much from power creep, as new ships also include new upgrades that older ships can use. If anything, the new releases breathe new life into the older ships, which is a nice change of pace. But in my opinion, the best thing about the game is the scale stays the same throughout, so the ships look very nice next to each other
Attack Wing: Star Trek and D&D (Wizkids)Website:
www.wizkidsgames.comStyle: Skirmish (D&D has some troop movement)
Scale: Star Trek varies wildly, but D&D is around 25mm
Rules: Free rulebook download, but like X-Wing, it’s nearly impossible to play without their miniatures
FFG licensed their Flight Path system out to WizKids, who first released Star Trek: Attack Wing. They took their existing Star Trek Heroclix models and rebased them for the Flight Path system, so all the scale issues they had transferred over (the scale between ships was not consistent like in X-Wing). D&D Attack Wing was released late 2014, and also reused the existing D&D minis. The paint job on the minis is fair to good. Both games have very good game play, but don’t seem as balanced/play tested as much as X-Wing is. There’s not a big following with these games at GASP Games Days.
Song of Blades & Heroes (Ganesha Games)Website:
www.ganeshagames.netStyle: Skirmish
Scale: varies, but 25mm is the most common for us
Rules: Low cost rules, any miniatures can be used
Song of Blades & Heroes (SoBaH) is a fast play, fantasy skirmish game. It uses an action point system for movement and combat. The rules are kept simple with minimal special rules to reference. The biggest draw is that there are no miniatures produced by the company, they encourage you to use whatever minis you have to represent that various warriors and creatures in your warband. Most of us use the pre-painted D&D minis (that’s why I listed this under pre-painted), so typically we are 25mm scale. Several expansions have been released for the game
D&D Miniatures & Star Wars Miniatures (Wizards of the Coast)Website:
www.wizards.comStyle: skirmish+
Scale: 25mm
Rules: Free rulebook download, need that stat cards to play, could use other miniatures
These games are the grandfather of collectible miniature games. There may have been a couple collectible games that came out prior, but these two launched the genre (OK, I could include the various Heroclix games alongside as well). Both games are no longer actively supported with new miniatures, but there are so many out there it’s easy to find some to play. Both sets also found homes for use in D&D and Sci-fi RPG campaigns, to take those to full tabletop combat gloriousness. I would also say the games launched the use of stat cards for miniatures as well, condensing everything you needed to play down to 1x playing card size card. We’ve played some Star Wars minis games at GASPcon before, namely the Battle of Hoth. These pop-up infrequently at Games Days, as they are fun and easy to learn/play. Also, the Star Wars minis has a very active community that is producing new stat cards about once a year, that breathes new life into older minis (
www.bloomilk.com)
Sails of Glory (Ares Games)Website:
www.aresgames.euStyle: Age of Sail combat
Scale: 1:1000
Rules: Free rulebook download, hard to play without movement decks however
Some folks have made use of the rules with existing Langston's models. Each ship pack comes with two available ships, and the required maneuver deck and base. A starter set is needed to play, as the game does not use dice and the damage markers come in the base set. Can be played on literally any flat surface, but mouse-pad style mats are available. Ships range in price from about $12 for a sloop, up to $20 for the big first rates. Not a good system for running huge battles, unless everyone involved knows the rules extremely well. Multiple levels of rules are available, from a basic set which has more of a beer and pretzels feel, up to advanced rules which require planning and can make a huge difference as crew begins to die. Most of the available ships are either British or French, but recently Ares released some Spanish ships and the Constitution. With the ruleset favoring smaller actions, you can get started with basically the core set (which comes with 4 ships) and a few expansion packs. There are several people that play at Games Days, and are willing to teach others the game.
For Dan, my recommendation would be to try out MERCS, I think with Recon coming out I think it will catch on. Both Jim and I KS Recon (I think Paul and Pat did as well), so in a couple months you can try both games. Next I would recommend either Bushido or Wrath of Kings, with Bushido getting the slight edge. It's a true Skirmish game at this point, and the rules are clean and fast. I really like the combat pool and model activation mechanics. Plus there are a few people outside of GASP that play. You can proxy minis to see if you like it, as everything is free on their website.
If anyone wants to add a game or two, just follow the same format. Comments are also welcome.
Enjoy,
