I have been unable to paint
the last few days but I decided this was a post I needed to make. If nothing
else it gives me a bunch of the web links, I use all in the same place. Several
times in my step-by-step painting series I have mentioned Star Breach and Star
Grave.
I am a big fan of the sci-fi miniatures
offered by a certain big company. At least its a big company in the gaming
hobby. Their rules though, not so much. That is why I sought out systems to
replace those rules.
Free is good. I like free. I also
like skirmish level games Elijah M. Kellog has created three skirmish level
games that are miniatures agnostic: Star Breach, Supers and NCO. The system
uses a streamlined mechanic for attacks and random activations. The PDF of the
basic rules for all three of these is free to download with no strings
attached. They do sell a physical version and a deluxe version of Star Breach
but you don't need them to play.
The most fun idea of Star
Breach is that you can play as just about any science fiction faction. You can
play as warriors of “The Path" as they battle "The Hive". Maybe
the "Legion of Mankind" is having a dust up with the "Machine
Cult". It is all up to you and your opponent. If you have minis for
it there is probably a faction for it.
The next set of free rules encompasses both fantasy and science fiction. One Page Rules is your one stop
shop for both army level rules and skirmish rules. Their two rules are
"Age of Fantasy" and "Grimdark Future". They have not only rules
but all of the army codices for any faction you'd like to try. One Page rules
also offers paper minis to play and Patreon supported stl files for printing
your own army.
They also offer skirmish level
rules in GF: Firefight and AoF: Skirmish. The rules are not as innovative as the
Star Breach rules but this could make them easier to learn if you are used to a
certain big company's rules. For volume of rules and supplements you cannot
beat One Page Rules. Several YouTubers broadcast battle reports for the Grimdark
Future rules if you want to see them in action.
If you prefer your free
skirmish rules with a healthy serving of strange and quirky you have come to
the right place. Ishtar, the Sumerian goddess of life and death is displeased
with her lack of worship. She has created a pocket dimension and captured
people and creatures from the past, present and future to battle for her glory.
Any models can be used fantasy, science fiction and even historical figures.
There is a free ruleset available
but the catch is that you have to join their page on social media to receive an
invitation to download the rules. It’s a strange arrangement but you can always
unfriend them after you have the rules.
https://www.brutalityskirmishwargame.com/
The last generic miniature
ruleset is not free. It is Stargrave by Joseph McCullough by Osprey Publishing.
The PDF is $24.50 and the hardcover is $35.00. This game is far different than
any of the previous titles.
It is a skirmish level game
where each player creates the crew of a starship travelling a collapsing
galactic civilization to gather data to sell in order to make a living. You create
a captain and a first mate first and these are more like RPG characters as they
can level up and gain new skills and powers. After their creation you have 400
credits to purchase a crew to use to gather data throughout the galaxy.
The campaign is a series of
scenarios that are played through by two to four crews each attempting to earn
credits for new and better crew and improved equipment. The link below contains
the crew creation sheet link and a short PDF about captains, mates and crew
positions.
https://ospreypublishing.com/gaming-resources-frostgrave#stargrave
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