The miniature games thread (census starts now)

Mayday · March 2013

Hello!
First off, before I'm fired into the moon for a megathread, this is not what it looks like. The aim of this thread is to build a list of popular miniature skirmish/battle/wargames for those of us who want to explore new systems but are worried about getting into something that dies next Thursday.

Why start this? Well, I'm a 40k player but I'm tired of GW's shit. Because of the company policies, the shift in style of the miniatures, the ever dumb rules and the general change in tone of the fluff from my beloved grimdark to what is starting to resemble high fantasy. Since (despite lots of new releases for my armies) I haven't bought anything new from GW in more than a year, I've decided to give my money to some other promising companies. Yes, I know that there are lots of people here who have already done this. This is the place to help others on the fence make this same (excellent) choice.

CAVEAT: please only post systems which either you play or you know/forum-know someone who plays them.

HELP: I have trouble categorizing fleet based games like Firestorm Armada, X-wing etc. Your thoughts on these? They take a lot from all three levels (X-wing- skirmish, Firestorm Armada- wargames/battlegames) but since I feel the scale is much larger, I've decided to separate them for now.
While the categories blend together, I though they might be useful.
Skirmish is for 28mm and up, no vehicles, single miniatures are the core of the game
Battle is ~28mm, single vehicles as units, usually multiple minis form a unit but models die separately.
War is ~15mm and smaller, units of multiple vehicles, bases with multiple infantry.
Fleet-based games (planes, ships, spaceships) becuase I feel those are unique (especially since the terrain plays a much smaller role, and despite the much smaller scale there is often focus on single vehicles).

QUESTION: would you like me to include info on the game themes, link to the company website etc?

Skirmish:
-Infinity (SF)
-Anima tactics (weeaboo)
-Necromunda(SF)
-Mordheim (fantasy)
-Warheim (fantasy)
-Malifaux (steampunk)
-Dystopian Legions (steampunk)
-Umbra Turris (fantasy)
-Mercs Minis (SF)
-Bolt Action (WW2)
-Dark Potential (SF)
-Monsterpocalypse
-Mobile Frame Zero: Rapid Attack (ruleset SF played with LEGOs!)
-Operation Squad WW2 (ruleset WW2)

Battle:
-Warmachine (steampunk)
-Hordes (fantasy)
-Warzone (SF)
-Kings of War(fantasy)
-Warpath (SF)
-Warhammer fantasy (fantasy)
-Warhammer 40k (SF)
-LotR (fantasy)
-Dust Warfare (SF)
-Operation World War 2 (ruleset WW2)

War:
-Flames of War (WW2)
-Dystopian Wars (steampunk)
-By Fire and Sword (historical)
-Epic 40k (SF)
-Warmaster (fantasy)
-Battletech (SF)
-Dropzone Commander (SF)
-Battlegroup Kursk (ruleset, WW2)
-Hind Commander (ruleset modern)
-De Bellis Antuquitatis (ruleset historical)
-Sturmovik Commander (ruleset aerial WW2)

Fleet:
-Firestorm Armada (space)
-Battlefleet Gothic (space)
-X-Wing (space)

Since starting this hunt I've discovered many hidden jewels already. A special mention goes to Fire and Sword, manufactured by my local company which, compared to Warhammer, appears to have just excellent rules, with simultaneous orders and great pace.

Zombie Hero · March 2013

Do sportsy games count? Blood bowl and Dreadball are both fun.

Mayday · March 2013

While certainly good choices for collecting, I was hoping to focus on combat games, actually (yes I know they're kinda about combat :P ).

Mikey CTS · March 2013

>Ehem< You mispelled "thread" in the title.

Mayday · March 2013

...fantastic. (thx, fixed)

OminousLozenge · March 2013

I haven't played it, but Mercs Minis (sci fi) is a skirmish game that's been mentioned by Jerry and/or Mike before.

Also under skirmish there's Mobile Frame Zero: Rapid Attack (sci fi), which is particularly neato because you build your dudes with Legos. They were running demos all last PAX East, so they might be there this weekend.

Mayday · March 2013

Added, thanks! (MFZ looks crazy!)

rattletrap · March 2013

I would suggest Monsterpocalypse, which should probably be classified as a Skirmish game.

I enjoy it because a) Giant Monsters destroying cities, b) Cool minis, b) Plays quick and rules are fairly easy to teach.

It has recently seemed to be limping towards discontinuation but the 2P Battle Boxes are still available and reasonably priced. There is also lots of product available on Ebay and similar sites.

Edit: If you want to classify the genre, it would either be "Giant Robots/Monsters" or "Kaiju" if you want to use moon-language.

Sakutian · March 2013

Would the new Dungeon Command sets being released by Wizards of the Coast fit into this category? If so it would probably be a skirmish game.

I've purchased two of them, and I have to say I thought they were well worth the money. Miniature gaming often seems pretty cost prohibitive but these sets are within my price range, plus they don't require assembly or painting which I appreciate. The figures themselves are very nice, and as an added bonus you can add a solid group to your collection of minis for plain old Dungeons and Dragons. The backstories provided for the commanders of each set provide a nice bit of fluff that I enjoy.

My only complaint is that of the five sets already released only one is focused on heroic figures. I'd love to see some more like that. My thoughts include:

Forces of the Feywild (Elves, Eladrin, and benign Feywild creatures like Blink Dogs)
Arkhosian Artillery (Dragonborn)
Dwarves of Hammerfall (Dwarven units using the Hammerfall setting from the Points of Light.)
Denizens of Dark Sun (Muls, Thri-Kreen, and figures with weapons of bone and obsidian. I really like the Dark Sun setting.)
Power of the Gods (Clerics, avengers, invokers, and paladins devoted to the various gods.)
Heroes of the Lance (I like Dragonlance and, while I know many others do not, I think this set could sell well enough to warrant a release.)

The sets that are already out include:

Heroes of Cormyr (My first purchase and an amazing collection of varied heroice figures including a dragon.)
Tyranny of Goblins (Second purchase, goblins focus on fighting smart and overwhelming their foes with superior tactics. What GM can't use a bunch of goblins by the way?)
Sting of Loth (This one is the lowest priority for me because I don't really use Drow. I've seen it used as a solid set a few times though.)
Curse of Undeath (Aside from some cool figures, I personally think this set offers the greatest variety of individual units, except for maybe Heroes of Cormyr. In my mind a vareity of tactics is an advantage which can lead to a decisive victory.)
Blood of Gruumsh (Brutes don't interest me, but if that is your sort of thing the orcs are good at it. The figures for this set aren't quite as good as the ones released in the earlier sets for some reason.)

Noxy · March 2013

Bolt Action is a great WW2 skirmish style game. It's made by Warlord games and is really affordable to get into. Not to mention, the rule book is one of the most organized and beautiful rule books that I have ever read. For the cost of entry, it's a great game to play and would be easier to convince friends to join.

Nobody · March 2013

There's Dropzone Commander, which is a 10mm scifi game involving 4 factions.

Mayday · March 2013

I've looked into Dungeon Command and I'm not sure. On one hand, it is indeed a skirmish miniatures game. On the other, we should then also include Super Dungeon Explore. And then maybe Doom? I'll explore the subject.

Thanks for the suggestions guys, list updated. I wanted to have some sort of a poll to gauge the popularity, but I think we only have a one-choice poll here?

Penny Arcade

Quick Links

The miniature games thread (census starts now)

Posts