BFE: Striker?

[madprophet]

Are there any plans create a BFE version of Striker? I have been toying with making the BFE/SST rules work with the MGT role-play rules. They mesh surprisingly well.

I have the basis of a Striker rules set based on BFE/SST and a conversion system to spec out Traveller style forces (and, incidentally, any manufacturer's figures - even those from a certain other British miniatures maker from Nottingham) for use with the BFE system with the advantage of being background independent.

 

[MongooseMatt]

No such plans, I am afraid.

 

[GypsyComet]

A new Striker would really need that rumored "rigorous vehicle design system" to hit a finished state. Which would mean that vehicular-scale weaponry needs to be addressed for real (which it hasn't), which means the weapon damage scale needs to be rectified (which it needs).

Oh, and Striker in 30mm? Bleh. Leave the badly done WWI warfare to the Nottingham boyz and use a scale that can reflect high tech battlefields.

 

[khazwind]

FWIW, I think this'd be a really good idea.

OK, you need to work out good stats for vehicles weapons etc, for BFE but then again, you'd have to do all that for ANY (tactical) mass-combat system. RQ does a pretty good job with an abstract system, but sometimes we want to see things go boom.

 

[madprophet]

Oh, and Striker in 30mm? Bleh. Leave the badly done WWI warfare to the Nottingham boyz and use a scale that can reflect high tech battlefields.

There are some pretty good 6mm rulesets out there that can handle truly mass combat (6mm is probably the best scale to represent anything over company level action in any era and especially in modern era or later) Dirtside II isn't bad (and its a free download).

28mm is good for company level and lower infantry actions (especially skirmish actions). BFE has the advantage of being open source, relatively simple to play and flexible enough to cover most periods of modern and sci-fi warfare without being tied to any particular background (unlike certain other popular 28mm games produced by an obscure company from Nottingham) :twisted:

While MGT still has ground to cover with regards to heavy weapons, the basic principles (damage will be represented by a number of D6, armor will be represented by a protection value and movement scale will remain constant) can be assumed. Whatever additions to the MGT line are envisioned for the future, the conversion system should hold.

I may take a crack at this using the BFE SRD. If I do, can I directly recruit playtesters and share the results of my work or do I have to work through Mongoose (either way works for me, I just like the Traveller technical architecture and I like using the Traveller world and star system generation mechanics as the basis of a wargames campaign). :lol:

 

[SnowDog]

Oh, and Striker in 30mm? Bleh. Leave the badly done WWI warfare to the Nottingham boyz and use a scale that can reflect high tech battlefields.

And what scale that would be? Personally I don't see a reason why in high tech battlefields there would be more personnel than in today's battles and it seems that we are moving towards small unit action more than towards massed WW I battles.

So, I would think that 20-25 mm would be a proper scale. Just increase the range of weapons and I'm happy.

 

[Infojunky]

Oh, and Striker in 30mm? Bleh. Leave the badly done WWI warfare to the Nottingham boyz and use a scale that can reflect high tech battlefields.

And what scale that would be?

Well 15mm is probably the best compromise size.

Personally I don't see a reason why in high tech battlefields there would be more personnel than in today's battles and it seems that we are moving towards small unit action more than towards massed WW I battles.

Their not, but with increasing tech level the spacing between men increases. The comment is about 40K where they pack the battlefield tight.

So, I would think that 20-25 mm would be a proper scale. Just increase the range of weapons and I'm happy.

Under the Striker rules a 5 man fire team has a 25 meter facing. Or 5 figures on a 1inch base (Striker ground scale is 1:1000). So for the most part they don't fit "Classic Striker" ground plan.

That said, the AHL and Snapshot rulesets are significantly scale blind as they are defined in squares/meters and individual combatants. which could be used to rig incredibly short ranged skirmish action that really precludes vehicles in realistic fashion.

15mm is about the largest size of figure that is reasonable to vehicles and infantry on the same table. That and there are historical figures still available as well as some new figures being produced that are suitable for use with Traveller. There were some 25mm figures produced but the selection was far more limited than the 15mm figures produced.

6mm is a better size but most people look at my as if I am crazy when mention 6mm skirmish.

 

[BP]

...6mm is a better size but most people look at my as if I am crazy when mention 6mm skirmish.

Just don't sneeze - or you might wipe out a battalion

Seriously, Wow - didn't know these exist for Sci-Fi (googled 6mm sci fi => 25,400 results)

 

[towerwarlock]

Hmm. . . .
Call in the Ortillery!
Oops we wiped out everyone on both sides.
Oh well, that was a short lived fight.

 

[GypsyComet]

Wow - didn't know these exist for Sci-Fi (googled 6mm sci fi => 25,400 results)

GW's Epic, FASA's Battletech, and SJG's OGRE all escaped your notice?

 

[madprophet]

6mm has been around for about 40 years (it is roughly Z scale in model RR terms) and is very popular in German and UK historical circles. In the USA, WW2 and Modern have been the most popular 6mm period with a smaller but very well developed Sci-fi contingent. Steve Jackson's OGRE is a perennial favorite of mine (corresponds to roughly TL9-11 in Traveller terms), the infantry are a little large (a constant problem in 6mm) but the GW infantry for their Epic 40k line is closer to true 6mm.

Space Marines make good Imperials, Eldar make passable Zhodani, and Orks can be used as Vargr. Fortress Figures makes light Grav Tanks that can be had for 50 cents a piece.

Anyway, 6mm is a great Sci-Fi scale, and you can build a company for less than US$25. If you want to game out anything over company level, 6mm is the way to go.

25mm is good for skirmish, and platoon/company level actions and you can do cool conversions with it.

 

[BP]

Thanks for the info!

Never actually played with miniatures - collected a few (very few) and enjoyed painting every last detail. Probably all 25mm. Always thought it would be cool to have Z scale (did HO scale modeling as a kid), but never saw anything in my local hobby shops for sci-fi.

 

[Sevya]

Here I am, three months behind...

I just wanted to voice my support for 15mm. It's the smallest scale that works well, in my opinion, for individually based figures. It's also the traditional scale for Traveller, and some people have setting specific figures in this scale.

I really like the idea of a new Striker set. I've done a little work toward this myself. I think it'd be a great addition to the Traveller line.

Sevya

 

[nats]

I use 6mm for battles and its a brilliant scale for vehicles and infantry. You can play using the standard Merc rules along with the Equipment Catalogue and it works pretty well. There are loads of tanks and grav vehicles at this scale and if you mount the infantry in groups of 5 it ties in quite well with Merc. Plus I use a set of individually mounted 6mm troops for actions on board large ships - you can get a very large ship plan at 6mm on an A2 piece of paper!

I dont really need Striker rules for Mongoose Traveller I never actually liked Striker too much - far too complex, too many rules. I would really like it if a range of ships and figures on card were released at 15mm size for Mongoose Traveller though along the lines of Snapshot etc, and some background maps with stars and some large card ship plans would be really good as well!!

 

[GamerDude]

15 mm is about as small as I care to go. Anything smaller and it's "why bother painting it." I love some of the jobs I've seen on microarmor minis but these were done buy folks with great hands, lots of money, and plenty of time on their hands.

Unfortunately I lack all three.

 

[Infojunky]

...6mm is a better size but most people look at my as if I am crazy when mention 6mm skirmish.

Just don't sneeze - or you might wipe out a battalion

Naw, base them on 6mm Rare earth magnets and use magnetic attractive sheets under and they stay put pretty reliably.

(Note, I have done the test of concept on this, and it works reasonably well.)

[2nd Note, we played Gurps:Car Wars with 6mm figure and cars and it work reasonably well even without the magnetic basing.]

 

[nats]

I mount all my troops on plasticard and all grav vehciles on large cicular clear bases and they dont move. And a massive battle looks great. You can have proper battles not just small encounters.

 

[nats]

As for good 6mm figures this place does some great ones incl scifi infantry standard infantry, grav vehicles etc-

http://home.clara.net/adlermin/

 

[G. K. Zhukov]

As for good 6mm figures this place does some great ones incl scifi infantry standard infantry, grav vehicles etc-

http://home.clara.net/adlermin/

...And the infantry figures are the 6mm versions of the very fine (true) 25mm figures from Denizen Miniatures:

Denizen 25mm minis' pics

...So you can pick both the Adler and the Denizen ranges and use them for wargaming and roleplaying. :wink:

 

[BP]

Nice links guys - and I love the 6mm version of 25mm - slick.
(Didn't see my favorite - P6 on this page - in 6mm though )

Had to Google 6mm - here's some interesting links (note: not a recommendation - just web surfing!):

• Command Horizons
  ZandrisIV Miniatures
  Old Crow Models
  Eureka Minitures