A replacement for the original Traveller Striker rules, these rules are a kind of SF version of GDW’s Command Decision. I have heard there are many flaws in the rules but have yet to try them. The basing is different than original Striker and it is just difficult to work up the enthusiasm to rebase figures.
Battletech is one of those big games that spawned millions of rule variants, supplements, accessories, miniatures, even novels. This is an old book bringing together various Battletech miniatures rules. For those unfamiliar, the central focus of the rules is giant piloted robots battling each other with all manner of weaponry while trying to avoid shutting down from excess heat.
The original Battletech was designed by FASA as a boardgame and with a series of modular boards, took on aspects of a kind of SF Squad Leader. With Ral Partha picking up a license to manufacture miniatures under the Battletech logo it became possible to replace the cardboard counters found in the game with something more visually appealing. The compendium was designed to do away with the game boards as well not only compiling the rules from several different games under one cover but also providing rules for conversion to a pure miniatures game.
Probably one of the most recently published rule sets I own but now likely out of print. I am interested but a little put off by the inability of ships to fire at anything behind them. It seems a rather artificial constraint.
You can download the rules here:
Full Thrust
Well, of course this would be on the list. Task Force Games was a small company dedicated to small games so how did they come up with this monster? This neat version of the game in its own blue notebook binder is one of many complete with supplements and extensions, a kind of Squad Leader for outer space. The Star Trek license moved around a bit but this is the game one most closely associates with it. Amazing that the same company came up with the elegantly simple space combat game Starfire. The game and everything to go with it is now available from Amarillo Design Bureau.
Here is a link to a introductory version of the game:
Starfleet Cadet Handbook
Here are some old figures from the Rogue Trader era. The Space Orcs had a curious Nazi biker quality to them. Citadel’s earlier use of metal figures as opposed to plastic seemed to allow a scope to added personality that seems lost now. The newer plastic figures draw variety from interchangeable heads and arms.
Perhaps even more interesting are the Squats. There used to be a nice range of these figures, cleverly sculpted with lots of personality. However, Games Workshop decided to shelve the Squats apparently because they did not mesh with the 40K world and possibly because they gave the game the appearance of a light work-over of the original Warhammer universe now simply dressed up in spacesuits.
