Friday, 7 November 2025

We interrupt this Campaign....

 ...for a quick playtest

Having submitted my very simple SciFi Skirmish rules to Bob Cordery for the 4th Portable Wargame Compendium, I thought I'd better give them another go. (I came across some old 20mm SciFi figures while looking for something else and decided I needed a simple ruleset for them. The figures were (possibly) from Wargames Supply Dump).

Two opposing squads are fighting for dominance in the ruins of a city. The majority of troopers are veterans and treated as unarmoured in this playtest. The two figures with purple markers are Elite and armed with Heavy Weapons (roll two dice when firing).

Green Squad (furthest from camera) moved first
The foliage is impassable

Turn 1 Green are already a man down

Turn 2 Blue Squad have taken out another of Green's force
The white die indicates that a figure is wounded

Turn 3 One of the Blue Squad has run across the open
space. The wounded man has moved back

Turn 4 Green's Heavy Weapon falls back, Blue's
is wounded

Turn 5 Green takes down the Blue trooper nearest 
his position

Turn 6 Green's Commander falls to Blue's Heavy Weapon
The rest of the squad withdraw

My next step with this project is to make more grid squares to allow more movement. Perhaps I'll have to consider bl**dy drones as well...
The opposing General was unimpressed and really just
wanted to sit on the battlefield. C'est la guerre.


12 comments:

  1. Looks like fun! Slightly bigger boards are better for skirmishing I think, make it less of A head on slug fest. I'm looking forward to reading the rules in the next compendium.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Mark. It's very simple, based on your 3x3 only with individuals rather than units, but I think it's adaptable and hopefully others could you it as the basis for something.

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  2. I wonder if the furry general perhaps needs you to amend the rules (to add a claws or two)? The scrap looked fairly even, although victory was eventually achieved by a whisker.
    That’s enough cat puns for now 😉
    Cheers,
    Geoff

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  3. Aw, the opposing general is adorable!

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  4. No Picenian aggression in evidence here!! 🙂⚔️🎲. Good to have a change of pace now and then…👍🏼
    . Is Wargame Supply Dump an actual shop, or is it a colloquialism for the Pile of Opportunity?
    Nice to get a shot of the opposing general, in all his/her furry glory.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Martin. Yes WSD was a real supplier in the 00s and Teens of this Century. I honestly can't remember if these figures came from them but I think they did - they had a very few metal Fantasy figures in 20mm too if memory serves.

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  5. I like the simplicity of this Sci-fi game. It looks very interesting.
    It's strange with pets; they always get involved in our (hobby-) activities somehow. We a dog, and a cat (who passed this summer).

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    Replies
    1. Pets, being part of the family, have to let us know their opinion regarding hobby activities.

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  6. The adorable opposing General really puts the scale of game/space required into perspective! Looking forward to checking out the rules when the Compendium comes out. Cheers!

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