Quickest to teach and play naval or space combat tactical tabletop miniatures game?

[gomipile]

What do you think are the easiest tabletop miniatures tactical combat games(with a naval or space combat theme) to teach to people who have no experience with tabletop miniatures?

As per title, bonus points if the game is noticeably fast for resolving reach round of combat, so that matches can proceed quickly.

[The Glyphstone]

IIRC the Star Wars X-Wing Miniatures game was pretty straightforward. Haven't played it in a long time though.

[gomipile]

IIRC the Star Wars X-Wing Miniatures game was pretty straightforward. Haven't played it in a long time though.

Does that have the option for capital ships at all? I'm kinda hoping for something that feels like ships fighting each other, with firing arcs that aren't just straight forward like I assume the rules for Star Wars fighters would be.

[Cikomyr]

Does that have the option for capital ships at all? I'm kinda hoping for something that feels like ships fighting each other, with firing arcs that aren't just straight forward like I assume the rules for Star Wars fighters would be.

Most starfighters have forward firing arcs in that game. A few more advanced vessels have more diverse arcs

Armada is not too bad. Battlefleet Gothic can be fun, but not sure how much it's supported nowadays.

[Mando Knight]

Does that have the option for capital ships at all? I'm kinda hoping for something that feels like ships fighting each other, with firing arcs that aren't just straight forward like I assume the rules for Star Wars fighters would be.

X-Wing has a handful of capital ships (the Tantive IV and a few similarly-sized counterparts), but if you're looking for capital ship brawls, Star Wars: Armada is the game that's scaled more appropriately for that.

[Hunter Noventa]

Most starfighters have forward firing arcs in that game. A few more advanced vessels have more diverse arcs

Armada is not too bad. Battlefleet Gothic can be fun, but not sure how much it's supported nowadays.

BFG was pretty good. I think you can get the books in PDF form for free, but the minis are longer made, so you'd have to settle for tokens of some kind.

[Aotrs Commander]

What do you think are the easiest tabletop miniatures tactical combat games(with a naval or space combat theme) to teach to people who have no experience with tabletop miniatures?

As per title, bonus points if the game is noticeably fast for resolving reach round of combat, so that matches can proceed quickly.

This is about as much my wheelhouse as you can possible get.

Full Thrust is probably the simplest and is available for free download at Ground Zero Games here (https://shop.groundzerogames.co.uk/rules.html), since it's been out of print for some time. It did, however, win awards multiple times in the British wagaming community for a number of awards. It takes a good lot of beating, to be honest.

Full Thrust is a) captial ships (with fighters if you want to bother) and b) not tied to anything else, so you can use it (and whatever models) for whatever you like, which is a massive bonus, as far as I'm concerned.

You would also struggle to teach a system that is much simpler, I think. And you don't need a load of props or plastic bits and funny markers, just a paper (or card, if you're feeling posh) course marker and a tape measure, and the ship record sheets and a sheet to write the orders on, and a load of D6s.



I consider FT to be something of the spirtual ancestor to my own set of starship rules Accelerate and Attack (but AccAtt is not really for beginners, at least not that doesn't fall under the "easiest" to teach; it's not so much the rules but the tactics. FT is definitely a prime started, though.

I presume you have miniatures?

If not, the one thing I could nudge your way from AccAtt is that it does have free web enhancement pack which has some markers for a couple of space fleets, which are like, literally just top-down renders of my actual models and so could be used for pretty much anything you wanted (since, like FT, my policy is always "use this to make you own crap up up!").




(I mean, if hadn't got and wanted actual miniatures, I could make you a list of places (including my own Aotrs Shipyards), I have, like 1500 and about that many fighters, so I know of what I speak...!)

[gomipile]

It's there anything even simpler that uses a hex map instead of tape measures and such?

[The Glyphstone]

The only hex-based space combat game I know of is Attack Vector Tactical and its spinoff Saganami Island Tactical Simulator, and they are pretty much the direct polar opposite of 'simple and easy to learn/play'.

[gomipile]

Oh? I thought pretty much everyone in the tabletop community knew about Babylon 5 Wars and Silent Death. Granted, neither of them fits this thread, either.

Babylon 5 Wars, for example, has a simpler movement system and turn sequence than SITS, but its handling of damage and weapons is much crunchier.

And I almost wouldn't consider SITS or Attack Vector to be hex grid games in the sense I mean, since they have a third dimension of height counters added in.

[The Glyphstone]

Fair nuff. Though the 2D movement is still on a hex grid, it's just not the sole measurement of position, so I figured it would count.

I'm not that deep into the TT community, though, so I've never heard of those others.

[Aotrs Commander]

It's there anything even simpler that uses a hex map instead of tape measures and such?

Honestly?

No, I don't think so.

You will find it extremely difficult to get a game that is simpler than Full Thrust - certainly not that would retain the "tactical" part of "tactical space combat." It is to starship wargames what HeroQuest (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cx8sl2uC46A) is to RPGs.



You might try asking the Star Ranger (http://www.star-ranger.com/forum/) forums, The Wargames Website (https://www.thewargameswebsite.com/forums/forum/sci-fi/general-sci-fi/) forums or the Starshp Miniatures Gaming (https://www.facebook.com/groups/1235226359835616/?source_id=1198737823615066) group of Facebook, some people there might be able to offer some suggestions, but...



Besides, hexless starship battles look much better anyway...


https://photos.smugmug.com/Primary-Gallery/i-Btmz92G/0/53af095d/X3/Recon%202014%20It%20Gets%20A%20Bit%20Messy%202-X3.jpg
https://photos.smugmug.com/Primary-Gallery/i-HqfkZCc/0/2328a7b2/X3/DSCN0249-X3.jpg
https://photos.smugmug.com/Primary-Gallery/i-vxF7zcN/0/31525d44/X3/DSCN0319-X3.jpg
https://photos.smugmug.com/Primary-Gallery/i-dzXT52S/0/d86ba970/X3/Recon%202015end-X3.jpg
https://photos.smugmug.com/Primary-Gallery/i-mN69WTQ/0/a247525c/L/UCDRvrsPhystyulonsMancavefirst%2002-X3.jpg
https://photos.smugmug.com/Primary-Gallery/i-z9qK7J6/0/9b1f8582/L/OtherPartizan%202019%2009-X3.jpg
https://photos.smugmug.com/Primary-Gallery/i-m2b55GZ/0/10d528a4/L/Hammerhead%202015%20Endgame%205-X3.jpg
https://photos.smugmug.com/Primary-Gallery/i-4FV4j29/0/bc5a20fd/L/Partizan%202019%2008-X3.jpg


/Not At All Biased

[Mando Knight]

The only hex-based space combat game I know of is Attack Vector Tactical and its spinoff Saganami Island Tactical Simulator, and they are pretty much the direct polar opposite of 'simple and easy to learn/play'.


Oh? I thought pretty much everyone in the tabletop community knew about Babylon 5 Wars and Silent Death. Granted, neither of them fits this thread, either.

Babylon 5 Wars, for example, has a simpler movement system and turn sequence than SITS, but its handling of damage and weapons is much crunchier.

And I almost wouldn't consider SITS or Attack Vector to be hex grid games in the sense I mean, since they have a third dimension of height counters added in.

There's also Battletech's Aerospace rules, which use hex maps... but is also probably too complex for a random pickup game, and perhaps a fair bit less refined than the franchise's standard giant stompy robot game.

[Cikomyr]

Starfleet Command is abstract..?

I know I wanted to learn it at one point. It looked relatively straightforward at first.