Mid-Week Debrief - 5150: Star Army Review by Geek Ken of keekken.blogspot.com

Posted by Harold
Written by Geek Ken

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Review: 5150 - Star Army

Two hour wargames has a slew of settings using their Chain Reaction rules (which are available free). Their sci-fi ruleset is 5150: Star Army which is designed for a variety of scales but works for best for 15-28 mm. Now Chain Reaction has been out a while now and this is not the first iteration of their sci-fi rules. Their latest version, which came out in 2011, shows that as it seems much more polished and refined as a dedicated ruleset of military style engagements.

CINEMATIC GAMING - Space: Above And Beyond

The year is 2063 and man's first extra-solar colony, Vesta, is destroyed by an unknown alien race, thus igniting a war between Earth and a race that will come to be known as the "Chigs". Thrown into the midst of this conflict is the 58th Squadron of the USMC's Space Aviator Cavalry, otherwise known as the "Wildcards". The squadron is made up of a group of freshly minted young lieutenants, barely out of flight school when the war begins. The series follows their exploits as they mature and develop into one of Earth's best fighting squadrons...



Welcome to the first post in a series about the cinematic gaming of one of my favorite shows, Space: Above And Beyond

Even though this show only lasted 24 episodes, it gathered a small but faithful following, and it's a shame that it did not run the entire 5 seasons originally planned by its creators. This show had lots of potential. And it still does. Space: Above And Beyond is probably one of the best shows around that lends itself to "cinematic gaming". Within the 24 episodes there are quite a few scenarios that one can devise and game, and since the final episode of the series was pretty much "open-ended", the gamer is presented with an opportunity to continue the exploits of the surviving members of the "Wildcards" or create their own group of protagonists to carry on in their stead.

To begin, I needed to find miniatures to represent the "Wildcards". Rebel Minis Earth Force Marines are are a near perfect match to environment-suited Marines from the show, and Rebel's Earth Force Home Guard match up nicely as Marines in standard combat gear. Finding miniatures to represent the Chigs is a bit more difficult, but not impossible. 15mm.co.uk's Retained Knights can be drafted in to service as Chig infantry in a pinch. Since I'm planning on mostly doing skirmish gaming, I don't need to worry about finding a proxy for the Marine's SA-43 Hammerhead Endo/Exo-Atmospheric Attack Fighter, or the Chig's space fighter. There is however, one flying vehicle common to the show I would like to have available for use in certain scenarios, and that is the Marine's Inter-Solar System Cargo Vehicle, or ISSCV. Luckily, Rebel Minis has a vehicle that proxies nicely, the Earth Force Saber-class Dropship. While not an exact match, it will serve the purpose well.

I really like Two Hour Wargames' rules sets and I will be using their 5150 science fiction skirmish rules for the batrep. 5150 works well for solo gaming and is perfect for scenario driven campaigns. Right now I have a few scenarios in mind, but I'm going to do a little more research, so I'll save those ideas for one of the upcoming posts.

Cinematic gaming is a really fun way to relive the action of your favorite movie or television show, and isn't as difficult as some people might think it would be. It just requires a little bit of creativity and some research, and it will reward you with many hours of enjoyment.


Cheers,
Spartan 117

Master Chef Plays By The Rules

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5150, We Can Be Heroes II
& Mutants and Death Ray Guns -

A Rules Comparison

Master Chef here; Take a knee and listen up.....

Over the last few weeks, inspired by finishing West Wing, I have been thinking of rules to use for small skirmish games (the WW influence was in terms of FBI or Secret Service details taking on bad guys in Vince Flynn style action) - this of course mutated into a force march through the above rules. Here are my highly subjective thoughts:

5150

Ed Texiera has created a system with its own internal logic and Universe - not a mean feat. This means I'll be tempted to plunder the Star Army etc for ideas for my own squads; I love the brutal simplicity of the shooting system and the squad creation. I'm not sold on the term "star" for the main figure (then again, I toyed with the terms Tier 1, 2 & 3 so who am I to judge?) but thats minor; the reaction system is comprehensive - and there is the problem. Frederick The Great said - if you defend eveywhere you defend nowhere; by covering all the bases in a series of tables, I found 5150 lost flow and became a matter of moving from one test to another.

WE CAN BE HEROES II

Well Gordon Roach has created the most accesible rules I have ever seen - as someone who recoils in disorder at rules overkill, I loved the layout - its not often you get to drool at great paintjobs, smile at humour and learn rules at the same time. The game itself is slick and runs well - the generic nature means its adaptable to all and sundry. I just personally don't get on well with card driven rules - I have a nagging fear of bad shuffling and card counting - a subconcious tendency to "know" that the hero has all his activations left......

MUTANTS & DEATH RAY GUNS

Andrea Sfiligoi at Ganesha has adapted the Song of.... system for post apocalypse mayhem, as well as pretty much anything else. This is not Star Wars - more Triffids meets Mad Max. But with rules for power armour, lasers etc it can be used for sci fi oh so easily. My first game saw Vargr Scouts (ie canine mutants) play Locust Horde (errr mutants) after about 5 minutes of pen chewing. There's a nice little campaign system which can probably be adapted for a SF background. No cards, just dice roll to activate - which can back fire. Oh yes it can.

So, what's the verdict? Frankly, they are all gorram good, very good and we are lucky to have three fine sets just begging to be bought as PDFs. I will be using MDRG because it doesn't have cards, has a vicious activation system and well, I just like it. If someone said "Master Chef, we're playing 5150" I'd pull up a chair and jump right in - the same with WCBH2.

So, all I need is to get my Foundry Figs and Agent Casper's DC TaskForce will be swooping onto those armed crazies of all persuasions. No, I'll be refighting Gears of War in 15mm. No, its going to be smugglers in the 'Verse taking on the Federation.....But hang on! The sub-ether is alive with chatter about Popular Front activity on Tooting Broadway Orbital Station ....."Saddle up! Let's dust-off this dirtball. We gonna conquer, and we gonna kick some!"

Cheers
Master Chef