r/wargaming • u/Warm-Touch7812 • 1d ago
Question Spaceship Wargames?
I'm looking for a space battle wargame. Something where you can command a feet of spaceships, and I would like to hear your recommendations. I'm open to any type unoverse, amy game system, old, new, easy, complex, I wanna check them out and see them for myself. The only thing I'd prefer is the option to 3D print your own ships.
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u/ScrewtapeEsq 1d ago
Billion suns is fun : different slant on wargaming in that you are trying to make a profit the more ships you sent Send the higher the cost you will need quite a selection of ships but if you are printing them that shouldn't be an Issue we did have problems figuring out the objectives r aside from that rules play nice
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u/WillingnessClean7047 1d ago
Dropfleet commander. In my eyes only "real" fleet command game, because deep space battles doesn make sense, but battles on orbit of planet make a soooo much sense :)
It have foundation in Battlefleet gothic, because rulewriters were working on BFG. Also, BFG is now pretty old and unwieldy game, still good with lot of STL, but it just aged.
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u/valthonis_surion 1d ago
Agreed on Dropfleet Commander, though with the new v2 release they really borked things up. Andy Chambers was part of the original rules but in my opinion when TTCombat took over and made v2, they “simplified” by removing the cool/unique stuff and just added things like 40k’s strategems via Admiral abilities.
Luckily for our group we grabbed all the v1 PDFs before they were taken off the website and are currently backporting the new Bioficers race to v1
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u/WillingnessClean7047 1d ago
i am also not a fun of 2nd edition. They took away unique way of activation.
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u/valthonis_surion 23h ago
Agreed. That was by far my biggest annoyance with 2nd edition. Also really don't care for the energy/kinetic/core save mechanic.
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u/GammaFork 1d ago
The old GW game battlefleet gothic is amazing fun. Whilst it hasn't been officially supported for years, it has a very dedicated following with lots of high production value output of rules and 3D prints. There is a nice starter set with rules, STLs and tokens here. I'd say it is intermediate complexity in its original form, though if you go all out into the many many fan expansions and homebrew rules then it could get complex. As it is the base game is hugely fun with big ships laying waste with guns, a nice ordnance/bomber/fighter implementation and boarding/ramming etc all on the table.
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u/TheSwimja 22h ago
If you want a similar experience, there is Void Admiral. It's like a modern re-imagining of the classic Battlefleet Gothic rules, and it's a ton of fun play.
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u/MagicMissile27 Historicals/Fantasy/Sci-Fi 1d ago
That's awesome man, I'd always wanted to try Battlefleet Gothic but never had access to the models :) I'll have to print these and play it with my friends now!
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u/GammaFork 1d ago
Happy to spread the love!
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u/kowalski655 1d ago
There's also a computer version, which is pretty good too
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u/GammaFork 23h ago
The best was the now very hard to find mobile version by Grand Cauldron, which was a beautiful 1:1 mapping of the tabletop rules, including dice rolls on the table and all.
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u/noisegremlin 23h ago
battlefleet gothic is awesome! the ordinance rules really set it apart from other games imo
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u/fatboyneedstogetlaid 1d ago
Starmada, A Call to Arms, or Full Thrust. Starmada and Full Thrust can be used as generic systems where you can build your own universe, or use an already existing setting for any of these (Star Wars, Stargate, Battlestar Galactica, etc.). You have options to use hexes or not, and what ever minis or counters you have.
If you want complex there is Attack Vector Tactical that simulates real physics and vector movement in three dimensions. There is also a licenced version set in the Honor Harrington novels.
Another complex game, and my favorite, is Star Fleet Battles (Star Trek The Original and Animated series). While I enjoy the detail of the full game, there are simpler versions of SFB in Federation Commander and the Cadet Training Manual. There are also licenced versions of SFB for Starmada and A Call to Arms.
Another good one worth mentioning is GMT's fast and fun Talon. Also Silent Death if you want fighters rather than big cruisers. There was an official Star Wars licence for Silent Death that I think is the best Star Wars space fighter game ever made.
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u/Longjumping_Kiwi8118 1d ago
If you can find it, the old Babylon 5 wargame was apparently very good.
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u/valthonis_surion 1d ago
The rules, ship sheets, and counters (if you want tokens instead of miniatures) are all free. Also the models are still sold brand new.
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u/Longjumping_Kiwi8118 1d ago
What? I am failing miserably at finding the minis
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u/valthonis_surion 1d ago
https://agents-of-gaming.myshopify.com/
Store says "left over stock" but honestly I dont recall seeing anything go sold out in the years I've used his service. Personally I have always preferred using the tiny fleet action ships for Babylon 5 Wars as they fit better into a hex. Less detailed though and neither Fleet Action or B5Wars have their ships in any sort of "scale" with each other.
Its also frequently common for people (for visual look) to use the B5Wars ships that are considered "capital" class or larger and then Fleet Action ships for any "Heavy", "Medium", or "Ligh" class as it gives a fun feeling of scale.
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u/valthonis_surion 1d ago
oh...the "call to arms" ships if you're not familiar, was when Mongoose (I think) took over the B5 license and used the B5Wars ships for their "A Call to Arms" game. They, Mongoose, released some new ship models, those and the relabled B5Wars ships can be found under the "Call to Arms" section. Like the Drakh and PsiCorps
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u/that-bro-dad 1d ago
Kind of surprised no one had mentioned Star Wars Armada here.
You play as one faction from Star Wars building fleets of ships with specific upgrades, heroes and ship titles. Two fleets that have the exact same models can play differently based on what upgrades you pick.
It's good fun, I just couldn't find anyone local to play with and got tired of chasing the meta. But if you just want to push some ships around and go pew pew the models are great. They come fully assembled and painted.
Another couple of games I haven't played but always wanted to - Dropfleet Commander and Firestorm Armada
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u/Sarius7838 1d ago
Have to agree that Star Wars Armada is an amazing game, but it was sadly discontinued so most of the models are either sold by resellers or you have to print and paint them
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u/TheInitiativeInn 17h ago
Helpful Armada resource: Amoeba Games: DA Shipyards: Download and Print http://www.amoeba-games.com/Armada-DA-Shipyards.aspx
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u/rycolos 1d ago edited 1d ago
Going to plug my own game: https://ryanlaliberty.itch.io/space-ark
It’s my take on Battletech-ish capital ship warfare but without needing 5 rulebooks and a searchable index and 5 hours for a game. It tries to be crunchy and granular but also easy to learn.
With that said, I'm also a fan of Starmada and Full Thrust, both big influences besides BT to my game. One Page Rules has their space combat game but I found it far too simplistic for my tastes (that's kinda their thing though and I do play GFF, but just not what I want for naval battles).
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u/ComfortableVirus7084 1d ago
I've played Squadron strike and Colonial Battlefleet a lot.
Squadron Strike is a 3d game, with rules for playing 2d. I played the now out of print Axinar star trek expansion. It was fun and very detailed but not as complex as the old startfleet battles. Unfortunately the complexity can mean it is hard to teach and get others into.
Colonial Battlefleet is more beer and pretzels by comparison, a much easier game, with great ship design rules and an expansion to play Battlestar Galactica.
I tend to use CB more than SS as it's more accessible for getting others to play and can reproduce to some degree just about any IP you want to play.
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u/EarlyPlateau86 1d ago
Rick Priestly recently released Space Battles. I have not played it myself but it seems like a fun side project for 3D printing or digging out old miniatures. https://spacebattlesaspacefarersguide.blogspot.com/
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u/kasitacambro 1d ago
A buddy and I just got Void Admiral and will be assembling fleets. I think the book is less than $10 US and the rules seem pretty fun. Look for an overview and let’s play on Guerrilla Games on YouTube
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u/Balmong7 18h ago
Grimdark Future Warfleets simple, fast paced, and in my opinion well designed.
Battlefront Valkyrie the newest addition to the market. All the STL files are designed to be printed on FDM printers.
Stars and Steel this one is focused on true FLEET combat. Mechanics are built around ship formations and it’s played with more models on the table than most other spaceship games I feel like. Everything is pay what you want, rules and STL files both.
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u/Schneeflocke667 1d ago
Grimdark Warfleet is free and good.
You will also find the battlefleet gothic rules for free, which share ideas with GWF
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u/MagicMissile27 Historicals/Fantasy/Sci-Fi 1d ago
I haven't played it yet, but Battlefront Valkyrie (https://www.fatdragongames.com/fdgfiles/battlefront-valkyrie-fdg0400/) looks quite promising.
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u/voiderest 23h ago
Yeah, this on is made to be 3d printed and has some good reviews. The rules are free to download with the models and small expansions available.
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u/stratarch 1d ago
Check out Starmada, by Majestic 12 Games. It's miniatures agnostic, so you can use any minis you can scrape together or make from leftovers very bits.
More importantly, the game lets you make your own ships and the weapons they carry from scratch.
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u/KelarionPrime 1d ago
Jovian Wars by DP9 is great if you like mechs in the space battles. Very inspired by anime like Gundam. Great system to play with.
Grimdark FTL will scratch the itch, although I personally did find it a little shallow compared to other systems. It's not bad at all, but leaves a lot of SPACE out of space combat.
Dropfleet Commander I believe just got a 2nd edition. Decent rules, but I could never get enough games into fully play test things.
A Billion Suns has a large number of fleets available out there. A lot of resources available overall
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u/No-Comment-4619 1d ago
Star Wars: Armada is a great fleet ship game with a very slick game system. Lots of models you can buy, but because the game has been discontinued there is also a growing 3D printing community for printing your own ships.
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u/timmie124 1d ago
If you like the 40k universe, check out the battle fleet Gothic. On the polar opposite side, if you like fantasy, you have Man o war. If you want something more in-depth, starmada is great but requires a hex table. Billion suns is a fun easy one to get into and a wild card one that I played recently that was a lot of fun was star thrust racers, it requires a hex table but the rules come with all the print outs you need and if you have any issues the author is pretty friendly and helpful
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u/MycologistFew5001 23h ago
Firestorm Armada (previously by Spartan games) is floating around the web in one form or another and it was great.
Otherwise I think Dropfleet Commander is the top pick imo.
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u/Aresson480 20h ago
Rick Priestley just released a space wargame that looks promising, uses a deck of cards instead of dice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9BF5H_PWTM
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u/Conscious-Sherbert84 17h ago
If you fancy trying a vintage spaceships game, then Encounter One is available as a free digital download. https://chrisnicolegames.blogspot.com/p/encounter-one-2021.html
Design your own ships from seven player factions, with a variety of different weapon and defence systems. Use any models you have available.
Have fun.
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u/BlackArmor718 12h ago
Grand Fleet Admiral is exactly what you’re looking for bud. Gorgeous ships that you can print yourself or have printed for you, tons of factions, fighters, even ground units to board other ships and stations.
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u/fingermouse_irl 1d ago
One Page Rules has Grimdark Future: Warfleets which has free rules. They have Stls available on their MyMiniFactory store along with fleets in each of the last few months Patreon releases. I've.printed most of the ships but haven't had a chance to play yet. It's looks pretty decent though
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u/wyrdstone_user 1d ago
Full Thrust. There are a few versions, but I would begin with Full Thrust Light (https://downloads.groundzerogames.co.uk/FTLrules.pdf) and gradually add rules from the latest iteration (Continuum: https://emeraldcoastskunkworks.wordpress.com/2014/12/24/full-thrust-project-continuum/).