The year in Sci-Fi and Fantasy Games
Battletech Classic
and Alphastrike
This is mostly workshop games through most of the year but
for me Battletech beat the evil empire out in 2025. I only played three games of
Battletech and one of Alpha Strike, all were a good time. Battletech has all
the box checking appeal of naval games with Sci Fi trimmings. Classic is a
little slow but has the major advantage of being very different from most
modern skirmish games. In an era saturated with entertainment being different
matters. Both forms of Battletech emphasize facing which is also unusual in
modern games. Somethings were better in the 80s.
Warhammer the Old
World
I have played around 20-25 games of Old World. I really
loved my first ten games and since then have soured on it a lot. The start of
2025 patch was much needed and definitely improved the game. I think I have
realised a few things about myself playing Old World. I enjoy crunchy games but
I hate having to constantly learn and relearn rules and I lose interest in
competitive game scenes quite quickly. The Old World can generate these really
memorably experiences and it really sings with two players throwing down 7-12
units and rolling with the hits attitude. It can also grind into rules debates,
death star slogging matches and absolute boredom. It’s a list building game
where inevitably the best lists are super dull. I liked it better when I and my
opponents were bad at the game.
Warlords of Erehwon
I played handful of games of this, Rick Priestley’s more
modern fantasy effort for Warlord. It is a bit of an odd product, a sort of
once and done for Warlord as it doesn’t really fit their figure range. Think
fantasy bolt action and miniature agnostic. It works well but lacks some sort
of spark. Perhaps the lists (which there are many of) are a bit vanilla,
perhaps the use of D10s makes the odds too calculable. Despite my criticisms it’s
easy to get on the table and very flexible, I will play more.
Warmaster
More classic GW. This is taking off down at the club for
some reason and I picked up a few boxes of the new Wargames Atlantic 10mm
figures to join in. I had to supplement both the dwarfs and the orks pretty
heavily with 3d prints so like a lot of mini projects it ballooned in scope. As
a ruleset I think the Blackpowder/Hail Caesar evolution is far superior. The
later games cut the combat system down to one roll per unit rather than by
base. This also cuts out a lot of the tedious and rather artificial combat
decisions as you try to match up bases to maximise your advantages. The push
your luck activation system rocks as do the different lists. Word of warning
Warmaster Revolution is quite different from OG Warmaster and each edition of
Revolution is also different so your opponent may have learned different rules
to you.
Man-o-War
A played a few games in 2025. This is a great beer and
pretzels game but a pretty bad naval game. GW excel at weird characterful
faction design. Pretty much all their games have this, and they generally do it
the best. It makes their games impossible to balance, and usually disappointing
as contests of skill but great story games. I have sailed in with my dark elf
fleet for various disasters but have always been rewarded with laughs.
Naval games are about manoeuvre, the wind, and lining up your
fleet. In Man-o-War most ships can do a 180 on the spot for half or all their
movement. If you get out manoeuvred you can just spin around and give your opponent
a full broadside anyway. Its interesting how consistent GW games are even back
to the 90s. Facing doesn’t matter that much, dice odds and special rules do.
Space Weirdos
I’ve enjoyed painting various esoteric figures for this.
Some retro material from Alternative Armies, some Northstar plastics, some
Diehard Miniatures. The game itself is fine, has its funky dice system etc.
Looking forward in
2026.
I picked up a copy of Midguard Heroic Battles. I’d prefer to
play this over Warmaster but we will see.
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