Which miniature game do you prefer?

[Albert_Fish]

well i have thought about getting a miniature game for quite a while. I have played warhammer, i own the old INFERNO game, i am very interested in Gear Krieg, and so far Chainmail has left me cold.

I am interested in just about any genre. My only concerns are support, cost and popularity. i suppose flexibility ( skirmish or battle royale) and understandability are also big pluses.
what games has anyone played?
what game is most/least affordable
best/worst game play?
popularity ?
what levels of support do they recieve? have they been in business long?

thanks for your help.

 

[Desdichado]

Heroclix (rules by Monte Cook!) is really fast, easy and yet tactically deep and fun. Same thing for Blood bowl -- and the rules are available online for free from Games Workshop. Also, all games in which you don't have to buy and paint nearly as much as you do for, say, Warhammer.

 

[Chauzu]

Hero Quest!

 

[Eternalknight]

Mage Knight is a pretty fun game, is very popular, and comes with pre-painted (albeit not greatl) minatures.

 

[haiiro]

I highly recommend BattleTech. I've never played the clix system MechWarrior version -- I'm talking about FASA's tabletop wargame.

BattleTech's rules are fairly easy to learn, but offer a wide range of options and some very clever features -- FASA tweaked them so many times over the years that their most recent incarnation is superb.

I generally played with a handful of painted minis and printed maps (no 3D terrain), and would rate the game as quite affordable. If you don't mind that your 'mechs don't look exactly like what they represent (I never did), you don't need many at all. If you like WYSIWYG minis gaming, then it's no less affordable than most other minis games.

In terms of books, you can get away with only having the current edition of the Master Rules and Maximum Tech (for creating units and balancing armies), along with terrain from other games or printed map sets (which were sold by theme -- deserts, wooded terrain, etc.). If you want stats and cool background for pregenerated 'mechs, the various and numerous Technical Manuals are excellent.

FASA is no longer in business, but WizKids did buy them out not that long ago (and WK was founded by former FASA folks, as I understand it). I don't know if most of the BT books are still in print, or what minis are still available -- or if new stuff is still being put out by WizKids. I haven't played any BT in awhile, as all of my books and minis are in storage far, far away.

I'm not much of a wargamer, and I generally don't like painting minis -- but I love BattleTech, and I liked painting 'mechs and vehicles (much, much easier than people/creatures/etc.). Great game.

 

[Broken Fang]

There are quite a few of us that play 40K. Problem is it has a high cost to build up a 2000 point army (the standard around here). It has of course been around for awhile and will have a new edition (4th) come out sometime.

We have also started playing Stargrunt II. A very fun...more realistic than 40K generic wargame. You can play battled from WWII era to 40K. You don't need near as many models and any number can really play (we had a 1 vs 5 game) a few weeks ago.

 

[Chauzu]

Oh, and Battle Master was pretty fun, too. Can't believe I got rid of those games.