A Stargrave Double Bill

At the club we had a double billing of Stargrave.

In one of the games the crews fought to retrieve loot form a spaceship that had crashed on a strange planet with jungle-like terrain. The job of the crews was further complicated by the appearance of giant clumps of vegetation that could swallow a man whole.

In the second game, set in an abandoned Orc shanty town/scrap heap, the crews were hampered by random frenzied attacks from Tyranids that had infected the site.

Stargave is completely miniature agnostic, so you can pretty much use anything, in terms of figures and scenery, as long as it is roughly to scale.

Stargrave - A Rumble in the (Alien) Jungle

Another Sci fi adventure in which two teams of space adventurers, ne'er-do-wells and scavengers fight over the spoils of a crashed and abandoned spaceship. The setting is an exotic jungle planet with strange flora & fauna and bizarre rock formations.

Rules used are the popular Stargrave, which provide a quick and fun skirmish game. The figures come from two of the excellent, complimentary Stargrave Mercenaries and Troopers sets, produced by North Star.

Stargrave - Second Game in the Ravaged Galaxy

In this episode, the 'Palanite Enforcers' (forces of 'lawlessness and disorder', more like) took on the gun-slinging, high-rolling 'Orlock Gang' in a hell for leather, smash and grab of some loot, which had been deposited around this God forsaken industrial complex, located on some frontier planet in a distant galaxy, far, far away.....

Stargrave - First Game in the 'Ravaged Galaxy'

This was our first attempt at playing 'Stargrave' - sci fi skirmish rules. It was set on some bleak, dark, post industrial futuristic world in which both gangs of intergalactic renegades had to collect loot, kill the opposition and avoid being killed.

The rules worked very well. The game mechanics are straightforward and we churned through the turns more quickly as we progressed, as we got used to the sequence. They are fun rules that enable you to develop an ongoing narrative which, in our game, included extreme cowardice, falling off buildings and extensive use of a flame-thrower!

The figures are from the excellent Games Workshop 'Necromunda' range, which can be used effectively for Stargrave. The terrain is also heavily influenced by the Necromunda setting, although it comprises of inexpensive MDP sci fi terrain and homemade pieces.

Stargrave - Necromunda Project

Ok, first off, I’m an old ‘historical miniatures hand’. I’ve never done ‘fantasy’ wargaming, as it were.

My son has been interested in sci-fi and we have been working together on a joint Stargrave/Necromunda project.

To this end, we have been creating some futuristic/sci-fi terrain and building some ‘gangs’ (based on Games Workshop (GW) miniatures).

I have to say that I am completely blown away by the quality of GM miniatures. They are SO good, I am almost lost for words (and I have been wargaming for 35 years now!). The attention to detail, the consistent aesthetics, the quality of the sprues, the imagination – just brilliant! I can’t believe that I have ignored their products for all of these years, and the Games Workshop HQ and factory is only a couple of miles from where I live here in Nottingham (GW is over the Trent river there in Lenton).

The only criticisms would be around pricing – they aren’t cheap - and customisation. You can’t really create your own figures. You have to follow the GW templates in building the miniatures with little scope to be creative, other than painting them.

Anyway, here are a few photos of our first attempts at this new project. I will update with completed miniatures and terrain over the next couple of weeks etc.

As for Stargrave – great. Elegant, yet sophisticated rules that allow your imagination to run wild.

My thought is - Some of us on the historical side of wargaming have a lot to learn from the fantasy/sci-fi gamers….and probably vice versa……

And here is the "Orlock Gang" finished. They have a bit of a biker gang/Wild West look to them.