7 Great miniatures games that aren't WARHAMMER

[@weirdguy564]

My favorite mini wargame, the only one I ever played a lot of is BattleTech.

[@borene7100]

i guess im asking randomly but does any of you know a way to log back into an Instagram account?? I was dumb forgot my password. I would appreciate any assistance you can give me

[@gavindecker5915]

@Bo Rene instablaster =)

[@khloebear827]

I haven't played it yet but it looks so cool

[@happyhammer1]

The first tabletop game I ever played. Somewhere at my moms is my old mechs.

[@michieldeboer6221]

Battletech should have been mentioned. Very good game in my opinion. Also very accessible and this year it makes its 40th year.

[@RagnarLonewolf]

Surprised games like Frostgrave were not mentioned.

[@soulcatcher521]

To be fair, Gaslands is in a similar vein.

[@Salty_Sassenach]

With Frostgrave you can at least us any miniature from any game as long as the scale is similar.

[@Fangie90]

@@Salty_Sassenach Holy shit! Thank you! I was looking for miniatures (miniature market shipping for EU is not the best) and these look really good with great prices.

[@ElCorintio74]

frostgrave is a cool game, similar to mordheim

[@bradsimpson8724]

Frostgrave, Malifaux, Infinity, and Gaslands were four that I expected to find on this list. Three out of four ain't bad, but if you want a simple, easy-to-learn game with a low price of entry and limitless options for models,, it's tough to do better than Frostgrave.

[@dicebreaker]

Hey everyone, a quick reminder that this is just 7 games that Dicebreaker personally recommend, not the top 7 minis games ever. If you'd like more suggestions or want to wax lyrical about your favourite game then the comment section is for you!

[@JakeSnake07]

Can you start leaving links to where one could buy the games in question in the descriptions? I'd like to try several of these, but my FLGS doesn't carry most of them!

[@patamonsvk]

How the hell is Warmachine and Hordes not on this list. Seriously. probably the best alternative who like The Warhammer and Warhammer 40k style for wargamign but for lower price and models actual matter and do not die on a single bad roll.

[@Rob749s]

@@patamonsvk because it's not 2015

[@timpiscovich4955]

Battletech is seeing a huge resurgence. A very Huge KS recently .

[@cptlazyjack]

Wild West Exodus deserves more limelight. It brought me back into tabletop games after Gamesworkshop destroyed my enthusiasm.

[@TouchofFlairCards]

That yellow Guildball box appears to be making a desperate bid for freedom.

[@davedogge2280]

RIP Guildball

[@CIS115DK]

I'd have mentioned Battletech. Great game and they have a beginner's kit for those who may not want to take the plunge on the full game right away.

[@Terroreyes-j8l]

I think the target is more focused on what is big in England.

[@jamesanthony8438]

Damn skippy, CIS115DK. _Definitely_ should've had "BattleTech" on there. Game's a freakin' legend. =)

[@davidez4640]

Agreed, that's part of history of gaming even if it was never as popular as others it had survived till today and it was worth mention

[@willmoore8464]

I also missed Battletech. It really is a shame that the computer game Battletech stopped promoting Battletech Classic. Even if changed rules are used in computer games.

[@CIS115DK]

@@willmoore8464 Catalyst Labs is keeping the game going. They are releasing the clan invasion module for their revised beginner box. The Kickstarter ended awhile ago and was successful using plastic miniatures. Plus the BattleTech computer game is really good and combat feels like the game. Trying to find a local game group for BattleTech the board game outside of my family is rough though.

[@gamesbymanuel]

Very glad to see Gaslands in your list! It’s the most accessible miniatures game I’ve played so far, you might have all the required materials already.

[@dustinboatman6134]

Although, people say that, but I am yet to see a Gaslands player not trick their game out and spend tons of money. It's like, yeah it's possible to play on the cheap, but no one does it.

[@gamesbymanuel]

@@dustinboatman6134 I don't do it. I don't care about the mini customization aspect and I want it to look accessible when introducing it to new people, so the only thing I did to the cars was glue the wheels in place so they don't roll away during the game. I use knockoff jenga blocks as obstacles. Naturally those who are more invested are going to be the ones posting online but don't let that fool you.

[@trentnichols3661]

Dust 1947 is a great introductory game. You can play it on a gridded mat, the figures come assembled and primed, and the rules are super simple. Makes it easy to try out without needing to make a bunch of terrain or buy all the associated hobby gear. Then if you like tabletop gaming you can start painting, making terrain, and move off the grid to tabletop with the same basic rules. That said its not exactly cheap and the model quality varies a lot from ten years ago too what they release today. The mechs have always been good tho.

[@mikex3908]

Well this aged like milk.

[@trentnichols3661]

Lol. Well still true other than the game being oop lol

[@WitchHunterSiegfried88]

Bought like 10 of one of it’s expansions for the Hangers as there was 3 in it and it cost me $4 per

[@roddydiaz1090]

BattleTech was my introduction and still my favorite tabletop.

[@ww2killerk]

I’m surprised historical wargaming wasn’t mentioned. Like, black powder or bolt action or the glorious Hail Caesar!

[@BOYVIRGO666]

Those games are super niche even in the wargaming scene.

[@Adrokk3]

Virgo v possibly where you play/game etc. in my local scene we have 3 entire clubs dedicated to historic games as their primary focus 👌👍

[@BOYVIRGO666]

@@Adrokk3 Ok. Good thing i wasnt talking about your specific area. I was talking about industry trends and sales.

[@PatGilliland]

@@BOYVIRGO666 By sales yes - but historical wargaming is the genesis of all RPGs and tabletop miniature gaming. It would have been nice to see a mention of one of the more mainstream games like Bolt Action or Flames of War. Meanwhile us grognards will happily carry on in our niche within a niche within a niche of Chain of Command, Saga and DBx.

[@BOYVIRGO666]

@@PatGilliland That would be a totally different video. This is 7 great wargames that arent warhammer. not 'the history of wargaming and why you should care'

[@davidleonardflanagan]

I love Malifaux so much. The games artistic style resonates so much with me and I love how it puts it's focus on playing the objective. I also highly recommend the RPG based on Malifaux - through the breach.

[@Gobolino7]

Malifauc looks amazing, but gameplay is way too long for skirmish game.

[@Soulreclaimer65]

David Leonard Flanagan how is v3?

[@davidleonardflanagan]

@@Soulreclaimer65 I've not had a chance to play M3 yet 😅

[@hanng1242]

@@Soulreclaimer65 M3e is really good. They simplified the rules without dumbing things down. The keyword system for crew-hiring is far less restrictive than it might first appear, and it makes crews more thematic and require different playstyles. Strategy and Scheme running has become more important as it is harder to wipe out an opposing crew then achieve the points at leisure now. They did change up some masters and they got rid of a few of them. Nicodem, Ramos and Collodi are gone. Sgt. Dashel is now a master. Marcus is now dual faction w/ Neverborn; Misaki and Lynch are now single faction 10T; Tara is now single-faction Outcasts; and McCabe is no longer dual faction 10T and Guild, but 10T and Explorers Society (a new faction that still needs filling out).

[@patricpeters9716]

Absolutely no mention of great historical games, Bolt Action, Sharp Practice, Lion Rampant, Saga, Flames of War. Perhaps try games that don’t require you to use “official” minis because there’s no copyright on history.

[@Thor-Orion]

Storm of Steel too! I’m totally with you, I actually FAR prefer real historical wargaming, my friends and I have so many different armies from different historical periods and it enables us to invite friends without armies to come play with us and we’ll just let them use one of our armies or a section of one of our armies in multi “general” games. Like I have a Sintashta Chariot King Aryan Army, Celtic Iron Age armies, I have a Vercingetorix Gaulic army, a Scythian army, Alexander the Great’s Macedonian army, gothic armies, Merovingian armies, Frederick Barbarossa’s Holy Roman Empire, Norman armies, crusader armies, 100 year war armies, a Prussian Napoleonic wars army, etc. I’m obviously more into pre-gunpowder eras, but I love all of it. I also play fantasy and sci-fi, there are tons of great stuff with the advent of 3-D printing it has made it so much more affordable to play those style games. GW was my introduction to wargaming, but they’re so anti-customer in their policies and pricing that I don’t buy from them very much at all anymore; I still build up my space marine army with 3-D printed stuff and the occasional purchase from GW, but most fantasy races are NOT copyright-able, and with sci-fi there are virtually limitless possibilities for what kinds of alien species you can come up with. I actually love to mix historical stuff with fantasy stuff, and historical miniatures make great human armies for fantasy campaigns, my friends and I have developed so many in-house rules, we’ll likely release them for free on the internet at some point to try to build the hobby amongst people our age, especially with 3-D printers getting more and more affordable.

[@Gooch359]

Frost grave is a great game, small warbands decend on a city to fight the undead and eachother while trying to plunder tresure.

[@jekkfractal5164]

so mordheim

[@antigrav6004]

@@jekkfractal5164 basically, but the open nature of it is great if you're like me and just buy what you like rather than for any specific army.

[@drewfuller8660]

I bought their miniatures as generic fantasy games models. They're the best cost to quality ratio I found. I bought male soldiers, female soldiers, cultists, and barbarians, and kit bash the four. I highly recommend it.

[@nicholainissen]

@@drewfuller8660 It's almost unfair to call it kit bash when they're designed to be compatible :D

[@jasonnewell7036]

For my money, the absolute best minis wargame I encountered after leaving Warhammer was Wrath of Kings by CMON. It's a bridging game between small skirmish and large scale wargames, the rules are easy to learn, the game is fast paced and exciting with very little down time, the minis are gorgeous and all in plastic, and the gameplay is very interesting as far as innovation goes. Every unit has a reference card with all their stats and abilities, combat uses d10s, and the roll is compared to a hit chart on the card which determines whether they are hit or the various ways in which they defend themselves. (armour, dodge, parry, magic, etc.) Some attacks work better against some defences, turning some defence results into hits, making those attacks better against some units but worse against others. However, the two things that make it stand out to me are the synergistic mechanics and the objective based play. There are no dud units in the game, all of them are not only useful but really effective in what they do. They also interact with each other on the battlefield. They may grant bonuses to a nearby unit's attacks, or add tokens that another unit can spend to activate certain abilities or even borrow the abilities of another unit on a case by case basis. It creates some excellent strategies which makes for an exciting game. The objectives are where it really shines. Each of the five factions in the game choose one objective from two out of five objective types: Duty, Greed, Treachery, Vengence and Intrigue. Each objective gives you special conditions or activities to achieve during the battle (like assassinating commanders, holding territory, smuggling civilians through battle lines) that affect the opponent's morale if achieved. First to 0 morale loses the game. The rules and reference cards for all the units are available free online, but the unfortunate part is that CMON seem to have turned away from this game and no new stuff or updates appear to be happening, which is a real shame. Some of the female models are also a bit over-sexualised (such as the Nasier Pelgarth Bloodmasks) but it isn't super egregious. But, every model that they have rules for have been released, and much of it is available for a very good price from online stockists. You also don't need a big financial outlay to stary playing, with a starter box giving you enough miniatures for the smallest size of game and almost enough for the next size up if discover that you like it. It's definitely my favourite minis wargame. I just wish it was better supported and more popular with people. As it stands, I only play it with my best friend and my son.

[@cragmonkey]

Ranger's of Shadow Deep has been my entrypoint into miniature skirmishes. I have introduced it to several non-gamers and they have loved it, too.

[@Xaltotun]

I love it too! Playing through a coop campaign with a friend nowadays.

[@toddwilliams8128]

"Malifaux may not be the easiest game to pick up..." segues in Infinity... oh the irony One thing that makes sets Malifaux apart is that the mechanics make 3-player free-for-alls possible, and it is great chaotic fun.

[@charleslatora5750]

I like chaotic....

[@toddwilliams8128]

@@charleslatora5750 Gremlins. You want Gremlins. XD

[@charleslatora5750]

@@toddwilliams8128 ya mean like the movie Gremlins?

[@proxytag]

Moonstone is a fantastic indie miniatures game, amazing resin minis with some of my favorite sculpts for fantasy settings, very easy to get into as well with it's starter set being only £55, and including enough models for two players to play right out of the box.

[@DarenCep]

It is a newer game but Marvel Crisis Protocol is a surprisingly good skirmish game that is fairly easy to pick up, and the roster of playable characters is pretty good and actively growing with a release every month. It also helps that Atomic Mass Games are super involved with the community and do a weekly stream of either painting or playing the game with spoilers for what is coming up next being a fairly common occurrence. My biggest complaint is that the minis can be a bit difficult to put together if you haven't done anything like this before.

[@wijse]

Expensive though. Considering the price and amount of models you get for it.

[@justincollicutt6012]

Great video, big fan of Guild Ball and Infinity, another great game is Bushido by GCT studios. Lots of different factions to choose from; Samurai to undead, goblins to the tengu(giant bird people). Average 5-7 models for a game, alternating activations, deep strategy and space friendly (played on 2x2).

[@garhent]

And no Battletech, one of the last really good Ral Partha models they put out back in the day and still being released today.

[@Adam-bh1lk]

"Land, space and ...big space"

[@PeterPottorff]

Kind of bummed that Bolt Action or Konflict 47 weren't mentioned in here. Fun WW2 and adjacent games that quite easy to pick up and play.

[@kyussinchains]

I would add Warmachine/Hordes to the list, as well as Frostgrave, and Saga

[@surful]

Saga is more historical but I agree Warmachine/Hordes but also add Kings of War

[@mookosh]

I tried to get into warmachine but I got cheesed so hard by elf archers that I gave up :(

[@Terroreyes-j8l]

@@mookosh I played a game for the first time against someone who was experienced and knew the rules better than me and I lost! Dog bites man.

[@mookosh]

@@Terroreyes-j8l can't tell if you're just chirping me but I literally played cryx against elves. My guys were magic based and relied on stealth to avoid getting shot by gun lines so they can attack in melee. The other guy specialized in ignoring stealth, having the best gun line in the game and also having special anti-magic abilities that shut down my kill combo. I knew the rules better, he just had a hard counter to my army and cheesed me

[@Seoz]

I play Warmachine as Khador. I lose points on objectives or just get crushed by enemy alpha strike. Also most miniatures are made of crappy metal which is easy to break and often pins+super glue can't keep it together. Quality of miniatures is really random. Some of them have Really nice details while others look like they were created 30 years ago. There are many old sculpts that are basically bad (like kayazy models)... Also PP doesn't really care about distribution channels outside of US. Getting BAHI models in europe is really expensive (delivery+high chance of random local taxes). Last thing is that the models having bad quality are much more expensive than beautifull warhammer miniatures. Even if game itself is good it just looses in terms od visual quality, price and fun of building models/painting to GW.

[@spencerrugg7704]

Dropzone/Dropfleet commander are both great! If you don't want your fleet battle starwars flavored you should heck out drop fleet particularly. Also if you go to conventions for tabletop the folks behind these games are frequently at the TTCombat booth!

[@stephenkyle8308]

Marvel: Crisis Protocol is another good shout for those looking to get into it I feel. Rule set isn't massive, majority of people know the IP and it's not super expensive for the starter set (though expansions are ridiculous). Models a bit tricky to build buy good quality.

[@dustinboatman6134]

The rules look very similar to Legion. To the point when I saw it played I thought it was just a reskin.

[@stephenkyle8308]

Hmm haven't played legion but I don't know if it's as simple as that. Yes the mechanics are similar but the premise is that you control a few heros with lots of powerful super powers. Gives the feeling that each character is OP and you really don't want them to be removed from combat, which is unlike most miniature wargaming where a lot of the army is made of expendable soldiers you don't mind dying off. Definitely a different feel to Legion. Maybe a bit like the first one mentioned - Malifaux but I've no real knowledge of it past this video. So I don't think its fair calling it a reskin at all.

[@andrewmcgregor6296]

@@dustinboatman6134 As someone who plays both, I can tell you that while they do share some similarities (mostly the maneuver and range templates) they play quite a bit differently. Both are fun, too! :)

[@ulfhazelcreek8108]

It would be amazing to see Dicebreakers play Gaslands.

[@charliethemagpie523]

My personal favourite is MonsterPocalypse. A game where you can have a giant flying saucer hurl not-Cthulhu into a church, or take not-Mechagodzilla out to fight a giant gorilla wielding a train like a flail is automatically a good game in my eyes - add in the fact that it's pretty cheap to get a set or two, and relatively easy to play? I'm honestly surprised it's not better known.

[@MarquisLeary34]

Long time MonsterPoc player (GUARD and Planet Eater mains) and yea, it was sad the game went the way it did, as it was loads of fun once you had it memorized to where you didn't have to look up each unit's abilities in the rulebook. I still have my collection and some tournament only Stealth models. Good times.

[@charliethemagpie523]

@@MarquisLeary34 Nice! I mostly used Elemental Champions (Incinerus) and Cthul (Ancient Osheroth, because tentacles!). Fantastic fun.

[@MarquisLeary34]

@@charliethemagpie523 Cthul's kept dominating the tourneys around here, especially that fucker that inflicts radial damage each time it's hit in melee and was immune to slams.

[@J24-k8f]

Also, Bolt Action for those interested in WW2, Hail Caesar for Ancient History, Black Powder for Napoleonics. Historical wargaming is a thing believe it or not.

[@ProfaneCreation02]

Warlord games and battlefront have some great games

[@neilstoddart00001]

about 30 yrs ago i used to play Car Wars, tabletop game with card tokens. by looks of things the creators of Gaslands had too! CW was a fun, fast game, so hope this version continues that feeling.

[@sjd83]

You recommend Malifaux as I sit awaiting the arrival of my hard copy of the main rulebook. Excellent timing!

[@HunterHerne]

I'm just waiting on a fate deck, and a Viktoria crew box. Mostly use the M3E app

[@scottperkins5038]

I think it's important to note that not all of the infinity rulebook is rules. The lore an background is at least twice as thick as the rules section.

[@kcollier2192]

8:57 What? American imposter? Sir, I challenge you to a game of Blood Bowl- my honor is at stake! ;)

[@Kaiser8513]

He isn't inaccurate. Americans take credit saying they created football and baseball which all they did was take cricket and rugby slightly modify the rules and claim it new. I personally don't see any draw to American football despite being raised there and at least real football makes sense for it's name actually using your feet

[@StevensonMD]

@@Kaiser8513 I'm still not sure why they feel the need for pads. We never have them for rugby.

[@NisansaDdS]

American "football" is actually hand-egg.

[@kcollier2192]

@@NisansaDdS What's hand egg?

[@derschwartzadder]

@@Kaiser8513 teechicallyyyy, I believe baseball is more similar to rounders than cricket.

[@onibarubary]

Something about Dread Ball that is important to mention is that the "A Drop of Old Jakes" team is apparently haunted by a ghost so it might move when you are setting up, playing or giving explanations of the game on KZbin channels.

[@marcgravelballer]

12:32 *Eye twitching*.... Range tool for movement..... ow. There's 3 movement tools in each box guys lol :P Also, Legion is VASTLY cheaper than most wargames. (CAD$ prices ahead) Where you'd be paying 55-70$ for squad in 40K, you're paying 32$ for most squads in Legion. Even the most expensive models out there right now like the ATST are less than 80$, while a similarly sized 40k item like an Ork Stompa is 150$. Even the upcoming huge tanks are going to be less than 100$ while you're paying 170$ for a Baneblade.

[@Rob749s]

Cocaine is cheaper than Games Workshop models

[@marcgravelballer]

Lol I get point that comparing to GW feels like making the extreme example, but it’s the price standard most people know and measure by. I’m just saying that, while army wargaming in general is not cheap, Legion is on the low end of that scale (again, for an army wargame). I think he misrepresents it as being super expensive.

[@Evan-oy2vo]

I’m very disappointed that bold action was not on here by warlord games. Most games take only two games for you to learn the rules, $30 USD will give you a 30 man squad that you can use to play low-level games, and they’re not picky over which models do you use as long as it’s the right scale. And on top of that if you like more sci-fi and said more historical they have a wired war like dust 1947, that you can use with your bolt Action miniatures.

[@twincast2005]

3:00 As much as I prefer alternating activations (in almost every miniatures game of the 21st century including literally all of Warhammer's recent spin-offs other than Blackstone Fortress which uses a more RPG-y randomized initiative) over the at best anachronistic system of I-Go-U-Go, the best by far is/was the twist on it by Runewars (R.I.P. We hardly knew ye.) where activations got different initiative values depending on the type of unit and what sort of action they are about to take as decided upon by both players simultaneously in secret in the first phase of each round. More strategic and as far as turn-based systems go also more realistic.

[@misomiso8228]

Yes Runewars was interesting but had problems! it didn't scale very well for large battles for one.

[@shinankoku2]

Thanks for the Infinity love!! It’s my favorite, and I can’t recommend it enough. It’s inexpensive, stylish, tactical and fun! And, not for nothing, Corvus Belli is easily amongst the most professional companies in the war game industry.

[@markpayne3852]

Nick M yep, it’s a fantastic game.

[@cardbaudit]

Very interesting watch, just getting into Infinity, looks awesome. Also getting into Gaslands, really good array of templates available to 3D print for it.

[@littlepardue4125]

Aww, no Warmahordes? Great video, but now how am I going to get my friends into Warmachine without your stunning recommendation?

[@SheezyBites]

Warmachine should definitely not be your first miniatures game after Warhammer, you need to ease them into it!

[@kyussinchains]

Yeah it's probably the best alternative to the Warhammer setting, for my money it's a far superior ruleset too

[@Catharlyn]

Oh man, I hadn't realized a game could take even longer to get through than a 40k game till I played Warmahordes. Loved it, but it takes ages to get through a single battle. Probably not the best to get folks started on!

[@littlepardue4125]

@@SheezyBites I actually started with it, but I forget about the learning curve. I just love the setting and the relatively low price of $40 to start

[@douglassedivy9296]

I was disappointed it didn't get a mention, too. It's cheap to start -- though admittedly easy to spend a fortune -- and fairly easy to learn. I played a lot of it for several years and it's still one of my favorites.

[@Cynocehali]

Gaslands sounds amazing!! I'm 30 and my parents still have my hot wheels from when I was a kid in the attic. I'd love to give them another life.

[@northernlight8857]

Claiming D&D is the pinnacle of rpg is like saying that McDonalds is the pinnacle of human cuisine.

[@MarquisLeary34]

THIS.

[@Pandapeep]

I know you were trying to avoid Warhammer, but if you're looking for smaller games in that setting, both Kill Team and War Cry are a joy.

[@arron.barnett]

Even smaller than that, WH Underworlds is a perfect miniatures/board game/card game mix, and a lot cheaper and easier to get into than other GW games.

[@rking1106]

Excellent list! I own several of these mentioned and as gaslands was the one that got me into the hobby, I appreciate that it made into your list

[@johncarty999]

May I add A Song of Blades and Heroes to the list. Skirmish style whilst being model agnostic. Cheap and relatively easy to get into.

[@dancingpotplant]

A massive second to this one!

[@MarquisLeary34]

@@dancingpotplant Make that a third, and also to it's horror companion Faith and Fire.

[@dancingpotplant]

@@MarquisLeary34 You may indeed good Sir. I shall support you by a quarter with some mutants and death rays!

[@elgentleman6259]

Gaslands is superb. £3 on cars, a rummage through you bits box, a matt black spray and you have a team ready. It's a really fun game too, plus it works with any number of players.

[@mgsmuhammad]

Nice vid. At least here in the UK quite a bit of the Guildball crowd is branching out into Aristeia, it makes a neat alternative.

[@twincast2005]

This video clearly isn't about obscure games, so I'm stunned you left out Frostgrave, Battletech, Warmahordes, Beyond the Gates of Antares, and all of Mantic's games other than DreadBall. Or literally any of countless historical wargames, the obvious choice being Bolt Action (with a side note on its weird war spinoff Konflikt '47). Or any of the by now hefty handful of skirmish games with adorable anthropomorphic animals, my shout-out for that niche going to Burrows & Badgers (albeit with a house rule of small beasts being on 20 mm bases instead of on 30 mm ones like medium beasts get to be on).

[@michaelb081988]

The title of the video isn't top 7 games and you listed more than 7 games in your rant so how could they even fit this into a list of 7? Would you prefer top 100 games that aren't warhammer?

[@twincast2005]

@@michaelb081988 You act as if there were some law requiring it to be seven games (and ignore that they threw together two thematically similar, but unrelated games, to boot). The only discernable factors for this list are a) not Games Workshop, b) popular enough to probably find players, and c) not ten of them. Maybe d) not too reminiscent of Warhammer games, which would exclude Mantic's offerings. Twelve isn't ten, either. I'd hate it if it were an overly clickbaity "top #" list, but there should by clear rhyme and reason behind the selection, which there is not.

[@sy4380]

Miniatures games I've played over the years: Ground Zero Games (GZG): Stargrunt 2 (25mm & 15mm metal sci-fi miniatures). They also do Full Thrust (starships), and Dirtside 2 (1/300 scale battles). Mantic also do Warpath (mass battle and skirmish). There is also Deadzone.

[@Catharlyn]

Immediately bought Gaslands after this video, it sounds like such a fun game! Looking forward to Mad Maxing up some cars! :)

[@HunterHerne]

I've got a few friends who play Gaslands. It's an interesting game, but just not my thing. I've been Malifauxing it up for a few months now, courtesy of other members of the same group of friends.

[@Grimlock77]

I'm really intrigued by Gaslands too! Not so sure the rules cover actual mods of your minis though but I'd like to think there was scope for it.

[@johnashley-smith4987]

Gaslands rocks! You won't regret it! For simplicity it's great for veterans and noobies alike,but veterans will want to go to town jazzing up their cars. It certainly gives one an excuse for deep-bits-box delves for guns and spikes and so on. I got my brother-in-law and one his buddies playing around mid-2018 and we have played just about every Friday night since. Some of their buddies showed up to watch and soon enough they were stealing their kid's hot-wheels and getting in on the games! Biggest game we've played up until this lockdown was 5 teams of 100 cans each, and a game that size might last three hours if we don't goof around too much!

[@sgchatterjee]

I know it has been mentioned, but boosting the signal: Frostgrave

[@mcashed]

Fallout: Wasteland Warfare as well as the upcoming Elder Scrolls: Call To Arms miniature games by Modiphius definitely deserve a shout out. Great blend of wargaming and role-playing.

[@Kai-ow9gi]

Also if you got a 3D printer Heroscape is always good to go since the terrain and minis stls are available. Then you just need to get a hex tile map with some of the tiles 3D printed or bought from eBay as well as the dice and turn markers. Unit cards are also on the website. The game is easy to get into.

[@maskalumni6037]

Osprey games have a huge amount of variety, but the two that standout are: Frostgrave and Horizon Wars. Also if you are looking for standalone miniature game in a box you should look at Judge Dredd Helter Skelter (skirmish up to 4 players) or Battlelore 2nd Edition which is basically a complete 2 player fantasy wargame in a box.

[@UnPlayableGames]

Dreadball is nothing alike Bloodbowl (thankfully) except for the fact that they are both "sports miniature games" :P Fast(er) than most other similar games. And to me, much more fun and satisfying. Second edition improved on a LOT of aspects, although it also introduced a few fiddly bits I don't love... but that are quite easily ignorable as optional details.

[@DrWKruger]

Yes that was a rater bizarre comment given the vast gulf that seperates those too games, Bloodbowl is a plodding chore compared to the speed and dynamism of Dreadball. Guildball is probably closer to Bloodbowl (though still not much).

[@CBfrmcardiff]

Yes, but Bloodbowl was first, and Bloodbowl is still famous beyond its small core player base.

[@DrWKruger]

@@CBfrmcardiff Bloodbowl was not the first Fantasy sports game. TSR's "Monsters of the Midway" was out well before. I have a vague recollection of a Sci-Fi sports game of the 70s too, but Google's not delivering on that. G-Dub has very rarely been a true innovator rules wise, but their iterative improvements have been of value.

[@UnPlayableGames]

​@@CBfrmcardiff true, but it is still incorrect and disinformative to describe Bloodbowl as the WH equivalent of Dreadball, and to assert that Dreadball owes it a lot of credit for inspiration. Gameplay wise, DB and BB are polar opposites. BB was definitely not the only miniature sport game in existence when DB first came out. Art wise, yeah, the representation of fantasy races in space has universally and very closely followed the trend set by WH40k ... it's true for DB and for pretty much anything out there. Regrettably.

[@alicemursteinlesbefaen666]

if gaslands lack of official models isn't a deal breaker, it's also worth taking a look at smaller indie games that encourage building and kitbashing your own models (which is my favourite part of the hobby) such as TONKS, turnip28, bangarang and many many others. (TONKS is especially good for new players cus you only need one model each, plus some basic line of sight blocking obstacles)

[@Deteno48]

After watching this video and hearing positive words from a few people I shared servers with I decided to pick up the Ariadne Caledonian sectorial starter pack. It has given me something to do while cooped up at home!

[@bramverbeek7109]

Frostgrave is also a good option. Small, cheap rulebook, you can use any model you like, and the models they do supply are very nice, with their Frostgrave Soldiers 2 ranking very high in the "believable females" scale. You don't need many models to play (12 per team), and the rules are really simple.

[@dubulskuls]

Excellent detailed recommendations. Thank you!

[@chrisjensen1975]

I was disappointed to see you didn't have Flames of War on here.

[@kerbak]

nice video,,, but I surprise not seeing "Kings of war" wargame on this list

[@METAL4K-UK]

I would play Dungeon Bowl years ago more than anything. I found it much more entertaining than a rectangle pitch. Good Times.

[@bazookajoe-u2w]

Unmatched is probably the easiest skirmish game to get into.

[@noloatmo6682]

I play Warhammer 40K/Killteam, Star Wars Legion, X-Wing, Tanks (GF9) and Bolt Action but the game I always come back to since it was published is Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game (Lord of the Ring SBG, back in the days). I know, it's from the great evil empire of GW, but if you can put that prejudice aside, you'll find a very easy to learn game that can help you fight very small squirmishes of just a few models and much bigger battles too. The range of minis is quite impressive and it also helps that it is based on a very familiar and beloved IP. The models are slightly smaller than the usual GW standard, which makes them a little bit more difficult to paint, but other than that, this is the miniatures game I will always keep in my collection for the rest of my days on this Earth.

[@StormWildSpace]

Core Space, Frostgrave and Rangers of Shadowdeep are all stellar games as well.

[@michaelgrey1351]

Great video. I'll just go read the comments, i bet they're not full of people with hot takes based purely upon the grievance their favourite game wasn-whaaaaaaaaaaa'?

[@davidmotleyjester]

As it should be. I predicted that instead of doing something meaningful like mention other games, someone would do something pointless like mock those who do the meaningful thing. Because that's the way it always is.

[@josephhook4741]

Infinity: Um, I don't want to be "represented" in the games I play. I play orcs, elves, hobbits, dragons and I don't get offended if my race is not present.

[@EasyEight3674]

If you want to play a WW2 skirmish game that feels like you're in Kelly's Heroes or Band of Brothers, you may want to try NUTS! from Two Hour Wargames. Designed for H2H, Co-op and Solo, it has some RPG-Lite elements for figure customization and non-combat actions, and uses the Chain Reaction system. During any given action phase figures will react to developments on the table based on the “Reaction” table system. For example, figures that see an enemy move into line of sight will take a “In Sight” test to see what their reaction is - do they shoot, do they fail to react, etc? Figures that come under fire also may have to check to see if they shoot back, duck for cover, panic and run, etc. This means that figures engaged in combat *always* take some kind of action, there’s never a time in the game where you’re lined up to nail your opponent…but your card didn’t come up in time and you stood there and got shot, or the guy playing the “leader” didn’t have enough action points to let your unit move. So there’s always a good flow to the game, and you don’t have total control over your figures. sbminisguy.wordpress.com/2019/01/10/nuts-for-ww2-skirmish-gaming/

[@RFatecha]

"Real football, not the american imposter" For that alone you deserved the like!

[@TheKingInTheNorthASOIAF]

I would give a big second to ASOIAF! It does make an easy crossover between regular board gaming and there’s a lot of great lore behind it. Lots of great battle action, and half the fun is theory crafting new armies.

[@shawnheatherly]

Malifaux really got my attention here.

[@HunterHerne]

It's pretty wonderfu

[@Vaderi300]

honestly Malifaux is my favorite Miniatures game. using Cards rather than Dice is actually a major difference and I think it makes turns of bad fortune much less unfun.

[@michaelgrey1351]

It's pretty damn awesome.

[@docthefaust4519]

Possible dealbreaker though....it isn't hillbilly goblins....it's hillbilly GREMLINS 🤣😜

[@andrewbeeching1240]

Fantastic game, especially (for me) the card mechanic. Having some amount of control over your "dice rolls" (card flips, actually), is reallt tense and atmospheric to the main western/poker theme it has going on. Try it!

[@northlakeghost]

As a tabletop gamer looking to dip my toe into miniatures, this video is perfect. Thanks Dicebreaker! That said, quick question: Malifaux is easily the game that piques my interest the most, but I was put off by visuals/minis when I saw them four or five years ago because the way they depicted women was absurd IMO. Not throwing a fit here, everyone has different tastes. I still think the game overall looks awesome and was wondering, now with the 3rd edition, have things have evolved on this front at all?

[@Santzlol]

I have to add Frostgrave and Rangers of ShadowDeep to the list, they are Miniatures-Agnostics games so you can use your big collection of minis (ahem for exemple all your warhammer/minis you still have on the shelf) to play or any miniatures you want to get for the pleasure of painting. Same with Last Days Apocalypse which is a survival game with zombies, you can play with your zombicide minis or others. Plus all these 3 games can be played solo

[@hawkthetraveler6344]

You picked a good topic, but for a video, the real estate of the screen would be better spent showing the game rather than you talking.

[@wtfpantera]

Very happy to see Dreadball here - it's an excellent and quite elegant game, in fact it is the first game I thought reasonable to call my favourite of all time.

[@Peng-444]

Absolutely. Couldn't agree more, I've loved Dreadball since the first kickstarter. Such a fun game.

[@rockjock3]

This could have been a Top 10 list with Dust Tactics from FFG, Dropzone Commander, and Warmachine/Hordes. There's also still Heroclix if anyone is interested in fast quick skirmish games with mini's that feature their own special rules and are already painted. And one of the original grand daddies of mini's wargaming, Battletech has seen a resurgence in recent times, though its ruleset is still one of the crunchiest to get into. Edit: As some have mentioned, Marvel: Crisis Protocol, Frostgrave, Ragnarok, and Kings of War by Mantic Games are worth mentioning.

[@Zych.Grzegorz]

Dropfleet Commander is also worth mentioning for a great ruleset and cool models. Also, while it's not cheap, it's nowhere near as expensive as anything from GW, with the possible exception of Kill Team.

[@TheDBall73]

Infinity is SO underrated..... People really need to explore that game more.

[@KallenMalefic]

The metal models are the turn off for me.

[@daGobbo]

Bushido by GCT, by far the best skirmish game out there inc GW

[@Zeiram20]

Yes!

[@TheEbonstar]

Once you've got a proper taste of Guild Ball, everything else on this list will feel like a) a casual game with too many rules or b) a casual game you might play when you need a break from Guild Ball.

[@twincast2005]

11:30 You could've - and after leading into it with a claim of eventual inevitability frankly should've - mentioned that Legion is the fourth official ground-based Star Wars miniatures game...

[@thewok]

FFG is starting the process of switching Legion’s minis over to the harder plastic closer to what you’d see in a GW box. This lets them provide more options for the minis (Grievous had three different possibilities out of the core box, for example). It’s still not the veritable free-for-all like Warhammer 40K. It’s very much like GW’s “Easy to Build” kits, but with more options to choose from. This switch is kicking the price up, but-at least in the US-Legion is still much less expensive than a GW game.

[@NisansaDdS]

20:50 Oxbox Mike should have a sizable collection of toy cars. Maybe Wheels can play with him.

[@WilCornish]

Sadly, they’ve all been flushed.

[@NisansaDdS]

I thought he fished them all out now.

[@WilCornish]

@@NisansaDdS Do you wanna play with toilet cars?

[@NisansaDdS]

@@WilCornish Mike was already playing with them in the SoTW. ;-)

[@robertmoorhead2406]

Frostgrave is another great. Also from Osprey, and with an excellent line of plastic and metal minis that I've used for my tabletop games for quite some time.

[@Skadooch]

North Star's Frostgrave and Oathmark minis are consistently amazing, metal or plastic.

[@Jaccayumitty]

"The biggest obstacle to getting into Gaslands is that the only official resource is the rulebook" How is that an obstacle? It's totally mini-agnostic, you can modify and repaint toy cars or just use them as they are, you can use ordinary d6 dice, and you can photocopy the movement templates, tokens and vehicle cards from the book. So where's the obstacle?

[@TheOgreKrenath]

If you do a follow up to this possibly include battletech

[@CIS115DK]

Yep agree battletech is good miniatures game.

[@Northman3050]

Also the faster version of Battletech is Alpha Strike.

[@squange]

Honorable mention should go to The Graves (Frost and Star). Small model count, single die, and miniatures agnostic - although North Star makes some gorgeous official sculpts.

[@LocoAullador]

Spectre: Operations, Carnevale and the AWESOME Rumbleslam would be my recommendations.

[@phariaz]

Great video. Thanks. Surprised Wrath of Kings is not here!

[@BadandMadMartin]

I've got a feeling videos like this are about to get A LOT more popular after Games Workshops attitude to its fans, fan animations and other content creators #fuGW

[@rogerduke5341]

Uhhhh..... Battletech? Flames of War? Why the exclusions?

[@scottchristofersen2367]

Guild ball is amazing. I don’t understand why it isn’t more popular.

[@AnythingButOnes]

Nicely done video! Big fan of A Song of Ice and Fire, Malifaux and Legion!

[@Deadpool_collector247]

Runewars (discontinued) by fantasy flight, Mars attacks (discontinued)by mantic, Strontium Dog by warlord, Judge Dredd miniatures game by warlord, Crisis protocol by cmon are some of the games I play... Not to mention all the battlefield board games. There are so many epic games that aren't Warhammer (I haven't played Warhammer in over 20 years due to their business practices). Ive been wanting to play Gaslands for a while

[@chronopia]

Maybe will be worth to look on upcoming reboot of Chronopia. Solo Rules, Odd number of Player rule set, PvP, Battle Royale and everything in Such an unique universe.

[@ninofreuler7638]

It's a shame that Guild Ball has been discontinued in the meantime.

[@MentatOfDune]

Nice vid. Some glaring omissions for me would be... Skirmish game: Frostgrave. Skirmish level wargame ruleset. Just use any fantasy minis you have from other games or buy from any brand. Big battle wargame: Kings of War 3rd ed. Great ruleset for large fantasy battles. No interrupts during turns so a chess clock could be used for timed games. Loads of minis available but you can use many from other producers. Perfect for those with a Warhammer army gathering dust. 1 player mini game: Rangers of Shadowdeep. A skirmish level, 1 player objective based mini game. Really, really good campaign options.

[@bahasainggeris7884]

Surprised Fallout: Wasteland Warfare didn't make the list. To me, this is more of a miniature game than Gaslands.

[@StevensonMD]

Still nice to have a racing game in the list though.

[@AndrewMcColl]

@@StevensonMD especially one that only requires purchase of a book. Well, except for those rare people who don't have an ancient stash of toy cars.

[@renmomo3510]

well i mean, gaslands has the army building, the shooting and different types of units, the dice rolling, and way more unit customization on a per unit basis. not dissing wasteland warfare, just saying something is "more of a miniatures game" because of the pieces it uses or the type of movement, i think that is a bad stance to take

[@peteralsen2222]

How in the world is Warmachine & Hordes not on that list?

[@MadMax-el2el]

There is also Conquest last argument of kings or warcaster Heck, super dungeon explorer seeing as they have showered yge bar to board games with miniatures

[@Zeiram20]

GCTs Bushido is probably the best miniature skirmish game ive played to date.

[@DerekKinsman]

Quar & War of Ashes, Savage Core, World of Twilight, Tribal, Maximillian 1934, Cutlass/Tombstone, Saga, and Muskets & Tomahawks are the games that I play.

[@the_elder_medium]

While it IS a Games Workshop game, Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game is a quite different game than Warhammer, and is scalable from skirmish to total war. I wish the KZbinr scene would pay a little more attention to it since it's been recently reissued and is surging in popularity. Combine that with Tolkien's works being among the most beloved franchises in history, and I thinks it's got a lot going for it.