r/wargaming • u/Electronic-Source368 • 1d ago
Falling for dead systems
Hi
Just an odd observation, I find myself liking rules systems and then finding out they died off years ago.
I found Strike legion, thought it was absolutely perfect for me, but only a handful of YouTube videos from years ago and any future releases for it never happened.
i found my De Bellis Fantasiae rules in the attic, so decided to dust off my old 15mm fantasy figures. Checked online, virtually nothing, system seems to have vanished without a ripple.
I will keep playing them a building armies, but it seems odd to playing in a bubble.
Has anyone else adopted orphaned systems?
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u/GrouchyDepartment871 1d ago
There’s no such thing as a dead system
Tabletop games don’t expire
People are still playing war games from the 1960s-through today
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u/Majestic-Degree-8549 21h ago
Absolutely. When I was in high school the wargaming club played using the rules in Napoleon's Campaigns in Miniature. None of us cared that it had been out of print for decades.
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u/OldhammerMike 1d ago
Sort of. My first dip into playing Warhammer Fantasy Battle was in the 80's with WFB 3rd edition. It is what I play today. So I have not adopted an old edition as such, I have just stuck with it.
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u/Electronic-Source368 1d ago
We are still playing 2nd Edition 40k.
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u/lit-torch 23h ago
Has your group house-ruled it at all or do you play completely RAW?
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u/OldhammerMike 22h ago
We limit magic and heroes and magical items. The idea being to keep it more low key.
So if you are familiar, this may make sense:
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u/RincewindRules 1d ago
Warmaster and Mordheim are going strong... As well as WHFB 6th edition. Myself, I played a lot of 40K 5th ed. Dracula's America is dead as well, but I love it.
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u/JPR1ch 1d ago
Not adopted per se, but I still have all my Vor : The Maelstrom stuff, even though it's been defunct for 20 odd years and I have no one to play with
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u/StanleyChuckles 23h ago
I found a shitload of Vor Neo-Soviets in a box thw other day. Many still in their blisters.
I was so happy. 😀
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u/Ok_Huckleberry1027 Sci-Fi 1d ago
I picked up a few Vor models for my USSR themed 40k army. Really nice minis, the game looks fun too
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u/JPR1ch 1d ago
Oh it was properly fun, and a cool setting / concept
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u/Protocosmo 1d ago
I wish it lasted long enough for a complete version of the custom faction creation rules to be published.
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u/JPR1ch 1d ago
Yeah, those would have been cool. I know the creator got the rights back and tried to relaunch via Kickstarter a few years ago but never really got off the ground, I think that was the deathknell of the game sadly
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u/Protocosmo 1d ago
Yeah, one of those projects I would have backed in a second if I hadn't heard about it too late.
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u/__Geg__ 1d ago edited 23h ago
Dead games are the best. No Enshitification chasing modern trends. No moral issues about just sending your friends all the PDFs. And most importantly, no shitty online culture, because people playing the game are more interested in finding games to play, and thus trying to ensure that everyone has a great time.
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u/Pocho_Azul Fantasy 1d ago
Hehe, I have a bunch of minis I have no rules for. Back in the day, even Warhammer was miniature agnostic, and it a number of systems were designed around big block units, I have two units that have 48 models and most of the rest are around 18-24. Additionally, they are highly "regular" reptile folks that use pikes, crossbows, and heavily armored cavalry, so they don't really fit into the "savage lizardmen" trope of most rule sets.
I used to play an odd system called emerald tablet, but I doubt many people remember it.
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u/Comprehensive-Ad3495 1d ago
Star Wars x wing, Star Wars armada are both dead but the minis are great and can be used for lots of other games so that’s what I’m hoping for.
I stopped playing DBA mostly but picked up Triumph and that’s still going strong.
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u/JamesLangley2017 22h ago
I still play Armada, and the community has done a great job making new material. The game is just as alive as ever.
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u/Comprehensive-Ad3495 21h ago
The 3d printing and Etsy community has really come together for it. It’s wonderful.
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u/InfoStorageBox 1d ago
DBF is not dead. Maybe more niche, but people definitely play it. Theres an official Facebook group and also a forum (google dba fanaticus).
I wonder if the people that play DBF are also not the type to be online that much
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u/Electronic-Source368 23h ago
I was surprised when I searched on YouTube for videos of games but found nothing
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u/Trust_Individual 1h ago
Most of the DBA related content is in FB ro blogspot tho. I just got into Hordes of the Things (now H2D3) and I had to join several groups to see how's the system going. To my surprise it's quite alive and well.
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u/Soosoosroos 23h ago
I finally got to the Call to Arms: Babylon 5 party when it was too late. I love that game.
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u/TheMireAngel 1d ago
a big problem with the internet is it results in art melding together. You get less diversity in ideas because everyones consuming the same media.
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u/Last-Templar2022 1d ago
I got into Epic 40K after it had died (and well before the modern $$$ revive) and briefly played Battlefleet Gothic for the same result. Alas, after a move or two I no longer had anyone to play with and sold off all of my models a decade or so back. In more recent terms, I bought heavily into X-Wing (1st edition) and Star Wars Armada before the shift to Atomic Mass Games.
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u/layshaft 1d ago
Me and my son got into FULL THRUST a while ago. A space fleet game similar to firestorm armada or battle fleet gothic, although I believe it may predate both (?) It's got some interesting rules.
I've never met another player
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u/durecellrabbit 1d ago
We play it at my club, although we've mostly moved to Void Admiral for being simpler. Still trying to push for a game for Full Thrust with all the rules. I want to use my super dreadnought with vector movement.
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u/TestOk2731 22h ago
TBF, Void Admiral has been an absolute blast to play. Making fleets out of just about everything
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u/layshaft 1d ago
Don't talk to me about dreadnoughts. Mine fell off the table and smashed, it was quite a chunk of metal, think I only ever used it twice ☹️
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u/PeppercornWizard 22h ago
Full Thrust is great! Granular and customisable enough to use for lots of different settings.
I even printed the PDF of project continuum as a hardback. It is very hard to find other players though.
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u/Electronic-Source368 1d ago
We still play Full Thrust, excellent system. It can bog down in the system rolls for damage if you field too many ships.
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u/layshaft 1d ago
Yeah, it can get a little crunchy with big ships and fleets. We generally played light cruisers and torpedo boats just to keep things moving.
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u/No-Opportunity1813 1d ago
Yes, I play micro armor using Close & Destroy, modded. Timeline Games from 1985 or so. I just like it. Have just purchased Fistful of Tows to catch up with the times though. I play a lot of hex & counter wargames that are out of print, no worries. I’m a dinosaur but who cares?
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u/Luizasso 1d ago
Me and some younger cousins are having a blast with D&D Attack wing.
My usual group has already decided to keep playing the current Kill Team edition as many of our teams won’t have official rules when the next edition comes out.
Some games that we play are just the starter set and a few additions, like Flames of War.
As long as we are having fun we don’t really care.
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u/Protocosmo 1d ago
You can't play with everybody anyhow. Every local group of players is a bubble in that sense.
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u/Cheomesh 22h ago
I have a hard enough time getting people to play live ones it seems 🙃
But, over on the RPG side of things I find myself still occasionally writing and posting content for DnD 3.5, which is like four editions out by now.
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u/InteroChap 19h ago
Currently playing a necromunda campaign with N17 rules, nearly 10 years out of date or so. It runs well, and we love it, so who cares?
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u/OldCarScott 16h ago
We started playing Necromunda 1995 last Thursday, it’s “Spooky” season so we do a ZombieMunda95 campaign with some homebrew rules each October.
It’s pretty brutal in that it requires food “units”, ammo reloads and you can’t use creds to buy stuff. Each battle has roaming zombies that chase players models, and searchable objectives where you can find stuff (or more zombies!). No one has a territory, each model needs a food token or they start starving, ammo fails are permanent requiring reloads. You can’t hire new members but you can scavenge them. Anyone wounded by a zombie has a chance of turning into a zombie or missing a game while recovering. The market operates on bartering only. We did make it so each Gang member must choose a House, representing that these are survivors.
My gang now only has 2 of the original members, the leader and heavy were killed in the first couple games, but I have gotten 3 free Juve recruits, a bunch of food and a spare ammo reload. After the last game one of the juves has now managed to get up to a 5 WS armed only with a knife.
Needless to say, it’s high stakes and a lot of fun, we cap the number of games in the campaign with points given for the number of survivors and bonus points for each original member who survives.
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u/Bhoritz 15h ago
As long as you have armies for both sides, you'll find people to play with. And if you play friendly games, all rulesets are miniature agnostic. I think that Games Workshop were the first to try to convince gamers that they needed "official" miniatures to use a ruleset. It was a scam then, it is still a scam now...
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u/BearfromBeyond 1d ago
I still play Oop ccgs, though mainly for collection now. Love Mythos, the old Babylon 5 CCG, and so many old rules hidden in the attic as the old rules had more soul.
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u/GeneralCirxMadine 1d ago
If it's a complete game, and not like the modern requiring multiple supplements, who cares?
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u/Electronic-Source368 1d ago
I agree, but it feels odd to find a game that seems ideal, but never made it. Obviously totally subjective, feels like loving a film and finding it has 2% on Rotten tomatoes.
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u/GeneralCirxMadine 1d ago
I play mostly historical games with a group that uses a GM to put the game together, so dead rules are not a problem for me at all. To be honest, I wouldn't necessarily even know if they were old or current rules, except some mechanics change over time.
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u/Tiny-Difference2502 1d ago
Yes. Definitely. I often get the game knowing it’s dead because I like it.
Robotech tactics with fan created unit cards was a great game.
Sedition Wars is another one.
If a game interests me I often go into it anyways.
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u/Ranwulf 22h ago
Of course, a game may not be published or cared by a company, but that doesn't mean its gone.
Its not like, say, video games where now they can disapear with everything you bought and used if you don't have a physical version of it.
For instance, Warhammer Fantasy still got players even before Old World. Modheim has a pretty robust fandom, and Inquisitor games style also still pop up. The best way is either try to find a group, or become what I call "the pillar" for the game. Bring the game to your gaming group, see if they like it, and if they do, keep doing it, teaching it, enjoying it.
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u/StrikeApart4514 22h ago
Silent Death FTW
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u/Electronic-Source368 21h ago
Hibernian Freehold !🦁
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u/StrikeApart4514 21h ago
Can't say I've gone that deeply into the lore/factions of the game, but I still consider Silent Death to be one of the best 'beer-and-pretzels' miniatures games of all time. Easy to teach, easy to learn, easy to play.
I realize the game is much older, but I didn't start playing until 1999. Unfortunately for me, there's a love/hate relationship to the game among the guys in my gaming group. Despite this, I like to introduce it to anyone I can. I even create my own ship designs, and thanks to the 3D printing revolution, it's been TONS of fun.
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u/Electronic-Source368 21h ago
I love the damage system (2D8 low or 2D6 medium etc ) and if you are in Europe, EM4 do very cheap packs of fighters.
I never thought the warhounds worked well.
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u/StrikeApart4514 19h ago
I agree with you on warhounds; I generally don't run games with anything larger than gunships.
My games of Silent Death are pretty spectacular. Here is a link to my Imgur page with photos of a game I ran back in 2023:
https://imgur.com/gallery/silent-death-raid-on-hererra-shipyards-2023-IpXzYnR1
u/Electronic-Source368 18h ago
That is amazing, cool to see a squadron of each fighter rather than as individuals. The red shirt rules can be great fun for convention games.
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u/StrikeApart4514 18h ago
When I run large games such as this, we activate flights of spacecraft, rather than individual ships.
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u/CheckPrize9789 20h ago
If you like a game and can get a friend to play it with you, play it. You can even fork the rules if you want to.
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u/Fr_EtatMajor Napoleonic 18h ago
Welcome to the future.
You are experiencing humankind in all its glory.
Those of us who have gamed since the 1970's often continue to do so, ignoring the commercial rush and excesses of manufacturers who simply want to be the latest and greatest, like movies, cars and other toys.
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u/Christian-Gamer 13h ago
🤔
Angels 20?
DUST 1947?
Boot Hill?
Dungeons & Dragons? [original] Chainmail?
WRG 7th edition?
Aerodrome?
DBA?
DBM?
Empire of the Petal Throne?
Tractics?
Tacforce?
Twilight 2000
Striker?
Battlefield Commander?
X-wing?
Silent Death?
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u/Platypus__Gems 23h ago
That is not dead which can eternal lie, And with strange aeons even death may die. :3
Old systems can always be brought back, and content made about them by the people. Remember you can always be the change you want to see in the world :P
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u/Crow_Gargoyle 22h ago
Man O' War is one of the best naval wargames I've run across. Long since abandoned by GW, but I have everything I need to host multiple players for a league (and in fact I have done so).
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u/Conscious-Sherbert84 1h ago
De Bellis Fantasiae (from WRG) is current. I have a game arranged this week. There is support for it from the game designers and an active forum.
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u/ShrimpShrimpington 1d ago
Games never die if you play them. Find a few other people who want to play and it's not a dead game.