One Page Rules (OPR) offers free, approachable rules for a variety of sci-fi and fantasy wargames.
What are the games?
Grimdark Future (GF) pits futuristic armies against each other as they battle for control of the Sirius Sector. If you're familiar with WH40k, this will be very recognizable. Generally each army will have 20-40 models.
Grimdark Future: Firefight (GFF) is a smaller scale alternative to GF, focusing on the tactical operations on a squad level. This can be a great starting point, as each side will only need 5 - 10 models. These models can be used in GF, so it's a great place to start building an army that can be expanded later. This game is similar to Killteam and Fireteam.
Age of Fantasy (AoF) has players clash large fantasy armies against each other. Each side tends to be a bit larger than GF due to cheaper point values for many units, depending on which faction is chosen. Often each side will field 30 - 60 models. This game is similar to Age of Sigmar.
Age of Fantasy: Skirmish (AoF:S) is the smaller scale alternative to AoF, focusing on small bands of combatants. Much like GFF, this can be a great place to start building an army. Each side will usually need 5 - 10 models. This game is similar to WarCry.
Age of Fantasy: Regiments (AoF:R) has players managing large armies with a more defined set of rules regarding positioning and orientation. The individual models of a unit are usually moved on a square tray. Each side will usually have 30-60 models. Regiments is similar to Warhammer Fantasy and Kings of War.
Grimdark Future FTL (FTL) allows players to maneuver fleets of spaceships as they rush to secure objectives. The investment is moderate, with each side needing around 15 - 20 models. This game is similar to Battlefleet Gothic.
What do I need to play?
You need the rules, some models/paper standees/proxies, some terrain/proxies, some six-sided dice, some tokens, a table/floorspace, and (optionally) a friend. Alternately, Tabletop Simulator can be used to play the game remotely.
Rules for each game can be downloaded from OPR's website (onepagerules.com). These are short documents, although they quite conform to the company's name. Each game has its own set of rules books.
-- Core Rules are free 2 - 3 page pdfs and they cover everything you need to play a game.
-- Basic Rules are free 15 - 20 page pdfs and they give more detail on how many of the rules work.
-- Full Rules can be bought from DriveThruRPG.com for about $5 USD each as around 30 - 40 page pdfs. Alternately you can get them all for signing up to the OPR Patreon.
Models be 3D printed, printed paper standees or proxies. If you have a 40k army, it will work here - the OPR rules have comparable units for all GW armies and most models. Simiarly, if you have a ton of Dungeons and Dragons minis, those will work too. It is not necessary for your units to exactly represent the OPR rules equivalent - you just need to be able to recognize or designate which model/unit is which. If you really want to start playing the game immediately, you could put sticky notes on quarters, use colored dice, draw little characters on cardboard or break out your old POGs.
You can get a free two-player quickstart set from OPR as well with STLs and Paper minis, terrain, rulers and tokens. The current GF and GFF set has three unit types each from the Eternal Dynasty and Robot Legions factions. The current AoF and AoF:S set has three unit types each form the Saurian and Mummified Undead factions. The FTL quickstart set is a pdf with four unit types each from the Empire and Marauders factions as paper models.
Pre-supported STL files can be purchased from OPR at myminifactory.com, or you can subscribe to their Patreon (patreon.com/onepagerules/) and receive 50+ models each month. Note: these STLs must be printed yourself, which requires a 3D resin (preferably) or FDM printer. If you plan on buying STLs, consider subscribing temporarily to their Patreon, as you receive a 50% off coupon code which can be used unlimited times. The army selection is limited to what has been produced so far, meaning that many factions may need models from another source. There are many free and paid models available from a variety of sources, but it may require a lot of research to get a full army that looks appropriate together.
Finally, pre-printed OPR minis can be purchased from only-games.co. I don't have any experience with these. The website seems legitimate to me, but it will be pricey. If you're used to buying GW models, this may be in an acceptable price band. It's worth considering that the setup and learning curve of a 3D printer requires a decent bit of work and an understanding of the hazardous materials involved. When you have things dialed in, it still requires about 30-60 mins cleanup of most models after printing, so if you're valuing your time that may tip things in the favor of pre-printed or proxy options.
Terrain can be purchased and printed from pre-supported STL files, like the models. One thing to note is that some of the terrain is quite large. Not all of the large Jackals terrain can be printed on my Elegoo Mars 3 Pro. It's probably a more economical choice to print these on an FDM printer, due to the resin cost. OPR sells printable paper terrain pdfs as well.
You can also make terrain - there are a ton of guides out there on how to do so from various materials (foam core, Styrofoam, cardboard, etc). If you really want to get started immediately, just grab a paper and a pen and draw out some terrain. Look at the rules for guidance on the type and quantity of terrain you need (15-30 pieces usually). Consider a mix of impassable and passable terrain, and size it such that your models can reasonably interact with it - a house should fit at least a couple units inside, for example.
Dice used in the game are all six-sided. You should have a decent number of them and preferably a couple of different colors. For the larger games, having 20 - 40 dice would be handy. For the smaller scale games, you could get away with about 10 - 20.
As an example of why many dice is useful, consider a GF Alien Hives unit of ten assault grunts which have been upgraded such the unit has 8x Razor Claws (two attacks each) and 2x Serrated Claws (two attacks each with armor-piercing value of 4). This unit melee attacking at full strength would roll 16 dice for razor claws and 4 dice for serrated claws. It's preferable to have two colors of dice so these can all be rolled at the same time, which will speed up the game.
More complicated units might have four or more different weapon types in one attack, but most of the time it will be just one or two weapon types.
Tokens can be printed from STLs or as paper tokens. You could also easily make your own or use small objects or dice as proxies. The default unit tokens are: Objectives, Activation, Pinned, Magic/Psychic, Wounds, Fatigue. The most important of these for starting are Objectives, Activations and Pinned. As with everything else in this game, it's important for the players to be able to keep track of what is happening to which model or unit. How you get there doesn't really matter.
Table size for a match varies by mission type but is often 4' x 4' or 4' x 6', but the Full Rules has a conversion for dinner tables. Many dinner tables are 2'6" x 5' or 3' x 6'. The rules for this conversion are not extensive - they comprise a single page, and there isn't a lot of meat to them. If you want to get started, don't feel like you need to buy the Full Rules just to use your kitchen table. Just cut distances in half and go from there.
You can play on a floor surface easily as well, or you can push two tables together.
In theory, you could have unique shapes to the battlefield, but this may create some imbalances between different army types. High movement speed armies would likely get a significant advantage in a very long, narrow map, for example.
Friends are not currently sold at MyMiniFactory.com, but they're pretty optional - this is tabletop wargaming, after all. :) To replace a friend, or to act as a communal enemy for you and a pal to wage war against, you can use the free AI Rules. These rules are essentially a flowchart. For streamling this process, consider using this fan-made AI-Decision Tree webapp https://edwardern.github.io/.
Tabletop Simulator is a great option to play remotely. There are free mods which have a staggering variety of units, terrain features and tokens to use. Many include an interactable tablet with the basic rules loaded straight from the OPR website, so they remain up to date.
Thanks for reading and welcome to the community!
I look forward to chatting with you all. :)
Nice! I like how bright the eyes are. Is this a player char or an enemy?