So tomorrow I'm going to have around ~$180 of spending money on whatever the fuck I want because bills are paid and groceries are bought. I want to try to get into a sci-fi tabletop game but I don't know where to start. I don't have much time to devote to stuff like painting and stuff, so that's almost off the table. I'm not saying that I wouldn't try it though.
I do have a local gaming store, been there a couple times and the owner is a pretty cool dude. Sparked my interest in tabletop, but I never had the money. Now that I have a little bit of spending cash, I thought "might as well."
So, /tg/, where should I start?
Pic related, roughly where my painting skills would be at this current moment.
>>47253343
>I don't have much time to devote to stuff like painting and stuff, so that's almost off the table.
Maybe you should think about if you'll have time for tabletops then, anon.
Are you looking for a pen-and-paper game? Board games? I assume not miniatures, since you said you'd prefer not to paint. "Tabletops" is a pretty vague topic.
>>47253390
Miniatures would be cool, but my pen-and-paper days are over and I never got into board games.
>>47253343
just play video games like a normal person
>>47253405
>Miniatures would be cool
>I don't have much time to devote to stuff like painting
Anon please. If you just want to play games with friends, you can find board games you like or just play video games. If you really want to do miniatures, painting and assembling is also part of the enjoyment, don't discredit it as a chore or something. Also unless you just want to paint, there sort of needs to be other people at the store that also play whichever wargame.
>>47253407
or board games
>>47253500
normal people don't play board games
unless you mean playing Scrabble or Monopoly with your kids on a rainy evening
First, don't spend cash when you get the PDF's of most RPG's right here on /tg. If you do want the print version use PrintMe1 as they're cheap and do good quality.
>>47253536
why?
>>47253343
It seems like Battletech is what you want. It's got a sci fi universe that's basically 'Game of Thrones with mecha instead of incest', the miniatures don't really need to be painted, and $180 is way more than you'll really need. Start with spending $60 on the Introductory Box Set.
Look at board games, some of them plays like minis but don't require you to paint and collect since they come with everything you'll need to play.
Otherwise games loke x-wing allows you to collect figurines but come prepaint.
You should look at what people play at your LGS and ask the manager to try a game and see if you like it.
>>47253536
Nah, not true.
Boardgames are pretty popular and not just the vanilla stuff
>>47253343
Well, X-wing comes pre-painted and I think you can build a nice fleet with 180 dollars
If you dont mind dedicating time to painting and assembling Id recomend Malifaux, its not expensive and its absolutely god-tier game
>>47253343
Stay away from 40k unless you have lots of disposable income.
Try Star Grunt or Tomorrows War. You can use 40k figures of you want, but you're only looking at 20-30 guys and a vehicle or two per side rather than need to buy/paint hundreds
>>47253343
Find people to play with. Find army or faction you like in game you like and get some figures - recommending searching ebay or similar for cheaper used bundles to start with.
The hideous paints of ham-fisted previous owners can usually be removed and improved upon if you have time and interest in that,
infinity is fun as fuck and you can get a great army for well well within your budget but it is one you'd have to paint.
pre-painted wise you basicly just have X-wing and that's about it because the others are mostly trash.
>>47253889
pretty popular in your non-normie circles
>>47254861
Cant deny that the boardgame market is pretty big.
>>47253554
>printme1
Are they fussy about copywrite? I have some scanned textbooks that would be useful printed
>>47255197
if you're talking about Mouse Trap and Cluedo then yes
if you're talking Carcasonne and Arkham Horror then it really isn't
>>47255305
Carcassone is mainstream as fuck
>>47255387
mainstream in your non-normie circles
>>47253407
videogames are boring, repetitive and don't provide enough immersion
>>47255441
Mainstream enough for me to find it on the trash of my apartment building
>>47255230
Haven't tried textbooks yet, but they have no problem with the copyrighted RPGs I sent them.
>>47253343
X-Wing is the only game worth playing if you don't paint and only have a small amount of money to spend.
Be aware each ship costs quite a lot of money for a small pre-painted toy, but the game doesn't require vast armies or fleets to play.
>>47256454
Trying it now. We'll see what happens
>>47255893
>in the trash
what does that tell you?
I play literally everything. Have played TTWG for 15+ years.
Infinity is my favorite. Best rules, best fluff and by FAR the best models. Would highly recommend.
X wing is fine, rules aren't very deep but fun, unfortunately balance is really weird post wave 9. Prefer Armada but that is slower paced.
GW games are a waste of money IMO, and I would know.
Have enjoyed PP post colossals, but 3rd ed sounds interesting.
Anyway, would recommend Infinity.
>>47253407
Doom is legitimately the only video game I've enjoyed in like 4 years. The rest of them were so slow.
Halo 5 was alright but >>>>console
tabletop is where it's at
Not op.
Is d&d attack wing dead?
Dang.I picked the wrong horse....oh well on to x-wing I guess
>>47253343
Without knowing what your particular tastes are or what the people you are likely to play with enjoy, I really like Star Wars: Imperial Assault. It's character scale combat in Star Wars.
The core set is a little bit pricy, but gives you enough to fully run both a campaign that is good for 11 sessions of semi co-op (one player is the Imperials, up to four others are the Rebel heroes), and a 1v1 skirmish game. You could build both a Rebel and an Imperial skirmish list right out of the core box, although they aren't highly competitive.
The miniatures aren't pre-painted, and they do look a lot better even with basic paint jobs, but you don't really need to paint them.
>>47259951
Oh, and for your $180 budget, you could get the core set and the big Return to Hoth expansion, with a little bit leftover to pick up an individual pack or two.
>>47253405
>>47253343
literally the only advantages tabletop wargames like 40k have over video games are 1) the modelling, painting, general appreciation of plastic army men and 2) social hobby, hanging out with people to play a game at the shop and the occasional tournament. if you do not have the time or inclination to get good at painting, you really should consider another hobby. if I wasn't in love with the models I wouldn't waste my time on 40k, there are much better games out there and most of them are in video form. 40k has notoriously shitty balance m8, so if you're just looking for a tight, tactical system for a fair challenge in a game then most wargames, not just 40k, are not what you are looking for.
I'm not trying to be super pessimistic, just realistic. I don't see any point in playing tabletop wargames if you don't like the models and painting since they are a massive part of the hobby. I suppose if you've got another few hundred bucks you could get them commission painted, but even then if you only want a nice looking army to win games with that's not going to happen cheaply either, because the meta constantly shifts and people who play to win at all costs are constantly buying new stuff. being a WAAC player is expensive. I just don't want you to go into the hobby with the wrong perspective and then realize you dropped a bucket of hard-earned dosh on something that's not for you.
>>47259049
you are aware that non-FPS games exist right
>>47253343
>I don't know where to start
Board game: X-wing (cheap, simple but good rules).
Wargame: Infinity, Malifaux (but it's not sci-fi ).
>>47259028
>the best models
But hard to paint espacially for newcomers.
>>47259028
My favourite at the moment is Kings of War, just because it's so player-friendly. There's very little in the way of saying no to players, just lots of options, and it's well balanced enough that it doesn't break under cheesy lists.
Agreed 100% on infinity though, great rules and beautiful models.
GW are solid models, but the heroes are ridiculously expensive. Troop boxes are actually pretty reasonable, for the most part (some of the new stuff is noticeably more expensive.) Games are awful and you shouldn't play them.
>>47260992
Why is X-Wing a board game and Malifaux a wargame?
>>47259738
>Is d&d attack wing dead?
DOA
Everything Wizkids is DOA
>>47261336
Dunno, just my personal feelings after playing x-wing and Malifaux.
>>47261261
>GW are solid models
Yeah, that's why Games Workshop players making pictures like this.
>>47261560
>implying GW doesn't have good looking models
>implying CB doesn't have bad models
Picture proves nothing other than that you're a retard for thinking it means anything. Put a cool helmet on that marine or put any modern FW model up there, and put a previous generation CB mini on the left and you get the same effect swapped.
>>47262987
>GW
>good models
Like this?
>>47261560
>Haqqislam , women as soldiers
kek
>>47264338
Dude didn't even their fast attack units.
>>47264338
Dude didn't even see their fast attack units.
>>47263090
What's wrong with those? They look pretty great to me.
>>47258242
It go through?
>>47253343
If you don't have a regular way to have $180 (by the way you posted you made it seem odd you had $180 to spend) at any given moment maybe starting a new hobby is a bad use of your money?
If you don't think it is a bad use of your money, you must ask yourself what purpose does thing your investing in serve beyond the things you already own.
The models, as many have said, are really the only thing that separate this hobby from video games. X Wing is really the only game that comes painted out of the box.
I would suggest playing video games or X Wing or a board game.
>>47264675
>The models, as many have said, are really the only thing that separate this hobby from video games.
Freedom and immersion seperates you from video games. If you and your friends decide something isn't fun enough you're free to go and tweak the rules however you want, you're free to paint and lore Your Dudes however you want, you're free to play wherever you want. etcetcetc
If you want to do that in a video game you have to go with the restrictions of the developers and engine and whatever.
and if you live in australia, video games is probably as if not more expensive than tabletop any fucking way, so
>>47264417
>They look pretty great to me.
Of course, because it's Warhammer.
>>47264982
>overdone cartoony/anime sci-fi aesthetic
>truescale
this is the thing that has always bothered me about infinity.
>>47253918
Came here to suggest this.
Pretty robust community for it in most cities, and no painting.
>>47264991
>warhammer players
>bitching about cartoony and anime Sci-fi aesthetic in other games
kek
>>47265026
the difference is that gw don't try to make it truescale.
you don't get to have bothi play warmachine my man
>>47265034
>gw don't try to make it truescale.
And that's why all their models looks so fat and bulky.
>>47265057
...when compared with true scale models though.
>>47265074
Well yes, because it's obvious, heroicscale cannot compete with truthscale anymore.
>>47253343
>I do have a local gaming store
>but I don't know where to start
Start at your local gaming store, find out what people are playing, find out what the people who are playing the games are like.
There's not much point picking up a game because it looks interesting, only to discover that nobody plays it at your FLGS - or, worse, people do play it, but they're all twats. Doesn't matter how great the rules are, or the models, the maximum amount of enjoyment you're going to get is capped by the quality of the people you're playing with.
