All Trademarks and copyrights belong to their respective owners; when used without permission; no challenge to ownership is intended.

The mention of or reference to any companies or products in this site is not a challenge to the trademarks or copyrights concerned.

 

 

Click Here for how you can advertise in this space

 


In addition to miniatures, what other fun products are there for space combat games?

There are dice (you probably have enough of those), but is there anything else that makes simulating space battles more fun?

 

As an alternative to the bare table or the folded paper hex maps, a space gamer has a few options.  Pick up some black fabric at a local fabric store or they might even have some spacey looking fabric too. As a more durable option, a couple companies make some mats to play on. 

 

Megamats™

Chessex makes Black Vinyl Megamats™ with Hexes printed on them and you can even write on them with water soluble markers

 

Starfield Mats

Monday Knight Productions makes Space Mats (formerly available from GeoHex).  They are 4 foot x 6 foot of black felt which is air brushed with nebular dust clouds and sprinkled with stars in vibrant fluorescent colors.  The mats are available with just the nebular background or with the background and 1.5 inch hexes printed on the mat.  In the past GeoHex made a cloth mats licensed for Silent Death and felt mats for Star Blazers Fleet Battle System.

 

1/1/2007 - Monday Knight is now selling mats with a 2 inch square grid in 3 sizes, 4'x6', 3'x3' and a table top sized 22"x34".

 

3/13/2004 - The hexed version of the Space Mat is now available with 2 inch hexes in addition to the 1.5 in hex versions.  Also for those of you with smaller tables, 3 foot x 3 foot felt mats are also available with or without hexes.  Also there are plans make mats with a 1 inch grid available later in 2004

 

 

Space Tiles

Alea Publishing Group has released Paper Tiles: Space, a downloadable pdf file you can purchase from RPGnow.com.

"Need a battle map for your d20 system futuristic spaceships to battle upon or glide through the universe? Or for your strategic space combat miniatures game? Well, APG Paper Tiles: Space gives you an inexpensive, gridded map with numerous layout possibilities including, planets, asteroid fields, nebulas, and more!
Each of the map tiles are realistic, 300 .dpi, 5 in. x 8 in. skirmish size tiles with 1 inch grids ready to print-and-play!"

A demo is available so you can see what these tiles look like.

 

Deep Space Felt Game Mats

from Hotz ArtWorks

 

5/1/2008 - The latest update from Hotz:

Just a short note that we now offer our game mats with 1, 1.5, 2, 3, 4 and 5 inch hexes, and also 1, 2 and 4 inch squares. All of these are available with the Deep Space game mat (actually, any game mat we produce up to 6 x 4-ft).

 

12/19/2006 - Hotz ArtWorks has released mats with 2 inch and 4 inch hexes so their selection of hexes now come in 2, 3, 4 or 5 inch sizes.  

Plus they have released mats with a 2 inch square grid, perfect for the new Star Wars Miniatures Starship Combat game.

Also mats are now available in a half mat size of 45 x 34 inches (114 x 86 cm) quarter mat size of 22 x 34 inches (56 x 86 cm).

 

9/6/2006 - The Deep Space Felt Game Mats are now available from Hotz ArtWorks.  They are available in both with either 3 inch or 5 inch hexes in a 6x4-ft mat or without hexes in 6x4-ft and 6x8-ft sizes.

The star cluster artwork is silk screened, while cosmic dust/clouds and solar flares have been airbrushed onto the mat's surface. The mats have been treated with a protective fabric binder that helps to prevent pilling and other forms of wear normally associated with felt.

 

3/25/2006 - Hotz ArtWorks will soon release game mats with a few different backgrounds including Deep Space.   The mats are roughly 6-ft x 4-ft (72 x 45 inches) and made of an acrylic felt fabric treated with a fabric binder to strengthen the fabric.   They have a 5 inch hex grid silk screened on them but are also available without the hex pattern.  Other size hexes may also become available.

Star Mats

from Star Mats Plus

therealnavy

12/19/2006 - Carl Scheu is making custom air brushed star mats on black felt in 4'x6' and 8'x6' sizes with larger sizes possible as custom orders.  Contact Carl at thrud62@yahoo.com for more information.

battlesargallactica2

 

Uncharted Space

from WorldWorks Games

7/30/2007 - WorldWorks Games has released Uncharted Space: Sathrican Homeworld, a premium PDF gaming mat (with props), their first product targeted at tabletop, stellar-combat wargamers. This cost effective gaming mat allows users to create their very own 60” X 40” star mat and asteroid fields using a number of custom created graphic templates. By utilizing a home printer and a few basic materials, frugal gamers can build a game mat for their next engagement, in stages, as time and money allow.  A pre-printed version on vinyl is in the works for release in later 2007.

Every visual element contained within Uncharted Space is 100% original and has been handcrafted using WorldWorks Games renowned high quality texturing standards. At the base of the mat is the upper atmosphere of the giant Sathrican homeworld.  Uncharted Space includes 3-D asteroid clusters to fill the voids and add depth to your tactics.

Uncharted Space: Sathrican Homeworld Includes all of the following:

* Fully illustrated instructions for creating your very own game mat
* 32 Zero grid space tiles covering a vast region of space
* 32 1-inch Hex space tiles covering a vast region of space
* Fully illustrated instructions for creating 3-D asteroid clusters
* 2 pages of varied asteroid cluster models
* Asteroid cluster stands
* Asteroid cluster basing in 1-inch Hex
* Asteroid cluster basing in Zero Grid
* Asteroid debris field tile
* Interactive User Interface (PC users only).

 

Starscape Hex Maps 

from EN Publishing

6/11/2009 - EN Publishing has made available Starscape Hex Maps, a pdf file consisting of six basic starscape hex maps for use in space tactical boardgames.  Each is one page of A4/Letter, allowing you to print out different combinations and join them together.  The base set contains the following maps: Blank (black) without stars, Clear with background stars only, Lens flare, Distant star, Bright sun, and Bright coloured light.

Additional pdf map sets are also available:

*Starscape Hex Maps 2: Natural Phenomenon
*Starscape Hex Maps 3: Planets & Asteroids
*Starscape Hex Maps 4: Nebulae
*Starscape Hex Maps 5: Galaxies

The Starscape Hex Maps pdf files can be purchased from EN Publishing or through RPGnow.

Galactic Mats

from Terrain Mat

7/12/2009 - Terrain Mat is a UK company that makes space mats based on images from the Hubble Space Telescope showing swirling gas clouds with near and far star clusters.  Mats are available in many sizes ranging from 3'x5' to 6'x12' plus they also do custom sizes.  Grids are available on the mats, both square and hex in several sizes.  One interesting thing about these grids compared to other mats, instead of painting the grids on the mat, Terrain Mat does it so they mat is mostly painted but the grids are unpainted.

4'x4' Galactic Mat

Galactic Mat with hex grid

Scenes of Space Hex Battle Maps

from Jon Brazer Enterprises

4/25/2010 - "Fight your battles on scenes of space. Fourteen pages comprising various scenes for your sci-fi space battles to take place in. Escape an exploding planet, dodge ice asteroids, navigate a nebula, or traverse the stars with a distant galaxy in the background. Two scenes laid out for large printers. Twelve pages laid out for letter/A4 paper. All images have a 1" hex grid. Play your sci-fi games with dramatic backgrounds."

This product is available from Wargame Vault.

CorSec Printed Fabric Mats

From CorSec Engineering

2/25/2012 - CorSec mats are now available in a new 72" by 58" size that should work to cover a 6' by 4' table.  They have added 3 new space backgrounds, Blue Stars, Pillars and Jets, and Spitzer and Hubble.

If you like their designs but want to make your own, they now sell Printable Starfields through Wargames Vault.

 

4/16/2011 - CorSec is now offering the mats in a larger 56" by 106" size and has added some new backgrounds to choose from.

 

11/7/2010 - CorSec Engineering is now offering printed fabric maps and has made several patterns available for ordering. Each map is 42" by 72" and can be ordered with square or hex overlays. Custom overlays available upon request. Each map costs $36.
Patterns available:
Aerial Farmland
Ocean
Red Nebula
More patterns will be available soon and larger maps are in the works.

CorSec also produces a universal magnetic mounting system using a ball magnet to allow the mini to be oriented in an unlimited number of ways.

 

Battle Board: Space Sector & Star System

from PWORK Paper Wargame

 

2/25/2012 - Available from RPGNow:

"The PDF provides all the parts necessary to build a paper battle mat! Stop playing you favorite wargame on the floor or on a tablecloth: now in a couple of hours, a printer, some cardboard, glue and a cutter you can make a beautiful table! The setting of the battle board is compatible with all major wargames and sci-fi boardgame. The board's size is 120x180cm. Full color."

On PWORK site is possible to buy the same battle board in a whole piece, ideal for a "plottage" or a pvc print."

 

Universal Space Combat Battlemap: Tarantula Nebula

from Melior Via

 

8/12/2012 - Available from Wargame Vault:

"This PDF presents a printable map, with a background generated from satellite imagery. Printing and assembling all 42 pages creates a contiguous map large enough to cover a table of up to 72" x 48". If your play space is a little bit smaller, it's easy to just print and assemble a smaller version.

The file also uses Adobe Acrobat layers so that it may be printed with 1" hexes, 1.5" hexes, or 2" squares, making it useful for a variety of scales and rule systems. (Just make sure to turn off the layers you don't want.) Hex dimensions are measured flat-side to flat side. Alternatively, it may be printed without any grid overlay for a huge poster map."

 

 

Star Map

from DramaScape

 

8/25/2012 - Available from Wargame Vault and other related PDF download sites.

"This product includes three 48 x 30 inch starmaps with a hex overlay, each hex is approx 1,2inches in size. The first starmap has been left blank of foreground objects. The brilliant background includes multiple stars and colorful nebulas. The second starmap includes a massive planet on the right side of the map. A huge continent can be seen on the light side of the planet with a land corridor leading away towards the dark side of the planet. The third starmap has a large space station on the left side of the map."

 

With miniatures available from some of our favorite TV shows, a couple places have created some custom decal sheets to help make the finished miniatures as accurate as possible. 

Starship ID Codes

from Ground Zero Games

 

Many gamers try to add some designation to the base of their minis to identify the ship type (destroyer, escort cruiser, dreadnought, etc.) along with a number to differentiate multiple ships of the same type.  It was hard to find lettering of the right type and size and writing the info on the base by hand with a white paint pen never looked clean enough with my handwriting.  So along comes Decals Express with their Starship ID Codes decal sheet, with enough ID's for a couple fleets at least using the common 2 and 3 letter abbreviations for ship types along with an identifying number.  I got a pre-production sample and they are durable, easy to use and look fantastic. 

 

5/31/2010 - The old website is no longer there but these items are still listed under the GZG online store.

 

9/29/2004 - Updated the website URL to http://wargames.rpgshelf.net/ per email from Tom Pope: 

We had problems with our old provider and the domain is now locked, even though some people can still see the old site.  While we sort out the details, we also have a temporary contact address of: beseny@aol.com.

 

3/6/2005 - A new email address is wge@speakeasy.net 

 

                     

 

Starline 2400 Decals

From Starfighter Decals

 

10/6/2008 - Mark Tutton of Starfire Decals made the following announcement on the Star Fleet Universe Message Board:

The Starfighter Decals web store is approaching its first year anniversary. After looking at the sales figures, it is with a heavy heart I am going to discontinue most of the Star Fleet Battles decal sets. Most of the line experienced little or no sales in the past 50 weeks. Only the Federation ships, Federation Commander Squadron, and Fleet Boxes have enjoyed anything close to steady sales. I am also going to discontinue customizing the Federation ship names. Starfighter Decals line of 1/144, 1/72, and US Navy Air wing decals and resin parts have experienced phenomenal growth during the same period. So this is where my energy is going to be concentrated. This means something has to give, and the slow sales items have to go. This means the Star Fleet Universe Decals.

In two weeks I will be discontinuing to following decal sets: All Klingon, Romulan, Kzinti, Gorn, Hydran, Lyran, Tholian, WYN, Juggernaught, and Orion sets. The following Federation sets will be discontinued: POL, BATS, CVN Carrier Group, BB, DNL/DNH, DN Combat Circle Option, DNG, SCS/CVA, CV(O), CX, CVF/CVS, GSC/CF, DD/SC, “Old” NCL, and “Old” FF markings. Also being removed form the list are the 2 Cruiser box sets.

I am going to continue supporting the Federation Commander line as long as sales justify it. With FC:Distant Kingdoms on the horizon, almost all of the races in the SFU will be represented and I will consider making the decal sets to match if demand warrants it.

I will no longer accept any custom decal orders for SFU ships unless you want to pay the $50 per hour charge my other customers pay along with the 4 to 6 month wait that goes along with it.

It was a lot of fun developing this line of decals for my fellow SFB fans, but economic realities, my business, and most important of all, my family comes first. To keep the bills paid and have time for my family, SFU decals becomes the odd man out.

Thank you again to all who supported my business!

 

2/6/2008 - Now online, Starfighter Decals sells decals for the Starline 2400 line of miniatures for Star Fleet Battles and Federation Commander with the approval of Amarillo Design Bureau.  Decal sheets are available for specific ships or sheets for the miniatures in one of the boxes of multiple minis.  Sheets can be customized with names and hull numbers from the List of Names published by ADB for an additional fee.

SFB Decals

From Pomroy Productions

 

2/25/2012 - Pomroy Productions has closed up and their decals are no longer avaiable.

 

2/26/2011 - Pomroy Productions now has decals for Babylon 5 (larger scale) and Battlestar Galactica miniatures.  Of note is the Narn dazzle pattern sheet which is a full sheet of the red/black pattern for Narn ships that you can cut out to fit your miniature.

 

10/1/2009 - Now available

"Pomroy Productions decals are designed to be used with the Star Fleet Battles, FASA Star Trek miniatures, or any other miniature lines in which the ships are 1 to 3˝ inches long. They can be used to aid game players in identifying their ships, or just to make well-sculpted miniatures look even better.

Decals are sold in sheets, half-sheets, or strips; decal strips are approximately 2.5 inches by 8 inches, and contain the basic markings for several ships (for example, Federation frigates or Klingon capitol ships). Sheets are 8.5 x 11 inches, and of course contain more decals. Customized decals are also available.

Currently, we offer markings for Federation, "Mirror" Federation, Klingon, Romulan, Gorn, Kzinti, Lyran, and WYN ships. Federation ships are offered in the "block" lettering used in the original series, or in the "rounded" lettering shown in the Star Fleet Technical Manual. When ordering Federation decals, specify the specific product number to insure you'll receive the correct lettering.

Under development are markings for the ISC, Hydrans, and Seltorians. Also under development is a sheet of battle damage decals."

 

Tenneshington Decals

From Tenneshington Decals

 

2/25/2012 - Here is where you can get custom ship names and numbers for Federation ships in the Starline 2500 line of miniatures.

"Tenneshingtong Decals are accepting orders for custom decal sheets designed to work with the Starline 2500 Miniatures Federation Squadron Box, produced by the joint-venture between Mongoose Publishing and Amarillo Design Bureau.

We are also offering sheets made to work with the individual blister-packed miniatures for the ships currently available: the DN/DNG dreadnought, BC(H) battlecruiser, CA heavy cruiser, oCL old light cruiser, and FF/FFG frigate (decals for two ships on the frigate sheet).

We are unable to sell decals for the Fleet Box product by Mongoose and ADB, until such time as sales of those boxes commence. We are ready to do so when the time comes."

Space is full of stuff and if you don't want to make your own planets and asteroids from scratch, there is some help out there.

 

Acrylic Planet Kits

From CorSec Engineering

4/16/2011 - These high quality Acrylic Planet Kits provide a long lasting and durable addition to your space games. You can take your time painting them and not have to worry about dents or chips that you would see from Styrofoam.  

The Kit Contains: 1 x Acrylic Sphere; 1 x Acrylic Rod; 1 x Acrylic Circular Base.  Planet sizes available are 4", 3", and 1.5" (coming soon).

 

Interstellar Set

From Xmarx.com

11/21/2009 - Xmarx.com produces three resin items for sale in their Intersellar Set, available together or individually.  They have a Class M Planet, an Asteroid, and a Star.  They do their sales through and eBay store so not all items may be available at one time.

 

Custom Painted Planets

from DLD Productions

"The custom painted planets we offer, are made of acrylic plastic globes, not styrofoam! Each globe is glued together and primed then painted by our in-house artist. A stand and base is included with all planets. (Please note, all planets are subject to artist interpretation.)"

 

5/31/2010 - DLD has been 'off the grid' for a few years but the website is still up so these are probably no longer available.

 

6/25/2003 - 4 sizes are available, 100mm, 80mm, 60mm, and 40mm.  There are also several basic 'Types' of planets to choose from (Temparate, Ice, Gas, Desert).  Each starts with a base color plus 2 colors standard but additional colors can be added in increase the detail (and the price).  View DLD's Custom Painted Plants page for full details and pricing along with lots of examples.

                   

 

 

Space Junk

from Space Junk

"Space Junk was created as the space combat twin of Fight's On!.  Our goal is to provide quality products to enhance space and science fiction miniature gaming to take the pre-game hassle and preparation out of the way so as to allow gamers like ourselves to just play and enjoy the hobby."

 

7/29/2012 - Space Junk is open and the first 3 products are:

  Asteroids (5 with bases), 

  Space Missiles (Twelve painted 3" Space Missiles with (3) clear 1.5" hex bases, (3) 1.5" rods and (3) bar magnets)

  Space Torpedoes (Four painted 6" Space Torpedoes with (4) clear 1.5" hex bases, (4) 1.5" plastic rods and (4) 3/16" magnets).

The also mention on TMP that "Several new products are in the works including a sculpted resin moon base"

Asteriods

Space Missiles (left) and Space Torpedo (above)

 

Gamers need some way of getting their miniatures from here to there

 

Space Ship Tray

from Figures in Comfort

 

This is the first product I have seen specifically for the transportation and storage of space ship miniatures.  This foam is 350mm x 270mm and has 32 circular cut outs for the base stand of the miniature.

 

A second tray for larger bases and miniatures has been released and will hold 18 ship miniatures.

 

3/6/2005 - One item to note, I got a report from Roger that the common hex based stands don't quite fit into the holes cut into the foam on these products.  He had to do some modification to make the slightly larger hex bases fit into the round holes.

            

 

Laser Cut Arc Tools

From Silver Compass Designs

5/31/2010 - Now available are unique laser-cut tools are used for determining the facings and firing arcs of miniatures in various Space Ship miniature games that use flying stands.

The tool is laser-engraved on one side, for use in multiple tabletop miniature games. You have a choice of Arc Tools engraved with four 90° arcs, or with six 60° arcs. All tools have an additional marking for exact forward facing. This 1.8" (48mm)-wide arc tool is made from 3.5mm (1/8") laser-engraved and laser-cut tempered hardboard. The tool has a slot to slide right over the posts of your flight stands, for perfect placement. No more hovering over your models to figure out arcs.

 

Basing miniatures can be done using stands you create yourself using washers and nails or you can use pre-made flight stands from one of many sources.  Most starship miniatures include stands plus they usually sell stands in bulk.  A few sources for stands of a unique type or in bulk are EM-4, Monday Knight Productions, Ground Zero Games, Litko Aerosystems, and Games Workshop.

CorSec Omni-Stand

From CorSec Engineering

 

2/25/2012 - The Omni-Stand system is a collapsible and interchangeable flight stand system. Each component is designed to work together. The basic stand consists of a mount, a peg, and a base. Add-ons can increase the functionality of your flight stand. Telescoping rods are also available.

The pegs are universal. They either side can screw into the mount or the base. A common use for this is to embed a mount into a resin base. Two bases can also be attached together to provide a platform to indicate a miniature is jumping or momentarily flying.

Bases are available in hexes from 1.5" to 5", 40mm or 60mm squares, 30mm or 60mm round, and 60mm by 100mm ovals.  Posts are available in lengths from 1" to 3".  A telescoping rod is also available.   In addition to the basic mounting peg which goes into the miniature, small pegs are available.  Magnetic add-ons are also sold for an alternative to mounting in both flat and spherical versions.  Dice docks can also be added if you want to use d6's on the base to count fighters or other things.

 

Ninja Magic Magnetic Adapters

From Ninja Magic

This magnetic adapter system allows ship miniatures to be removed from the base for storage and travel plus you only need to have as many bases as you need since you can get additional adapters for the ships.  The teeth on the adapter keeps the miniature from spinning and magnets are strong enough to hold the minis secure even when upside down.  They are available to purchase through Rattlehead Games.  They work with any style flight stand you may have.

In addition to the basic adapter, they offer angle adapters so the ship can have nearly any facing you would like.  Angle adapters are available in 30, 45, 60, 90 and 180 degree versions.

Litko Space Tokens

From Litko Aerosystems

 

6/27/2010 - In addition to all of their other flight stands, Litko has released in Jim's Lab Large Asteroid Flight Stands which are designed with an arrow shaped base to easily know which direction the asteroids are moving. The larger base is perfect for use with Lava Rock, and available from most outdoors and hardware retailers. The flight stands are compatible with all of their peg accessories such as the numbered dials and dice trays for even more detailed tracking of the asteroid movements.

 

5/1/2008 - Litko has added a bunch of flight stand add-ons and accessories to Jim's Product Lab that would be quite useful for starship miniatures.   These new bits include numbered dials, dice trays, elevation markers, peg pointers, plus vee formation and hex shaped peg toppers (perfect for mounting a formation of small fighter minis).

Flight Stand, Deluxe Elevation marker

Flight Stand Dice Tray for 12mm dice

1-10 numbered Dial and Pointer, Flight Stand accessory

Flight Stand Peg Pointers

30mm Vee Formation, Peg Topper

20mm Hex, Peg Topper

 

2/6/2008 - Litko has taken some of the products from trial release and moved them into full production under their space gaming section.  Tokens available are Space Mines, Space Shields, Space Missiles, Space Drones, Space Asteroids, Space Torpedoes, and Blast Area Effect.  

The trial release tokens not picked up for full production can still be ordered on a custom basis.

 

11/3/2007 - Litko has released on a trial bases a whole bunch or tokens and stands for use by the space gamer under their "Jim's Product Lab".  They are only available for a limited time and after that, only the best sellers will stay on as a regular product.  All of the other items would still be available as a custom item with a small additional fee.  Litko offers many laser cut and etched products for gaming use including build your own tokens within certain parameters.

Items in this space range include elevated fighter bases, full stop tokens, full speed tokens, hex scanner tokens (multiple colors), alien skull tokens, tractor/energy beam tokens, jammed scanner tokens, energy tokens, blast tokens, transparent gray base flight stands, evasive action tokens, repair tokens, space torpedo tokens (multiple colors), space asteroid tokens, alien target reticules, damage tokens, double hex flight stands, sensor scanner tokens (multiple colors), space drone tokens (multiple colors), space missile tokens (multiple colors), space mine tokens (multiple colors), and space shield tokens (multiple colors).

Litko Fighter Base 1" hex base

Litko Tractor/Energy Beam tokens (clear)

Litko Blast tokens (fluorescent amber)

Litko Space Torpedo tokens (fluorescent blue)

Litko Space Drones tokens (transparent yellow)

Litko Space Missile tokens (fluorescent green)

Litko Space Mines tokens (clear)

Litko Sensor Scanners tokens (transparent gray)

Litko Double Hex bases (transparent gray base)