I came across this set of rules the other day from a subscription I have to the Games Vault website.

The Nordic Weasel game “Shoot people in Space” can be downloaded for US 14.99 from them directly. Games Vault.

The game is intended for two player play and perfectly suited to multi-player chaos but can also be played solo or cooperatively with two players teaming up against the bad guys.

The typical gaming army size is from 8 to 15 figures, making the game easy to collect and build for. If you already have figures for games like Stargrave, 7TV Pulp or Five Parsecs you can probably sit down and play right away.

Game play is heavily inspired by early sci-fi games like Bryan Ansell’s 1980’s game Laserburn still available from Alternate Armies), and the 1981 Games Workshop Spacefarers game in spirit, though it uses different mechanics than either of them. A detailed review on Spacefarers can be found HERE.

Battles are fought in phases with alternating activations: In the action phase your figures take turns carrying out one action (moving, firing, doing something else) while in the firefight phase most figures can fire (potentially shooting a second time).

Combat uses a simple 2D6 table with several unexpected factors built in: Firers can fumble or inflict critical hits and the use of a separate Threat die can cause surprise reactions such as the targets diving for cover or firing back. Gun battles plays out quickly and chaotically. 

The rules also provide an additional element of liveliness by troops occasionally going out of control: As a result of combat, they may be running away, holding a position or rushing at the enemy and will continue to do so until they are brought under control.

The usual slew of extra options are included including things like blowing up terrain and blasting through doors.

Troop types include 3 figure teams of infantry (squaddies), single characters (heroes) and bikes (including “drifter” hover bikes) with additional rules included for combat robots, random giant monsters and more. You can select from 11 species taken from the Unified Space game setting and pre-configured load-outs are available to make army building time as short as possible.

A points system is included for one-off games.

Shoot People In Space is designed for head-to-head play with a variety of scenarios and objectives to pick from, but there are rules non player forces and a random unit generator. These work well for Solo play.

They also introduce the concept of persistent play, used in a variety of games, where you can build a roster of units and when you use them in battle, they will be able to level up or die in the process.

There is also a “Mercenary mode” which focuses things by restricting players to a single force that they have to use over multiple games while trying to achieve bounties. 

The rules have some great concepts that could be used in whole or part and are worth the download if you are interested in the genre.

Thanks to Nordic Weasel Games for part of the content.