I am a stalker…of free downloads on Wargamevault.com and DriveThruRPG.com. Still looking for reasons to print miniatures using my Bambu A1 Mini printer that the RockyMountainNavy boys gifted me last Christmas, I since acquired two new digital rules sets. Well, actually one full set of miniatures skirmish rules and a Quick Start product.
Chain Reaction 2026
(c) 2025 Ed Teixeira, Two Hour Wargames (4/2/2025 version); 71 pages
Chain Reaction 2026 is a complete set of man-to-man combat rules; that is, skirmish-scale. The game uses no set theme—bring your own figures whatever they are and Chain Reaction 2026 will help get them onto the table in a combat-oriented setting. The game claims to be “very fast, just like real gunfights, and multiple games can be finished in two hours or less” (p. 1). Chain Reaction 2026 supports solo or cooperative play. The core game mechanisms is called the “Reaction System” which is described this way:
THW [Two Hour Wargames] uses what is called the Reaction System. In this system your side activates, and you move part of your force. That triggers a reaction from parts of my force. I immediately react and this may cause you to react in kind.
Chain Reaction 2026, p. 1
Chain Reaction 2026 qualifies as what I term an Adventure Wargame; i.e. a wargame with light roleplaying game (RPG) elements. This linkage between skirmish wargame and RPG is best seen in the section “Defining Characters” where each character/figure is a Star or a Grunt (think NPC in an RPG) with a Class and Reputation. The figure/character may also have an Attribute and of course has a Weapon. Although the core rulebook supports man-to-man combat a supplement Chain Reaction 2026: Vehicles is also included.
Play of Chain Reaction 2026 is a bit too tedious for my liking. The Combat Sequence in Chain Reaction 2026 is an 11-step process that uses multiple charts/tables and many die rolls. A while back I took a look at the combat sequence in a military RPG, War Stories (Firelock Games, 2022) and lamented at how complicated it was. Chain Reaction 2026 is not really that much better.
Interesting…but pass.
Scrapjacks: Salvage and Survival in the Big Empty
(c) Patrick Todonroff 2026; Version 0.9 — Quick Start Edition; 21 pages
By engaging with these rules you acknowledge that survival is not guaranteed—and that profit is never assured. Valstar Recovery Group thanks you for your continued service.
Scrapjacks Quick Start Rules, front matter
Scrapjacks markets itself as, “a cooperative narrative tabletop wargame about rugged, blue-collar crews taking dangerous salvage contracts in deep space” (p. 1). Every space salvage crew needs a Torch, Rigger, Patch, and Yarddog; archetypes or careers in RPG-parlance. Thematically, each scenario/adventure has three notes of concern:
- “Aircharge is always ticking down.”
- “Actions are committed, not just spent.”
- “Hostiles and Hazards keep coming until you Exit the Section or Extract from the Wreck” (p.2).
Each turn in Scrapjacks represents the crew’s actions inside a Modular Habitat Unit (MHU). Think of an MHU like a dungeon starship combat map. The combat rules themselves in Scrapjacks are quite simplified—two pages— and fast to play.
The Scrapjacks Quick Start is quick to learn and get going with 10 pages of rules and five pages of an adventure MHU. This might make a decent one-shot convention game.
To be honest, if I am going to go space salvage adventuring I am far more likely to call upon a RPG and pick up Serenity/Firefly (Margaret Weiss/Cortex System) or HOSTILE (Zozer Game/Cepheus Engine) or ALIENS (Free League Publishing/Free League Tabletop License).
Feature image courtesy r/LegoSpace JonusDunbaar
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