Thrackdown Miniatures: What to Use for the Free, Miniature-Agnostic Skirmish Game

Thrackdown is a free post-apocalyptic skirmish wargame from Wargame Geeks, played with six to eight fighters a side, and it is miniature agnostic. Any models you like can be your Thrackdown miniatures, which makes it a good fit for a print-on-demand shop like ours. We've been reading the open alpha rules at thrackdown.com, and this guide covers how the game plays, where to get the rules, and which of our 3D-printed ranges suit each of its six factions.

One thing to say up front: we're an independent UK retailer with no connection to Wargame Geeks, and nothing we sell is an official Thrackdown model. We just like the game.

What is Thrackdown?

Thrackdown is a tabletop skirmish game set on Nova Eden, a colony world that fell apart after the ships from Earth stopped coming. Small warbands now fight over the ruins. You can read the background on the Nova Eden page.

The rules are light. Players take turns activating one fighter at a time, each fighter gets two actions, and almost everything is settled by rolling one D6, adding a stat and comparing the result to the target's Defence. Two ideas give the game its character:

• Nerve. Fighters pick up Nerve Tokens when they're hit, when an ally within 5" goes down, or when they lose a melee. You can break a warband's will without removing a single model.
• Momentum. Bold play, such as charging, holding objectives or leaping gaps, fills a shared pool that you spend on Surges like Dash, Do Over and Extra Action.

The designers say a standard battle takes 60 to 90 minutes once both players know the rules. They also state that "the core rules will always remain free". You'll find everything on the Thrackdown rules page, including the Quickstart Guide (PDF) and the full Faction Rules (PDF). The game was at open alpha v1.4 when we wrote this, so check their changelog for anything that has moved since.

Is Thrackdown miniature agnostic?

Yes. The rules page says "you can use models from other games, old projects, kitbashes or your own creations", and the base size guide adds that the game "was built for the shelf of miniatures you already own". Wargame Geeks plan to release official miniatures later, but they are optional.

That's fine if your shelf already holds a robot uprising and a cult. If it doesn't, a warband this small is easy to buy from scratch. We print to order in resin at 28/32mm, here in the UK, and we sell most models singly or in small squads. Six to eight fighters means six to eight purchases at most, with no box of twenty to work through. Standard dispatch is 5 to 8 working days.

Thrackdown miniatures by faction: what we'd print

These are our own picks, matched to the faction descriptions on the Thrackdown factions page. Prices were correct at the time of writing.

Thrackdown also has rules for building a faction of your own, explained on its Forge Your Own page. If you go that way, our sci-fi miniatures collection has more than 1,700 models to pick from. For more on two of the designers above, see DakkaDakka.Store and RN Estudio.

What base sizes does Thrackdown use?

Thrackdown ties base size to how tough a fighter is. This is the scheme from the official base size guide:

Leaders can stay on a 28 to 32mm base however many hit points they have. Those are the same bases that ordinary 28mm and 32mm figures already stand on, so most of our catalogue drops straight in. Our miniatures don't come with plain plastic bases, so add a pack of round bases in 25mm, 32mm or 40mm. Packs of ten start at £4.49.

What do you need for a first game?

Very little. The first game walkthrough uses four fighters a side on a 30" x 24" table and runs for six rounds. You need the Quickstart Guide, a handful of D6, a tape measure in inches, some counters and four Loot Crates.

The table should be full of scatter terrain. From our shelves, the C27 Studio crates (£9.99) make ready-made Loot Crates, and the Imperitus Warhouse Ruins (£12.99) give you a corner to fight over. There is more in the C27 Terrain collection.

When you move up to a full 200-Thrack warband, the free Warband Builder does the sums for you. If you want the wider background on fielding third-party models, we've covered it in What Is a Warhammer Proxy? and in our Necromunda proxy guide, which shares a lot of gang-building ground with Thrackdown.

Frequently asked questions

Is Thrackdown free?

Yes. The Quickstart Guide, the Faction Rules and the online Warband Builder are all free at thrackdown.com, and the designers have said the core rules will always remain free.

Does Thrackdown have official miniatures?

Not yet. Wargame Geeks have said official miniatures are planned, and that existing collections will stay welcome on the table.

How many miniatures do you need for Thrackdown?

Four per side for the quickstart game. A standard 200-Thrack warband has roughly six to eight fighters, depending on faction and who you recruit.

Can you use 3D-printed miniatures in Thrackdown?

Yes. The game is miniature agnostic, so 3D-printed models, kitbashes and figures from other games are all fine.

What scale are Thrackdown miniatures?

The rules we read don't fix a model scale. They set base sizes from 25mm to 50mm and up, which suits standard 28mm and 32mm figures.

The Thrackdown team are asking for playtest feedback during the alpha, so the most useful thing you can do with a finished warband is play a game and tell them how it went. Download the Quickstart Guide, pick a faction, and browse our sci-fi miniatures for the fighters you're missing.