starships

Earth Expects is a set of free wargames rules for space combat. The authors write:

Earth Expects is a highly detailed set of tactical space combat rules which emphasise skill over firepower. It is well suited to playing battles from duels to squadron actions; because of the high level of detail large fleet battles can be slow to play and therefore optional rules are provided to speed play in these games.

Black Skies is a set of free wargames rules for star fighter combat. The author writes:

A while back I was looking for something new to play and decided I’d like to try a star fighter combat game. I checked out a variety of rule sets and found nothing that I really liked. In fact, the most popular set seemed to be unnecessarily complex and slow, not something I expected from a set of star fighter rules. What I expected fighter combat to be was FAST. Complex and slow just didn’t work. So I set out to create my own (with plenty of help from the guys at my local war gaming club). I tried and liked an unfinished set by Shaun Austin which had several good ideas, but I thought the turn sequence could be streamlined. Using the basic card movement idea, and a simple combat system I tried to make these rules feel more like the fast deadly action I imagine star fighter combat should be.

Greater Space Battles is a set of solo rules for space battles using miniatures from Solipsist Games.

War In Space is a set of free wargames rules for star ship combat. What makes it different is that it uses standard playing cards for giving orders.