Dive Into Brutal Mech Combat With Flames Of Orion

May 9, 2025 by brennon

Stephen Hupfer finds themselves on Kickstarter right now looking to fund the creation of a new digital and physical release for their Sci-Fi mech wargaming rules, Flames of Orion. Check out this one as it's pretty darn hot right now.

Flames of Orion // Stephen Hupfer

Flames of Orion is a mech-based Sci-Fi wargame from Stephen Hupfer that has been doing the rounds on the indie circuit for a while now and garnering a lot of attention. There are a fair few folks who are either disenchanted with BattleTech or want to try something a bit different and Flames of Orion offers that.

Flames of Orion has been designed to be very pick-up-and-play and that has been plain from seeing how it has caught on at conventions. You can either dive in and play Quick Start games, or you can go for the Veteran mode and get stuck into tinkering with your mechs, fitting and refitting them with whatever weapons you like and much more.

Flames of Orion Art // Stephen Hupfer

All you need to play is four miniatures per side. These could be 6mm figures from the likes of BattleTech or they could even be Gundam kits if you'd prefer to go that way. Kitbashing and converting is encouraged but if you want a good starting point, you could always get the miniatures from Ramshackle Games.

Once you've set up your 2x2-foot battlefield and you've got a handful of d6, you're good to go! Even though this campaign is aiming to make an updated set of rules available, you can actually download the rules for FREE (forever) HERE.

Gameplay-wise, Flames Of Orion plays out in fast, brutal combat. You will be rolling a d6 to hit a target number and ripping apart enemy mechs with terrifying weaponry. The core of the game, however, relies on the HEAT mechanics. Everything you do generates HEAT and if you don't "ride the lightning" well enough, you could see your mech overheating and exploding in spectacular fashion. Sometimes that might be encouraged!

Flames of Orion Art // Stephen Hupfer

Flames of Orion could be set anywhere, but if you dive into the rulebook, they have already featured some great factions to use as the basis for your kitbashing and converting, plus there are even music suggestions so you know what to slap on your tape deck/CD player (phone...) when you're setting up to play your games.

Flames of Orion has some proper indie roots and the artwork, design and philosophy behind the game all feel top notch. When it comes to the Kickstarter version of the rules, you'll be getting either a PDF or a physical Rulebook with "more art, an updated layout, small fixes and & some extra narrative".

If you're looking for an alternative, indie mech wargame then maybe dive in and see if you like the flavour of Flames or Orion!

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