BrikWars

BrikWarsis a freeminiatures wargamingsystem by Mike Rayhawk, created for use with plastic building blocks and figurines. It is designed to be simple and flexible, allowing for its players' full range of creativity in creating armies, creatures, vehicles, and worlds out ofconstruction toys.
Although targeted primarily at adults,BrikWarsis known for its straight-faced acceptance of the kinds of ridiculous scenarios and multi-genre mashups that arise naturally when children dump out their unsorted toybins on the floor.  Much of its humor comes fromsatirizing"serious"wargamesand their players, while flouting or deliberately misinterpretingconventionsof the genre.
A physical release of the game published byModiphius Entertainmentwas announced in 2023.
BrikWarsuses "minifigs" (usuallyLegominifiguresor equivalentminiature figuresfrom other construction toy brands) as smallsoldiers, andterrainconstructed from construction bricks or random objects found near the playing area. While the game can be played with non-construction-toy-related objects, such asaction figures,stuffed animals, orchessmen, the rules lend themselves best to figures and structures which can be easily disassembled and reconstructed.  These models might represent real orimaginaryforces and situations, but are just as likely to represent exactly what they are -toysengaging inarbitrarybattles for toy supremacy.
BrikWarsis aturn-basedskirmish-levelminiatures wargame.  Eachplayerin the game controls forces custom-built from construction toys or whatever materials they have at hand.The creations are assignedattributesaccording to the current size and features of the physical models at any given moment.
Players taketurns, with each player moving and attacking with each of their units able to do so, before passing the turn to the next player in sequence. This continues until each player orteamhas succeeded or failed in their objectives, or until players agree that the battle is over. Normally each unit is able to move once (a number of inches based on its "Move" statistic)and take a single major action (usually to make an attack, or to use one of its special abilities known as a "Specialty")in a given turn, in addition to any number of minor actions.Units have lots of options such as: withholding its action that turn, to be able use that action in response to Enemy action;sprinting;charging;bailingor forming up into a squad.
For determining the success or failure of actions and attacks, each unit is assigned an appropriately sizedpolyhedral diefor its Action attribute, which it must roll against a set number determined by the difficulty of the act.When an attack successfully hits, the attacker rolls their weapon's Damage dice in the hopes of overcoming the target's Armor stat.Mostinfantryunits are killed by having their Armor overcome once,while largervehiclesandstructuresare more resilient and may take multiple hits (with their abilities correspondingly degraded)before being destroyed.
The rules also encourage players todisobey the rulesas often as possible, as seen in the "Law ofFudge",and for specialHerounits who can attempt to ignore the rules completely once per turn with a HeroicFeat.The rulebook repeatedly encouragesfunover obsessiverules-lawyering, with an emphasis on making the game as enjoyable as possible for all parties involved.
Legowars, the predecessor ofBrikWars,was invented in March 1991 by Eric O'Dell and R. Todd Ogrin.Legowarsfeatured space-themed combat between Lego minifigures, and was distinguished from other miniature wargames of the time by a strong building-brick construction theme allowing the customization of playing pieces.It was followed in January 1995 by a sequel,Legowars II.
In October 1995, the authors ofLegowarsreceived acease and desistorder from theLego Groupfor their improper usage of thetrademarkedword "Lego".AsSteve Jacksondescribes it:
So Ogrin and O'Dell removed their content, but others archived it (adding legal disclaimers).Meanwhile, Mike Rayhawk started work on what would becomeBrikWars:
In February 1997 Rayhawk formally announced BrikWars on rec.toys.lego.BrikWars has been in continual development ever since.
BrikWarsis part of a wider movement of homebrew wargames based on Lego and other children's building block toys,including Evil Stevie's Pirate GamebySteve Jackson.According toThe Escapist,BrikWarsis a "standout LEGO tabletop effort" in this scene.
Reviewing it onBoardgamegeek, Luke Mason emphasized the economy of "taking all those hundreds of unused LEGOs sitting around and adding stats and rules to them so you can have a real wargame with them."; as well as its "flexible and affordable (if rough in design)" design. He summarizes his views as: