Starship Marine is a set of science fiction wargame rules, designed for use with toy soldiers (what are called 'miniatures' in America, or 'figures' in the UK by people who think they're not playing with toy soldiers).

The basic idea is that there is a battle to control and capture a starship by a boarding party moving down the corridors and rooms of the ship.  One side controls the attackers, who are mostly composed of the eponymous 'Starship Marines', and the defenders, usually less well armed crewmen, with perhaps a smattering of Marines to stiffen the defence.

The deck plans can either be drawn out or built in 3D, depending on your preferences and time available.  The scale of toy soldier is 25mm or 1/72, and any make of figures can be used - although Games Workshop figures are not recommended for two reasons...they are heavily over-priced, and the models are much too big.  (That's apart from the basic silliness of their designs, that's just my aesthetic opinion).

Anything else will do, Ground Zero Games do a good range.  My starship marines are based on 30 year old Minifigs - but that just goes to show what an old fogey I am.

Combat Robots lined up in the factory store, prior to shipping to Marine Corps Units

The basic rules for the game are available in the Library, along with some example deck plans.  These have more explanation on the background of the game and how to set it up.  The minimum you need are a few toy soldiers, some dice, a large sheet of paper with a deck plan on it, and the rules.  A typical small game takes about a hour or so (longer if you like arguing about rules).  The largest game we know of, to date, involved some 60 people, hundreds of toy soldiers, and many very very big sheets of paper.  For more on these bigger megagames (not just Starship Marine) click here.