Forgot The Fantasy Trip. Add that to my list up above.

GURPS with map & counters, because the combat system is fun & interesting to play even by itself. And because it works like I think the game situation would, where what's happening and what characters do are at least as important as how highly-rated the characters are, and the way things play out works in ways that make sense but are not predictable. Also because it gives rules that make sense for all sorts of situations, which is represented explicitly, instead of relying on players and the GM sharing the same imagination of the situation and what ought to have what chance of working.

For me it lets me feel like I'm actually engaging a naturally-evolving game situation in a concrete way, as opposed to abstract game mechanics and/or a game of trying to convince the GM that my tactics ought to give me an advantage. Things happen because of what players choose to do, governed by rules and risks that make sense given the situation, which means it makes a huge difference what the details of the situation currently are, and what players choose to do about it, often involving tough calls with major consequences.

Also because I've been playing GURPS for many years and am good at running it quickly. I started with it's much simpler ancestor, The Fantasy Trip, which was just as satisfying to me for the first six or so years. By year seven, I was starting to want more detailed rules, i.e. GURPS.

Quote from: Spinachcat;1000299The one with the great players at the table.

I think this is key. If you have great players who are invested in a game's combat system, no matter how simple or complex, it will be fun.

I have enjoyed:
- theater of the mind OD&D
- OD&D/AD&D played with minis and grids
- D&D 3.x played with minis or counters and grids
- RuneQuest 1e/2e played with minis and grids, complete with hit locations, strike ranks, and fumbles
- A college friend's home brew that matched complexity with the above
- Dogs in the Vinyard
- Burning Wheel
- Classic Traveller
- Champions and Fantasy Hero
- Chivalry & Sorcery 1e

One I actually struggled with was GURPS... Part of the problem may have been NOT having great players...

I've played others, but they aren't coming to mind well enough to say if I really enjoyed them.

GURPS is surprisingly hard to get to flow like it should. It is the world's best combat engine hiding in a where's-waldo-like confusion of other stuff. TFT would be a better game if it had some of GURPS' mechanics, but it turns out to be worth the compromise to have something boiled down and navigable. Also, back when GURPS was TFT, the magic system was seamlessly integrated with combat,

I loved early editions of Shadowrun.  So much variability (swords, shotguns, high tech, and magic). Endless possibilities for interesting and unforgettable encounters.

The problem with GURPS and flow is that it doesn't flow like anything else I can think of.  It's also very dependant on tactical choices especially against foes with high defence rolls where feinting and deceptive attacks are very important.  I do think it's important to cut down on the bells and whistles and stick to the basics with new players.

The reason Rolemaster runs fast is that everyone can work out their attacks at the same time and announce in initiative order if they have copies of their charts.  It is also a game where combat will generally run for fewer rounds because sooner or later someone picks up a stunned no parry crit and dies the next round.  People always complain about the risk of one hit kills but really, a stunned no parry round is a much more common way to go.

Probably the most fun to me has been Fantasy Hero house ruled to be ever so slightly more like a typical D&D game.  It's basically "Supers D&D with more tactics" at that point.  (Part of what I dislike about D&D 3E is that it set out to do exactly that, and didn't do it very well, to my mind.)  

A very close second, and less troublesome when running, is any version of D&D suitable to run with side-by-side initiative (preferably RC or 5E, but others will do), where the emphasis on tactics goes the situation at hand, and less the widgets on the character sheet.  It's such a close second, that sometimes the extra trouble of going with the first choice  is not worth what you get in exchange.

I also enjoy the Runequest/Dragonquest styles, but not some of the details.  Theoretically, there could be another game built along those lines that might take the prize.

Burning Wheel would be a contender if it wasn't for the scripting, and the huge gulf in options between simple and complex sub systems.

Mekton II/Mekton Zeta because I love the action of first you hit your target, then the damage must penetrate the armor (while ablating it), before causing damage. That simple procedure coupled with the number of actions a character or mecha can take really emulate the action I see in anime.

It's a great question.

Probably the system I've ever had the most fun with would not be the system I would pick to guarantee I had fun on any given session.

For the first, probably MERP. The setting, the players, the mood around the table, the fight against the BBEG......the rules just meshed perfectly for an evening I will always treasure the memory of.

For consistent fun....maybe WFRP 1e/2e. Swingy, dangerous, scary, hilarious.

Tough question. The best way I could answer is to break it up by group size.

For smaller groups (up to three players), I'd have to say Fireborn. It has a really unique combat system that lets players chain moves together and stay active even when being attacked. I never played the Street Fighter game, but I could see a version of Fireborn's system being perfect for that sort of combat. Great for small groups but can bog down a bit when lots of people get involved.

For bigger groups, I've found it mostly comes down to the players but I guess I'd vote for Savage Worlds. The basic system does just what it needs to do as efficiently as possible, and from that you have a lot of extensions like the card initiative and Edges that make things a lot more interesting. It's one of the best balances I've seen in combat between offering speed and tactical flexibility.

Honorable mention has to go to Godbound. If/when I run a campaign, I'm pretty sure this will bump off Savage Worlds as my preferred system for larger groups. I've played with the fray die in Scarlet Heroes so I know how well it works, and I expect Godbound is easily going to be my favorite for big, epic fights with lots of PCs and enemies if I can ever find the time to get a proper game of it going.

Mythras - Special Effects for the Win.
Rolemaster and WFRP - for the awesome critical tables.
FASA Shadowrun - Using shifting wound categories for raises just seemed to work really well for gunplay the smallest gun could be deadly and the largest survivable.
Dragon Age - Fun stunting mechanic
Palladium System - Ninjas and Superspies plus Mystic China make it into any Palladium game I run.
Aces & Eights - It's all about that Shotclock.

Glory Road Roleplay with this free supplement: https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnxncnJlZmVyZW5jZXxneDoxZWZiMGI0Y2U3MjI4YjQ5

Chaosium Magic World / Stormbringer for speed while still being interesting!

Based on reaction from players, so "Fun factor":

1: Rolemaster.  it's the fantastic crit charts that have really fleshed out combat and made it fun and interesting.
It's best if everyone (meaning players included) understand how combat work, so the combat pace isn't really slow.

2: Stormbringer, 1st edition..   No crit charts that I remember that well, but critical hits and horrendous damage from demon weapons and damage types make this a really funny game to run.


I doubt I'll ever run Rolemaster again. it's just a lot of work if only the GM understands the rules and it's hard to find people interested in playing RM.

Stormbringer requires a sort of masochistic player too. The rules are really quick, but no resurrection, high damage weapons without even considering magical/demonic bonuses means combat is deadly, so has a  very high character attrition rate.

The most fun and memorable combat I've had was running B/X D&D, CoC and Cyberpunk.