Id like to hear it from you.

I am a bit unclear on your intention. Do you want to create a completely new rules set for a world concept you have in your head? Are you looking to publish? Remember, there a TONS of rule systems out there already, you will be hard pressed not to be somehow copying one or more of the existing rulesets out there.

Regardless, you should first have a solid idea of the type of gaming world you want to create. Fantasy, Modern, scifi, historical, horror, etc. Think about the environment, the races or factions that inhabit the world, the history of the world, and what role the player characters will take in that world. Will there be character classes, or will you use a classless system? Is there magic or technology levels that need to be defined?

Let us know what concepts you are thinking about so far and we can help you better.

It sounds like you are looking more towards a miniatures type skirmish game or board game. You have a figure representing a member of your team, each fig has a limited number of stats (attack, defense, ranged attack, morale, etc.) so there's not a lot of bookkeeping.

One player takes on the task of controlling the 'bad guys' and perhaps lays out the playing field as it is explored by the other players. In the end the players confront a tough end fight and then get some dice or exp or something to make their surviving pieces a bit stronger for the next session.

There are several games like this out there already, some are out of production but are worth a search of ebay for. In the fantasy genre, their's Heroquest. Originally by a company called Games Workshop, they sold the rights to Milton Bradley, who massed produced the game in the 90's. It's a modular dungeoncrawl, with some Gauntlet like playing pieces (wizard, warrior, dwarf, etc). The game master can even create little stories around the games if he wishes, or it can just be played for the fun of it.

GW also gave Milton Bradley a space version of the game called Space Crusade. This was a fun game that pitted Marines against Chaos (evil) Marines. A lot of cool stuff came in the box, that's for sure.

There was another space/horror game called Mutant Chronicles:Siege of the Citadel. An introduction to the company's (failed) miniatures collection, this boxed game came with everything you need to pit the houses against the legion (zombie marines).

There are some more skirmish games, more recent but still out of production. Games Worshop created Necromunda, a battle game that pits two players small collection of figs against each other in a giant, rusted cityscape. The gangs gain experience, and suffer injuries, collect artifacts - so there is a sense of advancement and cause/effect.

Mordheim is the fantasy version. Rival gangs fight in a ruined city that has recently been hit by a meteorite. The meteor's slag has magical, dangerous power and is valueable. Once again, the teams gain exp, lose members, find equipment between games.

Both of those games are not played on a board. They use terrain and cardboard buildings that come with the box set, or the players create.

Lastly, there are the recent collectable miniatures games by Wizkids. Mageknight, Heroclix, etc. I am sure you've seen them. The nice thing about these is the stats are all found on the figure's base. When the unit takes a hit, you click the base and the stats automatically reflect the injury. These minis come prepainted (rather basically). The games are collectable, meaning you don't know what you've got until you open the booster pack. You can find online resellers if you need to find certain figures.

There is one primary rule to creating any game system, be it an rpg, a wargame, or whatever.
K.I.S.S.
Keep It Simple, Stupid.
That is the golden rule. Only make the system as complicated as it needs to be. A system can be mathematically perfect and be a near perfect representation of reality, but it is no use if you need a masters degree in mathematics to play the thing. Start out with a very basic set of rules, make sure they work well and simply, and then expand from there.
Don't be tempted to create the whole thing in one sitting. Also, remember that a game is supposed to be an abstract representation of real events. You cannot write rules for every possible action which can take place, so don't bother to try. Just set up a rugged system of guidelines, which can through the use of common sense be applied to most situations.
Also, it is important to remember that there is a line which has to be drawn between playability and realism. It is up to you to decide where you want to place that line, but it is important that you do so. A game in which every pull of the trigger turns into an in-depth examination of the laws of physics is too time-consuming to be enjoyable, but also remember that the obverse is also true.
Remember that in your setting you are God. The laws of physics are yours to amend at will, as is everything else. But remember that as a god, you have to keep your subjects happy.

That's a good point. If you are going to ford out and create your own system, reducing the number of times someone rolls dice to resolve an action is always a good thing. Some games have you rolling attack dice, the defender rolling dodge dice, the attacker rolling damage dice, the defender rolling restistance dice.....just to resolve one attack in combat.

Are you going to start alone? If you were planning on it, I'd advise against it, if you are serious about the game. I am a game designer with Midnight Fire games, and we could do nothing if we didn't work together. I was trying to assemble a team for my own rpg idea, and if you'd be willing to let me I could help you instead. PM me if your interested.