Unboxing: Space Hulk Board Game

Welcome to the first review on Roemer’s Workshop! Today I’m breaking the trend of being outdated (GW is really giving me a hard time being up-to-date!) and have come up with a relatively new release to present: the Space Hulk miniature board game. Hop in to take a look at what’s inside after the jump.

For those who do not already know, Space Hulk is about missions that a group of élite, genetically engineered super soldiers called Space Marine Terminators undertake onboard a gigantic spaceship called “Space Hulk”, against a swarm of aggressive, intelligent and very much Giger-esque aliens called Tyranid Genestealers. The game is designed for 2 persons, each player taking one side of the conflict to achieve mission objectives. The catch is that the Space Hulk in question is riddled with tight corridors which force the slow-moving, bulky Terminators to often be in single file formation, preventing covering each other and relying on strategy to outsmart the rapid moving and seemingly endless torrent of Genestealers. The following trailer sums up the story pretty nicely:

 

Also, here’s a shot of what an example game looks like:

Man versus Alien in Desperate Battle. What else would you expect from a far future where there’s only war?

The first version of the game came out when I was a little kid in the late 80s and this iteration is the 4th release GW has unleashed on us. It took me some time to get my hands on the game and I was actually really worried that I would never be able to buy it due to the immense interest in it from the fan base. Think about it: every time the game is released it is in limited amounts and every release has something like a 5-10 year gap in between. Naturally, when I got the newsletter e-mail I rushed to the computer to take a look and saw that the US stocks still lasted. Luckily I had some relatives traveling there who were kind enough to bring me the package (along with other goodies) and I happily ordered away. I later found out that the EU preorder was eaten up the same day, but I digress.

Badass, isn’t it?

Here’s the box in its full glory. First thing that you figure out is that the box itself is really heavy, and I’m talking several kilograms here (kinda made me wince to think I made people carry it all the way from the US to here!). It’s also made of thick cardboard and features a nice assortment of artwork across it, making it both sturdy and beautiful at the same time.

The back of the box shows an example game, ‘eavy Metal painted minis and the contents.

A nice idea: behind the Tyranid artwork there are Tyranid models depicted on the box.

Special pieces such as objective markers and commanders.

The same art trick applies to the Terminators too.

A recommendation of paints for the miniatures.

A full list of box contents.

Compared to other boxed sets I own, this one is the toughest looking, and rightfully so:

Now that is good packaging.

With sprues on top, the kit comes with a nicely arranged set of gaming materials, some packaged separately, with the booklets on the bottom. The models are on a total of 5 sprues: 1 small sprue for the librarian and the C.A.T. unit, 4 larger sprues that contain the Genestealers (3 indigo sprues), “door holders” and the Terminators (1 red sprue). I understand that this is practically a re-release of the 2009 set but still, the models really pop out with their high detail, even challenging some resin minis I’ve come across. Never ceases to amaze me. Anyhow, here’s a few shots of the sprues with close-ups on some models that caught my eye:

The librarian and the C.A.T. unit.

My camera phone really doesn’t do the figure justice: the level of detail on the face and body are amazing.

The entire sprue holds the rest of the terminators. Each terminator is comprised of no more than 4 pieces.

Brother Claudio, one of my favorites.

Brother Goriel, another badass from the Blood Angels chapter.

Since the pieces are push-fit they’re easy to assemble for those who do not want to paint. For painters like me this means a quest to search for join lines!

The Genestealers come in a wide variety of poses which is visually astounding.

Just look at that. Don’t you think of Alien when you see it?

More Genestealers and their Broodmother.

It will be a pleasure to tackle this detail.

There are also door holder pieces in the Tyranid sprues…

… along with the “Dead Space Marine” objective point.

Another personal favorite. Looks so much alive.

While I appreciate the idea that this is mainly a board game and the pieces are designed to be representing two teams with distinctly different colors (hence red for the Blood Angels and indigo for the Tyranids) I think those who intend on painting the minis will have a hard time with priming the models black, especially on the Genestealer front. There’s lots of detail on these fine miniatures that I would really be worried about covering using a spray primer: black on such a dark base color will be difficult to see and adjust. We’ll see how it goes, but I’m pretty sure I’ll stick to the brush for the first few test models.

I admit I’m in this mainly for painting the miniatures but there will be a time when I’ll be playing the game with friends or my wife (if I can get her to be interested that is!) and that’s where the rest of the box becomes important:

An hourglass for turns I think?

No GW game is complete without a set of dice!

Not sure what this is for but probably a cover for the markers and non-mini moving pieces.

The mission book and the rulebook nicely illustrated images.

From what I can see this mission is the same here and in the video game. Sweet!

An introduction to the Blood Angels Terminators.

The rulebook is essential to playing the game in earnest.

Numerous illustrations show both amazing paint-jobs by the ‘eavy Metal team and the core of the game.

A great short introduction to the WH40k universe on the Space Marine side.

Even I learned a few things on these pages.

Some backstory about the Terminator figures.

There are around 80 corridor and room sections as well as 20 doors in addition to the miniatures.

The two booklets that come with the game provide the core of the requirements of playing the game: one rulebook that contains the “can dos” and “cannot dos” for each faction and the mission book that provides some variation and guidance for setting up the board and deploying the pieces. Rule-wise I am only familiar with the video game that was released in 2013 but looking over the mission booklet that came with the box, I think they’re either exactly the same or very similar to those in the video game. Thus I reckon the only thing for me (and other gamers out there familiar with it) is to understand the operational issues such as how the timing and the set of dice play a role.

All in all aside from the coloring of the sprues I think the quality of the set is very high if not excellent and makes for both a very cool board game you can play with as well as a set of miniatures with outstanding cast quality for those mainly interested in the hobby side. Recommended to anyone who would get it with the next release, which I am informed again from the newsletters will be in December 2014.

Here’s a parting shot of the bonus from GW, and thanks for dropping by!