|
home
grown expansion
by
Andrzej
Cierpicki
So
what is Space Hulk? Well, unless you have dropped in here by
accident, you probably already know what it's all about. However, just in case
you are none the wiser, let me explain. You will have seen the movie Aliens
(and if you haven't, go right out and rent/buy it now!) . . . this is a
game that's all about big, butch marines, armed to the teeth, going head to
head with a brood of scary aliens armed with teeth (not to mention
lots of claws). The game captures the visceral excitement of the film nicely
(not to mention the desperation of
the marines as the swarm of aliens advances ever closer, each creature
killed seemingly being replaced by 2 more) and is unusual
in the opposing sides being so completely different in abilities and
consequently tactics
employed. In short, a splendidly accessible fast paced game of monster
mayhem!
I
was first introduced to Games Workshop's Space Hulk by Nick Alter in
1990 - I was sceptical at first but was quickly converted and became an
ardent enthusiast. When Nick left Hong Kong shortly thereafter he
bequeathed me his copy and since then it has grown like Topsy. First
came the addition of the 2 expansions to the 1st edition game, Genestealer
and Deathwing followed not long after, in 1996, by the 2nd
edition of the game - a gift from Richard Leeding - to which I added another
copy of the game to expand the tile-set. Michael Withington kindly
donated me his 2nd edition tile-set not long after. So now I have 3
complete 2nd edition tile-sets, not to mention the additional tiles that I
have made up from the inserts in White Dwarf magazine - some 250 tiles in
all, enough for endless permutations of monster games of monsters.
The
games came with a variety of plastic models and to this I was soon tempted
to expand the Genestealers and replace the plastic terminators with
metal figures.
However,
as with all enjoyable games, there comes at time when the urge to tinker gets the
better of me, and this is what this article is all about; a home grown
expansion of the basic rules. None of these additions change the
original rules of the game, they just provide an additional layer of variety,
albeit at the price of some extra complexity, and in return increase the challenge
and replay value considerably.
So, without further ado, I offer you the
additional charts and tables (in MS Excel format) which are, I hope, self
explanatory:
The above will allow you to introduce a
variety of additional troop types, including Tyranids armed with ranged
weapons, some of which are shown below.
And some more, including some of Games
Workshop's second edition figures.
So,
how does the game look when played? Well here are a few shots of a
recent game held on my dining room table. The map and scenario were
generated by me and the final result was a decisive Marine victory - due
primarily to the bad guys not getting enough blips each turn! It will
be more balanced next time.
Still
not convinced? Well, why not give a computer version a try - it's free
- Dave and Rod Taylor's excellent game allows you to play all 18 missions of
the second edition Space Hulk as the Marines against the Genestealers.
This is a great bit of programming which is very true to the game, although
the Stealers can be a bit dumb on occasion, but hey, they are dumb critters
(and anyway, you can increase the number of blips arriving each turn to make
the scenarios more challenging). Download it here.
UPDATE! As an
alternative, try the latest piece of Space Hulk software on the scene,
created by a couple of talented Swedes, Niklas Åstrand & Jörgen Nilsson.
This one utilises the first edition rules and has a mission editor in
addition to the several missions included in the download. It's
addictive and its free! Download it
here. back
to fantasy & sci fi
|
