I just pre-ordered one of these. If you love Doom, Descent, Hero Quest, and Warhammer Quest...you NEED this!!! I think this is also a good sign that we will get a limited run of Warhammer Quest in the future as well!!!

www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/productDetail.jsp

Space Hulk

Space Hulk is a lavish board game that allows two players to recreate exciting combat missions fought between Space Marine Terminators and Genestealers. It is the game of man versus alien in desperate battle.

Space hulks are ruinous space-faring vessels, formed from the wreckage of dozens of ruined starships, asteroids and chunks of space debris. Directionless and set adrift these derelict masses drift through the Imperium, posing a dire threat to the star systems they enter. Space hulks often harbour alien life, and none so dangerous as the monstrous Genestealers - swift and deadly aliens whose claws can shred armour plates, and whose vile nature is anathema to Mankind.

Dangerous though they are, space hulks are too valuable to simply destroy. The vessels that have been crushed together to form their ponderous bulk are often rare and ancient, and untold treasures of technology from ages past can be found aboard them. So it is that the Space Marines are called upon to investigate these space hulks. Clad in suits of powerful Terminator armour and equipped with deadly weapons, the Space Marines heroically board these giant space wrecks, prepared to do battle with the Genestealers to achieve their objectives.

Space Hulk contains twelve tense missions, each with a different objective. During play one player takes the role of the Space Marines, while the other controls the Genestealers. Once the game is over, the players can change sides and play the mission again, seeing who has the best tactics.

Included are: 105 gaming counters, 24 corridors, 10 rooms, eight crossroads, eight T-junctions, six corner sections, four dead ends, four end pieces, 20 doors with plastic stands, one mission status display, and three plastic mission objectives, including: a dead Space Marine on throne, a Blood Angels artefact and a Cyber-Altered Task Unit. Plus a sand timer and five bone-coloured dice unique to this game.

$100! That's quite a lot, but the game does look cool. Judging from the pics, I guess the minis are pre-painted? Is the board layout random each time, or does the mission define it?

I never played this back when it came out, but did play the PC game once.

Veinman said:

$100 is 10% more than the price of Descent. This game is a classic and higly sought after. It's a lot faster and more fun than DOOM.

The minis are plastic and I doubt they are pre-painted because Games Workshop games are usually unpainted.

The missions are static like Descent and Hero Quest if I recall correctly. But there is a huge fanbase for this game so finding quests should be real easy!

The best part of this, is that I am pretty sure that Warhammer Quest will get reprinted also. I heard rumors that Space Hulk was hitting first and then Warhammer Quest later. So now I think the Warhammer Quest rumours have validity. I want both though!

This is a game that if you want it, do not hesitate to buy it. Shipping is free also! And best of all, it already ships in 3 weeks!!!

Sure, the list price of Descent is $90. I personally paid $67. I don't think I would have bought it at $90. I'm not saying it's not worth it, but at the time of course I had never played it, and $90 is a large gamble.

space hulk is a nice game, but it's not nearly worth 100 bucks. in fact it would be pushing it if they charged half that. it's a shame that a lot of ppl will still buy it because it has been OOP for ages and they do a limited edition. from a strictly objective point of view it comes close to robbery.

If the components are as nice as these for WH Quest if it comes out, I'll definitely be picking it up. However, I have little interest in Space Marines and 40k in general so this'll get a pass from me.

SH has less than half the amount of minis Descent has, about the same amount of tokens and floor-tiles and zero cards. they make this hilarious pricetag solely on the hype the fanbase has created. and it's not like they would need to re-write anything, to my understanding it's the original missions from the first runs.

I'd love to get space hulk but I will be skipping it because of its high price point. Thanks for the pics. Pretty cool that Fantasy Flight let you post something GW on their forums.

How much does SH go for now? I check WQ every now and then, the last copy I saw was gutted of minis, but still went for something like $280.

Yea, gutted Warhammer Quest even goes for alot of money. I hope they reprint it next or do a hybrid like they are doing for Space Hulk.

Here are pics and more info of unboxing the new Space Hulk...

www.games-workshop.com/gws/content/blogPost.jsp

Question: I have been begging FFG to re-release Warhammer Quest...but this release of Space Hulk indicates they don't have the rights? Is it because of the GW miniatures in Space Hulk & Warhammer Quest that FFG can't release them? I figured they could because they are self-contained boardgames and they already publish Warhammer RPG, upcoming boardgame, LCG, and got the rights do do GW boardgames.

I believe the license that FFG has says they can't produce miniatures, only board game pieces (which are almost the same). However, as a large part of quest demands a supplemental miniatures from GW (It's basically an in-road to their core games), I'm guessing that the license prohibits FFG from making quest.

You can't find this game, really. I mean, sure, the $100 price point is ridiculous, but that's about as much or less than what you're paying for used versions on BGG or ebay. The point is that, unless you get the ripped pdf's online and just remake the game yourself, you're going to be paying $100, minimum , for a copy of the game.

I have seen certain distributors offering the traditional 20% discount on the new version. That may be the way to go.

http://boardgamegeek.com/geekstore.php3?action=viewitem&itemid=162945

Thundercles said:

They charge $14 shipping. That means you pay $96 + tax. I paid $99.00, no tax, and free shipping directly from Games Workshop.

I pre-ordered mine! I paid the $100 bucks because I am such a fan of the original Space Hulk and have been trying to find a decent set online for many years now. They are always going for $100+.

The only shame with this set is that it is limited.

Frog said:

Sales taxes apply differently based on what state the buyer and seller are in, but you're right, the shipping makes it not be a deal at all. I was just mentioning that there is at least one distributor that's picked the game up: others will hopefully follow.

Frog said:

Not sure why the Space Hulk IP would have anything to do with the licensing rights to Warhammer Quest. Completely different IPs. But as far as I've heard, Warhammer Quest is still the property of Games Workshop.

First off, FFG isn't allowed to make any games that use warhammer minis.

Second, SH is fun but it really doesn't compare to Doom or Descent very well at all. Space Hulk is actually pretty light. In fact, I'd say Space Hulk is actually a beer & pretzels game. To me, the main high point of SH is that it takes place in the 40k universe, but even then, the plot is kinda far-fetched- Why would the genestealers stay onboard the ship after it's empty?

I guess it's cool that they rereleased it for the hardcore fans, as for me though, I'm glad I recently obtained a copy of the first ed.

Every character/enemy is a different sculpt so there are no repeats in this box. Even un-painted, these have insane detail...

Burnhamalive said:

The only means they have of leaving the ship is when another ship docks to investigate (and is then overwhelmed and infested with genestealers, starting the cycle anew). I suppose the occasional hulk might drift into a planetary system and crash on one of the worlds therein, and genestealers escape to start gathering strength to summon the hive fleet.

Thundercles said:

That's interesting. I never knew Games Workshop just factors postage costs into its prices. Makes them sound a bit more reasonable.

So I can order from GW for $100 + tax or order from an online company for $80 + shipping. If I use your figure of $14 for shipping , I'm still coming out ahead ordering online to the tune of about $14. And many online retailers offer shipping discounts (sometimes free) when you spend a certain amount so the deal might get even better.

Oh, and Frog is right about sales taxes applying differently in different states, but even if you totally ignore tax you're saving $6 online.

Hey, I'm just doing the math here. If you gotta have the game ASAP and prefer to buy direct from GW, be my guest.

The thing with the pricing is this: The game is cheaper than Descent here in the UK! We generally have to have our games shipped form either the US or Germany, and the shipping costs are added in.

It's also, after factoring in inflation and such, the cheapest version of SH ever!

Yeah, I've pre-oredered, and I'll be cajoling my RTL group tomorrow to return in a couple of weeks so I can play SH.

Nitewolf said:

I love Descent and many other games by FFG, but the above statement is pretty ridiculous.

The minis in this edition of SH are far superior to anything from Descent, metal lieutenants included. Almost all the minis are unique too. They won't bend like the soft plastic in Descent, Doom or War of the Ring, for example.

Plastic terminators miniatures sell regularly for over $50 for a 5-man squad. This box has 12 of them, plus over 20 genestealers. Notwithstanding all the plastic miniatures, you're getting a lot of cardboard in this set. I'm willing to bet the floor sections look a lot better than the ones from Descent or Doom as well.

The box weighs in at 3.68 lbs. I'd say you're getting your money's worth.

The rules have been reworked, some new ones included, and a few new scenarios as well.

The latest issue of White Dwarf is devoted 50% to Space Hulk. 40 pages on history of the game, how to play, how to paint the minis etc. (also the first and only issue I have ever purchased)

Interesting to stumble on this in the Descent forums (would have expected in the Doom ones). For those who haven't played Space Hulk, there are *many* similarities between SH and Doom (more so than Descent). In fact, the first time I saw Doom, I bought it because the pics on the box reminded me a lot of Space Hulk.

IMHO, if you like Doom, you'd like Space Hulk and visa versa.

How it compares to Descent though, is a different question. Space Hulk is a lot more streamlined, no where near as many options as Descent (i.e. skills, weapons, armor, etc). But with simplicity comes a certain amount of elegance. Not only does it play very well, it is *extremely* immersive. It does a very good job at making you feel like you're a marine marching through a derelict hulk with creatures lurking around the corner.

-shnar

Oh I forgot to mention that the White Dwarf mag said there will be no expansions (the game already has stuff from the expansions and 2x the missions of the core game), but there will be a downloadable mission 13 on the website. My guess is there will be more missions to download in the future.

I hope they do this for Warhammer Quest next year, magazine, novel, and self-contained hybrid(old/new) boxset!