Space Hulk: reflections

I recently finished all the 'campaign' from Space Hulk (2014), including the 'Disable the shields' game from White Dwarf #33 (Sep 2014). The photos of this scenario are below. I've dragged this out over several years against the same opponent, knocking off a few games each year. I'm very glad to have completed all these games, which I have never done despite owning Space Hulk (1989) since the 90s.

The boarding torpedo screams across the void.

The Terminators break into the hulk.

Contact! A long corridor provides no cover.

The squad advances with mutual cover...

Jammed! A genestealer rips the heavy flamer marine apart.

As the plan falls apart, the far marine makes a slow break for the objective.

The genestealers swarm!

Jammed! The sergeant goes down.

The terminator sacrifices himself to buy time.

The sole survivor lumbers toward the objective.

He holds off the xenos long enough to disable the shields.
Victory! But at what cost?

I have long appreciated the elegant simplicity of SH: the tension of blips moving on the board, and everything swinging on single die rolls. 6s to hit in shooting with minimal modifiers; simple action points, line of sight, and square grid-based movement. There have been some changes from the 1989 original but the core experience is the same*. While the Terminator player gets D6 'Command Points' to spend every turn to give them a little action flexibility, the only surprises the Genestealer player has are how many xenos each blip represents. This does sadly lead to some predictable situations where you know exactly that you are unreachable this turn.

I can't help but try to improve this venerable classic- give the 'Stealer some random cards which maybe they pay for in blips, that they could use to move extra squares or appear in unexpected places.

I put quotation marks around 'campaign' because the games are not linked in any meaningful way. Win or lose has no effect on upcoming missions, and your deaths are miraculously healed. This is another area that could be improved.

I'm tempted to dig up the Deathwing (1990) expansion which, IIRC, had a mini solo campaign.

Is it time for a refresh of this venerable game, or should it be left at peace? Can you recommend a similar game?

* I cannot recommend the Genestealer expansion (1990), the psychic and shooting rules are clunky.

40K Combat Patrol: Lamenters vs Genestealer Cult

So, I played my first game of 40K in about 25 years... We used the Combat Patrol rules, which are slightly pared down and don't require list building. Each side is competing for points over five turns, via objectives which are the 40mm MDF discs. This was a learning game for both of us, and we forgot and likely misinterpreted many special rules. I've spiced up the pics with the LensFX app.

One one side: Lamenters Space Marines. Strengths include short-range firepower and armour, weaknesses include low numbers.

Lamenters Combat Patrol

• Terminator Captain
• Terminator Librarian leading five Terminators
• Five Infernus Squad Marines

Their opponents: the Genestealer cult. Lots of bodies and mobility, but squishy.

Genestealer Cult Combat Patrol

• Magus with ten Neophyte Hybrids
• Ten Neophyte Hybrids
• Five Aberrants
• Five Acolyte Hybrids
• Rockgrinder truck

The forces meet across a ruined mining facility.

The Cult dominate a rocky outcrop and prepare
to advance on both flanks

Merely six Astartes face down the xenos foe.

The Neophytes seize a ruin as the Rockgrinder rumbles forward

The Infernus Squad take an objective

Heavy Stubber fire ricochets off the tough Terminator plate

"Purge with flame!"

Terminators teleport in, but the Rockgrinder withstands
the ambush

However, the Captain leads a charge and the vehicle is torn
apart by powerfists.

The resulting explosion kills a Terminator
and wounds the Captain

The Astartes destroy the remaining hybrids.

The Aberrants seize the opportunity to tear down
the wounded captain.

The marines get their revenge.

A doomed counter-charge.

Behind us! More hybrids emerge from the shadows
and threaten the Astartes' rear.

The pyreblasters eradicate one threat.

The Terminators about-face to eliminate the other.

The Magus desperately leads her troop off the hill
to seize an objective as the marines are distracted.

But the Terminators' firepower is devastating

A charge finishes off the Cult.

A victory for the Lamenters, but they did lose their Captain. The cult will rise up again!

The rules were... fine. Nothing innovative, but they appear to be a streamlined improvement over previous editions. They behaved as expected, and I'm glad they're free. I struggled with all the special rules and multiple weapon types. Bigger games will be very bloody and complex.

The 'buckets of dice and then nothing happens' critique of 40K is reasonable, but as a player-participant it is quite fun. Sometimes it does all swing on a D6.

40K Lamenters Combat Patrol

In WH40K 10th edition, 'Combat Patrol' is a great way to get into the grimdark. Each faction has a fixed small force list with slightly pared-down rules. There's no listbuilding, which I really appreciate.

Here is my Lamenters Combat Patrol. Just twelve figures (and a teleport beacon). Some of the base details are from Imitation of Life, and the decals are from GW and Forgotten Chapters. Not the chequers or bleeding hearts- all painfully freehanded. Curved pauldrons are a real challenge to chequer. The purity seals are Sigvald Burgundy Contrast.

Lamenters Combat Patrol

I tried stippling highlights for the captain's cloak. It sort of came off. I do like all the bling/ drip he has. He's on a 50mm base. The half-mask is a throwback to the original metal captain.

Lamenters Terminator Captain

I went for classical blue on the terminator librarian. I tried a few different ways of painting the runes on the armour, so it is a bit of a multilayered globby mess. The force axe, in Contrast (ahem), was easy with Aethermatic Blue Contrast over white. I tried to do the grip chequered as well.

Lamenters Terminator Librarian

Terminators! These new sculpts are really good. I gave them white veteran helmets, and the sergeant has a black stripe. They also have a teleport beacon on a Renedra 25mm base. I added some extra struts to it.

Lamenters Terminator Sergeant

Lamenters Terminator with assault cannon

Lamenters Terminators

Teleport homing beacon

Finally, an Infernus squad. A black drybrush gives a great effect on their pyreblasters.

Lamenters Infernus Squad Sergeant

Lamenters Infernus Squad

So, it's not a force list I would have crafted, but the fixed nature of Combat Patrol makes the choice easy. I think the flamers will be great against infantry hordes at close range but little else, whereas the Terminators have real sticking power but no numbers. If I ever actually play a game...

What you're really here for: the Skull-o-meter™

Captain 22

Librarian 15

Terminators 35

Infernus squad 14

Total: 86

Assassinorum Battle Report: Phase 2

Phase 1: Infiltration

Phase 2: Assassinate the Sorceror Lord

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*Culexus died, not the Callidus

Oof. I got through the teleporter with many turns to go and all my Assassins unwounded. Things then went downhill fast as I got surrounded by Traitor Marines, who are both harder to take down and harder-hitting than cultists. The Eversor used up all his luck in the doorway and went down, as did the Culexus. Full frontal assaults aren't a good idea! I got hit hard by event cards which reduced my actions on multiple turns.

But the Vindicare and Callidus kept my hopes up. The Vindicare is, sadly, the weak link in this team- short-ranged indoors environments aren't his forte and he consistently underperforms. But today he held his own against multiple Traitor Marines for many more turns than he should have! This distracted multiple guards allowing the Callidus to take her polymorphine and shapeshift into a cultist- I was really happy with the miniature I chose for this deception- and sashay up to the Big Bad.

Cultist femme fatale or disguised assassin?

She got in two of the three wounds needed to take down this armoured beast, and then survived the counterattacks. She went for the third- failed- used her last poison blades for a reroll- also failed. On literally what would have been the last turn of the game, she desperately went in again but fell in a hail of fire.

The Big Bad and his lieutenants

The Chaos minis are showing their age, but the Assassins are lovely, even if I'm not a fan of the extravagant scenery bases following them around. I like how the little Familiar is used as an on-table turn marker. The boards are gorgeous, almost too glossy, but unfortunately there's only one way to set up the map. The automated enemy rules are really good. I used some Mines of Moria columns for a bit of pizzazz.

Execution Force Designate BarksAlphaKillSkullRaptorMax.
Status: Missing

Assassionorum: Execution Force is well out of print, but if you can find it, I'd recommend it.

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Thought of the day:

Victory requires no explanation.

Defeat allows no explanation.

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