Tales from Origins -- 40K Space Hulk

Posted by Ranillon on 22. July 2009 23:13

The first day of Origins was 40K Space Hulk, two introductory Warhammer 40K games for as many as six players.  From the very start I imagined it being a 3-D environment just like the models themselves.  I also decided to make it the players against the game masters rather than one group playing marines and the other Tyranids.  I thought this approach would allow greater control over the player experience, important since some of the players would be complete novices.

Building a Space Hulk

Originally my idea was to build a number of square sections with terrain built up on them.  Each would be designed to fit only with certain other sections in a certain way.  This had the advantage of allowing me to contruct large and complicated models with an overall impressive effect.  However, it also came with three major disadvantages -- one, it would be hard to move around; two, it would always be the same layout for every game, and; three, not only would it take more time and effort to construct, but it was all-or-nothing -- every part had to be finished or the whole thing wouldn't be useable!  Considering that I wasn't sure how long it would take I feared I wouldn't be ready in time.

Therefore, I made the choice to instead make the 'hulk' modular, with rooms and corridors seperate.  This allows the hulk to be arranged in different ways and to switch out components.  I could also build up to a minimum amount of pieces needed to play the game without being stuck having to get every last thing done.  I could always add more if I had the time.  The question now was how to create the thing.

In the end I used the gothic building sets from Pegasus Hobbies for the walls of the Hulk's chambers.  The box sets allow you to put together the walls however you like, a heck of a time saver for what I had to do.  I eventually constructed seven different rooms:  Two expanded hallways, an Imperial Shrine, a Chaos Shrine, a control center, a storage room, and a ship cannon room.  To connect all of these I cut up a bunch of long hallway sections.

In the end I had enough time to "finish" everything, but not to finish with the level of detail I had hoped for -- man, but it takes a lot of effort!  But, ultimately that's okay.  The Space Hulk still turned out well and I can always go back to do more work on the project for next year.

Playing the Game

I designed the rules to allow for a lot of fighting with the terminators facing being overrun if they weren't careful.  When a terminator squad enters a room it automatically faces a group of bugs while otherwise there is a 1-in-3 chance Tyranids would show up anyway.  Since I had the models I made it so that you could face not just genestealers, but gaunts and Tyranid warriors as well.  This allowed for a lot of variation and the feeling among the players that bad news was literally behind every corner.

The first game had a full house and everything went well.  The players tended to roll up a lot random encounters.  It wasn't unusual for squads to face down wave after wave of bugs.  That made for a tense game -- can he make that armor save?  Can he kill the last two genestealers?  Will any of his dead terminators return?  A player's entire game could rest on a single throw of the dice.  It all made for a great game -- you know things are going well when people are cheering during play.

The second game was almost as good, but in retrospect suffered because it had two less players.  That meant fewer encounters, all the more so as in this case there weren't as many random encounters.  As a result at times the scenario didn't quite reach the necessary "critical mass" to make for a properly exciting game.  Everyone clearly still had a good time, but I realized that for next year I have to make sure that there is always a regular supply of Tyranids rushing in.

All-in-all 40K Space Hulk worked out rather well, I think.  The players and game masters all had a great time.  It also taught me a lot of things that will mean tighter rules and more challenges for Origins 2010.  We should even be able to offer the game the whole convention, not just on Thursday.  So, if you want to play you'll just need to grab some of your friends and come on down.  Just make sure to bring extra ammo for your storm bolter!