Turning the Tables on Space Hulk Updating and Simplifying a Classic

In the original basic game, a marine ring a storm bolter rolls two dice . If one of them is a six , the target Genestealer dies. Thats two simple rules. A storm bolter gets and it takes a to kill a Genestealer. There are three more rules involving storm bolters: sustained re at the same target lowers the target number one pip per additional shot, to a minimum of three; the range of Overwatch is limited to 12 squares; and a storm bolter red on Overwatch jams on any roll of doubles. Since two of these rules have to do with Overwatch, well deal with them later. The amer is another interesting case in the base game. Well come back to it. So far, we havent deviated from the weapon portion of the table. We would still describe a storm bolter as: Name Range Dice Ammo Special Sustained Fire (3), Overwatch Storm bolter If we add a new model to the game, we can do it without adding a separate entry for each weapon that exists. For example, we could decide a Genestealer Hybrid is a , making it much easier to kill with a storm bolter or assault cannon. This system doesnt allow for the exact weapon and target interaction provided by a reference table, but it can be rich and exible, without needing to look up in a table the intersection of every weapon and target. Something particularly hard to kill might be . If I have weapons that are , then I could use to indicate models that are relatively easy to kill, but only with weapons that provide more than one die. In my opinion, this is more interesting and less tedious than the single numeric target listed at each intersection in the current tables. It also provides more room to add other Tyranid species, Space Orks, Traitor Space Marines or other Space Hulk denizens to the game.

Boss Battlesget the real feel of boss battles. Within the existing rules, you cant

or as: Storm Bolter: Sustained Fire (3), Overwatch The next favorite ranged weapon on the list is the assault cannon. We want to maintain the avor of the assault cannon described in the Deathwing expansion, but we have some room to make changes toward a common template. Name Range Dice Ammo Special 10 4AP Sustained Fire (3), Overwatch, Overheats (1), Full Auto Assault cannon

The range is unlimited. You roll three dice and add one to each of them. You still roll three dice and only need to roll a ve to kill a Genestealer with its target of . An assault canon can shoot 10 times before reloading for 4AP. A model can use sustained re with an assault cannon, up to +3. An assault cannon can be used with the standard overwatch rule. An assault cannon risks overheating after the rst reload. We still have to describe Overheats, which might instead be called Malfunction. We also need to dene a Full Auto special rule that does something like letting you roll one attack against all models in the attacking models LOS, with an additional +1 per die, for half the Ammo value of the weapon, ve shots for the assault cannon. Its relatively easy to describe the other available ranged weapons in this way to streamline some rules. Of course, you wouldnt have models carrying different weapons if they didnt have different capabilities and some fun special rules. We dont want to beat out all variation. We just want to describe what I know about my weapons and what you know about your models in ways that interact well without reference tables. If I know my model and its gun, I should be able to look at the summary for your model and know what I need to do to to remove it from the board.

The Patriarch in Space Hulk Campaigns is incredible in close assault, 4 dice at +3, but would be a , as described in the book, under our new system. Hes a psychic Genestealer thats really good up close, but the narrow one die target denition makes him as fragile as any other Genestealer when a Space Marine is shooting at him. With the wide range of interesting Tyranid models now available from Games Workshop to support the Genestealersthe Broodlord comes to mindwe will want to include the occasional boss in our missions. This should also appeal to gamers who like a bit of Mario or Metroid feel in their missions. Two obvious options for bosses come to mind. The rst is to give bosss bigger dice targets that make them very difcult to kill, . Or you might have to match the bosss target a certain number of times to kill it, potentially allowing for multiple full matches from a single attack . Since these are simple concepts, easy to display and easy to track, we could combine them for tough enemies . It would take two good hits from an assault cannon to kill it, although Sustained Fire would help. take a look at how to adjust close assault for the new dice target rules. The following issue will offer a different approach to psionics. The last article will provide new stats for available models to work under the house rules Two obvious options for bosses come to mind. The rst is to give bosss bigger dice targets that make them very difcult to kill, . Or you might have to match the bosss target a certain number of times to kill it, potentially allowing for multiple full matches from a single attack . Since these are simple concepts, easy to display and easy to track, we could combine them for tough enemies . It would take two good hits from an assault cannon to kill it, although Sustained Fire would help. In future house rules entries for Space Hulk, well take a look at how to adjust close assault for the new dice target rules, an alternate approach to psionics, and reference tables to include the current range of terminators, tyranids, etc. in the game.

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