Games Workshop is releasing a Warhammer 40k board game which pits Space Marines against Tyranids in the nightmare depths of a space labyrinth – but it’s not Space Hulk. The newly announced Space Marine Adventures: Tyranid Attack has the same setting as the legendary board game, but that’s about all it shares.
In Tyranid Attack, a group of up to four players will control a team of Space Marines as they venture through three levels of a space hulk – a hellish metal dungeon made from the wrecks of Warhammer 40k space ships lost in the warp. You’ll “battle waves of enemies before facing off against the Tyranid Prime”.
The Warhammer Community post announcing the game doesn’t have details on the gameplay. The Space Marine Adventures series of Warhammer board games is intended to introduce new gamers to the universe, the general vibe of wargames, and the process of building models, so we don’t expect it to be too involved.
The miniatures in the set are all push-fit sculpts that go together without glue. They were originally released in the fourth wave of Space Marine Heroes kits, previously only available in blind-purchase packets.
Currently, Tyranid Attack is only on sale in Target in the USA, but GW says “you’ll be able to purchase it in other territories later in the year”.
Honestly, we don’t have any real criticisms for this game – it is what it is, a budget intro product for newcomers. But if GW announces a game set on a space hulk, our thoughts immediately turn to Space Hulk – a board game that was last reprinted in 2014.
Space Hulk has the same premise as Tyranid Attack, but rather than a minimalist product, it’s packed with gorgeous components and custom miniatures that still look amazing fifteen years after they were sculpted. It’s an ace, asymmetrical tactics game that steadily ramps up the tension and the feeling that the Marines are on a truly doomed mission.
This is the second time in as many years that GW has made us maudlin for Space Hulk. Remember the advertising campaign for the Leviathan boxed set with the closeup illustrations of Space Marine Terminators and Tyranids? We were delighted when that turned out to be Warhammer 40k 10th edition, and the wave of new minis for both Warhammer 40k factions but still… Space Hulk.
This new game is also going to make internet searches a little more frustrating for collectors. GW first published a boardgame called Tyranid Attack in 1992. Check out the lurid art in the walkthrough video by the Oldhammered YouTube channel, below:
Complete copies of the 2009 or 2014 editions of Space Hulk are trading hands for silly money on eBay these days, so your best bet to play it is 2018’s Space Hulk Tactics digital adaptation. It’s a great implementation of the game, and actually has a spot on our guide to the best Warhammer 40k games on PC or console.
Source: Wargamer
