The LAF Games Workshop Discussion Thread

[Gibby]

Space Hulk sells based on nostalgia value. There are a lot better survival horror games available on the market now.

I must admit I very quickly got bored with the 2009 version. I ended up selling it due to lack of wanting to play anymore. I have seen 1st Edition being played and it looked WAY more interesting, but to bring that back would challenge the staleness of the 40k fluff as it stands now.

[Major_Gilbear]

I must admit I very quickly got bored with the 2009 version. I ended up selling it due to lack of wanting to play anymore. I have seen 1st Edition being played and it looked WAY more interesting, but to bring that back would challenge the staleness of the 40k fluff as it stands now.

1st Edition wasn't more interesting - in fact I think less so because there was less variety in the Marines. That said, each edition had things I liked, and for 1st, Expansions like Deathwing were cool enough but hard - Genestealer was pretty broken though.

I say this as somebody who has all three editions (well, not counting the 2014 edition I guess... )

[Too Bo Coo]

It's 9.99 on the ipad and you can play it whenever you want 'right out of the box'

[pixelgeek]

It's 9.99 on the ipad and you can play it whenever you want 'right out of the box'

Buggy and slow

[weismonsters]

preferred the original stealers as well.

The original plastic stealers were nice. And surprisingly finely detailed.

[pixelgeek]

If I was the shot caller in the GW yard my orders would have been to make a new space hulk core game with modern mechanics and broader scope ...

They will sell out this new version and make a tidy pile of cash. I doubt that anyone in the company cares about the long-term viability of the firm

[Dr Mathias]

What are some of the 'better' spaceship dungeon crawl games you guys have alluded to? I like Space Hulk quite a bit, wondering what else is out there.

[pixelgeek]

What are some of the 'better' spaceship dungeon crawl games you guys have alluded to?

Sedition Wars. The new second edition rulebook clears the rules up, the game has a lot more replay value than Space Hulk and the background is interesting. I especially like the monster that can swallow troopers, infect them and the spit them back out.

[Major_Gilbear]

A casual list of alternative games in a similar genre, that I know of, and in no particular order:

- Sedition Wars
- Project Pandora
- Incursion
- Level 7
- Doom (FFG game tie-in)
- Gears of War (FFG game tie-in)

I'm certain there are more, but those are the ones that I know of that you can actually go out and buy.

The real issue is that these are all more complicated that Space Hulk.

SH has (or at least, had) very limited model types for each side, and the game was entirely about the cat-and-mouse aspect of the crawl.

The other games, whilst more arguably interesting, do add quite a lot more in terms of rules, special weapons, different monsters, etc.

The problem for me was not that SH didn't have more rules (it did, and introduced other Tyranids, other Marine Terminators, Genestealer Hybrids, Traitor Marines, etc), but that all the extra rules did was make the same game take longer and make it harder for new players to pick up the game. I like that SH is fairly quick to play, and I think that 3E got the balance mostly right between variety and rules-blargh.

I also like that despite needing a very big playing area, there is a reasonable amount of flexibility in the layout and space on the tiles. Some games have limited layout possibilities (like Incursion), and some are too cramped to play on when there are lots of models (like Project Pandora).

In summary then, in the same way that HeroQuest was a stupidly simple game, the joy if SH is in the imagery and the low entry requirements in terms of effort to play. As an intro game for non-wargamers, it does this very well indeed.

I do agree with Scurv that I'd have preferred to see another game (even based on the rules and premise of SH) rather than a re-release of 3E. A Tyranid invasion of the Iyanden craftworld would have been great - a nod to an old boardgame, but with the benefit of all the clout that GW has now in terms of making the game a high-quality experience. Ah well, yet another wasted opportunity I guess.

[beefcake]

As longs as you have the rules for space hulk you can use it in other ways if you are wanting too. You could swap your genestealers for Zombies (the running sort) and the terminators for survivors. It would be easy to change the scenario objectives to fit this sort of game and you could use a maze like an office or some dockyards with containers etc. That could be a fun twist to the space hulk rules
(Just rambling here really)

[Modhail]

I agree with Major_Gilbear's agreement with Scurv. 
Additionally, Games Workshop had, in the past, built up a fairly sizeable stable of board games, most of whose names are still trademarked (copyrighted, registered, whatever, they're under IP-lock).
While they were of varying quality, GW could easily pick one, redo it with the benefit of several years (decades?) of hindsight and do this for one each year...  Or just farm them out wholesale to Fantasy Flight (though this has some issues due to the no-miniatures embargo GW has put on FFG's license) and reap the royalties.
I wish they would. I'd even prefer them bringing back the Troll games over a copypaste Space Hulk rehash every five years, as much as I love Space Hulk.
It would add a regular influx of freshness to GW's assortment. Now that they've slash-and-burned themselves back to only the "Core 3" (or is that core 2.5?) everything they put out seems so stale and barren. 

[Vermis]

GW could easily pick one, redo it with the benefit of several years (decades?) of hindsight

 

Sorry for that, but... ain't helped 40K so far!

[Tactalvanic]

I agree with something or other 

In regards to re-releasing/revamping past successes, ie board games. I don't think they are  desperate enough yet to reach back in time for that.

SH in its current iteration has been no more than a re-release of a previous and recent success.

They are not going to jump back 20 years yet to pull out some old successes.

I was tempted to get this SH, granted not enough to actually bother.

I have other options already on the shelf, and it gives me nothing actually "new" not even a real enhancement on previous versions (but it has new tokens - meh... - in the box).

Right! random change of GW thing.

Reading an old White Dwarf the other night, specifically a nice article about camouflage schemes used by the Legions Astartes and the Imperial Guard, both non standard and codex standard ones... Seems even as recent as 1988 all the space marines were sensible marines 

Made me even less bothered about adding "new" GW product to my mountain.

Now where are me ultramarines, I feel the need to camouflage them retro 80's Astartes style...

[3 fingers]

Surprised with the new mad max movie ,dark future hadn't been resurrected .

[Tactalvanic]

Maybe its missing the point wanting something new off GW. THeir market model might be churn based between a certain age demographic and anyone left after those years is just a bonus. If you are churning then the same old thing is always new to your demographic.

I can agree with that! You are right I should stop thinking they will actually do something new..

I am not the target audience

Change rules to generate purchases of the latest killer army etc.

Re-issue the limited edition stuff again for the current crop of customers..

Exactly what we see them constantly doing and one of the things - apart from price - that pisses off all us "old people" 

On the plus side it does give us old gits some opportunities via the likes of evil bay when the current targets want to sell their old stuff to get the latest stuff...

Still I don't think they are desperate enough yet to be digging up really old product like dark future etc. I cannot see that happening any time soon. They probably have not even noticed the resurrection of MAD MAX yet.