Horus Heresy: The Board Game

[wautd]

So I'm hooked on the HH novels (now at #5/Fulgrim) and I found out there's even a board game from Fantasy Flight. I think I'll buy it because it looks awesome but does anyone has already played it who wants to share his experiences?

[DPDarkPrimus]

Haven't gotten to play it, but Robert Florence's review of it certainly makes me interested in it.

Only have so much room for enormous $100 2-player 40k-themed board games, though, and I already have Space Hulk.

[wautd]

Space Hulk.

How would you rate that one then?

[DPDarkPrimus]

Space Hulk.

How would you rate that one then?

I've never played a board game as intense as Space Hulk.

[DPDarkPrimus]

It takes a couple games to get all of the different tactical moves you can perform down, but it's really a very stream-lined game compared to a lot of stuff on the market. Intense corridor-crawling action that makes you feel like you're in the middle of Aliens. And it's just gorgeous, too.

Robert Florence's review.

[Kojiro]

I have actually played the HH boardgame after buying if for a friend for his birthday. The first time we played we messed up a few things but it's a very strategic game, rather slow. The combat cards recycle and repeat quickly and it really feels like it needs an expansion to round it out. You very quickly learn that the Angels of Death card is THE card to have (assuming you have a marine unit available) as it's an all purpose kill- cutlist or titan- and the presence of it swings most battles. Conversely if you don't have marines it's useless and given your hand is drawn randomly each fight from a cycling deck combat has a random element you simply can't account for. I found it annoying to look at battle and think 'I can win this if I draw the card...

There's a lot of second guessing your opponent, in the way cards are stacked (strategy cards can be placed on a pile as one action but not used until your next one, after your opponent has a chance to stack one). Often you'll grow a large stack until something forces your hand and remembering what's you placed on the stack an hour ago can be tough. You really have to think ahead, especially about where reinforcements will be coming in and the few but potent special abilities (Khan is awesome at zipping about and striking btw).

Oh and incidentally Space Hulk is a great game- I deeply regret not getting one of the new sets.
As I said, it's very strategic and thinking several turns ahead is really necessary. An Imperial player who just swats at incursions with Primarchs will quickly get picked to bits (Sanguinius incidentally is a monster guaranteed to win the first fight he's in no doubt). Likewise a Chaos player can't just assault the positions as is- you've got to feint and draw forces away from where you need to land your forces. Imperials win by default though so you can't waste time either.

On the whole I'd say get it if you're into strategy games, but not because you like the HH. Thematically it's just window dressing for the mechanics. You could redo the game with modern tanks, conscripts, regular army, special forces and famous generals and play the same game. That's not a bad thing- mechanics should be well done and not sacrificed for flavour but if you're like me you'll quickly find you're playing the numbers and not the Heresy. On the whole it's quite fun though.

[wautd]

Man, Space Hulk looks awesome as well, but pretty fucking expensive

[Serafina]

Man, Space Hulk looks awesome as well, but pretty fucking expensive

And also no longer available from the producer, so you can only buy it off ebay and such.

[DPDarkPrimus]

Man, Space Hulk looks awesome as well, but pretty fucking expensive

It was the same price as Horus Heresy on release ($100) - I don't know how much more it's going for now, but whatever they're asking it's worth it.

[wautd]

Man, Space Hulk looks awesome as well, but pretty fucking expensive

It was the same price as Horus Heresy on release ($100) - I don't know how much more it's going for now, but whatever they're asking it's worth it.

Well I got HH ordered (+- 70€), but still sitting on the fence for Space Hulk. The latter seems to go round for 150 - 200€ (or even more )which is quite a lot for a game I will rarely get the chance to play (due to finding volenteers to play with).
But still... I was tempted enough to give a bid on Ebay for half the price (which probably will increase a lot once the bidding has ended).

[Keevan_Colton]

the reason for the price on space hulk is it's a limited edition re-release which is no longer available. I've still got the old (nowhere near as pretty) version about here somewhere.

[Zinegata]

I've actually played Horus Heresy. It's typical FFG: Wonderful bits, mediocre rules and gameplay, and random as heck.

There are some novel new mechanics in HH, but the implementation is rather clunky. Moreover, it's extremely unforgiving to the Chaos player - a couple of wrong card plays and the game can be over very quickly.

Space Hulk OTOH is also nice lookng, but the rules are much cleaner. Tactically though, it can get rather limited and it's also rather swingy dicefest.

If you're a big 40K fan, I'd definitely recommend HH if only because the bits are simply awesome. The miniature Baneblades representing Imperial Armored Divisions in particular are really cute.

[Akhlut]

But still... I was tempted enough to give a bid on Ebay for half the price (which probably will increase a lot once the bidding has ended).

That's why you wait until the very last possible minute (possibly seconds, if you can manage) to put a bid on something on eBay.

By the way, does anyone know how similar/differ the new edition of Space Hulk is from the old one? I just want to know if I'd be better served trolling pawn shops and hopefully paying a bit less on an old one then shelling out mondo bucks on the new one on eBay.

[Imperial Overlord]

But still... I was tempted enough to give a bid on Ebay for half the price (which probably will increase a lot once the bidding has ended).

That's why you wait until the very last possible minute (possibly seconds, if you can manage) to put a bid on something on eBay.

By the way, does anyone know how similar/differ the new edition of Space Hulk is from the old one? I just want to know if I'd be better served trolling pawn shops and hopefully paying a bit less on an old one then shelling out mondo bucks on the new one on eBay.

It's very similar. The rules have been streamlined and cleaned up a little bit but they are mostly the same. The psychic rules and the rules for the Patriarch are the biggest changes.

[wautd]

Hmm how about Doom: the boardgame as a cheaper alternative to Space Hulk. Looking at some screenshots it look very simimar in gameplay.

[Zinegata]

Differences between Space Hulk and Doom (Yes, I've played both):

Space Hulk is generally strictly 2 players, while Doom can support multiple players (one bad guy, several shooters).

I feel Space Hulk is a bit more tactical - the 'nids are figuring out when to rush, and the Space Marines are trying to cover avenues of approach via Overwatch.

Doom is much more "Rush in, kill everything, and make best use of your resources".

Both offer plenty of variety with different missions. Doom wins out slightly in this department as you get ability cards to customize Marines - you Doom Marine could be a Medic/Commissar for instance.

Both have very nice bits.

Both are dice fests, albeit Doom has custom dice.

Doom has a respawn mechanic which make it feel terribly like an video game. In SH, your Marines stay dead.

I'd still recommend SH, but Doom looks close enough to 40K that I was shouting "For the Emperor!" the last time I played and it still looked appropriate.

A warning though - while you can probably easily resell Space Hulk, the same isn't true with Doom. Demand for the latter game is much lower.

[DPDarkPrimus]

Doom is out of print, but is readily available on the aftermarket. I know Fantasy Flight Games clearanced out their stock a couple years ago, got a copy of it for $20.