Deathwing, Space Hulk Expansion

Boardgame Review

Deathwing, Space Hulk Expansion, Games Workshop 0333.

Deathwing is the second expansion of the Space Hulk 3D role-playing game set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. Deathwing is not a complete game, the Space Hulk boardgame is required to play this expansion.

Contents

  • Title: Deathwing – Space Hulk Expansion and Mission Generator
  • Period: Science Fiction
  • Type: Skirmish Wargame
  • Time Scale: none given
  • Ground Scale: 30 mm = 1 map square
  • Troop Scale: 1 figure = 1 man
  • Miniatures
    • 4 Imperial Space Marines
    • 8 Tyranid Genestealers
  • Modular Game Board: 20 room and corridor sections
  • Counters: crates, ladders, pitfalls etc. on 4-colour printed cardstock
  • Game Designers: Richard Halliwell and Jervis Johnson
  • Format: 64-page rule book
  • Language: English
  • Publisher: Games Workshop Ltd., Nottingham, UK
  • Published: 1990
  • Age: 14 to Adult

Deathwing Rules & Missions

  • Deathwing: Chapter One
  • New Personnel
  • New Weapons
  • Multi-level Games
  • Deathwing: Chapter Two
  • New Rules
  • Terminator Force List
  • New Features
  • Deathwing: Chapter Three
  • Mission Generator Scenarios
  • Mission Generator Campaign
  • Deathwing: Chapter Four
  • Solo Play
  • Solo Missions
  • Deathwing: Chapter Five
  • Mission: Broken Knife‘s Duty
  • One: Alarm Call
  • Two: The Ship‘s Log
  • Three: Seek and Retrieve
  • Four: Regroup
  • Five: C.A.T. Hunt
  • Six: The Unknown Lifeforms
  • Roster Sheet
  • Reference Table

Evaluation

The Deathwing expansion introduces new Marine personalities, the Marine Captain and Marine Librarian, new weapons (assault cannon, grenade launcher, power sword, chain fist, thunder hammer, storm shield, lightning claws, and force axe), additional room and corridor tiles, and new gaming rules which greatly expand the original Space Hulk game.

The action may now take place on larger space hulks with rooms and corridors on multiple levels. There are new rules for falling or jumping to a lower level, using ladders to reach a higher level, for checking line of sight from one level to another, and firing at alien creatures above or below.

There are two additional sprues of the same miniatures included in the 1st edition of Space Hulk, eight Genestealers, four Imperial Space Marines, and two flamer nozzles to convert bolter-armed Marines to Flamer Marines. None of the newly introduced weapons are actually represented in miniature. The Marine player will have to refer to his roster sheet to see how his troops are actually armed for a particular scenario, and who will stand in as Captain or Librarian. Clearly, there is some incentive to now replace the basic plastic Space Marine figure included in the game with customized Space Marine miniatures. It so happens, that an advert on page 62 shows a selection of metal Space Marines properly armed with the new weaponry, including some Space Marine personalities not even covered in the expansion set, as well as Traitor Marines destined to fight for chaos one day.

The mission generator offers six typical missions to randomly chose from: recon, establishing a perimeter, defending a perimeter, raid, breakout, search & destroy. There are special rules for each of these scenarios, and the forces involved are randomly selected. Finally, the game board is generated by randomly selecting eight of the ten geo tiles provided in the expansion set and alternately placing them on the table to create a space hulk. While there are new rules for multi-level space hulks, it is not apparent how the mission generator might be used to create them. In addition to these randomly chosen scenarios, there are six mission involving Captain “Broken Knife” Gabriel, which may be played individually or as a campaign of linked scenarios.

There are two pages of rules for solo play, followed by a “last stand” scenario to actually test them. In solo play, the player controls the Space Marines, while the Genestealers are randomly deployed, and are moved by what may be considered basic AI: a Genestealer will attempt to charge the nearest Marine, unless he is more than one move distance away from his target, in which case the Genestealer will advance as far as he can without revealing himself.

While Deathwing, the Space Hulk Expansion and Mission Generator, may no longer be available at stores, prices for second-hand copies currently range from 100 and 300 GBP each.

Wargame Rules