Space Marine: The Board Game

I picked up Space Marine this week. Partly to see if there were any solo mechanics in it (given that one side is a single miniature) and partly because it was 20+ minis and a heavy card "gameboard" for forty bucks, which is surprisingly good when we're discussing Games Workshop. The boards themselves are two for sixty bucks...

I haven't played the videogame.

The packaging is surprisingly
enviro-friendly; the paper envelope
contains dice, for example, and plastic
is saved by leaving the bases loose.
(Don't let your cat in the box!)

Assembling the titular Space Marine.
A bit complex for such a small figure,
it's hard to close the space between
the push-fit components.

The finished figure.

Three Termagants, enough for the first scenario...

... which covers basic moving, shooting and armor saves.

The dark lines represent walls - blocking line of sight rather than providing cover, but they look just the right size to fit the card walls that came in the Warhammer Alliance set, which will be nice if I get around to running this at work.

The rules are abbreviated:

• Both move 6".
• Marine gets two shots, hitting on 3+.
• Nids get one shot apiece, hitting on 4+.
• No wound rolls.
• Nids get 5+ armor saves.
• Marine has a 3+ save and five wounds.

After the first moves and exchange of fire, the Nids miss every shot.

After three turns, the Marine killed all three Termagants but took two wounds to do it. I think I see how the seemingly asymmetric "armies" (twenty critters vs. one Marine) are not as badly matched as they appear.

The Termagants (twenty of them, from the new starter set) are far easier to build, with four parts apiece. I am thinking of building them all, prepping them for "slap-chop" painting and then using them for a paint program with Contrast. After that, maybe small games pitted against the Battle Sisters ... but that's for another day, or at the rate this is likely to go, another year... A productive day as is. See you next time.