Space Hulk Mission - ALIENS.pdf (57 KB) (Log in or Register to download.)
A Space Hulk mission with a cheeky nod towards the game's original inspiration, the movie Aliens. This is a large map, requiring two full sets of boards and doors to play; it has been designed to be very challenging for the Marine player.
cool mission. How did you create the map layout? Is there some software or something that you used?
Thanks. No special software, I actually used Microsoft Paint - after drawing a few basic shapes it just took a lot of cut & paste.
I designed this mission way back in 1996, a few months after 2nd edition was released. I'd spent a long, long time faithfully painting all my 2nd edition Terminators to a high standard, including traditional 1st edition livery (blue/white checks on the storm bolters, etc) and I had also painted name tags on the shoulder pads to match all the characters from Aliens, so using this theme for a new mission was an obvious step. I always intended to acquire a couple of Assault Cannons as Drake and Vasquez but never got around to it, which is why they don't appear in this mission. I'll upload some pics of my Terminators soon.
In keeping with the theme, I wanted to make this really challenging for the Marines. The large map works really well for this, and allowed me to combine my 1st and 2nd edition boards in a single game. The Marine player can go charging off down the corridors in the first few turns and it all starts to look a bit too easy, but it's a long way down that board. Even getting one Terminator out alive is an achievement. The Genestealers may take a while to do any damage, but they should be able to slow the Marines' progress enough to bring in plenty of reinforcements - and once the first Marine gets taken down, others will soon follow.
While the focus was on building a mission that was difficult for the Marines, this was in the spirit of the theme rather than any disrespect for the Stealers. Many people seem to think that playing Genestealers in Space Hulk is a trivial role. I disagree. Even though Stealers have fewer action types, playing well requires strategy and tactics. Far too often I've seen people just using Stealers as cannon fodder. Yes, that's a part of what they do - but you have to time it correctly and know when to keep them in reserve. A blip lurking out of LOS can sometimes be far more effective than several Stealers charging headlong into overwatch fire.
Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys this mission. Remember: short, controlled bursts.
Edit: By the way, those straight corridors down the centre of the board have been placed very deliberately. During playtesting, I quickly found that any route which forced the Marines round corners quickly led to a big red stain on the floor.
As an aside, Space Hulk's original inspiration was not the movie Alien. Nor was it Aliens. It was the 1979 Steve Jackson Game "The Awful Green Things From Outer Space"... http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/162
