Space Hulk (Third Edition)

From the depths of space an ancient vessel drifts slowly towards the Imperium of Mankind—a space hulk. Within its confines, untold thousands of Genestealers slowly emerge from hibernation.

In 2009 Games Workshop finally peeked out from under the skirts of its major tabletop game properties and re-released their classic boardgame Space Hulk, in a strangely limited run that was quickly sold out. The production and the miniature quality is incredible, and it brings together the best of the earlier editions to make the definitive edition of this tense sci-fi classic.

This summary includes the slight changes and clarifications, made in the 4th edition release, to line of sight and overwatch.

Update Log

Date Version Changelog
Dec 2015 1.3 Fixed overwatch typo on reference sheets
Mar 2015 1.2 Line of sight and overwatch rules updated for 4th edition
Jan 2011 1.1 Error fixed
2009 1 Original release

23 Comments

  • Andrew says:

    Page 2 of the pdf, the rightmost column says “A Marine 6 or fewer squares away from an entry point square at the start of the Genestealer phase forces any reinforcement blips placed there to lurk for the rest of the turn.” It should read “the Genestealer turn” instead of “the Genestealer phase”

    • I haven’t got the rules with me at the moment – are you sure it’s the ‘Genestealer turn’ and not the ‘Genestealer Action phase’ (just checking – the distinction is important).

      • Andrew says:

        No, I’m not sure. The reason I’m saying that is because “the Genestealer phase” definitely sounds ambiguous. But I’m not 100% sure that the wording I suggested is correct. Thank you for looking into it.

  • Andrew says:

    Page 3 of the pdf, second column from the left says “Power Fist Power fist effects are included in the close combat rules”. It should read “close assault rules” instead of “close combat rules”.

  • Cris Ramón says:

    Are you guys planning on coming out with rules for the fourth edition?

  • The8thPagan says:

    New edition of Space Hulk due soon. Never played it as it was always hard to find, but I heard it was supposed to be good. £75 I think.

  • The8thPagan says:

    What makes this so special? Why a classic?

  • Apart from the quality of the miniatures and boards, it’s classic asymmetric gameplay. The genestealers are fast, sneaky and devestating at close range. The terminators are slow, non-manoeuverable but good at ranged (until their bolters jam). The combination of the two leads to some nail-biting strategy and tense moments.

  • The8thPagan says:

    Although GW miniatures are popular, they’ve been a bit ‘spike obsessed’ for my liking for many years. And usually too many fiddly bits for me, which allows for variant poses, but just means a nightmare to assemble as far as I’m concerned.

    I have a quite a few 1v1 games, so I think I’ll pass on this one. No doubt they’ll do another ‘limited print run’ in a few years anyway.

  • Dave says:

    I love your site – it is exceptionally well organized and interesting.

    I really enjoy the Spacehulk game, although I was never able to get ahold of the tabletop version. I play the PC game version of it, which is actually very good and pretty faithful to the Tabletop version, I think. They have it on Steam.

    Also a big fan of Adeptus TItanicus, which I do own a very old tabletop version of. 🙂

    • Thanks for your comment Dave. I should try the video game version of Space Hulk, but I’m always so busy with tabletop games, I don’t really have the time! The new version of Adeptus Titanicus, by the way, is excellent – and compatible with the new epic scale Legions Imperialis.

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