Spacehulk!

The wife, amazingly, recently agreed to try out the old GW game "Spacehulk," and amazingly, she has enjoyed it! She is normally not one to join in the toy soldier fun, but so far, she is game, so I'll milk that as long as I can!

This shouldn't be a surprise, of course. Spacehulk is a very simple and yet VERY enjoyable game. I bought two sets and the expansions back in the day, and a friend added another of the newer sets, so we are able to make some truly monstrous Hulks. The wife is still new to the game, so we have stuck to one squad missions so far, although in the next game we'll go for two!

Our second mission was a simple one; kill 30 stealers before they kill all of the marines! The wife quickly got her marines moving to try to hold only two rooms... however, the marines are awful slow, especially when compared to stealers! One unlucky Marine almost didn't make it, but six command points helped speed him on his way, as his sergent was clearly yelling "MOVE MOVE MOVE!"

Once the marines were in place, the stealers simply swarmed into the halls. One side was held by two marines with storm bolters and another with an assault cannon. The other hall was held by the sergent and another marine.

And then the stealers came! They flooded the hallway in front of the assault cannon, working through his ammo, and when he had to pause to reload they swarmed into the room! More than 20 stealers fell before they finally got close.

The sergent, hearing the "Out of ammo!" call from Marine Moratin with the assault cannon, quickly turned and began to hightail it for the other room. As soon as he moved out, the second swarm attacked!

They made a beeline for the second room, as the Marine there held on, and as the Stealers swarmed into the first room. Marine Moratin clubbed down one stealer with his ammo-less assault cannon, and the rest of the marines fired away, but they were quickly overwhelmed as both marines stormbolters jammed!

However, all was not lost. As the marines in the northern most room fell to the endless swarms of stealers, Marine Driscol kept up a constant fire, cutting down stealers as they swarm... 27... 28... 29...

And then, as the stealers got close, their slavering jaws snapping, skittering along the walls and through the explosions, Driscol steadied his aim and brought down the 30th stealer! Victory to the marines!

We did continue fighting, and amazingly in the very next turn a pair of untimely jams were followed by swarms of stealers cutting down the surviving marines... however, the Deathwatch held on long enough for their compatriots in other parts of the hulk to get their job done!

Featured in the last photo are the two marines who won distinctions in this mission; Marine Moratin, who earned a yellow cross to acknowledge his 14 kills, and Marine Driscol, whose kill won the mission for the space marines and won him a Worthy Action distinction... and to top if off, Driscol was one kill away from a yellow cross as well! Oh well... next time!