Space Marines are the poster boys of the Imperium of Man. They have two hearts, three lungs, and unflinching loyalty to the God Emperor himself. They are now going to be a part of a new board game.
The board game we are talking about is Space Marines: The Board Game, and yes, this is in itself based on the video game by the same name, which, for its part is based on the popular miniatures game that comes in offensively flimsy boxes and which we cannot stop purchasing new armies for.
Space Marines: The Board Game covers the character of Lieutenant Titus who is featured heavily across the Warhammer 40K universe. In the game, he is facing off against the Tyranid Termagants and Ripper Swarms, an alien race of ever-evolving and ever-clever insect-like swarm that runs over over planet systems and entire galaxies.
The game itself will try to recreate this heroic defense against the oncoming alien juggernaut. The box contains the push-fit minis of Lieutenant Titus, 20 Termagants and two Ripper Swarms. There is a double-sided game board, and a 40-page rulebook, which also features lore and backstory to help flesh out the game.
The game has been confirmed for US launch and this will be indeed the first market Games Workshop is aiming at with the new title. The minis themselves are once again well done, with Games Workshop going a long way in creating excellent quick-to-assemble models that fit in nicely and can be painted fairly quickly.
Of course, the board game incarnations of Games Workshop‘s wargame have been put to some fair degree of criticism, mostly blasted for the lack of cohesion or on occasion, shoddy production. The company has been struggling to break into the board games hobby, although a very successful release of a Warhammer 40K-themed 4X board game, Forbidden Stars, by Fantasy Flight Games did leave fans craving more action.
Samuel Bailey, the designer of the game, had already had an expansion ready when the partnership between Fantasy Flight and Games Workshop was broken off. He has since promised a brand new game using the mechanics he developed under a different IP.
Back to the Warhammer universe, Games Workshop has developed a good skirmish game with Warhammer Underworlds released in 2017 and still going on to this day, offering a thematic Warhammer expeirence, only one set in the fantasy sister universe of 40K, and creating a fairly good recreation of the original gameplay mechanics featured in the wargame.
Games Workshop is also releasing a 10th edition to their acclaimed miniatures game set in the 40,000 universe, which promises to make onboarding for new players much easier. The starter box, Leviathan, is already available for preorder.