I love the Warhammer 40,000 universe for two reasons. The first is the lore which is amazing and ever expanding. The second reason: Space Marines. These genetically enhanced super soldiers are one of the best and most versatile weapons in the Imperium’s arsenal. They know no fear and battle relentlessly against the many enemies of mankind.
This brings us to today’s review and another game in the Space Marine Adventures series. Tyranid Attack!. This tactical game pits a group of Space Marines who are trying to survive against a Tyranid infestation in order to complete their mission on a derelict space hulk. This game is designed for 1-4 players, and it plays in about 45 minutes.
Game Overview:
Space Marine Adventures: Tyranid Attack! is played in a series of rounds. The player’s goal is outlined on the mission briefing card. Players will begin by drawing a card from the activation deck and resolve it as follows:
Space Marine cards: when this card is drawn, the corresponding marine gets actions equal to their action stat on their data card to move or attack. A marine may only move 1 space or attack once per action. To attack, the Space Marine must have line of sight to the Tyranid and be within range based on their range stat. When attacking, roll a die and if the result is equal or higher than the Tyranid’s resistance, then the target is destroyed and placed into the encounter bag.
Tyranid cards: when this card is drawn, you turn over the top card of the Infestation deck and resolve it. Most of the cards will have players draw from the Tyranid reinforcement bag and place Termagant and (depending on the mission level) other Tyranid counters like Genestealers, Lictor, or Tyranid Prime. When drawn, place that counter’s corresponding datasheet next to the Space Hulk board for players to reference (always begin the game with the Termagant datacard).
Things to note: the Tyranids do not move but instead are placed next to whichever Tyranid covers that numbered space and will spread as the Tyranid activation cards are drawn or will be removed as Space Marines destroy them. If a Tyranid counter is placed onto a space containing a Space Marine, that marine is wounded and its datacard is flipped to its wounded side. If a Tyranid counter is placed on a wounded Space Marine, it is removed from the game.
Players will win a mission based on the mission briefing card. If they win, they advance to the next level; lose and they must replay the mission. Any Space Marine that is wounded will stay wounded if they continue to the next level. A new Space Marine can be used to replace one that may have fallen.
Once players finish Level 1 they move onto Level 2 and may move to level 3 once they win Level 2. Players win the campaign when they defeat the Tyranid Prime in Level 3.
Game Experience:
It should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with Games Workshop that Space Marine Adventures: Tyranid Attack! has great production values. You will need to build all the unpainted Space Marine minis but they’re all push-fit and awesome in detail once built. The rulebook includes assembly instructions as well as examples of what final painted minis can look like. The other components like the Space Hulk boards, cards, dice, Tyranid counters, and rulebook are all top quality. Like the minis, these all have excellent design details.
Space Marine Adventures: Tyranid Attack! has easy-to-learn rules which makes this game fast to the table. The activation deck tells players exactly who acts and the Space Marine data card contains an easy reference list of stats, actions, and attack ranges. Each data card also lists a unique Wargear item for each marine that gives them a benefit in combat. The Tyranid datacards have their resilience stat, flavor text, and the Infestation deck cards clearly list where the Tyranid reinforcements will be placed. There’s no player aid with this game but it’s not needed since everything is at your fingertips already. The only time you might need to quickly reference the rules is for the different step-ups for each level.
Another positive of Space Marine Adventures: Tyranid Attack! is that it includes 5 different Space Marines from different chapters. Especially less popular ones like the Iron Hands and Salamanders. The Ultra Marines, Blood Angels, and Space Wolves are also included, but these are definitely the more popular ones. The Ultra Marines will be a fan favorite given the success of the Space Marine video game (speaking of: a Titus promo data card was included as well). So, I really like that for a gateway game like this one, new players are still going to be exposed to 5 different chapters, adn while they won’t be given much lore in-game, this might be enough to make them want to learn about these on their own.
Recognizing that I like that different marine chapters are included, it also goes against a lot of the core lore of Warhammer 40,000. Yes, chapters will fight together against enemies of the Imperium but 5 individual Space Marines fighting together from different chapters is not usually a thing. Again, I love the variety and there’s an easy fix for this that was missing from the rule book, which is simply to say these Space Marines are from the Deathwatch chapter. This is a chapter that works closely with the Inquisition to destroy Xenos like the Tyranids and are made up of Space Marine veterans from different chapters and service a tour of duty. That would have made more sense and again maybe peaked a new player’s interest to learn more about that chapter.
The last issue I had with Space Marine Adventures: Tyranid Attack! was how a Space Marine takes damage. I get it that this makes the game fast to just wound a Space Marine if the Tyranid counter is placed on their space, but I was not a fan. I wanted an armor saving roll or something, especially since most of the counters will be a Termagant, which are grunt troops. Most Space Marines can easily dispatch a Termagant without breaking a sweat, so having a Space Marine take a wound according to the rules makes the marines seem much too fragile or the Termagents too powerful.
Final Thoughts:
Space Marine Adventures: Tyranid Attack! is easy to learn and fast to the table. The game comes with great production values like most Games Workshop games. It also includes a great variety of Space Marines from 5 different chapters for new and old players to learn more about. it also includes a Titus promo card for any Space Marine video game fans.
What holds Space Marine Adventures: Tyranid Attack! from scoring higher is a weak Space Marine link (which could be easily fixed by labeling them members of Death Watch) and less-than-desirable rules for how Space Marines take damage.
Final Score: 3 Stars – An easy to learn cooperative game with great variety of Space Marines and some rules that don’t closely align with 40K lore but is still nevertheless fun to play.
Hits:
• Excellent overall production values
• Easy to learn and fast gameplay
• Great variety of Space Marines
Misses:
• Marine squad theme
• Marine damage mechanic
