One thing you have to say for Games Workshop (GW) and Warhammer 40,000 (40k) is that their core IP, the 40k universe, has a lot of widespread appeal. Sure, it's ridiculous---my first reaction to chainswords was a definite "WTF?"---but it appeals to a much larger science fiction and gaming community than just the original miniatures game itself. I personally had roughly followed it and had models years and years before I ever played the game. Globally you can see that appeal in the success of Space Hulk, Dawn of War, Dark Heresy, and other cross-discipline ventures.

So, I wasn't too surprised that my buddy Daryl showed up the other day with a copy of Space Hulk: Death Angel, Fantasy Flight Game's (FFG) 40k card game that came out this summer. More surprising was that he'd come across it totally at random in a local Barnes and Noble. Apparently it's been selling well---it's seemingly sold out at the major US games distributor---and many Borders and B&N locations have been carrying it in store for $20.

Yesterday we got to give it a couple spins in celebration of the fall term ending. The rules are available on the FFG website, and excellent summaries of them and the components have been posted on BGG, so I won't belabor those in detail. Instead I wanted to comment on some untouched aspects, particularly from the perspective of a combined devoted boardgamer and committed 40k player.

Two background points for those unfamiliar:

• Death Angel is printed as part of FFG's Silver Line series of games. They're intended to be smaller (small boxes, few components), lighter (about an hour per game), cheaper games ($20--25 US). That's as opposed to FFG's big box games (2'x3' box, 3+ hours, $90).
• The game draws from the general 40k universe, but more specifically GW's Space Hulk boardgame. Space Hulk takes some of the canonical elements of 40k---bug like Genestealer aliens pitted against Terminator Space Marines in massive derelict space ships adrift among the void---and boils them down into a simple, very tense boardgame. A new, significantly revamped and streamlined 3rd edition of Space Hulk was just produced in 2009.

One primary, interesting aspect of Death Angel is that it's a purely cooperative game. All the players are working together against the game, which is actually reasonably programmed by the cards and mechanics. In fact, this enables it to support the rare combination of one to six players. This alone makes it a game that may be of particular interest to many people.

Suffice to say that the general component quality is typical FFG Silver Line quality: No crazy frills a la unnecessary minis and so on as some of their mid and high end boxes, but nice crisp cards, chunky tokens, and so on. A nice bonus to me is that the game uses the typical tightly packed Silver Line card game packaging. It's a small little box that doesn't take up much space on a shelf or in a backpack.

One thing that's immediately recognizable are the Marines themselves. Each player controls a combat team of two Terminators. For those familiar at all with the Space Hulk 3rd Edition, these are immediately recognizable by both their art and their game effects. For example, Brother Claudio's distinctive double lightning claw attack pose is immediately recognizable on his card, pictured exactly as his miniatures looks in the larger game. His risky but highly effective special attack---he can go on a frenzied charge and guarantee three dead Genestealers (a significant amount), but at risk of being mortally wounded himself---is also very recognizable as a representation of how a lightning claw equipped warrior might fight. This is a really cool feature for anyone familiar with Space Hulk, Blood Angels (this particular chapter of Space Marines), or 40k.

The artwork is all also really nice. Much of it is borrowed from Space Hulk and various 40k books over the years, but there also seems to be some new pieces. Most importantly, it's all very clear, recognizable, and looks good.

A simple but nice touch missing in some earlier FFG games is that most of the game effects are described on the cards themselves, eliminating the need to consult the rulebook. There aren't so many that they're not straightforward to remember anyway, but it's better than just having icons or some such.

A few nice design touches also exist, e.g., a critical, frequent mechanic revolving around identifying location cards is cued off a color code, but the symbols incorporate both color and icon differences, making sure they can be differentiated in low light situations or by the color blind.

Gameplay in Death Angel is very clever, managing to capture running and gunning through hordes of aliens in a simple card based system. It boils many of the core tactical considerations of Space Hulk down into a linear, card based affair. My personal take on Space Hulk is that it's essentially a resource management and node control game, as the tactical game is too constrained to be particularly, well, tactical. The game's corridors are simply very tight, and most of the tactical aspect revolves around having the right Marines in the right positions in their formation in order to support the higher level resource management and junction control goals. That doesn't diminish the game, merely changes how it's viewed slightly.

Death Angel boils those considerations down into a simple linear arrangement of cards representing the Marines' formation, and a few contextual cards capturing the particular locations they're battling through. It's instantly identifiable as an abstract rendition of Space Hulk. Further, many of the particular locations, terrain features, and game effects immediately recall missions and scenarios in the larger game. Recklessly flaming tanks of fuel to toast all the aliens in the room? The sheer joy of bringing Brother Leon's assault cannon to bear on a mighty Broodlord? The fear and trepidation of stepping into the Genestealer's main lair? All classic Space Hulk.

At first the gameplay may seem a little intricate. It is definitely not something that can just be thrown on the table and played without reading through the rules first. However, it has very clear, simple core patterns and moves fairly quickly once everyone's on board. I haven't played in larger groups yet, but it seems that downtime with more players shouldn't be a huge problem. Most notably, players choose actions simultaneously and they should all be discussing them as they do so, so the largest chunk of the game involves everyone. Similarly, action resolution is interleaved among the particular Marines, so there's no long streak of one player resolving all their actions blocking everyone else out. Similarly, many of the actions, e.g., moving around in the formation, effect others as well, so there doesn't seem to be much downtime creating opportunities for players to space out, even in larger groups.

Although not incredibly heavy, it did seem that gameplay was strategic enough to be of interest for the setup and play time involved. There is a large amount of dice rolling and card drawing, so this is not a game for the luck and imperfect knowledge averse. However, our decisions were clearly having an impact on the game, and we were working toward vague long term plans such as protecting particular Marines or particular stratagems like blowing rooms full of Genestealers. There is enough here to warrant the interest of people looking for more than a beer and pretzels game, though it could probably be played in that fashion as well.

One note is that we found the game somewhat easy with two players, though obviously we could have just been lucky. This is a complete reversal from Space Hulk, which is notoriously difficult for the Marine player(s). However, with more players this is likely to change. The extra coordination and competing interests involved, even with everyone playing nicely, combined with the game's scaling mechanisms---namely, adding more Genestealers---is likely to make the game more challenging with more players.

It doesn't seem necessary to know Space Hulk or 40k particularly well to enjoy the game, though obviously some passing familiarity will significantly increase its appeal. Detailed knowledge also yields a greater appreciation for both the mechanics and the visual touches.

However, the appeal of the game probably is probably somewhat limited to those with a combat oriented, science fiction tilt. The mechanics are not quite intuitive enough or fascinating enough to seem to appeal to a completely general audience. Within that science fiction scope though it should have fairly general appeal for at least a few rounds.

As compared to the full Space Hulk, the two are obviously very different beasts, well beyond the fundamental price, availability, and game type differences. Somewhat interestingly, it might be the case that they play in about the same amount of time for at least the smaller, beginning missions in Space Hulk. Death Angel is most likely not a twenty minute game, even once familiar with the rules. Most players will likely spend a fair amount of time discussing courses of action, which is enjoyable, but not particularly fast.

That discussion time as well as the mechanics also gives it a slightly different feel. Death Angel doesn't quite pull off the tension that Space Hulk has, watching hordes of Genestealers and sensor blips make their way toward your well armed but hopelessly outnumbered Space Marines, by far the biggest attraction of the original game. Depending on the players, it also doesn't have quite the same pacing as you discuss each round. However, Death Angel does carry a significant portion of the theme and decision making in a smaller, lighter, cheaper form.

In general, Death Angel is a great value for the money. It may not hit the table all the time, but at that price point it doesn't have to in order to be worth picking up. This is particularly true for groups of science fiction oriented players looking for some good, light, co-op style bug hunting.

All pictures above are copyright Fantasy Flight, used without permission.