Space Hulk: Death Angel Review

 In space, no one will hear your scream... However, space marines do not scream. These genetically modified and devoted to the Emperor death machines fight fiercely and die without fear or doubt. A small squad of these armored warriors, armed with saw swords, flamethrowers and psi-powers, land on the Space Traveler - an abandoned ship that roams the vastness of space. It is clearly teeming with the local Zerg variety, the gene stealers. Your space marines have to carefully make their way through the claustrophobically tight corridors of the traveler, blowing the oncoming aliens to pieces and, most likely, dying one by one. Your task is to reach the final location, where the goal of your mission is located: an alien lair, a self-destruct mechanism, etc. According to the plot, the chances of success are about 44% with the loss of 86% of the personnel. Sound tempting? Then go ahead, for the Emperor!

GAME PROCESS

 "Space Hulk: Death Angel" is a lightweight/middleweight card co-op for 1-6 players aged 12+. Parties take 20-45 minutes.

 Each player controls 1-3 squads of 2 Space Marines (the number of squads controlled depends on the number of players; i.e. in a party of four each player controls only one squad, while in a solo party you will control three squads). You lay out space marine cards in a vertical axis and thereby form a battle formation. Location and alien cards will be laid out to the left and right of your paratrooper column.

 After the aliens spawn (which is often accompanied by unpleasant events that make life difficult for you), your Space Marines can react with one of the following actions: supporting each other, moving, interacting with the surrounding location, or the Space Marines' favorite option: blowing the hell out of everything with futuristic weapons. But the game prudently limits you, forbidding you to repeat the action played in the previous turn. So you can't just shoot all the time and be forced to resort to various tactics. Each squad (basically there are 6 of them) has a certain special ability for each of the three available processes. For example, a flamethrower can engage a whole group of aliens when firing instead of just one, a paratrooper with a saw sword supported by comrades can simultaneously chop attacking aliens to pieces, and a Lexicanum psionic can freeze in a force field.

 You can also "activate" objects located in locations: doors, levers, and fuel tanks — respectively, blocking the way for aliens, receiving a temporary bonus, or destroying a large group of enemies (but the space marine who did this risks getting killed himself) . This provides a variety of gameplay; firing from all barrels and praying is not always the optimal tactic. All attacks are resolved by rolling a single die. The chance of a successful hit is 50% by default. Support tokens obtained by supporting other Space Marines and some game effects allow you to roll the dice both offensively and defensively.

 On the defensive? That's right: the aliens who survived your turn attack themselves, trying hard to bite through the space marines' armor. And their chances of success, unfortunately, are quite high: each newcomer has a 33% chance of killing a space marine. The more enemies, the higher the risk of death. If your fighter is expecting an attack, then you can try to avoid unpleasant results with the aforementioned support tokens. However, there are always not enough tokens, and the cube sometimes just mocks you. Especially considering that it is custom, with faces not from 1 to 6, but from 0 to 5.

 This goes on until you wipe out all the aliens in the current location and move on to the next one. Each mission consists of 4-5 stages that you have to go through to win. If you survive to the end and fulfill the conditions of the mission, you win.

IMPRESSION

 You shouldn't expect to win, the game is HARD. No, not "complicated" - it's "Robinson Crusoe" complicated. Space Hulk is simply brutal, and you understand this after seeing how easily the gene stealers chew up your space marines. In the course of the game, the game will give you many unpleasant surprises - and you will be defeated more than once or twice. Personally, I win 10% of games. I managed to win, I'm afraid to approach the "Angel of Death" again. As your fighters fall one by one, you feel helpless and frustrated: could you have somehow saved Brother Claudius, or are you just rolling the dice terribly?

 This cruelty is the essence of the game. On the one hand, this makes Space Hulk even more of a challenge. You won't win on the first or second try; the game will make you sweat to succeed. On the other hand, you will experience a lot of frustration when bad dice rolls lead to one defeat after another. Luck plays a significant role here. No matter how well you plan everything, sometimes you just need a good throw. And such randomness can push some players away from the game.

 However, the brutal complexity and sudden deaths fit very well into the Warhammer universe: the paratroopers are both cool and vulnerable at the same time. Their journey through the tunnels is conveyed by an atmosphere of claustrophobia and the sense of impending death that you feel every time an alien creature is pulled from the log. Each success causes an explosion of emotions. Victory is an event worth celebrating. Genestealers are not standard minion enemies; they are a very real threat, and after defeating them I was much happier than after any game of Pandemic.

 However, I must note that "Angel of Death" is essentially a solo game, to which the rules for multiplayer have been screwed. I enjoyed playing solo the most, and the artificial distribution of roles to several players does not work well. You have to discuss your plans, but you don't have the right to say what you're doing. Does it sound strange? I would! Therefore, many players simply score on planning. In addition, the game is very vulnerable to alpha players; seasoned veterans can easily command novices.

 However, in solo mode "Space Hulk: Death Angel" is very good and, moreover, compact; to take with you on a trip. If you want a challenging solo game, then this is for you. If you want something easier (that is, games where there are real chances to win) - look for something else. If you want a game where the die doesn't decide your fate, then Space Hulk: Death Angel isn't for you either. As for Warhammer fans, they probably won't be disappointed: the atmosphere of the game and the artistic descriptions correspond to the universe. For those who want similar sensations, but in a more "serious" game, we can recommend the original Space Hulk, which has minions, dueling confrontation, etc. However, it is noticeably longer than the card game.

 In general, due to the ambiguity of the game, I cannot give it the highest rating. But I can't do low either, because her strengths are very good. Know what you're signing up for, be prepared for a glorious death, and sooner or later victory will be yours.

 My rating is 7/10.

USEFUL LINKS

Space Hulk: Death Angel on the portal BGG

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/71721/space-hulk-death-angel-card-game

Space Hulk: Death Angel on the Game Theory portal

https://tg.in.ua/boardgames/601/space-hulk-death-angel-card-game

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Space Hulk: Death Angel

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