Space Marine Adventures Tyranid Attack Review

Continuing the theme of Warhammer entry-level board games to mass-market stores in the USA, we now have Space Marine Adventures Tyranid Attack. Aimed at beginner wargames, rather than veteran Warhammer 40,000 players, this set sees a squad of Space Marines enter an abandoned space hulk to root out the Tyranid infestation there. In this article, we'll have a look at what's in the box, how it plays, and who the product is aimed at.

I feel that it's worth noting that I began my wargaming journey after playing some early edition roleplaying games in 1990, and then got a copy of Space Crusade and Heroquest and their expansions. A few years later I found myself inside a Games Workshop store in the North East of England for the first time, to buy some Space Marines with money I had saved up. A product had just been released that was perfect for me, I was told, and I left the store with Tyranid Attack, an incredible boxed set filled with Space Marine terminators, the lightly armored Space Marine scouts, and a mix of their alien opponents, the Tyranids. I was hooked. And now over 30 years later, I'm again playing what could be Tyranid Attack for a whole new generation of wargamers.

What Is Space Marine Adventures Tyranid Attack?

Space Marine Adventures Tyranid Attack is an entry-level board game, that could lead to players exploring further into the wargaming world with full games of Warhammer 40,000, or Kill Team. This set contains 5 push-fit Space Marine miniatures, that push straight out of the sprues they come attached to, and slot together without glue, making them perfect for someone with no miniatures hobby experience. The miniatures themselves are 5 of the 7 that come from the Warhammer Heroes set and also feature in the upcoming Kill Team Starter Set.

The game itself uses boards to represent the inside of the space hulk the Space Marines are exploring, along with tokens for the Tyranids and a whole host of cards that help run the game.

How Do You Play Space Marine Adventures Tyranid Attack?

I won't go into too much detail about how to play Space Marine Adventures Tyranid Attack, because the rules can be found in full on the games's official webpage, and Games Workshop has had a very thorough How To Play video produced. The gameplay is extremely straightforward, with each turn's activations randomly determined by the activation deck. When Space Marines activate, they can move or attack, where they can move 1 square, or roll a single dice and try to equal or beat the target's resilience value. During the Tyranid's turn, they don't move and attack, but they spawn and slowly fill the corridors. If they have to spawn on a square containing a Space Marine, that marine is wounded (which flips their stat card over), and then the next time they are wounded they are removed. This focuses the gameplay on removing the Tyranid tokens, pushing them away from the marines, advancing on the mission objective, and then searching for an exit.

The game has 3 levels to play through, along with a linked campaign (of the same 3 levels), in which you use the campaign cards rather than the mission briefing cards for each level. There is also an advanced rules pack that includes Advanced Infestation, Challenge, and extra Tyranid Activiation cards to make games harder once you've got the hang of the core rules. To keep games interesting, even in repeat play, there are 28 special cards that contain equipment and special abilities for the marines. In each game, 2 are drawn for each marine, with one being kept and the other discarded. 

Which Space Marines Can I Play In Space Marine Adventures Tyranid Attack?

Space Marine Adventures Tyranid Attack includes 5 different Space Marines that can be used, each with their own special rules and stats. In each game, 4 marines can be deployed, which adds variety to games as you work out which marines work well together, and suit different aspects of the missions.

• Sergeant Maximus - Maximus, with a high range and 4 actions, allows you to look at the top card of the Infestation deck, which lets you plan your turn with knowledge of what the enemy will do next.
• Brother Adrix -  Adrix has a low range and 4 actions, gets to perform a free attack each turn against a non-adjacent enemy, effectively boosting their action stat.
• Brother Raphael - Raphael also with a low range and 4 actions adds 1 to the dice when attacking a Tyranid adjacent to him.
• Brother Lukas - Lukas with a high range and 3 actions gets a bonus frag or krak grenade every mission, after choosing their initial special card.
• Brother Vorne - Vorne has the highest range in the game and 3 actions, and adds 1 to his dice when attacking, except when the target is adjacent to him.

For customers buying their copy of Space Marine Adventure Tyranid Attack from Target, they also get a bonus Lieutenant Titus card (from the Space Marine 2 video game). This is a card only, with the miniature being available exclusively in copies of the Target-only Space Marine the Board Game.

• Lieutenant Titus - Titus has the same stats as Brother Adrix, and has the same ability, but gets a free attack only against those adjacent to him.

What Are Our Final Thoughts On Space Marine Adventures Tyranid Attack?

Space Marine Adventures Tyranid Attack is a great entry-level game, with players playing solo or cooperatively to solve the ever-expanding puzzle of the Tyranid infestation. It felt weird as a wargamer that the Tyranids don't move or attack and players looking for that kind of interaction may also find this disappointing. For young gamers though, you do get to feel like a Space Marine wading gloriously through the slain Xenos enemies. The miniatures and gameplay make it perfect for a young gamer and whilst it's not Warhammer 40K, it does introduce some of the concepts like movement, range, and activations, whilst using the board to keep the concepts easy.

I would also like to have seen, even if it was just a couple, of push-fit Tyranid miniatures in this set, something to help add to the immersion. The tokens help keep the focus on the Marines, but with the lack of interaction, other than them spreading across the board, it would be nice to have seen some physical Tyranids. Games Workshop does produce miniatures for all the tokens represented xenos, so that could be the first hobby step for an aspiring gamer. It's also a minor point, but something I love about the design is that the compartment in the plastic inner storage that the miniature sprues originally come in, there are circular indents around the outside that the Space Marine miniatures slot into so they don't crash around during transport.

Should I Buy Space Marine Adventures Tyranid Attack?

If you're looking for something to start yourself, or someone else as a gift, on a wargaming path, or simply as an easy-to-set-up and-play board game, then this is a solid game. If you're looking for something a little more advanced, then I would suggest the Kill Team Starter Set (which has the same push-fit miniatures for both factions in the game, with more advanced rules).

The copy of Space Marine Adventures Tyranid Attack used to produce this review was provided by Games Workshop.