Tactica: Space Hulk Survival Guide

This is the indefinite guide to how you may succeed at Space Hulk, based upon personal experience...

Play the Factors in Your Head
When playing a game of Space Hulk, there are many factors which must be considered. These are either:
- Blip Factor: What is on that blip will change your strategy, and thus you must learn to fear the blip.
- Marine Factor: A reasonable mission becomes difficult with a lack of marines, and a difficult mission becomes reasonable with a large amount of marines.
- Stealer Factor: While the Blips are one thing, Stealers are another thing entirely. Knowing your enemy means that you know far more what you need to do to overcome them. THAT'S why this is a factor
- Mission Factor: Whether it's blowing up all of the blips or destroying corrupted data in a couple of rooms, the mission will change your plans, and your plans may change the mission!

Play the Opponent, Not the Board
Let's put it simply, marines, you are here to accomplish a mission and you are here to beat your opponent. DON'T let the board play with you, and remember that open doors are usually more useful than closed ones. If you can wreck a door, wreck it. If you can kill something, kill it! You don't want to leave your opponent a single moment to regroup, so unfortunately the board has to take a load of hits to make sure of that!
Genestealer players, this is the same really. Take advantage of your board layout - for example, if you have a spawn point right next to the opponent, then you take advantage of that spawn. But if you have a spawn point next to the objective... you take advantage of that one instead. There's a hierarchy in Space Hulk - the spawns that are useful now, and the spawns which are useful later.

Play the Worst Case Scenario
In all cases, you play as if the worst case will occur. For example, play as if each blip is 3, and play as if the Space Marines will be able to destroy you at any time. In other words, never play a game halfhearted - it gets you nowhere! You need to make everything count!

Cheating is Good on the Last Turn
Remember how using more command points than you have is a bad thing that will mean you automatically lose at the end of the Genestealer next turn? Well, this is overturned if you win the game in the turn that the points are overused. This means of course that you can use unlimited amounts in a 'Last Stand' or 'Do and Die' scenario - remember and use! This may be a dirty tactic, but these are the Angels... of Death.

Tactical Manoeuvre
Use your resources wisely. For example, Stealer players, you could use those Blips of '1' to make your opponent leave somewhere guarded (for a pincer movement, I guess). You could use Blips of '3' when you know that large hordes are required. Think ahead, think about the greater campaign.
If a Storm Shield guy goes near a full hive, he's doing his job. If an Chainfist guy is going through the Blocked Door area, he's doing his job. If the Lightning Claws are not going to the opponents heart... he's not doing his job.

Life is ONLY cheap if you're a Stealer
Unlike normal games, Space Marine Terminators are not a commodity. For example, you cannot rely on unlimited ammo, especially for the Assault Cannon. You cannot rely on your opponent's hordes running out (unless the mission says so)
Then, remember that tip above... Think ahead, think about the greater campaign. That guy might not be that awesome, but if his presence would stop a Spawn Point from being activated, then he's doing his job! The sacrfice of one might be necessary, but if he saves many then his sacrfice is all well and good!

A few final tips
- Never engage a Broodlord in combat - your number one method, if forced to, is either an Assault Cannon or a Librarian IN COMBAT. Usually, your strategy is STALL, NOT ENGAGE
- Everything on a chart is vital. Memorise it to make your turn last less time
- Everything on a command chart is vital. Use Psi-Points sparingly, and use Command Points when totally necessary
- Command Points may be used in the Stealer turn, to un-jam guns or stop bad rolls, so TAKE ADVANTAGE
- Statuses are perfect. Guard makes a combat guy even harder. Overwatch makes that strongpoint even harder
- 3 Minutes is often too long for a team of more than one. Therefore, use a stopwatch! For each additional person, the timer lasts for half the duration... or 1:30 for 2, 0:45 for 3, and 0:22 for 4 or more...

~ That's a Space Hulk tactica! Soon enough there'll be some Design Studio rules for some additional races in the game, increasing the awesomeness!