SPACE HULK: Rules for Tau and CSM

[Lord Manton]

Hey everybody.

This is part shameless plug/part useful stuff!
Space Hulk went up for pre-order today and they've released new data slates for DA, smurfs and SW.
But no other xenos. Or heretics!
This is a sham!
Thankfully, a couple of years back, my buddy and I came up with a bunch of rules for Tau and Chaos Space Marines to use in Space Hulk.
If you feel inclined, check out my blog, "That's How We Role" at http://lordmantor.blogspot.com.au/and have a read. :D
I'd like the clicks, obviously, but these are some pretty nifty rules and they worked quite well from memory.
Let me know what you think.
Thanks.

EDIT: The formatting is terrible. If anyone has a clue as to why this might be that'd be great. Sorry.

[Lord Manton]

I'm pretty sure it's unreadable on the blog so here it is

Space Hulk Alternate rules

009. M3
In the cold dark of the Melbourne winter in the year 2009, from a dusty shed at four in the morning the cries of terror and my second-best Arnie voice could be heard exclaiming “Face my Assault Cannon, *****es!” As the inevitable, inexorable advance of the pesky gene stealers overran my hopes of successfully completing the mission.

That's right! It's Space Hulk time again. So it turns out as of today you can pre-order the new copy of Space Hulk from GW. If you missed it last time, make damn sure you get on it this time around. There will be cries of “Oh, but it's too esspensive!” from the denizens of the internet, but to be honest, once you've squared yourself and your wallet with GW's prices this game is a straight up bargain. At AU$190 it clocks in at $25 more than Dark Vengeance, but you get a veritable butt-tonne of miniatures and some very nice looking corridor, room and door pieces which are super fun for games of Deathwatch or Dark Heresy and any other sci-fi RPG you care to mention, or just for using in different little missions from the type in Imperial Armour IV: Anphelion Project to your own boarding actions.

Okay, fan boyism aside (is my nose clean?) this is a great game and combined with gins, whiskeys and turkey-mayo foldies (TM)1 it will tie you over through the cold dark months of winter, or the sunny warm nights of summer, or whenever. Seriously, just play it.

Unfortunately, with only two factions and twelve missions, the game can get old after a while. Even if you're the type to make your own missions, it gets a little repetitive. Thankfully, they've released four new missions with the box and three separate dataslates for Dark Angels, Ultramarines and Space Wolves (arwhoooo!).

“But, Lord Manton,” I hear you ask, “what about my Tau fire warriors? Or my buddy's Chaos Space Marines?” Well for a measly view of my blog (less than AU$19.99 for those counting) you can have them! So without further ado:

Space Hulk Alternate Rules

Chaos Space Marines

Power Armour:

Action Points: 4
Weapon: Bolt Gun
No “sustained fire”
No jamming
Weapon: Heavy Bolter
No move and shoot in a turn
Sustained Fire
1 AP to shoot
Plasma Gun
1 AP to shoot
Sustained fire
“Gets Hot” - On a 6+ while using sustained fire, the plasma gun will explode. The gun can no longer be used. The Marine uses a Bolt Gun from this point onwards.
“Lance” - On a successful hit, the plasma bolt will continue through to the model in the square immediately behind the original target.

These Power Armour rules can be used for loyalists as well as Chaos Marines, and you may want to use the Plasma Gun rules from the Dark Angels supplement.

Sorcerer
Similar rules to Librarian.
Force Weapon and Bolt Gun
Possession:
Range 12
Can turn one enemy model into a possessed/daemon
Cost: 3 Psi Points
Target rolls D6 – on a 4+ it is possessed.
Once per turn
Space Marine is dead, new model is under Chaos Player's control.
A possessed marine (or Fire Warrior) acts exactly as a genestealer
Daemon Prince
Same rules as Brood Lord
Group Possession:
The Daemon Prince is a fearsome creature of the Warp with enhanced psychic abilities. He may possess an entire room if there is no Librarian present in the room.
Cost: 3 Psi Points, +1 point per model possessed after the first. (10 Psi Point limit)
Possession: Same as Sorceror.
The Librarian's Psychic Hood and arcane knowledge of the Force the Warp means that he cannot be targeted by Possession or Group Possession.


Tau

Fire Warriors:

Action Points: 4

Pulse Rifle: 1D6 – 5+

Overwatch: 1 AP – Jam on a roll of 1

“Shoot around corners” - as the Fire Warriors do not have the bulky armour of Terminators or Space Marines, they may use corners as cover. A Fire Warrior adjacent to a corner may shoot down the corridor to which he is adjacent.

“Fire in ranks” - The lack of bulky armour means that a Fire Warrior may shoot over the top
of up to two of his squad mates, if they are all in adjacent squares.
Grenades: A single Fire Warrior may be equipped with grenades.
Range: 4
Area Affect – When using a grenade, roll a D6. On the roll of a 4+ the grenade explodes
with an area affect the same as the Flame template.
Throw away – When a model is targeted by a grenade he may throw it away on a roll of 6+
A grenade may be used to open a blocked door.

Fire Warrior Sargeant
Pulse Rifle – 2D6 – 5+
Overwatch – Jams on doubles

Gun Drone
Action Points: 6
Always on Overwatch
Does not Jam
Can move and shoot over the top of friendlies.

Gun Drones are fragile and have no close combat capabilities. Therefore, in melee, the Gun
Drone is immediately destroyed – no roll is necessary.


So those are the rules! They've been tested fairly thoroughly and from memory they play pretty well. I used to think that the Tau were horribly OP but it turns out I'm just not very good at the game.

Feel free to use these and please let me know what you think.


1It's a type of sandwich. You only need one slice of bread!

[Gamgee]

Tau don't send FW into spacehulks. They have a specially designed battle suit. According to the Ark of Lost Souls for Deathwatch.

[DETHMOKIL]

Yeah, I'm really surprised that you did use stealth suits for tau. They would be lighter and faster then Terminators but less weapon options.

You can make a rule that they forced to fallback using their jets, when the 'Stealers get to close, a sort of moral test, that can cause them to bunch up, and unwilling to hold a bulkhead.

They could also be good enemies for the terminators to fight, using there stealth suits as a reason for them to be hidden in the hulk, and Termies have to deal with ambushes and such.

[Lord Manton]

I did not know that... It makes way more sense than sending in lightly-armoured guys with basically zero life support systems. TBH I used FW because those were the models I had.
Anyone had a chance to play these yet btw?