28 October 2009

Space Hulk: A question on the Guard order

Being a veteran 1st edition player I keep forgetting to use the Guard order, but my son loves it and uses it well. But whats the point of fighting in melee in your own turn now? Consider a H2H specialist in particular (Thunder Hammer or Lightning Claws): if a Stealer is 2 spaces away, I could move up to it and have two attack opportunities for my 4 AP OR I can move fwd 2 spaces and go on Guard. That way when the stealer attacks in his own turn, I get to re-roll 1 of my attack die if it goes badly. If I choose option 1 above, I get no re-roll. This means that its better to sit back and give the initiative over rather than attack in my own turn. For storm bolter/assault cannon marines, I get an advantage to shooting in my own phase vice the stealer phase in overwatch (sustained fire bonus, no jams) but for Assault Termies the reverse is true. Don't get me wrong, I think guard is an excellent development for the game, just trying to get my head around it. Thoughts everyone? This question was also posted to BGG here: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/457219

4 comments:

  1. It's a fair point. My Sergeant with Thunder Hammer and Storm Shield in particular never goes on the offensive in assault as he's exceptionally hard to shift in guard mode.
    I guess the flip side is you're not going anywhere fast when you're guarding or going on overwatch and that means you're not closing in on your objective.
    A wily Genestealer player will just park Genestealers in front of your stubbornly guarding assault marine and force him to make the decision to assault. Do this in a corridor and everything comes to a halt allowing the Genestealer plenty of time to horde up his blips and/or flank the marines.

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  2. Oh I completely agree - being static will quickly lose the SM player the game. I just wanted to make sure I hadnt missed anything in my reading of the Guard rule.

    I think its a great addition to the game. I could always see the Assault terminators looking over at their storm bolter armed bretheren on overwatch and thnking "Lucky Bugger...."!

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  3. Yeah, can't help but feel a bit sorry for the old Assault Marines. Genestealers coming round the corner saying, "You call that an assault weapon? This is an assault weapon!" :)

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  4. LOL - now I've images of a Genestealer with Crocodile Dundess's face!

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