Space Marine Board Game Unboxed.

 I did something I didn't think I would ever get around to doing, I posted a video on YouTube. It's a simple and crude thing, but it was fun and spontaneous as I was genuinely excited to get this today. 

This is the exclusive to Target Space Marine boardgame. The game comes with 23 miniatures, 20 Termagants, 2 Ripper Swarms and the lone Space Marine himself, Lieutenant Titus. This is exclusive to Target and retailed for $39.99. I am sure you won't be able to get 10 Termagants for that price let alone 20 of them, and you know Titus won't be any cheaper. It comes with board tiles for the game that are printed on heavy boards, sling shot ammo dice, and a measuring device. 

And slick booklet that contains the rules to the game with some tutorials for learning how to play it. You kids today and your fancy tutorials! Back in my day, when we got Space Crusade we were thrown right into the fray, tutorials be damned! It also has one of those odd photos of people with strange haircuts awkwardly having way more fun playing 40k then you'll ever seen in reality. A good portion of the booklet is devoted to introducing you to the larger world of Ultramarines and Tyranids.

I touched on this in the video when  I found this, but the cardboard counters aren't perforated. This may seem to be a nitpicky thing to harp on,  but remember, this is a game intended to introduce someone unfamiliar with the larger Games Workshop / Warhammer experience, at least make it easier for these players (most of whom are likely to be kids) to actually play this thing. 

I thought about that more after I stopped recording the video. In particular I compared it to some of the boxed games that GW makes in conjuction with Barnes & Noble as this set is along those lines. Those games usually have perforated game pieces and a plastic tray for mounting your figures in for storage. They are a classier presentation in that regard, but to be fair, I don't think it's conceivable to make a storage tray for 23 miniatures for a box of this size. (Just wait, someone will be selling a laser cut foam one soon just to make me eat those words). The games sold through B&N rarely have more than 10 miniatures included in them and usually have cards and a lot more tokens also. 

All-all, I am pleased with this set. It's a good value and looks like a fun way to introduced someone to miniatures gaming. Hopefully I will be able to put this to the test at some point.