Article by Prodigal
We're all Space Hulk fans, right?
Well, maybe some of you aren't, but I get the general impression that
Space Hulk is one of the most beloved games in GW's long history.
Certainly, my beautiful 3rd edition Space Hulk box is one of my
prized gaming posessions (and I'm still painting it to my
satisfaction!). It's a tight, tense and (at least for the
marines...) extremely difficult. It has spawned countless "dudes
in a hall" style games, but it remains one of the pinnacles of
the genre. Well, I have to say that I believe that there is a game
that was recently released that I think is frankly a straight up
better game than Space Hulk.
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| The full mission board. |
That game is Level 7: Omega Protocol.
That may sound familiar to some of you as it's publisher, Privateer
Press, released another game simply called Level 7 a few years ago.
The original game received a rather tepid response and a bit of head
scratching for Privateer's decision to use cardboard stand-ups in
place of actual miniatures (??). Well, it seems that they heard all
of the complaints of that design decision and their subsequent game
in the Level 7 setting includes plenty of excellent albeit soft
plastic miniatures. But let's put production decisions aside for a
moment and talk about what makes this game so compelling: the rules.
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| My 3 marines advancing on a gas-filled room with clones lurking out of sight. |
Like Space Hulk, a team of elite
marines moving through subterranean laboratories full of alien and
genetic aberrations. A single player controls all of the horrors
contained within. So far, sounds pretty familiar, right? What Omega
Protocol does is very carefully build on the basic Space Hulk engine,
adding extra detail and tactical depth without making a game that
feels fiddly or overly complex.
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| Reinforcements coming from the other side…I'm dead if they reach me before I deactivate the venting console. |
The marines, rather than being
identical with the exception of certain specialists, are all unique
in their abilities, and are further customizable by numerous "kit"
items that give them certain perks. These kit options are numerous
and allow for you to play as the same marine with subtly different
emphasis from mission to mission. Marines also must choose a
different "stance" for each turn. For example, a marine
may go prone, which would give an aiming and ranged defense bonus,
but slow their base movement and melee defense. All of this ends up
moving quite smoothly but creates a surprising amount of realism in
terms of adapting your team to meet changing circumstances. Instead
of just "protect the heavy flamer!", each member has a role
to play and each loss to the team is critical.
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| My Heavy Weapon Specialist and my Countermeasures Specialist lay down cover fire while my Recon unit tries frantically to shut down the vents. A Fear Hunter will reach me in 1 turn unless I can shoot it down with overwatch fire--it has 4 wounds and can run 21 spaces per turn. |
The alien overlord also gets to do more
than lurk and wait for the right moment to swarm the marines. Each
mission has a custom control panel for the overlord that clips
together from cleverly designed individual panel squares that gives
him specific abilities for the mission. These can range from the
ability to spawn more enemies from a vent to the ability to counter
attack and dodge attacks to much more dramatic effects like creating
cave-ins that block paths and damage marines.
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| The Fear Hunter's last moment before the Countermeasures Specialist puts one through the dome, finishing the job the Heavy Weapons Specialist started. With one would left, however, my Heavy Specialist may yet fall to the lurkers in cover behind the upper-left wall. |
The other very innovative feature of
the game is its action point system, called "adrenaline".
Each marine has a certain limit of how much adrenaline they can use
per turn (which changes depending on their current stance). You may
add adrenaline from the bank to your marines stat cards until they
have reached their max. But hold on, maybe you don't want to max out
your whole team each turn: you have to hand over your adrenaline to
the overlord for his use after your team is done. In that way, the
more you activate your marines, the more the overlord gets to
respond. It's a clever system that creates an interesting decision
tension for the marines and also guarantees that both sides are
acting in a fair an proportional manner.
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| Disaster! A second Fear Hunter rushes all the way from the southern hall and lunges straight for my Heavy. Fortunately, his extra armor I took for his load out saves him this turn. If my Recon unit doesn't finish deactivation the console this turn, this may be the end... |
I've been having a blast with the game
so far. I also appreciate that the game feels more balanced than
Space Hulk, which can at times feel utterly hopeless for the marines.
In all the missions I've played in Omega Protocol so far, I haven't
felt like one side had a clear upper hand and victory often came down
to a few key decisions. The production value is also quite good, if
obviously not up to the level of Space Hulk's 3rd edition, but
really, that's an unfair comparison to put any board game up against.
But the tiles are all attractive, and the miniatures are all quite
cool looking with a considerable amount of detail. If you aren't
familiar with working with soft plastic, don't be discouraged by the
inevitable discovery of a few severely warped minis when you open
your box. Boil a pot of water and pour a cup of icewater. Heat and
then quickly chill any warped minis to get them to straighten
up--it's the soft plastic equivalent of cleaning mold-lines.
I can't recommend this game highy
enough. It has the added benefit of accommodating up to six players,
and it has enough carnage to satisfy the most hardened tabletop
veteran. If you're a fan of this sort of game, this really ought to
be on your shelf.
