Ideas for gimmicks to spice up missions

[Kurgan]

So just a little brainstorming here (since my set is still on order, some of these might have been used already):

- hostage rescue (escort them to safety? heal their injuries? tag them for teleportation out of there?)
- quell prison riot
- stealth (avoid sounding the alarm, don't let the guards give you away, hide the bodies)
- recover stolen artifacts
- recover the biological samples / medicine / bioweapon / fuel source (Edit: The computer game has you recover a scientist's brain)
- recover pieces of super weapon / super tech - (Edit: This appears in the computer game as well as experimental weapon)
- discover bonus weapons cache
- find useful scrap
- assemble weapon that can then be used
- acquire secret enemy plans
- meet with defector/informant
- find out what happened to lost group/captain who went mad, etc.
- fix the leaks in the system before time runs out
- alarm sounds, releasing hidden additional enemies
- factory that builds new robots/monster generator (I believe this was used in an official mission or expansion)

- capture: certain enemy (or enemies) need to be taken alive
- additional factions - Eldar ok... Space Dwarves? Renegade robots?

- enemies that can "corrupt" space marine (Gene Stealers or Androids... even Chaos Space Marines could do this in various ways)
- stop the contagion! alternately, rescue your men from the contamination (cure? reverse the roboticization process?)

- teleport pads

-"darkness" (batteries for night vision?)
-Jamming fields (forced to use melee, or reduced effectiveness of certain weapons)
- explosive containers/poisoned air (maybe certain weapons have a chance to cause danger to the user restricting their use?)
- Low Gravity mission (adjustments to movement somehow? limited air?)
- Super soldier enemies (extra life points, stronger armor, nifty weapons, or Psyker abilities, similar to your Chaos sorcerers or named characters in HeroQuest)

- Take and hold the ship during waves of respawning enemies (or a kind of reverse boarding action... the enemies are the ones boarding) - keep the enemy out for a certain amount of rounds to win

- traps (explosives, acid, blades, etc) sweep up the mines!

- destroy the equipment (scuttle the ship?) independent of defeating the enemy

- reclaiming a ship: hack the computers / seal the doors / restore the power to the systems so you can get the weapon systems on line

- parley with the enemy - bribe, duel, truce, drops extra weapon or item, make ally, etc. (think the Lone Monster deck)

- crossover with HeroQuest, Battle Masters

[Anderas]

I recognize some of these looking forward to see some of them in their final state!

[Kurgan]

The seller advised me of a delay in the shipping of my set, but that doesn't stop me thinking of more gimmicks!

- Solve the riddles/puzzles by the evil (?) computer controlling the ship

- complete series of missions to impression your superior/ gain the trust of target group you are infiltrating on spy mission
- disrupt enemy supply line / cut off enemy communications / intercept hidden messages
- crash the enemy ship (but escape just in time)
- escape from crashing/sabotaged ship
- clean up toxic sludge (maybe slows you down or gunks up weapons)

- defeat the enemy leader in honorable combat - when you do, his faction will surrender / join your side

- aide friendly/potentially friendly faction in their battle against the enemy (avoid friendly fire)

- (like the werewolf curse from HeroQuest) figures roll on their turn to see if they are impacted by "space virus" or weapons malfunction due to radiation field... until a fix/cure/decontamination occurs

- theater shields - have to get within a certain distance of enemies to be able to use ranged weapons (vs. having to use melee only as in the case with maybe some other type of field) -disable shield generators

- secure area(s) so your own reinforcements can arrive

- hack the Dreadnought /robots so they fight for your side

- free the captured ferocious creature and it will be unleashed on the enemy (just don't be in its way when it does!)

- usable vehicles = hover boards (I'm thinking about the Unreal Tournament series here) might make it easier to traverse rough terrain or avoid certain hazards

- acid blood / exploding enemies = melee attacks against certain aliens become costly and dangerous

- destroy the eggs/disable the robot generators before they "hatch" or re-program them to release friendly units

- some type of "Capture the Flag" or Place/Diffuse the Bomb match between teams. team deathmatch ("training" with non-lethal weapons)? might require some rule tinkering. not saying go full Blood Bowl here but might be useful to consult other attempts at this.

[Kurgan]

Looking over the mission titles, I see that in the computer version of Space Crusade, there are a couple of interesting mission variants.. one says you have to locate the preserved brain of one of the Emperor's top scientists and you get a bonus for safely carrying the brain to the exit.

Another has them gather an experimental weapon.

Another says that the Aliens are trying to construct the "Cube of Chaos" that would allow a rip in space through which the Realm of Chaos itself could enter the universe.

I haven't played through the missions of the computer game to try to map it out, but cool ideas I don't see in the board game version...

Unless someone else has already converted them? I see HeroScribe allows creation of Space Crusade style maps...

(below is a clean copy of mission 1 from the basic board game)

[Kurgan]

I wonder about adding Life points to characters. What if a single squad of marines is facing the Aliens, but the non-commander soldiers have 2 instead of 1? I like the idea of the Chaos Space Marines having more. Maybe 4 for the evil commander and 2 for each of the others?

I should probably learn the base game first!

[Anderas]

Space Crusade has a set up problem.
I several times ecountered a silence, where everyone was thinking "was this all? Did we forget something?"
Talking about 12-year-old-me.

* Choosing equipment, choosing commands for every player. Choosing Weapons (ok, easy choice); choosing where to put the targeter. Set up the Marines.
* The evil guy meanwhile sorts through all the Blips and chooses certain fitting to the mission; sets up the game board and the boarding points, also all the doors.

Normally, that's not so much, right? But by involving everyone, there is always someone who thinks he has forgotten something (or really has)

So if you have an idea for that, it would make the game better

[Kurgan]

You mean like having a checklist to make sure nothing was forgotten?

I guess if it's an organizational thing then "Zargon" (or "Alien Warlord" or whatever you want to call him in this case... leader of the alien forces) would simply guide each player through their tasks then say what he is doing when he does his own tasks, rather than everyone scrambling together and then going "hmm... did I do everything I was supposed to?"

After setup, It looks like there isn't much else for the players to do other than move and attack. Searching (scanning) is automatic. Defense is automatic (melee means both have to roll to see who hits the other). Once the bad guys are dead (most of the time), survivors move to the exit.

I watched a little game being played and thought it was very fast paced, compared to what I'm used to with HeroQuest and four heroes searching everywhere for things and casting spells. The board is smaller, and there are very few corridors. Movement is fixed so no worries about low rolls there. Small life point totals mean quick deaths for human and alien alike.

The Alien commander is drawing a card on his turn (similar to the "Evil Wizard Deck" but anytime, not just when he has no monsters). The squad leaders are drawing a card when they can on their turn, similar to casting magic or using a "Combat Card." The GM is reminding them what they can do on a turn until it becomes second nature but the first time may be slower and more awkward like any new game.

Just seeing a single squad go against the aliens ended rather quickly, so it would seem at least two squads is needed for a complete feeling game. I know others have commented on the "scaling problem."

But until I play it myself with others I guess I won't quite know.

As with Battle Masters, I'm a n00b at this game, so I'm open to suggestions on how to make it better!

I was thinking you could straight up just play the game like HeroQuest (albeit with a different board, different "skills," weapons and figures) but maybe keep the blip tokens idea and fixed movement, but then you'd have to write in parchment text otherwise it will be a little more boring (only treasure deck draws, no secret doors or traps, no furniture... what would the wandering monster be? you decide or maybe roll for a random one).

[Gold Bearer]

If you've got Mission Dreadnought you can give each chapter unique loadout rules, I don't think I ever posted this here.

Blood Angels: Seven man squads with standard game weapons except up to five bolters.
Imperial Fists: Five man sqauds with standard game weapons except they get the tarantula.
Ultra Marines: Seven man squads with standard game weapons except they get the three extra heavy weapons.

The imperial fists can still have all three heavy weapons because the commander has a combi-weapon and they'll be two spare marines for rescue missions and such.
If you have the eldar squad too then maybe they get seven man squads with all their weapons available.


Prototype androids were a favourite of mine to use. Move: 6, AV: 3, Shoot: 1R+2W, H-t-H: 2R+1W.

[Kurgan]

Cool ideas! I wasn't lucky enough to score the Dreadnought pack, but I am supposed to be getting the Eldar expansion with my core set in a few weeks (hopefully). Sadly for those outside of Europe it's a more expensive set, but I'll keep an eye out for deals all the same!

The one thing I'm not short on is Orks, as I have a partial 40K box that a family member gifted me some time ago because he was tired of painting it. Maybe they could serve as mercenaries or something rather than just more cannon fodder. For now I am thinking a whole pirate crew with jolly pirate nicknames (and different abilities). There are small size Orks and bigger ones that could be bosses or whatever I wanted I guess for a more Ork themed mission or series. Maybe you have to infiltrate their crew or something (control an Ork?). Or you win their respect for mutual advantage or temporary alliance.

Perhaps they've gone rogue themselves... (see "not all Orcs are evil" in 2021 HeroQuest).

Hey I know, an Orkish civil war. You help the one Ork captain re/gain power during a mutiny or invasion, and in exchange they provide you helpful information/materials.


Footage of the computer game in action (DOS) here on youtube.

Another good video, on Atari ST (beware: speakers!) : here.

Mentions "Soul Suckers" replace Gene Stealers in the video game version. The "Alien Player" also gets a few different faces. There are piles of debris (?) that have to be shot to bypass.

Atari ST version again (beware: speakers!) here

Amiga version (beware: speakers!) here

Looks like it also came out for C64, ZX Speccy and Amstrad computers. There was second computer game called "the Voyage Beyond."

After the success of the original Space Crusade, Gremlin Graphics created 10 new levels. These had higher difficulty than the previous ones, and included new monsters and game features. This edition includes the original game and the new levels, making for 22 levels in total; a lower-priced pack with just the new levels was also released at the same time.

The "starquest" titled video games have nothing to do with space crusade. There are of course 40K and Space Hulk games as well out there...

[Gold Bearer]

For now I am thinking a whole pirate crew with jolly pirate nicknames

Is that a quote from The Crow? One of my all time favourite films, that and Gladiator.

Perhaps they've gone rogue themselves... (see "not all Orcs are evil" in 2021 HeroQuest).

The Bloodaxe tribe in 40k work with humans.

Those bigger ones are nobs (short for nobles which to orks means being big). There's rules in a White Dwarf for using an ork squad in Space Crusade, er 135 or around that. It has nine standard boyz (two with plasma kannons that shoot with 2R+2W but can't move and shoot) and they're lead by a nob who has the same equipment choices as the marines except a plasma pistol instead of a heavy bolter (2R, range 12). Their cards are very similar to blood angels.

Atari ST version (beware: speakers!) here

I had that! Played hours and hours on that game waaay back when. Did you see that there's a really good fan made cpu game that's exactly like the board game and its expansions. Made by Lurch something I think, Lurchbrick?