Have you timed your Space Hulk timer?

[Angelic Despot]

I seem to remember that in first edition the Space Marine player was supposed to have 3 minutes for his turn.

I bought two copies of the new edition and noticed that my two timers had different quantities of sand in them.

So I timed them. One is 3.07, the other is 3.17.

So, now I know which to let my opponent use when I'm playing as the genestealers and which to use when I'm playing the terminators! :D

How long do other people's timers last for?

[MonsterZero]

I timed mine at 2:55 and I've seen others as little as 2:50. I've not yet run out of time in all the games I've played, but I may get a digital stop watch or something to get me that extra 5 seconds. Although... the rule book doesn't say "3 minutes" it says "The amount of time is determined by the sand-filled timer..."

So, RAW means you use the sand timer and not a stopwatch. :eek:

MZ

[rev]

3.01 is mine. was impressed.

[Angelic Despot]

So, RAW means you use the sand timer and not a stopwatch. :eek:


True! I did notice that! Which was partly why I wondered just how long (and how uniform) other people's timers were.

It probably doesn't matter hugely, as long as you do swap sides as you're supposed to (and do use the same timer for both games!).

[Grumpy Ripper]

True! I did notice that! Which was partly why I wondered just how long (and how uniform) other people's timers were.

It probably doesn't matter hugely, as long as you do swap sides as you're supposed to (and do use the same timer for both games!).

but it dosnt say you cant modify the timer ;)

humm what to do i only have 2 hours to make my moves :p

[oni]

I just timed mine at 2:58. That's good enough for me.

[Dj Batman]

Our timer jammed a few times so if we had left it we could have had unlimited time for our turns. It was my turn using the space marines when I foolishly spotted it and fixed it... My mate even pointed out my silliness :P oh well i think it part of the fun!

[Dunadan]

Lucky! My timer runs out at 2min 30 sec. At least we don't have to calculate and dump out 15 seconds worth of sand every time we lose a sergeant.

[oni]

Personally, I think the time rule should just be ignored.

[Gir]

I agree. My group ignores the time rule, and rolls a D6 for CP's. Hiding them from the stealer player doesn't change much, and it makes the game so much more fluid.

[oni]

I agree. My group ignores the time rule, and rolls a D6 for CP's. Hiding them from the stealer player doesn't change much, and it makes the game so much more fluid.

OOoo... I like that. Roll a D6 and place that number chip on the command dashboard and count it down.

[Gamerfunk]

3 min 22 sec to 3 min 25sec not to bad..

[oni]

Because everyone's timers are so inconsistant I'm definitely inclined to say "toss them in the trash bin".

[miteyheroes]

Because everyone's timers are so inconsistant I'm definitely inclined to say "toss them in the trash bin".

If this was 40k, or a tournament, or something Serious, I'd be inclined to agree.

But considering that this is just a light-hearted boardgame, does it really matter? If you toss out the timer, you don't get to use the cool timer, don't see the sand slipping away in front of your eyes.

When you factor in the fact that you're meant to both swap sides (so normally both use the same timer and have the same advantage/disadvantage), I see absolutely no reason to not carry on with the timers.

[Prometheus]

My roomate and I have played 2 games so far (Mission 1 then 2). He always plays the Space Marines and I the Genestealers. So far he has yet to run out of time, but I stress so far. I have seen the later missions and I suspect that some of them will involve the timer alot more.

We have also talked about not using the chips for the Command Points and rolling a D6 and agreed it was the same odds. We also agree that the Genestealer player not knowing the number of Command Points is really more important then one first thinks. As the Genestealer player there has definetly been a few times when I didn't take an action becuse I did not know how many points he had left. Admittedly I'm not a fan of the whole" after each round the Genestealer player needs to look at the Command chip to make sure the Space Marine player didn't cheat", but I really like whole "mystery" of the chips.

I have read other people on other forums even mention that they don't think the blips are important and they just play with Genestealers visable to both players. They still use the blips to find out how many Genestealers they get however.

[Firaya]

I agree. My group ignores the time rule, and rolls a D6 for CP's. Hiding them from the stealer player doesn't change much, and it makes the game so much more fluid.

Imho by using a hidden Command Point system, you apply a slight amount of pressure on the Genestealers when it comes to weapon jam repairs. For example, if an opponent knew you have 6 CPs to spare, he will delay his advance for a turn, since you can potentially have up to 6 repairs. If he didn't know however, he might be tempted to try to rush a model, only to lose a model or two before realizing you might have 6 CPs to spare.

Of course, there's also the joy of scaring the Genestealer into thinking you might have 6, when you only have 1 CP. It's all about psychology :D

[oni]

Imho by using a hidden Command Point system, you apply a slight amount of pressure on the Genestealers when it comes to weapon jam repairs. For example, if an opponent knew you have 6 CPs to spare, he will delay his advance for a turn, since you can potentially have up to 6 repairs. If he didn't know however, he might be tempted to try to rush a model, only to lose a model or two before realizing you might have 6 CPs to spare.

Of course, there's also the joy of scaring the Genestealer into thinking you might have 6, when you only have 1 CP. It's all about psychology :D

Right on. I didn't think about that angle. I still don't like the timer though.

[Abominable Plague Marine]

haha, mine jammed first time I tried to time it...............

[Angelic Despot]

haha, mine jammed first time I tried to time it...............

Did you have enough Command Points to clear it? :D

[Abominable Plague Marine]

hehe, indeed.

[AsgeirArnald]

haha, mine jammed first time I tried to time it...............

Mine jammed the first three times. And I'm only getting 2:27 out of it now that its stopped jamming. Into the garbage it goes...

[Commander Dante]

I seem to remember that in first edition the Space Marine player was supposed to have 3 minutes for his turn.

I bought two copies of the new edition and noticed that my two timers had different quantities of sand in them.

So I timed them. One is 3.07, the other is 3.17.

So, now I know which to let my opponent use when I'm playing as the genestealers and which to use when I'm playing the terminators! :D

How long do other people's timers last for?



I use a digital stop-clock that beeps every 30 seconds of whatever time I set it to count down from, so it not only makes it easy to keep track of, but adds to the Marine players feeling of being under pressure as they hear the alarm going off (a push of button mutes the alarm and continues the countdown).


The timer is a very important part of the atmosphere of the game, and an important balancing factor for the Genestealers.

The base time for any game is 2:00 minutes, with + :30 seconds for EACH sergeant & captain in play (Captains also add 2 CP each), and + :30 seconds for having ANY psykers in play (not each psyker).

Of course, these are 1st. Edition rules (the only rules worth playing, with the addition of Guard stancefrom 3rd.)



Last point:

Ditch the sand timer, get a stopwatch that beeps on countdown. It adds fun, suspense, and atmosphere to Space Hulk.