Blips

On a Space Hulk, the Marines are on unfamiliar territory, facing unknown odds. The assault vessels’ deep radar has given them some idea of the layout of the space hulk but is not able to tell them how many Tyranids are lurking within.

To combat this problem, Marines are equipped with a Sensorium, hooked up to multiple scanners including Auspex scanners (Life-detectors). When the Marines are inside the hulk, the sensorium constantly scan the surrounding corridors of the vessel for alien life-forms, showing concentrations of life as dots on a video (earning the nickname ‘blip’). The scanners are not always precise, being unable to tell whether a life-form reading comes from one Tyranid or two or three moving close together. Thus, until a Marine sees a Blip, they won’t know exactly how many Tyranid units there are.

These are represented as Blip counters. The underside shows either 1, 2 or 3. The Stealer player moves these around the board, face-down, until they wish to convert them to Tyranid models, or until a Marine gains LOS to them.

These counters are moved around the board exactly as a Stealer unit but with the exception that they do NOT need to use facing rules.
Blip counters can never move within the Line of Sight of a Marine unit. If the Stealer player wishes to move the units represented by the Blip into the view of the Marine unit, the Blip must be revealed BEFORE moving it (see Revealing Blips below)
Each Blip has a number representing its size, 1, 2 or 3. This number is used by the Tyranid player to bring on Genestealers or other special units that they may have purchased in their Team Setup. Units cost different values, and the number on the Blip is the total number of points they can spend on the units.

Example: If a 2 Blip was revealed, thats 2 points to spend. You could get 2 units that cost 1 point each, 2 units that cost 0.5 points and 1 unit that costs 1 point, or just 1 unit that costs 2 points.

Genestealer – 1pt
Hormagaunt – 0.5pt
Hybrid with Heavy Stubber – 1pt
Hybrid with Seismic Cannon – 1pt
Hybrid with Mining Laser – 1pt
Corripiofax – 2pts
Inmolotor – 2pts
1st Level Psyker Hybrid with Flamer – 2pts
2nd Level Psyker Hybrid with Shotgun – 2pts
2nd Level Psyker Hybrid with Autogun – 2pts
3rd Level Psyker Hybrid with Bolt Pistol or Auto Pistol – 2pts
Broodlord – 3pts
4th Level Cult Magus – 3pts

The Tyranid player always have 22 Genestealer units (in infinite supply) but all others are purchased during their Team Setup and placed to one side, in an area known as the Tyranid Units Pool.

Blip Movement

When activated, a Blip counter has 6APs with which to spend but they have a limited amount of actions they can perform.

Blips have no facing. They move in any direction at the cost of 1AP; they never turn.
Blips cannot move into a Marine’s LOS; the Marine player should point this out, and the Blip is returned to the last square that was out of the Marine’s LOS. That Blip’s move immediately ends; it may not do anything for the rest of the current Phase.
Blips cannot move to a square adjacent to a Marine, even if the Marine is facing another direction and has no LOS to the Blip.

Examining Blips

The Tyranid player is free to examine Blips – that is, pick them up and see the number they represent – at any time. The Marine player cannot examine Blip counters until they are to be converted.

Blip Conversion

This ability to hide numbers is a great tactical advantage for the Tyranids. The Tyranid player will want to try and keep their numbers hidden for as long as possible. There will be times, however, when the Tyranid player will want to voluntarily or be forced to reveal a blip. This is known as Blip conversion.

To convert a Blip, you simply turn it over to show the number on the back. There are 3 types of conversion:

Voluntary conversion
Voluntary upgrade conversion
Line of Sight (LOS) conversion

Voluntary Conversion

This is simply where the Tyranid player decides they want to reveal the Blip. It could be for any reason like they want to enter an Air-duct (Blips cannot enter Air-ducts; they MUST be converted first). Voluntary conversion can only be done during the Tyranid players’s Action phase.

The Blip counter is simply turned over so the Marine player can see the number. Placement of Tyranid units is covered below.

The Tyranid player can only voluntarily convert a Blip either BEFORE or AFTER it has moved. NEVER during its movement.

Voluntary Upgrade Conversion

This is identical to the Voluntary conversion except the number of units is different because it is being upgraded by use of a Tactical card.

It could be that a 2 Blip is upgraded to a 4 Blip. Therefore, instead of having 2 points to spend on units, you have 4 points instead.

Again, the Tyranid player can voluntarily convert a Blip via a Tactical card upgrade either BEFORE or AFTER it has moved. NEVER during its movement.

Line of Sight (LOS) Conversion

This is when a Blip gets within the LOS of a Marine unit; because a Marine unit has moved, now being able to see it, or an object or unit that blocks LOS has moved and the Blip is now seen.

In this case, the Marine player converts the Blip. The Tyranid player may use a Tactical card to upgrade the Blip. The Marine player places the units NOT the Tyranid player. This represents the Tyranid units being seen off guard. However, the Tyranid player chooses the facing.

Converting Blips

Blips are converted by either the Tyranid player or the Marine player based on the rules above. In this section we will refer to the player converting the units as the Converter.

First, the Tyranid player choose which units to bring on, spending the available points as shown on the Blip counter.

Genestealer – 1pt
Hormagaunt – 0.5pt
Hybrid with Heavy Stubber – 1pt
Hybrid with Seismic Cannon – 1pt
Hybrid with Mining Laser – 1pt
Corripiofax – 2pts
Inmolotor – 2pts
1st Level Psyker Hybrid with Flamer – 2pts
2nd Level Psyker Hybrid with Shotgun – 2pts
2nd Level Psyker Hybrid with Autogun – 2pts
3rd Level Psyker Hybrid with Bolt Pistol or Auto Pistol – 2pts
Broodlord – 3pts
4th Level Cult Magus – 3pts

The Genestealer units are the only unit type that are in constant supply. There are 22 Genestealer units that can be placed on the board at any time. When they are killed, they are placed back into the Tyranid Units Pool. When any other, special units are killed, they are not placed back in Available Units Pool. They cannot be used again in this mission (unless special rules state so).

Now, the unit or units will need to be placed on the board.

In the case of only one Tyranid unit being converted, the unit is simply placed on the square where the Blip counter was located.
If two or three units are converted, then one unit is always placed on the square where the Blip counter was located, and the others are placed on squares located adjacent to the Blip location.
If there are no available squares for any units to be placed, then they are lost.
If there are no more physical Tyranid models to place on the board then they are lost. (see Game Components)
The Tyranid player always chooses the facing of the Tyranid units.
If the Converter is the Tyranid player, all units must be place out of LOS of any Marine unit. If this is not possible then those units are lost. This represents the fact that the Marine unit(s) could not see the Tyranid units before it was converted so it shouldn’t be able to after.

Credits

Original Game Design: Richard Halliwell.
This Advanced Edition Revision: Ken Allen
Original Expansions and Revisions Design: Jervis Johnson, Matt Forbeck and Andy Chambers.
Additional Material: Paul Murphy, Alex Goh, Dean H. Bass and Martin Kay.
Illustrators: Dave Andrews, John Blanche, Wayne England, David Gallagher, Jes Goodwin, Pete Knifton, Ian Miller, Steve Tappin, Kevin Walker, Paul Bonner, Fangorn, Mark Gibbons, Paul Green, Gary Harrod, Tony Hough, Richard Wright, Tony Ackland, Nick Coleman and Ken Allen.
Tactical Cards and Additional Counter Designs: Ken Allen
Copyright: All original game design, artwork, concepts and story are owned by Games Workshop: UK – Games Workshop, Willow Road, Lenton, Nottingham, NG7 2WS – US – Games Workshop, 6711 Baymeadow Drive, Suite A, Glen Burnie, Maryland 21060-6401 – Australia – Games Workshop, 23 Liverpool Street, Ingleburn, NSW 2565 – Canada – Games Workshop, 2679 Bristol Circle, Unit 3, Oakville, Ontario, L6H 6Z8

The owner of this web site advises visitors to buy original products, where available, from Games Workshop. The contents of this site are intended as additional fan-made material for existing owners of the original editions of Space Hulk by Games Workshop only.