My favourite game is probably Games Workshop's Space Hulk, which we used to play incessantly, from when it came out in 1989. Space Hulk is a game set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe in which heavily armed marines are pitted against savage insectoid aliens. The game is played on a series of interlocking card sections, representing the corridors of a space ship.

The marines had to accomplish various missions under constant attack from a foe with seemingly unlimited numbers. (Curiously like the film 'Aliens'). There were two further expansion sets - Deathwing and Genestealer and a book of campaign missions which also contained the rules for Marine vs. Marine and in about 1994 Space Hulk Second Edition was released. It is currently out of production but it was a popular game, so a lot of second hand sets are still knocking about.

Elegant simplicity
The most outstanding point of the rules is their simplicity. Experienced players do not need to consult the rules during play because there are so few that they can be remembered in their entirety after a few games, including the numbers required on dice rolls. The ideal wargame should be a blend of luck and skill, but a failing of many simple sets of rules is that there is little opportunity to exercise tactics or experience, making them largely a matter of luck. In Space Hulk, however, the simplicity is appealing rather than shallow because the simple rules combine to create a complex whole with a high proportion of skill. The experienced player will beat a beginner every time.

Airtight rules
Not many rules systems are sufficiently airtight to avoid competitions degenerating into aggravated hair splitting, but another bonus is that Space Hulk can be played competitively without the need for an umpire. The grid based board means that there can be no arguable ambiguities due to measurement and the simple rules have little room for conflicting or ambiguous items.

Critical timing
Space Hulk also contains a couple of innovative twists. The marine player has only a limited amount of time to complete his turn which adds an element of the 'Aliens' style tension. The army lists in the 'Deathwing' expansion had an option to reduce the time per turn to save points which could be spent on more troops, allowing the Marine player to gamble on his swift decision making.

Bluff and Counter bluff
The Command Point system was also excellent. A marine player secretly rolled a number at the beginning of the turn which is kept secret till the end of the turn. These points can either be used for additional actions in the marine turn, or they can be reserved till the enemy turn, when they can be used to react to enemy actions. As well as the tactical decision of blowing them all on fast movement or holding them back for defensive fire, this also introduces an element of bluff and surprise. If you have low command points, you might manoeuvre aggressively, even using a couple on fairly trivial moves to trick the other player into assuming you have lots and holding off his attack.

A silver cloud's black lining
Every rose has its thorn and this includes even Space Hulk. The psychic rules brought in with Genestealer grossly unbalanced the game, because a single psychic was generally worth more than all the non-psychic troops in the force put together. The former undisputed king of Marine vs. Marine games was the Assault Cannon, but even this fearsome weapon was largely useless against even the lowest rank of psyker. Unfortunately all but one of the campaigns in the Space Hulk Campaigns book make heavy use of psykers, so if like us you never use them, the missions require considerable adaption.

Retrograde step
Although the Second Edition rules were largely identical, they made a critical change to the Command Point system, that they were no longer allowed to be used in the enemy turn. At a stroke much of the strategic complexity was wiped out, and command points became merely a random action point bonus. The flamer rules were also changed, and although this made them less abstract, the difference between the standard weapons and the area effect flamer was reduced. The board sections and plastic Terminators looked far superior to the First Edition, but the rules tweaks ruined it. Use the playing pieces from it, but stick to the old ones.

My favourite type of Space Hulk game is probably a simple three way Marine vs. Marine skirmish, in which three equal forces of marines are pitted against each other, but all the different types of mission play very well indeed. Being the alien player leaves less tactical options, but it's so satisfying when the first alien breaks through the barrage of fire and dismantles a marine.

Scour the bring-and-buy and get yourself a copy.