Adeptus Fortuitus: Talisman - The Horus Heresy

I didn't realise how much I wanted a Warhammer 40k themed Talisman game until I read the press release announcing Talisman: The Horus Heresy [official site] a few minutes ago (edit: I had entirely forgotten about Relic!). Set during the titular conflict, which pitted Space Marines against one another in a galactic civil war, the digital boardgame supports 1-4 players and looks like it might be more than a thematic makeover. Nomad Games reckon the "combative team play" will make the game somewhat different to the Talisman ruleset on which it is based. One thing seems certain - Rab is going to be over the (red) moon.

I love Warhammer 40,000. You could fit what I actually know for sure about the whole fictional universe on the back of a large napkin but every time I see a picture of a space marine (which is fairly often in this line of work) I find myself exploring wiki pages, reading about the dark theology of this weird future-time. It's preposterously extravagantly horrible and glorious in a way that fascinates me, and has done since I first bought some of the source books from a carboot sale as a youngster.

When I read that this new Talisman will let me command one of eighteen Space Marine Legions, I immediately saw myself reading the backstories of every single one of those legions. And the eight heroes and villains that make up the character pool.

I've spent some time with Nomad's digital adaptation of actual Talisman and enjoyed it well enough. Sometimes I feel as if I need to click more often than I'd like to, slowing the pace a little, but I've enjoyed being able to dabble with the expansions without taking up all of the table space in my house (one day I'll own a table big enough to play fully expanded Arkham Horror on comfortably, and that is the day I will finally be an adult). Whether this new take, which has been "tailored specifically for digital platforms", will be more or less effective I can't say until I know more. But we'll all know more soon enough.

The Horus Heresy is coming to PC and Mac in February.