Space Hulk: The Board Game Games Workshop Keeps Locking Away

In 2009 a one-hundred-dollar board game sold out before it was even released, and its maker said there were no plans to print any more. That game was Space Hulk: a few Terminators, a maze of corridors, a sand timer, and something in the dark getting closer. This is the origin story of Space Hulk. From two school friends in England and a forgotten rulebook called Reaper, to Richard Halliwell's 1989 design, the Origins Awards, the early PC games, thirteen years out of print, the limited 20th-anniversary edition, and the reasons Games Workshop keeps bringing it back for a moment and locking it away again. Chapters 0:00 The game you could not buy 1:29 Two school friends 3:29 The box 5:57 The Marines always lose 7:38 Jumping to the screen 8:47 Thirteen years of nothing 10:22 The anniversary 12:43 The company that owns a word 14:08 Back, and gone, and back 15:29 The teaser 16:31 Why 17:35 The man who made it 18:02 Watch the timer Sources Wikipedia — Space Hulk; Richard Halliwell (game designer); Deathwing (board game); Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader (accessed Oct 2026) Games Workshop — "Space Hulk is Back!" announcement (Aug 2009) bit-tech — Space Hulk Third Edition review, Seth Barton (Dec 2011) There Will Be Games — Flashback Friday: Space Hulk retrospective Bell of Lost Souls — "Space Hulk – The Beans Spill" (Sep 2014) Tabletop Gaming — "Space Hulk is being reprinted by Games Workshop next week" (Nov 2016) Wargamer — Tyranid Attack board game; Space Hulk teaser coverage (2023–2024) Frontline Gaming — "GW Grognard: Farewell to one of the Greats" (Aug 2021) The Register — Games Workshop "space marine" trademark claim (Feb 2013) BBC News — "Row blows up over ownership of 'space marine' term" (Feb 2013) Electronic Frontier Foundation — "Trademark Bully Thwarted: Spots the Space Marine Back Online" (Feb 2013) Winston & Strawn — Games Workshop v. Chapterhouse Studios verdict, press release (Jun 2013) Games Workshop plc — Annual results FY2026, regulatory announcement (Jul 2026) Pocket Gamer / GamingTrend — Full Control Space Hulk digital release (2013) Photo credits Bryn Holmes / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 Christo / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 David Hallam-Jones / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 Hunny Alrohaif from Kuwait / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 John Sutton / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 Ken O / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 Matt Buck / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 Michael.j.lacey / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 Pablo029 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 René Pudschedl / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 #SpaceHulk #Warhammer40k #GamesWorkshop #BoardGames #TabletopGaming