
- BGG rank
- BGG #3,732
- BGG rating
- 6.5
Warhammer 40,000 (Third Edition)
- 2–6 players
- 30–120 min
- Complexity 3.5/5
- 1998

Rules assistance for Hive War
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.

What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Hive War is an expansion for Space Marine released in 1995 for 2 players and ages 12 and up. It was designed by Andy Chambers and its main mechanics are Dice Rolling, Point to Point Movement, and Simulation.
This is the Tyranid expansion to the Space Marine Game. The supplement contains a 72-page soft-bound rule-book with 16 colour pages and colour covers. Contents include: Rulebook 82 swarm cards 24 mycetic spore chits 24 hive mind cards 45 instinct counters 22 wound markers 12 spore mine markers 50 spore markers 1 energy pulse template 6 tragón bio-shock templates 1 pyro-acid spray template Rules are given for building an epic tyranid force and for the new tyranid troop types (carnifex, zoanthrope, haruspex, dactylis, gargoyle, lictor, hormagaunt, termagants, genestealers, trygon, exocrine, tyranid warriors, biovore, dominatrix, harridan and hive tyrants) plus the bio-titans (hierophant and hierodule). A force's organisation is represented by a collection of hexagonal tiles. Expands Space Marine
Hive War supports 2 players according to the catalogue. This is the publisher’s listed player count, so the game is designed for exactly that number of participants. Variants for other group sizes, if any, are described in the rulebook of your edition, so check it before setting up a different configuration.
The catalogue lists Hive War for ages 12 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
Hive War has a complexity rating of 3.4 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a medium-weight game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Hive War belongs to these categories: Wargame, Miniatures, and Science Fiction. Its main mechanics are Dice Rolling, Point to Point Movement, and Simulation. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of Hive War are: Andy Chambers. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Hive War as an expansion for Space Marine. Expansions add new content, rules or scenarios to the base game and usually cannot be played on their own, so you need Space Marine to use it. Check that your edition of Space Marine is compatible, as some expansions were revised between editions.