# Space Hulk Timer sucks



## Graf Spee (Apr 29, 2009)

hey all,

upon receiving my box of spacehulk i had a close look at all the bits in there.

and to my great dislike the provided timer sucks big time!

it runs at about 3:55 in one direction and about 2:50 in the other!!! :shok: WTF? one minute difference? has somebody experienced something similar or is it just my piece?


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## TheKingElessar (Mar 31, 2009)

:laugh: Hilarious. Oh well, it just adds to the tension, blah blah, fluff argument for crappy merchandise, blah.


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## DavC8855 (Oct 14, 2008)

:grin: That blows. Time for one of those fancy digital timers. Or a watch


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## marcch (Apr 1, 2008)

Most likely a moisture problem as the timer is not a sealed glass unit. Digital timers are cheap (Dollar Store). What the heck... the Techmarine failed to properly bless the timers.


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## Graf Spee (Apr 29, 2009)

TheKingElessar said:


> :laugh: Hilarious. Oh well, it just adds to the tension, blah blah, fluff argument for crappy merchandise, blah.


yeah, it really adds to the tension when you have to control two teams of 5 terminators in under 3 minutes. almost like bloodbowl.... makes the veins on my head pop out with tension.

i checked it 8 times by now. everytime the same result 2 seconds give or take. bah.



marcch said:


> Most likely a moisture problem as the timer is not a sealed glass unit.


i don't think it's about moisture. cause then it would still (although not correctly) run the same time in both directions. yeah, digi timer or chess clock then..


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## TheKingElessar (Mar 31, 2009)

Well, if you crack under the pressure, I claim your models!


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## Graf Spee (Apr 29, 2009)

TheKingElessar said:


> Well, if you crack under the pressure, I claim your models!


phhht.. you wish.. :russianroulette:


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## Inquisitor Einar (Mar 6, 2009)

All your models are belong to us!


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## Usaal (Apr 9, 2008)

you have no chance to survive, make your Bainblade...


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## TheKingElessar (Mar 31, 2009)

What you say?!?!


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## Sangus Bane (Jun 17, 2009)

Same here... only the diffrence is 30 seconds with me... from 3:40 to 3:10


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## Beork (May 7, 2009)

well, at least you guys had a timer, mine was broken in the box (sand everywhere) and I haven't been able to play the game yet since recieving it wednesday.
I did however went by GW today and got their store-copy (they didn't use it they said). Now I know why they gave it away so easily.

It is odd that it should give two different times, there's only one amount of sand and the hole won't change size in between right?

Oh, although I did get the timer from GW, I also mailed GW online and hey'll send me a replacement. What, I do not know as I also mailed them about my dented cardstock and broken 'nids....
I'm hoping for an extra copy of the box 
Won't happen, I know.

Beork


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## bitsandkits (Mar 18, 2008)

my timer is awesome,its been stuck for about 20 mins now , i have to tap it to get any more sand through it lol


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## TheKingElessar (Mar 31, 2009)

Beork said:


> well, at least you guys had a timer, mine was broken in the box (sand everywhere) and I haven't been able to play the game yet since recieving it wednesday.
> I did however went by GW today and got their store-copy (they didn't use it they said). Now I know why they gave it away so easily.
> 
> It is odd that it should give two different times, there's only one amount of sand and the hole won't change size in between right?
> ...


You never know, GW used to do precisely that...


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## Aldred (Aug 1, 2009)

*Yep*

They solved a problem with a sergeant's arm by replacing the whole thing. Technically, it's cheaper for them as they do not have to track individual bits, and the customers rarely complain twice.

I have few service complaints regarding games workshop.


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## Beork (May 7, 2009)

Yeah, I'm familiar with the service, I once got a landraider completely replaced because a part of the hull was warped on the one I ordered before.

But with space hulk I don't know. Oh well, we'll see.
I just don't dare to play it in case they'd like the whole thing back...

Beork


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## Zodd (Jul 27, 2009)

My timer goes 2.30 one way and 3.00 the other way. And the lid is almost perforated several places by the sprues. But the rest :biggrin:
Just as exciting as back in 1989


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## KarlFranz40k (Jan 30, 2009)

My timer goes 2:40 in one direction and 3:00 in the other, so I marked the direction to turn it with a sharpie.


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## Graf Spee (Apr 29, 2009)

KarlFranz40k said:


> My timer goes 2:40 in one direction and 3:00 in the other, so I marked the direction to turn it with a sharpie.


yeah i did they same by now and use it only in one direction. the 3:50 direction of course :biggrin:


edit: btw, was the whole thing meant for 3 or for 4 minutes?


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## KarlFranz40k (Jan 30, 2009)

Three, but the time isn't really that important, it's all about putting the marine player under pressure, mind you it didnt work with my brother last night. We were playing mission 3 and his overwatch rolls were stupid, I only managed to kill one marine :ireful2:


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## Galahad (Dec 21, 2006)

Games Workshop Customer Service is fan-fucking-tastic. I usually call their direct line (1-800-394-GAME) in the US any time I have any complaints and they al;ways rush to help me out.

I got a land raider crusader (old model) replaced when I complained that the kit I had was badly moulded and warped (even though I admitted I was still able to assemble it, just not mod it the way I wanted), I got a Chimera when I complained that the staff at my Local were grossly uninformed on the contents of their boxes (they told me a Basalisk contained the whole chimera kit, which it did not. GW sent me a chimera gratis and let me keep the bassie), I was sent an entirely new Whirlwind Launcher sprue when I complained that mine was missing its large radar dish, etc.

Always they listened carefully, apologized for the trouble and rushed off whatever parts or kits needed replaced, no charge, no problem.

So if any of you encounter broken timers or minis, dented tiles, or even timers that don't run right, call up GW, tell them what's broken and they should whip you off a new replacement ASAP.


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## primeministersinsiter (May 31, 2009)

GW has never done anything like that for me. Earlier this year, I picked up two boxes of Assault Marines excited to get the thunder hammer pictured on the side of the box. Naturally I was like "Where's my fucking hammers?" I called them to enquire and I got the line "Ooops, the studio took the wrong picture and put it on the box." No we're sorry, no free stuff, nothing.
I also pick up a SM tactical box set and the back packs weren't fully molded and they did nothing for me, just told me to get a refund at the store I bought them at.


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## Sytus (Aug 27, 2009)

Your problem was the advertising on the thunder hammers,not the product.
Also,if you got a refund, then didn't you get what you wanted?You didn't buy the SM squad just to get another, assuming you got a refund,it all worked out hunky-dory for you.

Also,why doesn't anyone use a watch,or a timer on a mobile phone?


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## Galahad (Dec 21, 2006)

primeministersinsiter said:


> GW has never done anything like that for me. Earlier this year, I picked up two boxes of Assault Marines excited to get the thunder hammer pictured on the side of the box. Naturally I was like "Where's my fucking hammers?" I called them to enquire and I got the line "Ooops, the studio took the wrong picture and put it on the box." No we're sorry, no free stuff, nothing.


I'm not super surprised about this, really. Sure, taking the wrong pictures is a fuckup, but they can't send you hammers that don't exist, and sending you more marines that don't have what you want won't fix anything. Unless you bought it direct from the site they can't give you a refund either.

It also sounds like something they would have gotten a lot of calls on. Paradoxically, the more widespread a problem the less likely they are to go the extra mile to fix it for you, just because it adds up. But honestly, what did you expect them to do for you? I am surprised they didn't suggest taking it back to the store though. I'm sure the store would have refunded it, especially if everything is still on the sprue.



> I also pick up a SM tactical box set and the back packs weren't fully molded and they did nothing for me, just told me to get a refund at the store I bought them at.


That one is a little surprising, I'd have expected them to send you some backpacks at least, if not a new sprue of marines. That's what any of the people I managed to get a hold of would have done. Sending you to get a refund is certainly a reasonable solution though. I mean, you got your money back or got it exchanged for a kit that works. 

Did you get it from a GW store? That might be part of it. Except for the bassie/chimera mixup (which was mainly just their way of apologizing for their staff being fuckups) all of my calls to GW have been for products I bought either online or at third party stores. GW obviously cannot guarantee that whatever website or independent store you went to will give you a refund, so they'd probably want to deal with it themselves to make sure you got sorted out. If you got it from a GW store, sending you back for a refund *is* taking care of it themselves.

It is a little surprising though. I've called GW customer service maybe a half dozen times and always got parts or kits sent to me. I'm still confident that if you are calm and friendly when you call (nothing makes someone not want to help you like being pissed off), explain exactly what parts are broken or missing and give a batch number (it'll be on the box, they'll tell you where to find it and I've gotten replacement parts without it) I'm sure they'll do what they can to make it right.


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## TheKingElessar (Mar 31, 2009)

I've gotten a number of freebies over the year for warped sprue. Well, at least two. But 2 in 15 years isn't bad, and they were old kits (the most recent a Warbuggy front hull in a Skorcha box) - replaced with a better one each time, and I kept the originals.


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## Galahad (Dec 21, 2006)

For the record, I got my Space Hulk today (yeah!)

Everything was in one piece, though the backing is torn on one of my corridor pieces where it bounced against the mins in the shipper's truck...but fortunately they were smart enough to put the backs of the terrain pieces to the minis (so the detailed front was fine) and it's not that bad, not worth calling GW over.

But I can confirm, the timer DOES suck.

First time I timed it, I got just over 5 minutes
Flipped it and...nothing. It jammed or something. Shook it, tried again: 2:26 HALF the time

So how long is it SUPPOSED to run for so I know how long to time for when I play with a decent timer? I checked the rules quickly and only found 'when the timer runs out' not 'after so long'


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## humakt (Jan 2, 2008)

I've used the timer quite a few times now and it only runs out when I'm playing the larger missions. I personally dont have a problem with it and I'm loathe to time it.

I'd average it out Gal and say 4 minutes a turn.


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## Graf Spee (Apr 29, 2009)

Galahad said:


> So how long is it SUPPOSED to run for so I know how long to time for when I play with a decent timer? I checked the rules quickly and only found 'when the timer runs out' not 'after so long'


they do not mention an exact time anywhere in the books. but the general opinion is that the timer "should" run 3 minutes. which i think is very tough when you stomp along with two teams of termies.


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## Galahad (Dec 21, 2006)

I've been playing with it more and it seems oddly consistent (to the point where I marked which half is which) One side is almost always 3 minutes+ (within 8 seconds or so), and the other is almost always 2:30sh (sometimes under a couple seconds, sometimes over, within 5 seconds, over/under)

One side is always about half a minute slower.


The 5 minute thing and the jam seem to be flukes, maybe from bouncing around in the box and building up a static charge or something.


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## Wolf_Lord_Skoll (Jun 9, 2008)

It seems everyone's timers are a bit out, I know it sounds stupid, but is there a chance the difference is intentional? Puts even more pressure on the marine player not knowing how long he has, or to see if they can keep track of wether its a 2 30 round or a 3 round?


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## bitsandkits (Mar 18, 2008)

just tested mine again and it was 4:09 one way and 2:54 the other.


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## Stella Cadente (Dec 25, 2006)

primeministersinsiter said:


> GW has never done anything like that for me


same, the amount of times I've had a crappy product and they refuse to refund/exchange is ridiculous, thankfully my local independent does and 1 staff member from a local GW will as well, as long as the manager isn't there.

the very very few rare occasions they have replaced an item they got it wrong as well

mine is 8 minutes one way and 12 the other.........when it doesn't get clogged, the hole in mine must be tiny, I think I'll just buy a proper 5 minute one from a proper shop

my longest is 48 hours, I left it on the side as I went to work and turned it over just for the hell of it, after 2 days I noticed only a quarter of the sand went though and the rest was clogged


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## The Son of Horus (Dec 30, 2006)

I've always had decent service from GW customer service. Maybe they're just nicer in the US? I occasionally get a bad sprue, and they always send me a whole new box, no questions asked.


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## Graf Spee (Apr 29, 2009)

Stella Cadente said:


> mine is 8 minutes one way and 12 the other....



:shok: that's really far out of limits.. 

but might work to your advantage when playing marines :wink:


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## Stella Cadente (Dec 25, 2006)

Graf Spee said:


> :shok: that's really far out of limits..
> 
> but might work to your advantage when playing marines :wink:


not really, nobody uses the timer anyway yet, were all getting use to it first, and if you take longer than 5 minutes to do a single marine turn after knowing the rules, well I don't see how


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## Galahad (Dec 21, 2006)

The Son of Horus said:


> I've always had decent service from GW customer service. Maybe they're just nicer in the US? I occasionally get a bad sprue, and they always send me a whole new box, no questions asked.


Maybe it's compensation for the fact that (to my experience at least) the employees in the actual stores aren;t as good as the ones in the UK.

I keep hearing wonderful things about helpful, smart, knowledgeable employees in UK stores...but every US shop I've been in the staff was pushy at best and downright incompetent at worst. (Not saying they all are that way, just all the ones I ran into)

So we get a better support hotline than the brits ;-)

Speaking of, I called mine. The very patient girl on the other end did several things:

1: She clarified that marines are *supposed* to have *THREE MINUTES* and that the randomness in the timers was *not* intentional.

2: She offered to send a replacement (I declined because...)

3: She admitted it probably wouldn't do much good, based on the amount of calls they've gotten about it and by recounting of some of the stories on this very thread. They've gotten a *lot* of calls about it.

4: When I asked if she could pass this up to manufacturing so any future runs can have it corrected, she told me they;ve already done so and that GW is now aware of the problem and (hopefully) will fix it if they do future runs of the game. I wasn't able to get her to tell me if they *were* going to make any more because she honestly didn't know.

So: US service still rocks, you can get a new one (though it probably won't help), GW is aware of the problem, and (most importantly) Marines are supposed to have *three* minutes.


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## Graf Spee (Apr 29, 2009)

Stella Cadente said:


> not really, nobody uses the timer anyway yet, were all getting use to it first, and if you take longer than 5 minutes to do a single marine turn after knowing the rules, well I don't see how


agreed. with 5 termies it's simple to stay under the allowed 3 minutes. but it is an entirely different story with 11 termies. trust me :wink: so your extra slow timer might become usefull then..


edit: 


Galahad said:


> 1: She clarified that marines are *supposed* to have *THREE MINUTES* and that the randomness in the timers was *not* intentional.


thanks for confirming the guesses..


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## Stella Cadente (Dec 25, 2006)

Graf Spee said:


> agreed. with 5 termies it's simple to stay under the allowed 3 minutes. but it is an entirely different story with 11 termies. trust me :wink: so your extra slow timer might become usefull then..


I used 10 yesterday, even against my uncle while explaining the rules to him (who is slow) each of my marine turns lasted less than 3 minutes, which is good to know as the actual time, but still not important, I prefer to play without a limit anyway.


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## Creon (Mar 5, 2009)

Amazon.com: Fox Run 3-Minute Egg Timer: Kitchen & Dining

Problem solved. $3.00


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## Stella Cadente (Dec 25, 2006)

Creon said:


> Amazon.com: Fox Run 3-Minute Egg Timer: Kitchen & Dining
> 
> Problem solved. $3.00


for those who don't live in the land of fake money :biggrin:
http://www.shop-com.co.uk/Kitchen_C...r_9cm-45178943-59412624-p+.xhtml?sourceid=309


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## Galahad (Dec 21, 2006)

I was thinking of this one  It's pretty and brass is very 40kish...a little expensive though


Or you could always go for this


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## Blue Liger (Apr 25, 2008)

Ahh Space Hulk Timers - F***ing with us numerically!!!


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## Graf Spee (Apr 29, 2009)

yeah, chicken clock is pretty cute :mrgreen:, but i think this one would be even more fitting. for some extra imperial feeling the top should be decorated with a nice aquila:










edit:

or this one:


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## bitsandkits (Mar 18, 2008)

if your playing near a pc

http://www.online-stopwatch.com/full-screen-stopwatch/


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## Stella Cadente (Dec 25, 2006)

we've gone egg timer crazy, and I think whoever designed a few of them were crazy


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## dirty-dog- (May 14, 2008)

i think that everyone that plays 40k is crazy stella, i mean, who do you know that doesnt play GW games, that sits for many hours in a week with toy soldiers.


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## TheKingElessar (Mar 31, 2009)

:laugh: I prefer not knowing how long I have, tbh. Builds extra pressure. Y'know, like they intended...


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## Galahad (Dec 21, 2006)

I used online stopwatch to test my timer.

The gothic one is cool but I wouldn't want to ge tone too bug and fragile and expensive, since It'd be knocking around inside the box. That little brass one;s about perfect,I think.


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## trog (Apr 6, 2009)

i agree with TKE i dont know how long mine goes but it adds to the fun. though my space hulk didn't have the librarians arm so ive nw got the most unique librarian with a mix of metal and plastic for he's left arm


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## Galahad (Dec 21, 2006)

call GW, they can send you a new librarian sprue


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