Space Hulk
In Warhammer 40,000, Space Hulk is both a fluff term and a game produced by GW.
Fluff
A Spacey Hulk is a hulk of giant space debris, most often Imperial ships that were either destroyed or lost in the warp that stuck together and drift in space and the warp for their entire lives. Space Hulks are regarded as both dangerous and important for these reasons: lost Imperial technology and relics may be aboard the Hulk, and the bad is that it may be infested by Tyranid Genestealers, a Chaos warband, or Orks that may threaten the system they are in.
For this reason, if a Space Marine Terminator squad is available, they will venture into the Hulk to both purge it of threats and recover anything of value. If they aren't available, the Space Hulk will usually be destroyed by any available battle ships in the area to prevent anything from getting out of it.
The game
Possibly /tg/s favorite board game, rivaled by a select few such as HeroQuest and Settlers of Catan.
Features two small factions from the 40K universe: Genestealers, a subspecies of Tyranid who tend to infest Space Hulks so they can OM NOM NOM. The other faction is compossed of a Space Marine Terminator squad, who enter these hulks to recover long lost technology and pretty much kill everything they see. The game is fucking hardcore for both sides - Genestealers, because they have no ranged weapons and die from so much as a mean look, and Terminators, because they have little mobility, few numbers, and, for all but a select few Terminators, are very vulnerable in close-range combat. (The deficiencies in hand-to-hand can be made up by equipping Terminators with Lightning Claws or the Thunder Hammer and Storm Shield, both added in the Deathwing Expansion.)
See also
- Alien Assault - A Swedish indie video game that's based around the gameplay of Space Hulk. With enough mods that's listed in the article, you can actually turn the game into Space Hulk, complete with marine chapters, graphics, sounds, and maps.