CONTENTS

Credits 3

Read this ﬁrst 4

Introduction 4

1 Rules 5

1.1 Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

1.2 Preparing for Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

1.3 Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

1.4 Actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

1.5 Movement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

1.6 Alien Movement and Combat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

1.7 Marine Movement and Combat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

2 Scenarios 4

2.1 The Reactor Room . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

2.2 Operations and Air Ducts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

2.3 Ripley vs. the Queen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

2.4 The Movie Scenario . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

3 Additional Rules and Guidelines 16

3.1 Bonus Bug Rule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

3.2 Machine Gun Special Ability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

3.3 Hand Grenades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

3.4 The petty revenge Scenario . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

3.5 Aliens Expansion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

4 Expansion Rules 18

4.1 Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

4.2 Facehuggers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

4.3 The Alien Queen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

5 Expansion Scenarios 22

5.1 The Drop Ship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

5.2 The Rescue of Newt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

5.3 Marine Assault . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

5.4 The Hunt For The Queen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

5.5 Complete Movie Scenario . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

5.6 New Scenarios for ALIENS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

6 Optional Rules 32

6.1 Ammunition Restrictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

6.2 Backup Weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

6.3 Fires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

6.4 Firing Through Marines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

6.5 Additional Aim Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

6.6 Tournament Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

6.7 Closing Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Credits

7 Variant Rules 39

7.1 Hasty Shots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

7.2 Grenade Eﬀects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

7.3 Weapon Handling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

7.4 Carrying Marines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

7.5 Movement Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

7.6 Reactor Room . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

7.7 Ripley, What Are You Doing? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

7.8 Operations Room . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

7.9 Air Ducts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Rules Summary for ALIENS 42

CREDITS

The ALIENS board game and ALIENS Expansion were originally published by Leading

Edge Games in 1989. Credits go to:

Primary Design Writing and Design Layout / Graphics

Barry Nakazono David Mckenzie Toni Dennis

Maps Production Marketing

Nadir Elfarra Irene Kinzek John Olsen

Special Thanks to Mary, Linda, Al and Pam, and to Albie, Dale, and Bette. Also to Bob Cowan

and the many friends who have helped us through the years. We would also like to extend our

gratitude and appreciation to Tom, Victor, and everyone else at Huttner Litho for their excellent

work, good humor, and extreme patience.

The ALIENS Expansion is originally dedicated to the memory of Warren Hamele.

All ALIENS stuﬀ is

by 20th Century Fox.

Credits of this expanded and revised edition go to

badhoven

Introduction

READ THIS FIRST

For players who want to get started right away, the 4 page Rules Summary has the highlights

of the rules, presented in a simple and straightforward way. Go ahead and read the Summary, set

up the Reactor Room Scenario, and start playing. When you’re not sure how a rule works, just

refer back to this Rulebook. In general, you should be able to ﬁnd your way using a little common

sense.

More methodical players will want to read this Rulebook ﬁrst. For you, the Rules Summary

should serve as a ”cheat-sheet”, a handy reminder of how the rules work, until you have mastered

the game. It will also be a valuable tool for teaching your friends how to play.

INTRODUCTION

ALIENS is a game for one or more players; it recreates the major conﬂicts that take place in

the movie from 20th Century Fox. There are several diﬀerent battles, or Scenarios, in the game

and in each one the players will take the roles of the various people from the movie (Ripley, the

Colonial Marines, Burke, and Newt) and attempt to survive their encounters with the Aliens.

There are three Scenarios, which may be played independently or one after another, to simulate

the entire movie. The Scenarios are:

The Reactor Room: The ﬁrst encounter with the Aliens. A squad of nine Marines, led by Sgt.

Apone, enters the lair of the Aliens in search of the Colonists.

Operations and Air Ducts: Barricaded into the Colony’s command post the remaining Marines,

along with Ripley, Newt, and Burke, face a concentrated Alien assault. As they fall back,

Newt leads the survivors through a maze of tunnels toward the Landing Pad and safety, with

the Aliens in pursuit.

Riplay vs. The Queen: On board the ship, Ripley uses a Powerloader in her ﬁnal battle with

the Alien Queen.

The Expansion to the ALIENS Board Game includes several new Scenarios and a number

of Optional Rules, as well as a new Map and a new Card Sheet. Players may pick and choose

among the new Rules as they see ﬁt, but should be sure to agree on which they are using before

beginning play. For those who are competitive by nature, the Tournament Rules in Chapter 6

make it possible to play ALIENS against a human opponent.

The Drop Ship: Ferro and Spunkmeyer get surprised by an Alien aboard the Drop Ship.

The Rescue of Newt: Ripley descents into the Alien Hive to rescue Newt.

Marine Assault: Marines don’t leave their people behind. The remaining marines attack the

Alien Hive to rescue their comrades.

Hunt For The Queen: The Marines attack the Lair fully armed to confront the Queen.

There are a number of places in the rules where the term ”Marine” is used. In all cases this

term applies to all the humans, including Ripley, Burke, and Newt.

Players may determine who controls which Marines by any method they wish; by dealing

out the Marines for the Scenario at random, by taking turns choosing Marines, or by mutual

agreement. When the rules state that a Marine may make a choice, or roll a die, it obviously

means that the controlling Player should act accordingly.

It is very strongly suggested that players make an eﬀort to work as a real team; a selﬁsh player

is an Alien’s best friend.

CHAPTER 1. RULES

RULES

All of the basic rules for ALIENS are contained in this chapter. They are organized into clearly

labeled Sections and Sub-sections, for ease of reference. The special rules for Scenarios are in

Chapter 2, and those for Optional rules are in Chapter 3.

1.1

COMPONENTS

The Components for ALIENS are:

The Map, which is 17” x 34”

3 Card and Counter Sheets, each 8 ” x 11”

A 10-sided die

This rulebook

4 page Rules Summary

Plastic Stands

Each of the Components is explained below.

Map

The playing area of the Map is covered with a square grid, which is used for movement. It is

divided into three general sections, which are used in diﬀerent Scenarios. At the upper right

portion of the map is the Reactor Room: it is the scene of the ﬁrst battle between the Marines

and the Aliens. To the left is Operations; beneath that, and connected to it, are the Air Ducts.

The Map for the other Scenario, Ripley vs. the Queen, is on the back of the Reference Card

(see below).

Counters

The Counter Sheet contains 49 die-cut Counters, as well as a Reference Card. The Counters are

used to show the locations of the various people and Aliens from the movie, or as play aids. Most

show a picture of one of the characters, or of an Alien; the Counters for Marines also show the

name of the character. A number of the Counters are not used in this game; they are provided

for use with the ALIENS Expansion, available separately. ALIENS Expansion is described

at the back of this rulebook.

The Reference Card serves two purposes. On one side is the information necessary to run the

Aliens during the game; on the reverse side are the tables and map used for the battle between

Ripley in the Powerloader and the Alien Queen. The tables on the Reference Card are described

in the appropriate sections of the rules.

Cards

There are two sheets of Character Cards, which represent the people from the movie. Each is

two sided; the front shows the abilities of the Character when healthy, while the reverse shows the

abilities once the Character has been Wounded. Note that the color around the name on the

CHAPTER 1. RULES

Character Card is the same as the color used on the Counter for the same person. As with the

Counters, some of the Character Cards are used only in ALIENS Expansion.

The Character Cards contain a variety of important information. In the body of the Card for

most Characters is Weapon Data. It shows the weapons the Character may use, and the chance

of hitting an Alien at various ranges. At the bottom of the Card are the number of Actions

possessed by the Character, and the Character’s Melee value. All these values will be explained

in greater detail later in the rules.

Die

A single ten-sided die has been provided. It is used whenever the rules indicate that a die roll is

needed. The sides are numbered from 0 to 9; in all cases, treat the 0 as a zero, not as a 10.

1.2

PREPARING FOR PLAY

When getting ready to play, lay out the Map so that all the Players have a clear view of the

surface. Select a Scenario, and put all the Marines and Aliens into the plastic stands (just slip

the bottom of the Counter into the slot on the stand). Set up the Marines according to the rules

given in the Scenario, and place the Turn Counter in the ﬁrst square on the Turn Chart for the

Scenario being played. It is a good idea to have all the Aliens ready for play; it is likely that they

will all appear, be killed, and reappear on the board during the course of play, possibly several

times over. Alien Counters which have been removed from the Map may be re-used freely as new

Aliens.

Lastly, the Players choose which order the Marines will move in. Once established, this order

cannot be changed. It helps to have each Player put the Character Cards in front of him or her

in the order they will move in; during the game, each Player moves all of his or her Marines, and

then the next Player does the same, and so forth.

1.3

SEQUENCE

Each Scenario in Aliens consists of a number of Turns, each of which follows the same sequence.

There are four Phases in each Turn:

1. Aliens Move

2. Aliens Appear

3. Aliens Attack

4. Marines Move/Fire

Aliens Move

All the Aliens currently on the Map move up to 4 squares toward the nearest active Marine during

this phase. For the full rules on Alien Movement, see Section 1.6.

Aliens Appear

During this phase, any new Aliens which are going to arrive on the Map are placed and may move

1 square toward the nearest active Marine. Rules on this are contained in the Scenario rules.

Aliens Attack

Each Alien which is in the same square as a Marine now attacks. Attacks may be run in any

order, and follow the rules of Section 1.6.

CHAPTER 1. RULES

Marines Move/Fire

Each of the Marines moves and ﬁres during this phase. The order in which the Marines take their

actions is set at the beginning of the Scenario, and cannot be changed once the game has begun.

Rules for the Marines are contained in Section 1.7.

At the end of each Turn, the Turn counter is moved forward one square, and a new Turn

begins. Once the Turn Counter reaches the bottom of the ﬁrst column for the Scenario it is moved

to the top of the next column.

1.4

ACTIONS

Actions determine what a Character can do, and how fast he or she can do it. The number of

Actions possessed by a Character is shown at the bottom of the Character Card, and remains the

same whether the Character is healthy or wounded. Each Turn, the Character may use a number

of Actions equal to the number shown on the Card; not all Actions must be used, but they may

not be saved from Turn to Turn.

Marines may use their Actions for one of three purposes; Movement, Aim, or Melee. One

Action is used each time a Marine moves one square, uses a point of Aim, or conducts a Melee

attack. Rules governing Movement, Aim, and Melee are found in the appropriate Sections.

Aliens have 4 Actions. These Actions are used only for Movement, as Alien attacks are

handled separately. (See Section 1.6) The Alien Queen is a special case; rules for the Queen are

given in Section 2.3.

1.5

MOVEMENT

The following rules apply to all forms of movement, unless the rules for a Scenario speciﬁcally

state otherwise.

Counters are moved from square to square, one at a time, in any direction or combination

of directions. They may not, however, enter squares which are largely or completely ﬁlled with

obstructions. For example, in the Reactor Room, there are a number of squares which are ﬁlled

with pillars, equipment, and Alien incrustation. These squares may not be entered, even by the

Aliens. Counters may move diagonally between two such squares, however, unless the obstruction

clearly links the two squares.

The maximum number of squares a Counter may move each Turn is governed by its Actions.

Each square moved uses one Action.

All Actions being performed by one Counter must be completed before another Counter may

begin using its Actions. Counters may move through each other freely, but no more than one

Counter may be in a square after each Counter has moved. The only exceptions to this are Marines

who are Incapacitated and Aliens which are attacking Marines; these exception are explained in

the appropriate Sections later on. Additionally, Marines can never deliberately move through or

end up in the same square as an Alien.

1.6

ALIEN MOVEMENT AND COMBAT

Aliens have 4 Actions, and may therefore move 4 squares each Turn. They always move

directly toward the nearest Marine who is not Incapacitated (see below), unless that Marine is

already being attacked by another Alien. As soon as an Alien enters the square of a Marine who

is not already under attack by another Alien, it is immediately removed from the Map and placed

on its side on the Marine’s Character Card. If two or more Marines are at the same distance from

CHAPTER 1. RULES

the Alien, roll randomly to determine which will be its target. To do this, assign numbers on the

die equally to each of the possible outcomes, and roll the die. In the case of an Alien with two

Marines to choose from, for example, the Players might state that on an even number, the Marine

on the left would be attacked; on an odd number, the Alien would attack the Marine on the right.

If the Alien had three Marines at the same distance, then the Players might decide that it would

attack one on a 1, 2, or 3, another on a 4, 5, or 6, and the third on 7, 8, or 9.0’s would simply be

re-rolled.

The only exception to Alien movement is that on the Turn they appear on the Map, they may

only move 1 square.

When moving Aliens, move the one which is closest to a Marine ﬁrst, then the next furthest

away, and so forth. If there are two or more Aliens at the same distance from a Marine, roll a die

to determine which moves ﬁrst. All attacks by Aliens are resolved simultaneously after all Alien

movement has taken place. Note that it is not possible for a Marine to have more than one Alien

on his or her Card at a time.

Alien Attacks

After all Aliens have moved, Alien Attacks are performed. For each Alien who is on a Marine’s

Character Card, the die is rolled, the Marine’s Melee value is added to it, and the appropriate di-

rections below are followed. These directions are summarized in the Alien portion of the Reference

Card.

ALIEN

Roll+Melee Result

0 Dead

1-2 Incapacitated & Grabbed

3-4 Wounded & Grabbed

5-6 Grabbed

7-8 In Combat

9+ Alien Looses

If the roll is a 0, the Marine is Dead. The Alien will leave the room with the Marine’s body;

immediately remove the Marine’s Counter from the Map, set his Card aside, and put the Alien

back with all the other unused Aliens. (Vengeful or vindictive Players may wish to leave the

Marine on the Map for one Turn, as described below under ”Grabbed”, in order to attempt to

kill the Alien. This does not aﬀect the result of the game in any way, except that it clutters the

Map, and does not really do the dead Marine any good.)

If the roll is 1 or 2, the Marine is Incapacitated and Grabbed by the Alien. The Alien will

remove the injured Marine from the board during the next Alien Movement Phase, as described

below under ”Grabbed”, unless it is killed or driven out of the Marine’s square. Note that if the

Alien is killed, the injured Marine may be splashed by Acid.

Incapacitated Marines may not take any Actions of any sort for the rest of the Scenario.

They are assumed to be badly wounded and unable to fend for themselves. They may be carried

by other Marines, however, as described in Section 1.7. An Incapacitated Marine who receives

another Incapacitated result is Dead. An Incapacitated Marine who is later Wounded simply

remains Incapacitated. When a Marine is Incapacitated, the Counter may be laid on its side or

removed from its stand and laid on the Map in the appropriate square. In either case, the square

is treated as empty for all Movement and Fire purposes.

If the roll is 3 or 4, the Marine is Wounded and Grabbed. When a Marine is wounded, his

or her Character Card is immediately ﬂipped to its Wounded side, and the new values are used.

If a Wounded Marine is Wounded again, he or she becomes Incapacitated. If a Wounded Marine

receives an Incapacitated result, he or she is simply Incapacitated. As with ”Incapacitated and

Grabbed” above, the Marine is subject to the results listed below under ”Grabbed”.

CHAPTER 1. RULES

If the roll is 5 or 6, the Marine is Grabbed and is no longer capable of resisting the Alien.

The Marine receives no further Actions until freed by the other Marines. During the next Alien

Movement Phase, the Alien will drag the Marine up into the maze of pipes, ducts, and Alien

incrustation overhead. If this happens, the Marine’s Counter is immediately removed from the

Map and the Marine is considered Dead; the Alien is set aside with the other unused Aliens. This

means that the other Marines have one Turn in which to kill the Alien or drive it away. If they

try to shoot it, add 5 to their die rolls (see Section 1.7), or the Marines may attempt to drive oﬀ

the Alien by using Melee Combat. Note that the Grabbed Marine is subject to Acid Splash

(Section 1.7) if the Alien is killed. To signify that the Marine has been Grabbed, place the Alien

Counter upright on the Marine’s Card.

On a 7 or 8, the Marine is In Combat and trying to ﬁght oﬀ the Alien. If the Alien is not

killed or driven oﬀ by the other Marines during their Turn, the Alien will roll again during its next

Turn to determine the results of the combat. It is treated in all ways as a normal Alien Attack.

The Marine may only use his or her Actions for Melee until freed; Movement and Fire are not

possible while In Combat with an Alien. As with ”Grabbed” above, other Marines have 5 added

to their die rolls if they ﬁre at an Alien who is In Combat with a Marine. The Alien’s Counter

remains on its side on the Marine’s Card.

On a 9 or greater, the Alien Loses. The Marine has managed to ﬁght oﬀ the attack.

The Alien is immediately moved by the Player into any adjacent square which is not obstructed.

During its next Turn, the Alien is considered Stunned and may not move or attack in any way.

This may be indicated by setting the Alien Counter on its side. During the next Alien Movement

Phase, the Alien is set upright, but cannot move.

1.7

MARINE MOVEMENT AND COMBAT

Marines move in the same way as Aliens, except that Marines may combine Actions spent for

Movement and Combat in any way they choose. For example, a Marine with three Actions could

use one Action to move a square, another to Aim and Fire at an Alien, and then a third to move

another square. Additionally, Marines may decide how to use anAction after seeing the results of

the preceding Action. For example, a Marine could use one Action to shoot at an Alien and, if he

missed, ﬁre at it again with his next Action. If he hit with his ﬁrst shot, however, he could use

his second Action to Move, perhaps, or ﬁre at a diﬀerent Alien.

As mentioned in Section 1.2, the Marines move in the same order each Turn. It is not possible

to back up in the order at any point, for any reason. For example, if a Marine who has been

Grabbed by an Alien is freed by the action of a Marine who comes after him in the order, the

freed Marine does not get to use any of his Actions until the next Turn. If the Marine who frees

him comes before him in the order, then he may Move, Fire, or Melee normally.

Aiming and Firing

The only way for a Marine to kill an Alien is by using his or her Actions to Aim and Fire. The

chance that a Marine has of killing an Alien is determined by the information shown on the

Character Card. In general, the Character will Aim for a number of Actions, and then roll a

die to determine if he has hit the Alien. The longer he Aims, the better his chance of hitting. His

chances are also strongly aﬀected by the Range to the Alien. If the Alien is hit, it is immediately

removed from the Map, and the Character may continue to use any further Actions he has, if any.

To begin with, the WEAPON column of each Character Card shows the weapons which may

be used by the Marine. The top weapon is used in the Reactor Room Scenario only, while the

bottom weapon is used in all other Scenarios. The only exception to this is Burke; the only weapon

listed for him, a Pulse Riﬂe, is used only in ALIENS Expansion. In this game, as in the movie,

Burke is considered to be unarmed.

Next to the WEAPON column on the Character Card is the AIM column. Listed in this

column are the number of Actions of Aim which the Character may take with each weapon.

CHAPTER 1. RULES

The next section of the Card is devoted to TARGET RANGE. There are ﬁve columns in

this section, for Ranges of 1, 2, 3 or 4, 5 or 6, and 7 or more squares. Listed in these columns

are the numbers the Character must roll, with a given amount of Aim, to hit an Alien. Simply

select the appropriate weapon, go to the line for the number of Actions of Aim taken, and read

across to the column for the Range to the Alien that is the target. To ﬁgure out the Range, just

count the number of squares from the Marine to the Alien as if the Marine were moving into the

Alien’s square. Naturally, the Range must be counted in as straight a line as possible; if there is

an obstruction in the way, check the Line of Sight rules (below) to see if the Marine can shoot. If

there is no number in a column, then the Marine has no chance of hitting an Alien at that Range.

Example: The top weapon on Apone’s Character Card is a Flame Unit. He may Aim

the Flame Unit for up to 3 Actions, as shown in the Aim column. If he takes 1 Action

of Aim, he simply reads across to determine his chance of hitting an Alien, depending

on the Range. If the Alien is 1 square away, he needs an 8 or less on the die. If

the Alien is 2 squares away, he needs a 6 or less, and if the Alien is 3 or 4 squares

away, he needs a 4 or less. No numbers are listed at Ranges greater than 4 squares;

the Flame Unit cannot hit anything more than 4 squares away. If the number listed

is 9 or greater, the Marine automatically hits and kills the Alien; the player does not

need to roll the die. Note also that actually Firing at an Alien does not take any extra

Actions; for game purposes, Firing is considered to be a part of Aiming.

Let’s say that Apone is using his Flame Unit, and there are 2 Aliens which are 2 and

3 squares away, respectively. He decides to use his ﬁrst Action to Fire at the nearest

Alien. With 1 Action of Aim at Range 2, he needs a 6 or less to hit. He rolls, and the

number is a 7. He has missed the Alien. With his second Action, he decides to attempt

the same shot. This time he rolls a 0, which hits the Alien. The Alien Counter is

removed from the Map immediately. With his third Action, Apone Aims at the other

Alien and ﬁres. This time he needs a 4 to hit (1 Action at Range 3). He rolls a 4, and

the Alien is killed.

Note that Apone could have chosen to use 2 Aims on the ﬁrst Alien, in which case he

would have needed a 13 to hit. This is an automatic hit, and so the Alien would be

removed without the roll of a die. With his third Action, he would again have a 4 to

hit the other Alien. There are naturally many other possibilities; he could have used 2

Actions of Aim against the Alien at Range 3, which would have given him a 9 to hit

(automatically killing the Alien), and his third Action agaiSnst the Alien at Range 2,

which would have given him a 6 to hit. In addition to his Aiming options, he could

elect to Move before, after, or between shots, up to the limit of his Actions.

Line of Sight

It is not possible to shoot at an Alien that is behind an obstruction. This is a common sense

issue; bullets travel in a straight line, and obstacles of the type shown on the Map (steel pillars,

heavy equipment, and so forth) will easily block their path. As a consequence, a Marine must

have a clear line between himself and his target; this is called a Line of Sight. To determine if a

Marine can shoot at a particular Alien, lay a straightedge from the center of the Marine’s square

to the center of the Alien’s; if the straightedge does not pass over any obstructions, then the

Marine has a Line of Sight and can ﬁre. If the straightedge touches any obstructions, however,

then the Marine cannot shoot, and will have to ﬁnd another target. Note that no Actions are used

in checking to see if there is a Line of Sight.

If the Marine is standing next to an obstructing square, however, the Players may assume that

he or she has taken up a ﬁring position around the edge of the obstruction. In this case, trace the

Line of Sight from the edge of the obstacle. Common sense should be used in applying this rule;

if there is a reasonable doubt as to how to apply it in a particular case, feel free to decide in the

Marine’s favor. (After all, you paid for this game; let the Aliens fend for themselves.)

CHAPTER 1. RULES

Friendly Fire

Marines may ﬁre through Aliens and other Marines at will; there is no penalty for ﬁring through

a square containing a Marine, or an Alien which is not a target. There are two exceptions to this.

As mentioned above, there is a +5 penalty to the Marine’s die roll if he or she is ﬁring at an Alien

which is in the same square as another Marine. This represents the care which must be taken to

guarantee that the Marine does not shoot his or her teammate.

The other exception applies to Flame Units. Flame Units may never ﬁre through any Marine

or Alien, but must hit the ﬁrst target encountered along any Line of Sight. If a Flame Unit is

ﬁred at an Alien which has Grabbed a Marine, there is no penalty to the chance of hitting. On

the other hand, if the Flame Unit hits the Alien, the Grabbed Marine is automatically Dead.

Acid Spray

Whenever an Alien is killed (unless it is by a Flame Unit; see below), there is a chance that the

Acid Blood of the creature will splash onto nearby Marines. Any Marine who is in the same

square as the Alien or who is adjacent to it may be Sprayed. Simply roll a die for each Marine

and consult the Acid Spray Table on the Reference Card. Apply any results immediately. It

is quite possible for several Marines to be injured or killed by the blood of a single Alien, if the

Players are suﬃciently unlucky.

ACID SPRAY

Roll Eﬀect

0 Dead

1 Incapacitated

2 Wounded

3-9 -

Aliens killed by Flame Units do not spray Acid. Therefore, Marines adjacent to an Alien which

is killed by a Flame Unit are safe.

Melee Combat

In order to avoid the risk of Acid, it is sometimes wise for the Marines to attempt Melee Combat

with the Aliens. Melee Combat may be attempted by any Marine who is adjacent to an Alien,

and each attempt uses one Action. The Marine rolls a die; if the number rolled is less than or

equal to his Melee value, then he or she has Stunned the Alien. The Alien immediately lets go of

any Marine it has grabbed and must move one square in whichever direction the Marine chooses.

The Alien cannot end up in a square with a Marine; if all adjacent squares are ﬁlled with Marines,

then retreat the Alien an additional square. The Alien loses its next Turn; to indicate this place

the Alien on its side. During the next Alien Movement Phase, the Alien Counter is set upright

again, but may not move or attack.

Carrying Incapacitated Marines

In the course of play some Marines will probably become Incapacitated, either due to Alien Attack

or Acid Splash. As Incapacitated Marines cannot take any Actions at all, it is up to the other

Marines to carry them to safety. Each healthy or Wounded Marine except for Newt, who is too

small, can carry one Incapacitated Marine. To pick the Marine up, the carrying Marine simply

moves into or through the Incapacitated Marine’s square, and places the Incapacitated Marine’s

Counter on his own Character Card. Picking up a Marine requires no Actions, and there are no

penalties for carrying the Marine on later Turns. The carrying Marine is treated as normal for all

movement and combat purposes. A Marine who is being carried may be transferred at any time

from one Marine to another; the two Marines must occupy the same square at some point during

movement, and the Incapacitated Marine is transferred from one Character Card to another.

CHAPTER 1. RULES

Alien

Apone

Drake

Alien

Hicks

Figure 1.1: Reactor Room example.

Example: The following example demonstrates the general ﬂow of a Turn of Aliens.

Figure 1.1 shows an excerpt from a Reactor Room Scenario. It is the end of the Alien

Movement Phase, and Aliens A and B have just moved 4 squares toward the three

Marines shown; Apone, Hicks, and Drake.

During the Alien Appearance Phase two Aliens arrive on the Map, but only one is close

enough to make a diﬀerence in this example. It drops in Row 3, Square 3. It has just

arrived on the Map, and can therefore move 1 square; it enters Drake’s square and is

immediately placed on its side on Drake’s Card.

It is now the Alien Attack Phase. Only Drake has an Alien on his Card; it attacks, and

rolls a 2. Drake’s Melee is 1, 50 the number becomes a 3, and the Alien has Wounded

and Grabbed Drake. His Character Card is immediately ﬂipped to its Wounded side

and he can perform no Actions until he is treed. Indicate that he is Grabbed by standing

the Alien upright on his Card.

It is now the Marine Move I Fire Phase. The Marines move in the order which was

established at the beginning of the Scenario; Apone, Hicks, and Drake. Apone decides

to ﬁre his Flame Unit at the Alien which is 2 squares away, and takes 1 Action of Aim;

he needs a 6 to hit. He roll an 8, however, and misses. With his second Action, he

again uses 1 Aim and ﬁres at the same Alien, this time rolling a 4. The Alien has been

killed, and is removed from the Map. With his third and last Action he ﬁres at Alien

B. The Range is 3, 50 he needs a 4. He rolls a 9 and misses.

Now it is Hicks’ turn. Hicks uses his ﬁrst Action to move 1 square forward, so that he

is adjacent to Drake. With his second Action he attempts to free Drake using Melee.

His Melee value is 1, 50 he needs a 0 or a 1 to free him; unfortunately, he rolls a 7

and fails. At this point, the Player who controls Drake tells the Hicks Player to stop

clowning around and to shoot the Alien. Acting on this advice, Hicks uses his last

Action to ﬁre his Shotgun at the Alien which has Grabbed Drake. At Range 1 with 1

Action of Aim, Hicks would normally need an 8 to hit; because the Alien is on Drake’s

Card, he has to add 5 to his roll. He rolls a 1; 1 plus 5 is 6, which is a hit. The Alien

is killed, and it immediately sprays Acid into the adjacent squares. Since both Hicks

and Drake are in the square with or adjacent to the Alien, both must roll. Drake rolls

a 4 and looks on the Acid Spray Table on the Reference Card; he has taken no further

damage. Hicks rolls an 8, and is also unharmed.

It is Drake’s turn; since he has been freed from the Alien by Hicks, he can take a

completely normal turn. He is still Wounded, however. Given his reduced chance of

hitting, he decides to use both of his Actions to Aim at Alien B. Wounded, with 2

Actions of Aim at Range 2 from an Alien he needs a 6; he rolls a 0 and kills the Alien.

CHAPTER 1. RULES

This ends the Turn. The Turn Counter is advanced, and another Alien Movement

Phase begins.

Note that if Drake had been Wounded by the Acid Spray, he would have become Incapac-

itated. Additionally, if Hicks had not killed or driven oﬀ the Alien, Drake would have

been removed from the board at the start of the next Alien Movement Phase, because

he had been Grabbed by the Alien.

A few words about Line of Sight might also be helpful. Both Drake and Apone have

clear views to Aliens A and B. Hicks, on the other hand, cannot see either of those

Aliens at the beginning of his turn. Once he moves 1 square left, however, Alien A

would be clearly visible. Note that if it were one square further up, Alien B would be

visible to Hicks around the edge of the pillar.

CHAPTER 2. SCENARIOS

SCENARIOS

Each of the Scenarios in this Chapter represents one of the key battles from the movie. After each

Scenario, there is a brief summary of what happened during the battle in the movie, and a list of

strategy tips for players.

In each Scenario there is an allowance made for inexperienced players. The Aliens are color-

coded to indicate where they arrive, and it is suggested that beginning players omit all Aliens

which are printed in red. In the Reactor Room Scenario, for example, two Aliens appear every

Turn after the ﬁrst. Every third Turn, however, the number is printed on the Turn Record in red;

beginning players would simply ignore those Aliens, and enjoy a Turn of relative peace (or at least

of no new Aliens on the Map). Omitting the red Aliens is a tremendous help for beginning players,

especially since all the Scenarios have been designed to be somewhat challenging for players who

know the rules and have a degree of experience. Please do not hesitate to ignore the red Aliens

while learning the game, or if a particular Scenario is diﬃcult to master. It is certainly not very

much fun to watch the last Marine get dragged oﬀ, kicking and screaming, into the darkness.

2.1

THE REACTOR ROOM

This Scenario uses the upper right hand portion of the Map. In general, the 9 Marines in the

Scenario begin at one end of the Reactor Room and must ﬁght their way through waves of Aliens

to the Exit which is at the other end. The biggest handicap for the Marines is that they are not

fully armed; they have been ordered to turn in the ammunition for their Pulse Riﬂes, so several

of the Marines are armed only with Pistols. This is the Marines’ ﬁrst encounter with the Aliens;

for several of them, it is their last.

Stairwell

Near the center of the Reactor Room is the Stairwell, indicated on the Scenario Map. The square

grid ﬁlls this area normally, but neither Marines nor Aliens may move across it; it is a long way

to the bottom. If an Alien is Stunned and forced to back up into a Stairwell square, it does not

fall, however, due to the Aliens’ natural climbing abilities. The Alien is assumed to have grabbed

the railing, and to be hanging on comfortably. It is still considered Stunned, as described earlier.

When it can move again, it must leave the Stairwell by the shortest route possible.

While no Counter may willingly enter or move across the Stairwell, the Marines can shoot

across it normally. Because of this feature, the Stairwell can allow the Marines to kill Aliens on

its far side with little danger.

Optional Rules

If the Players wish, they may use the optional Frost Rule, named after the unfortunate Marine

who fell burning into the Stairwell. The rule is as follows: anytime a Marine is injured (either

Wounded or Incapacitated) without being Grabbed, while in a square next to the Stairwell, he or

she must roll the die. On a roll of 7 or greater, the Marine has stumbled over the railing and

has fallen to his or her doom. The Marine’s Counter is immediately removed from the Map, and

is considered to be Dead.

CHAPTER 2. SCENARIOS

It is also possible to use the optional Dietrich Rule, in conjunction with the Frost Rule.

This rule is named after the Marine who set poor Frost on ﬁre in the ﬁrst place. If the Dietrich

Rule is used, then any Marine who is carrying a Flame Unit and who is Grabbed has a chance of

accidentally ﬁring the Flame Unit and igniting another Marine. Roll the die; on a 7 or greater,

the Flame Unit has ﬁred and a Marine in an adjacent square (it there is one) has been hit. If

there are no Marines adjacent, then no harm is done; it more than one, then roll randomly to

determine which has been hit. Marines who are ignited are treated as Dead.

Exit Squares

The objective in this Scenario (as well as the others, to be quite honest) is to escape with as many

Marines as possible. The only route to escape in this Scenario is to leave the Map through one

of the squares marked EXIT, as indicated on the Map. Aliens will not leave the Map to pursue

Marines who have left through one of these squares; on the other hand, any Marine who leaves

cannot re-enter the Map, and cannot Fire or Melee from oﬀ the Map.

Set-up

The following Marines are used in this Scenario: Apone, Hicks, Vasquez, Drake, Hudson, Dietrich,

Frost, Crowe, and Wierzbowski. All use the top weapon on their Character Cards.

There is a Stairwell in the center of the Map; the Marines must start the Scenario somewhere

on the side of the Stairwell away from the Exit; that is, the right side, if you view the Map with

the ALIENS logo upright.

Alien Appearance

The Turn Record for the Reactor Room Scenario is very simple; on the ﬁrst Turn, 4 Aliens appear

randomly in the room. Each Turn after that, until all the Marines have either escaped or been

Grabbed and taken away, 2 more Aliens appear. There is no time limit on this Scenario.

The location at which each Alien appears is determined randomly. For each Alien, roll the die

twice; the ﬁrst roll indicates the Row in which the Alien appears, and the second determines

the exact Square in that Row. The Rows are listed in red down the left side of the Reactor Room

Map, and are numbered 1 through 9. (The 0 has been omitted for use with the optional Bonus

Bug Rule, Section 3.1. Just re-roll any 0’s that appear.) The Squares are scattered across the

Row, and are numbered 0 through 9.

Take a look at the Reactor Room Map. The very top Row of squares has the number 1 next

to it at the left side of the Map. Anytime the Row die is a 1, the Alien will appear in this Row.

Reading across to the right, the very ﬁrst square in the Row has a 0 in it, and a 1 is in the next

one. The numbers continue across the Row, skipping many of the squares, until the 9 appears in

the next-to-the-last square. Depending on the roll of the Squares die, the Alien would appear in

one of these numbered squares.

Victory Conditions

If 7 or more of the Marines escape the Map healthy, Wounded, or Incapacitated, the Players Win.

If 4 to 6 Marines escape, the Scenario is a Draw.

If 3 or less Marines escape, it is probably best not to talk about it.

Movie Summary

In the movie, the Marines are in a terrible position. They have only vague ideas of what they

are up against, and Lieutenant Gorman has ordered them to turn in their ammunition to avoid

damaging the Reactor which surrounds them. Armed only with Pistols, Flame Units, a single

Shotgun, and the Machine Guns which Vasquez and Drake have secretly kept functional, the

squad is rapidly overwhelmed by the Alien assault. The ﬁrst to go is Dietrich; she is Grabbed

CHAPTER 2. SCENARIOS

by an Alien which appears right behind her, and her reﬂexive squeeze of her Flame Unit’s trigger

incinerates Frost. This just compounds the problem, as Frost is carrying all the magazines for the

Pulse Riﬂes. Burning at a high temperature, the magazines suddenly explode, killing Crowe just

as the Alien assault begins in earnest.

While Vasquez and Drake open ﬁre, the other Marines attempt to sort out their situation.

Wierzbowski has disappeared, also Grabbed by an Alien, and Sgt. Apone is the next togo.

Without their leader, the squad ﬂounders for several moments, until Corporal Hicks gets them

moving toward the exit. (For players who like a challenge, try the ”Where’s Apone” option;

if Apone is carried oﬀ, no member of the squad can Move for three turns. For a squad with

well-organized ﬁre control, it is not too bad; for less experienced players, it is often a complete

disaster.)

As Ripley brings the Armored Personnel Carrier to the rescue, the battered squad ﬁghts its way

clear. In the chaos, Hicks makes eﬀective use of his Shotgun, and Hudson gets himself Wounded.

Moments away from safety, Drake is killed by the Acid Splash of an Alien shot by Vasquez.

In all, only Hicks, Vasquez, and Hudson escape. In game terms, the Marines have lost.

Strategy Tips

The Reactor Room Scenario is a very complex one, with few certainties. A strategy which works

brilliantly in one game can tail disastrously in the next, entirely due to the luck of where the

Aliens appear. On the other hand, a skillful, experienced player can win the Scenario consistently,

frequently escaping without loss, through the use of eﬀective ﬁre control.

It is very important to keep the Flame Units where they can be used eﬀectively, and to keep

the Pistol-armed Marines from blocking the movement and ﬁre of the more powerful Marines.

Some of the most important parts of ﬁre control have to do with the order in which the Marines

move; with experience, you will develop your own techniques to maximize your ﬁrepower.

There are three general paths which can be taken, each with its advantages. It is possible to

send the entire team above the Stairwell, or below the Stairwell, or to split the squad in two and

send it on both sides at once.

Above the Stairwell it is less crowded at the beginning; once the Stairwell has been passed,

however, there is a very high density of possible Alien squares, including what the playtesters have

nicknamed the ”Line of Death” (Row 4, numbers 2, 3, 4, and 5).

Below the Stairwell, the squad is immediately forced to split up to get around a number of

pillars. This can spell disaster if there are just a couple of bad Alien drops. Once past this section,

however, the going is fairly easy. Well, at least it isn’t horrible.

Splitting up seems to have more drawbacks than advantages, but it has worked very well on

many occasions. The advantages are that there is less crowding, good mutual tire support across

the Stairwell, and the fact that there is a better chance of at least one group escaping. The down

side is that if trouble develops, the squad is in two pieces, and the small groups are more easily

overwhelmed.

Other Basic Hints:

Don’t let anyone lag too far behind. There is a terrible temptation (and often a need) to have

the Machine Gunners ﬁre nearly every Turn, but a gap of even a few squares can lead to the

sudden elimination of two of the most powerful weapons you have available in this Scenario.

Keep Apone working hard. He is fast, accurate, and with the Flame Unit is ideal for cleaning

up Aliens which are about to create disasters.

Hicks is a powerful tool for freeing Grabbed Marines; with 3 Actions and a Melee of 1, he has

a fair chance of Stunning an Alien. This rescues the Marine, without the risk of someone getting

Splashed. And for those Players who do master the game suﬃciently that they can usually win,

there is always the option of dropping three Aliens per Turn instead of two. Or perhaps you could

try four per Turn . ..

CHAPTER 2. SCENARIOS

2.2

OPERATIONS AND AIR DUCTS

This Scenario has two parts, and uses the left and bottom portions of the Map. At the start

Hicks, Vasquez, Hudson, Gorman, Ripley, Newt, and Burke are barricaded into the Operations

Room of the Colony. The Aliens attack through the ceiling, and the Marines are forced to retreat.

Meanwhile, Burke has ﬂed, sealing the only exit behind him. The Marines are forced to ﬁght a

delaying action until they have cut through the door. Newt then leads them into the Air Ducts

of the Colony, in an attempt to get them to the Landing Pad, where Bishop is waiting with the

second Drop Ship.

Shaded Area

At the upper left of the Operations Map is an area shaded in blue. In this area are an assortment

of desks, small cabinets, and other oﬃce furniture. Unlike other squares with obstructions in

them, it is possible to move through these squares. Any Alien or Marine moving through a shaded

square must use 2 Actions per square, instead of the usual 1. This represents the diﬃculty of

moving around, between, or, in the case of the Aliens, over the clutter.

These squares are treated as empty for all Fire purposes; the shaded squares do not block Line

of Sight.

Grenades

In this Scenario the Marines may use the Grenade Launchers which are attached to their Pulse

Riﬂes. Only Marines armed with Pulse Riﬂes may use the following rules.

The Marine simply states that he or she is ﬁring a Grenade, and chooses a square for the

Grenade to land in. The square must be one that could be ﬁred at normally; the Marine must

have a Line of Sight to it. Firing the Grenade takes one Action, and does not require the roll of

the die; it automatically hits the square it is aimed at.

The Marine should then consult the Grenade Table on the Reference Card to determine the

result. Count the number of squares from the Grenade to each nearby Alien or Marine, and apply

the results indicated on the Card.

GRENADE TABLE

Range from Blast Eﬀect

Alien Marine

0-1 Dead Dead

2-3 - Incapacitated

4-8 - Wounded

9+ - -

For example, all Aliens in or adjacent to the square where the Grenade exploded are automat-

ically Dead, and their Counters are removed. Note that a Grenade can injure a Marine up to 8

squares away, while Aliens at ranges of 2 or more squares are safe. Because of this, Marines must

be very careful about when and how they use their Grenades.

Burke and the Door

On the ﬁrst Turn of the Scenario, Burke moves directly to the passage which leaves the lower right

portion of the room. He will move down that passage at full speed, and pass through the Door

at its end on Turn 4. When he does, the Door is considered sealed; no Marine can pass through

the Door until it has been forced open by someone with a Cutting Torch. The Marines may not

shoot at or Melee Burke in any way.

CHAPTER 2. SCENARIOS

All the non-commissioned Marines carry Cutting Torches; only Gorman, Ripley, Newt, and

Burke do not have them. As soon as a Marine with a Torch reaches the square next to the Door,

he or she can begin cutting open the lock on the Door. Count 3 squares down the Turn Chart

from the current Turn, and place the Door Counter on that square. When that Turn begins,

the Door is considered open, and the Marines can begin passing through it. As soon as all the

Marines are through the Door, it is considered closed. The Aliens will attempt to pursue the

Marines even after the Door has been closed in front of them, however. On the Turn that the ﬁrst

Alien reaches the Door, count 15 squares ahead on the Turn Chart and place the Door Counter

there. On that Turn, the Aliens break down the Door, and all Aliens in Operations are able to

begin running through the Air Ducts in pursuit of the Marines.

The Marines have one other option, which might accelerate their escape from Operations. For

two Turns after he seals the Door, Burke is considered to be in the adjacent room, the Airlock,

listening to the cries of his fellow humans. If the Marines have not begun cutting open the Door,

they can ask Burke to unlock it for them. This appeal to Burke’s humanity depends heavily on

his conscience. Because he does not have much of a conscience, he will only unlock the Door if a

0 is rolled on the die. The Marines can get Burke to roll once for each Turn they delay cutting

the Door. After two Turns however (the square is marked with a ”B” on the Turn Chart), Burke

will leave, and the Marines can no longer appeal to his conscience. The Burke Counter is moved

into the small room to the left of the Airlock, to await the Let’s Eat Burke Scenario.

Note that because ot the initial Set-up, there is no way of stopping Burke from escaping and

sealing the Door. The reason his Counter is placed in its square and then moved down the corridor

is, quite simply, so that the Players can share in the frustration and outrage that the Marines felt

in the movie. We promise that, after the ﬁrst time you watch Burke abandon you and lock you

into an Alien-tilled room, you’ll hate him as much as the Marines did. If you would like to get

even, we suggest you take a look at the Let’s Eat Burke Scenario, described below.

Evacuating Operations

At the beginning of this Scenario, the Marines are attempting to ﬁght oﬀ the Alien attack, and

it takes several Turns for them to realize just how hopeless it is. Because of this, no one except

Burke may enter the corridor leading to the Door until the Turn on the Chart marked with an

asterisk (*) Starting with that Turn, the Marines are free to withdraw from Operations in any

way that they desire.

Ripley and Newt

Because of the relationship between Ripley and Newt, Ripley must attempt to take Newt to safety

before doing anything else. ”Safety”, in this sense, is the Door. Ripley and Newt must move

together toward the Door as soon and as quickly as possible, and must be adjacent to each other

at the end of each Turn until Ripley has taken Newt to the end of the corridor. At that point,

Ripley may return to the ﬁght in Operations, and Newt remains in one of the squares adjacent

to the Door. It should be pointed out that Ripley is doing the rest of the Marines a favor; Newt

is absolutely vital in the second portion of the Scenario, and this is as good a guarantee of her

safety as is possible.

Once the Door has been opened and Newt has entered the Airlock, each Turn she rolls a die.

As soon as she rolls a 6 or less, she suggests to the other Marines that they escape through the

Air Ducts. On that Turn, the Marines may begin the Air Duct portion of the Scenario. Until that

Turn, the Marines must continue to defend themselves as best they can.

Let’s Eat Burke

Players who feel betrayed by Burke (that should be just about everyone) may ﬁnd some satisfaction

in the Let’s Eat Burke Scenario. After Burke has ﬁnally abandoned the Marines and moved into

the Let’s Eat Burke Room, he is placed in the lower square and the Players may determine his

fate. The rules governing the Scenario are as follows:

CHAPTER 2. SCENARIOS

Burke has no weapons.

He cannot leave the Let’s Eat Burke Room; the doors are locked.

An Alien appears in the upper square of the room, and may move 1 square. This naturally

puts it in Burke’s square, and it attacks him.

Players should run the battle between Burke and the Alien until it reaches its inevitable and

rather ugly conclusion. While it is possible for Burke to Stun the Alien, it is not possible for him

to hurt it. It is only a matter of time before he gets a result other than ”In Combat” or ”Alien

Loses.”

It should be noted that if Burke makes his Conscience roll and unlocks the Door to Operations,

he can escape through the Air Ducts with the Marines. There is a moral lesson here for everyone.

Set-Up

The following Marines are used in this Scenario:

Hicks, Vasquez, Hudson, Gorman, Ripley, Newt, and Burke.

Each uses the lower weapon on his or her Character Card.

Burke begins in the square marked on the Map with a Red 7. The others begin on or adjacent

to any of the squares marked with Red numbers, according to the Players’ discretion.

Burke is not controlled by any Player; as noted above, Burke follows a prearranged set of

actions. If he makes his Conscience roll, one of the Players should assume control of him at that

time. Additionally, the Burke Card is always the ﬁrst moved during the Marines’ turn until the

Air Ducts portion of the Scenario.

Alien Appearance

There are four diﬀerent sets of appearance locations for the Aliens in this Scenario:

Grey, Blue, Red, and Gold. (As noted above, the Red Aliens should not be used by

beginning Players.) These colors appear both on the Map and on the Turn Chart, and are used

in the following way.

In each square on the Turn Chart for Operations I Air Ducts, there are numbers which indicate

how many Aliens appear that Turn, and where. If there is a Grey number in the square, then that

many Aliens appear on the squares with Grey numbers on the Map. If there is a Blue number,

that many Aliens appear on squares with a Blue number, and the Red numbers indicate those

that appear on the Red squares. To determine exactly which square the Alien appears in, roll the

die once for each Alien, and place it in the appropriately numbered square. Re-roll 0’s; they have

been omitted for use with the Bonus Bug rule. Aliens move one square on the Turn they appear,

just as in the Reactor Room Scenario. They may not move into shaded areas on the Turn that

they arrive.

The Players do not have to roll for the Gold Aliens. They automatically appear in the Let’s

Eat Burke room, and begin trying to break into the Airlock. As with the Aliens trying to break

down the Door, it takes 15 Turns to succeed. Count ahead 15 Turns, and place an Alien Counter

in that square; on that Turn, the Gold Aliens break into the Airlock.

Note that there are a number of Turns with more than one number; just place each set of

Aliens, one by one, until they are all on the Map.

At a certain point the numbers on the Turn Chart change, and are printed in boxes. The Aliens

represented by these boxes are used in the second portion of the Scenario, and are discussed below.

Air Ducts

Once the Marines have escaped from Operations, the second portion of the Scenario begins. The

order in which the Marines are moved can be changed at this time, with the following limitation; if

they are not Incapacitated or Dead, Newt must be ﬁrst and Ripley must be second. Additionally,

the Marines must enter the Air Ducts in the same order in which they move. Their objective is to

CHAPTER 2. SCENARIOS

get through the Air Ducts as quickly as possible; Newt must successfully ﬁnd the way for them,

however, and they must ﬁght oﬀ a number of Aliens along the way.

Except tor the restrictions imposed by the Compass Squares, the Marines may follow any path

they wish through the Air Ducts, and may move at any pace. It is highly recommended, however,

that they take the shortest route available, which is easy to ﬁnd, and that they waste no time.

Newt Decision Squares

There are a number of squares in the Air Ducts which are marked with a Compass. Each of

these signiﬁes an intersection of some sort, at which Newt must make a decision. She is something

of an expert on the layout of these Ducts, but it is still a very diﬃcult task for such a young girl.

The fact that everyone’s survival is at stake probably does not help.

Every time Newt wishes to leave a Compass Square, she must roll the die; on a roll of 6 or

less, she remembers the correct path toward the Landing Pad. On a roll of 7 or higher, she must

pause to think about where she is. If this happens, she cannot move until the next Turn. Any

Actions she had left are lost. If she reaches a Compass Square at the end of her Turn, she does

not roll until the beginning of the next Turn.

Example: Newt moves two squares; the second one is a Compass Square. Since she is

not leaving the square yet, she does not roll. Play proceeds normally until Newt’s next

turn. She attempts to move forward, and rolls the die; the roll is a 7. She has failed

her roll, and loses her entire turn. During her next turn, she tries again, and rolls a

6. This time she has succeeded, and may move normally.

Once Newt has successfully passed a Compass Square, all the Marines following her will auto-

matically follow her path, and have no chance of getting lost. If the Marines wish to pass Newt,

however, or if she is Incapacitated or Dead, they must make a decision at each intersection, but

without Newt’s experience and intelligence to guide them. Any time a Marine reaches an inter-

section and is without Newt’s guidance, he or she must choose randomly from the available paths

to determine which way to go. If the wrong path is chosen, the Marine (and all Marines following

him or her) must follow that path until reaching its end. Once the lead Marine has reached the

end, the other Marines may move back to the intersection and follow the correct path.

Set-up

As mentioned above, the Marines must establish a new order once they enter the Air Ducts. If

Newt is not Incapacitated or Dead, she must be placed at the front and Ripley directly behind

her.

Alien Appearance

The Aliens appear during this portion of the Scenario in a way very similar to that used in the

ﬁrst part. There are several colored numbers on the Turn Chart which are in boxes; on these

Turns, an Alien drops on one of the squares numbered in that color. Again, simply roll the die

and ﬁnd the square of the appropriate color with that number in it. 0 has again been omitted, for

use with the optional Bonus Bug rule.

In addition to these Aliens, it is likely that at some time during this portion of the Scenario

the Door to Operations will be broken down, and the Aliens behind it will begin their charge

through the Air Ducts. For ease of play, it is recommended that only the ﬁrst Alien in the horde

be marked; if the Aliens catch the Marines, then additional Alien Counters can be placed behind

the lead Alien.

CHAPTER 2. SCENARIOS

Victory Conditions

The Scenario ends when all Marines have either passed through the Exit at the end of the Air

Ducts, or have been Grabbed by the Aliens. If 4 or more Marines Exit, the Players win; 1 to 3

Marines is a Draw, and obviously if no Marines escape, the Players have lost.

Movie Summary

Between Scenarios, there is little rest for the Marines. After they escape from the Reactor Room,

they pile into the APC and Ripley drives them to the surface. The Drop Ship is called to evacuate

them, but it crashes when its crew (Ferro and Spunkmeyer) are killed by an Alien.

Salvaging what they can from the wreckage, they return to Operations, where they discover

that the Colony’s Reactor has sustained critical damage. Bishop is sent to bring down another

Drop Ship; while he is doing that, Burke uses two captured Facehuggers in an attempt to kill

Ripley, to prevent her from revealing that he is responsible for the destruction of the Colony.

The attempt fails narrowly, and as the Marines are deciding what to do with Burke, power to

Operations is cut. Moving through the internal structure of the installation, the Aliens have

bypassed the barricades created by the Marines, and are now in position to attack.

Dropping through the ceiling, they swarm toward the handful of Marines. As the Marines

desperately open ﬁre, Burke bolts from the room. He leaves by the only available exit and locks

the door securely behind him; the Marines are now trapped in the same room with the Aliens.

Ripley and Newt reach the door too late to stop Burke, and try to convince him to come back

and open it.

Meanwhile the Marines are desperately ﬁring at the Aliens, trying to prevent the wave of

creatures from reaching them. They begin to back out of the room, but as they do an Alien

emerges from the ﬂoor, grabbing Hudson. In moments, he is dragged through the ﬂoor and into

oblivion. Hicks charges down the corridor to the door, and begins using his cutting torch to break

through the lock. As he does, Vasquez uses grenades to clear the Aliens out of Operations.

Breaking through the door, they discover that Burke has locked the next door as well; with

the Aliens right behind them, they are running out of time. Their salvation is Newt; she is very

familiar with the network of ducts running through the Colony, and leads them through the tunnels

toward the Landing Pad.

The Marines move in single ﬁle through the cramped tunnels, with Newt and Ripley in the

lead. Vasquez protects the rear, ﬁring as she backs up. Unfortunately, she falls further and further

behind her comrades. When she runs out of ammunition, she switches to her pistol.

Suddenly, an Alien leaps at her through an opening in the ceiling of the tunnel. She empties

her pistol into its head, ﬁnally killing it. As she does, however, its blood splashes all over her leg,

and she is immobilized in great pain. Hearing her cry out, Gorman sends Hicks ahead and doubles

back to help her. It is a noble gesture, but a futile one; the two are quickly surrounded by Aliens,

and the best they can do is kill themselves and the Aliens attacking them by setting oﬀ a grenade.

Only Ripley, Hicks, and Newt exit the Air Ducts. The Marines have managed a Draw in this

Scenario.

Strategy Tips

The strategy in this Scenario is far more straightforward than that in the Reactor Room. The

Marines must try to evacuate Operations as quickly and smoothly as possible, and move with all

speed through the Air Ducts to the exit. The following tips may make things a little easier.

Obviously, the ﬁrst order of business is to get a Cutting Torch down to the Door. Hicks is

fastest, but he is so eﬃcient at killing Aliens that some players may prefer to send Hudson. You

should try it both ways, and see which method works for you.

As noted above, Newt is absolutely vital to the Marines’ survival; she must be safeguarded at

all costs.

There is a lull in the Alien drops; this is the best time to make a break down the corridor.

Leave early and the Aliens might run you down; wait too long, and you’ll never reach the Door.

CHAPTER 2. SCENARIOS

The best way to protect yourselves while cutting the Door open is the same technique used in

the movie; have someone wait at the mouth of the corridor and ﬁre grenades at arriving Aliens.

Sometimes you need ﬁre support from another Marine, in case an Alien happens to get through.

It is very important to have the other Marines out of Operations when it comes time to open ﬁre

with the grenades.

Once you are in the Air Ducts, the only trick is to keep moving (which is generally beyond your

control) and to keep your rearguard alive. Whoever is last in line is in for a nasty time of it, and

that is the real challenge. If and when your rearguard comes under Alien Attack, you are faced

with a diﬃcult choice. The experience of our playtesters is that going back for an endangered

comrade is a darned good way to get killed; this also applies in the Reactor Room, by the way.

On the other hand, it is pretty rotten to abandon the person who has made it possible for you

to get away. As you gain in experience, you will be able to make better judgements about the ﬁne

line between bravery and folly.

2.3

RIPLEY VS. THE QUEEN

This Scenario simulates the last, dramatic battle between Ripley, using the Powerloader, and

the enraged Alien Queen. By this point it has become quite a grudge match between these two, and

it is obvious that they are each utterly committed to destroying the other. Everything necessary

to play this Scenario is on the back of the Reference Card; there are two Tables and a small Map.

The game is simple and direct, and a patient, clever Player should have a very good chance

against the Queen.

Map

This Map represents the area of the Hangar Deck aboard the Sulaco where the battle takes

place. One square is marked ”Ripley”, and another ”Queen”; these are the squares where the two

combatants set up. At the right of the Map is the Airlock, bordered by red and white stripes.

The objective for Ripley is to drop the Queen into the Airlock, while avoiding the Queen’s teeth,

claws, and tail.

Tables

There are two Tables used in the Scenario. The ﬁrst is the Powerloader vs. the Queen Combat

Table, and the other is the Queen Versus Powerloader Table. The uses of the Tables are mostly

self-explanatory, and are detailed below.

The Turn

Unlike the other Scenarios, Actions are not used in the normal sense in this part of the game,

and the Phases are diﬀerent. There are now three Phases per Turn: Ripley’s Phase, the Queen’s

Phase, and Combat. Each is described below.

Ripley’s Phase

Each Turn, Ripley can either Move 1 square in any direction, Open the Airlock, or use one of her

two combat maneuvers, Sweep or Defend. These options are described below. In general, she will

want to Move adjacent to the Airlock and Open it as quickly as possible, so that when she Grabs

the Queen with a combat move she can drop her in.

Sweep: Ripley uses the huge claws of the Powerloader in direct assaults on the Queen. These

attacks can frequently knock the Queen oﬀ balance, but leave Ripley more vulnerable to the

Queen’s own weaponry.

CHAPTER 2. SCENARIOS

Defend: This is a more conservative approach for Ripley, and involves careful maneuvering,

grasping motions with the claws, and the use of secondary systems such as the Powerloader’s

Welding Torch.

Move: While Ripley is moving she is far more vulnerable to the Queen than in any other situation.

Unfortunately, Ripley must move in order to get the Queen adjacent to (and into) the Airlock.

Open the Airlock: This is the only one of Ripley’s options which is not listed on the Reference

Card. It is only performed once, and must be done during a Turn when the Queen is

Stunned. When Ripley performs this action, the inner door of the Airlock is opened, making

it possible for her to drop the Queen in.

During this Phase, the Player decides which option will be used: Sweep, Defend, Open, or

Move. When this has been done, the Queen’s Phase begins.

The Queen’s Phase

Each Turn, the Queen gets to move up to 3 squares in any direction. She will move in as straight

a line as possible, and will attempt to end her movement next to Ripley. Given the small size of

the Map and the slow speed at which Ripley moves, this should not be diﬃcult.

Combat

During the Combat Phase, the Player rolls to see what oﬀensive action the Queen take; the

options are Charge, Attack, and Melee. Charge represents a full on attempt to bowl Ripley over;

Attack means that the Queen will use her natural weaponry as aggressively as possible, and Melee

indicates that she is probing Ripley’s defenses.

Once the Queen’s action has been determined . the player rolls a die, and the result of the

combat is determined in the following way.

On the Ripley’s Action portion of the Powerloader - Queen Combat Table, read down the

column selected by Ripley to the number she rolled; then read across on that line to the column

that the Queen selected. There are several possible results, explained below.

POWERLOADER -QUEEN COMBAT TABLE

Ripley’s Action Queen’s Action (roll)

0-3 4-7 8-9

Sweep Defend Move Charge Attack Melee

0 - - Stun Stun -

1 0 - Stun Stun -

2 1 - Stun Stun -

3 2 0 Grab Grab Stun

4 3 1 Grab Grab Stun

5 4-5 2-3 Grab Grab Stun

6 6-7 4 Grab Grab Grab

7 8 5 Grab Claw Grab

8 - 6-7 Claw Tooth Grab

9 9 8-9 Tooth Tail Tail

No Result: the two combatants are moving, feinting, and attacking each other, but neither has

gained any advantage.

Stun: The Queen has been Stunned by one of the claws on the Powerloader. The Queen will

neither move nor attack during the next Turn, allowing Ripley to Open the Airlock, or to

Move without danger.

CHAPTER 2. SCENARIOS

Grab: Ripley has Grabbed the Queen with the Powerloader’s huge claws. If Ripley is standing

in any square next to the Airlock, she can attempt to pick up the Queen and drop her in.

She succeeds on a roll of 6 or less; if she fails, play continues normally the next Turn. If she

succeeds, the game is over and Ripley has won. (Of course, the Queen will drag her down

into the lock with her, and Ripley will have to climb out, but that is beyond the scope of

this Scenario.)

Claw: The Queen has one of her Claws in position to make an attack on Ripley. Roll the die

and consult the Claw column on the Queen Versus Powerloader Table. The results are

read as with any other Alien attack: in practice, if Ripley is Incapacitated she is as good as

dead. If she is Wounded, then add 3 to her Combat rolls on all future turns.

Tooth: The Queen can make a Tooth attack on Ripley. As above, simply roll the die and consult

the appropriate column on the Queen Versus Powerloader Table.

Tail: The Queen attacks with her Tail; roll the die and check the Tail column on the Table.

Ripley has one additional defense to the Queen’s attacks. After it is determined that the

Queen can make an attack, but before the Queen rolls the die, Ripley can elect to retreat

one square. Retreats of this sort must move Ripley away from the Airlock and away from

the Queen; Ripley cannot be adjacent to the Queen after making a Retreat. If Ripley makes

a Retreat, she cannot Move during the next Turn. If Ripley is backed against a wall and

therefore cannot make a retreat that would take her away from the Queen, she must accept

the result of the Queen’s attack, whatever it is.

Remember; if Ripley Retreats, she must move to a square that is one square further away

from the Airlock than she was before the Retreat, and she must not end up adjacent to the

Queen.

QUEEN VS POWERLOADER

Roll Claw Tooth Tail

0 Incapacitated Dead Dead

1 Wounded Incapacitated Incapacitated

2 - Wounded Incapacitated

3 - - Incapacitated

4 - - Wounded

5-9 - - -

Set-up

There are only two Counters used in this Scenario; Ripley (in the Powerloader) and the Queen.

(Bishop has been torn in half, and Newt is hiding under the ﬂoor grating.) They are each placed

in the squares marked on the Map.

Victory Conditions

Ripley wins if she drops the Queen into the Airlock. The Queen wins if she Incapacitates or kills

Ripley.

Movie Summary

Between Scenarios, the rollercoaster ride continues. Newt is lost, found, and then captured by

the Aliens. Just as Ripley and Hicks are about to reach safety, an Alien attacks, and its blood

Incapacitates Hicks. Ripley gets him to safety, and then goes back to rescue Newt. Using both

CHAPTER 2. SCENARIOS

a Pulse Riﬂe and a Flame Unit, as well as grenades and marking ﬂares, she enters the Aliens’

domain alone.

She manages to ﬁnd Newt in time to save her from a Facehugger and other Aliens, but as

she carries Newt out she stumbles into the Queen’s lair. The lair soon dissolves under a hail of

grenades, and Ripley and Newt head for the safety with the Queen in pursuit.

They barely make it aboard the Drop Ship, and outrun the explosion of the Reactor. Aboard

the Sulaco, no one is more shocked than Bishop to discover that the Queen has stowed away

aboard the Drop Ship. After tearing Bishop in half and pursuing Newtthroughout the deck, the

Queen ﬁnally faces her nemesis; Ripley, who has climbed into one of the Powerloaders stored in

the Hangar.

The two begin their ﬁnal confrontation, with the Queen’s brute force balanced by the hydraulic

strength of the Powerloader. The Queen attacks with everything at her disposal, her teeth, claws,

and tail hammering against the metal cage which surrounds Ripley. Ripley in turn subjects the

Queen to attacks which would kill any other being, the huge metal arms smashing into the creature

over and over. Ripley is beginning to tire when she arrives at what seems to be the only conclusion,

the same one she used long ago, aboard the lifeboat of the Nostromo.

She uses the Powerloader to remotely open the Airlock, and manages to pick up the huge

Queen and drop it in. The Queen is not going to go quietly however; she drags Ripley in after

her. Climbing out, Ripley is caught by the ankle. In desperation, she opens the Airlock and hangs

on tight. The Queen, crushed under the Powerloader, cannot hold on, and is blown into space.

Ripley climbs to safety, closes the Airlock, and is ﬁnally free to dream.

Strategy Tips

As in Operations, this is a very direct Scenario. A quick look at the tables will tell you just what

the risks are for each maneuver. In general, the safest approach is to concentrate on Stunning the

Queen so you can Move safety. Bolder players will walk directly to the Airlock, trusting in luck,

and toss the Queen in. Bolder players will also wind up dead now and then. As an interesting

option that adds a great deal to the game, keep track of the number of Turns being player. After

every 10th Turn, add 1 to Ripley’s Combat rolls. (On and after Turn 11 she is +1; From Turn 21

onward she is +2, and so forth.) Players tend to be a little bolder with that rule, which makes

the Scenario much more interesting.

2.4

THE MOVIE SCENARIO

The Movie Scenario allows Players to blend the ﬁrst two Scenarios together, and to compare

their success against that of the Marines in the movie itself. To play, simply set up and play the

Reactor Room Scenario normally. At the end use the surviving Marines, plus Gorman, Ripley,

Burke, and Newt, in the Operations I Air Ducts Scenario. Again, the Scenario is played out

normally; Burke locks the Door, Newt leads the Marines into the Air Ducts, and so forth.

Between Scenarios, all Marines have their condition improved by one level. That is, if a Marine

is Wounded in the Reactor Room, he or she is treated as healthy in Operations; if Incapacitated

in the Reactor Room, then he or she would be Wounded in the second Scenario.

One entertaining option is to have each person in a group play the game solitaire, and to

compare results and strategies.

There are no set Victory Conditions in this Scenario. Judge your ability against that of the

Marines in the movie, or against your friends.

CHAPTER 3. ADDITIONAL RULES AND GUIDELINES

ADDITIONAL RULES AND GUIDELINES

This Chapter contains minor rules that make interesting changes in the way the game is played.

Everything in this Chapter is optional; players should agree in advance if they are going to use any

of the suggestions below. At the end of the Chapter is a brief Section about ALIENS Expansion,

which explains what that supplement is about, and why we have included some of its components

in this game.

3.1

BONUS BUG RULE

In the ﬁrst two Scenarios, the Alien Appearance numbers run from 1 to 9, omitting the 0. In

both cases, if a 0 is rolled, it means that an extra Alien appears on the Map that Turn; hence

the term Bonus Bug. The extra Alien is placed using the normal rules, and if another 0 is rolled

during its placement, then yet another extra Alien appears.

In order to keep accurate track of how many Aliens are going to arrive, it is suggested that the

Players set aside the normal number of Aliens before placing any of them. Place the Aliens on the

Map normally, using this pool as a source of Counters. Anytime a 0 is rolled during placement,

put another Alien Counter in the pool. It is quite possible for a single Alien to create a number

of Bonus Bugs, and for one Bonus Bug to create one or more others. There is no actual limit to

the number which can appear. Since it only happens on a roll of 0, however, it should not happen

too often. (Although many players say that even once is too often.)

In all cases, Players obviously have to roll again to determine where the original Alien will

appear. Also, in the Reactor Room Scenario, a Bonus Bug only occurs if a 0 is rolled on the Row

die; that is why the Rows are numbered 1 to 9. Once a Row has been selected, if a 0 is rolled for

the speciﬁc square, the Alien is simply placed normally. There is no Bonus Bug.

It is recommended that beginning players not use this rule.

3.2

MACHINE GUN SPECIAL ABILITY

The Machine Guns used by Vasquez and Drake have very high rates of ﬁre; that is, they ﬁre

a lot of bullets in a very short time. Because of this, it is possible for a Marine using a Machine

Gun to hit two Aliens with a single shot.

To do this, the Aliens must be adjacent to each other. The Marine rolls his chance of hitting

normally, ﬁguring his chance using the range to the Alien that is further away. If he hits, both

Aliens are removed from the Map.

This special ability means that a clever Machine Gunner can often rescue the Marines from

nearly hopeless situations.

3.3

HAND GRENADES

In addition to the Grenade Launchers attached to their Pulse Riﬂes, the Marines also carried

small Hand Grenades. These were apparently just as powerful as those used in the Launchers, but

in the conﬁned spaces of the Colony they are much harder to use safely.

CHAPTER 3. ADDITIONAL RULES AND GUIDELINES

Any Marine who is suﬃciently desperate may use a Hand Grenade anyway. The Marine simply

uses one Action to draw and arm the Grenade; at the beginning of the next Marine Movement

and Combat Phase, the Grenade goes oﬀ in the same square where the Marine drew it. If the

Marine has moved, the Player may mark the detonation square with a Facehugger Counter, just

to keep track. When the Grenade goes oﬀ, it is treated as a normal Grenade detonation; use the

Grenade Table on the Reference Card.

Playtesters have nicknamed this the ”Let’s Nuke Gorman” Rule.

3.4

THE PETTY REVENGE SCENARIO

This Scenario has been designed speciﬁcally for players who have lost once too often. To play,

set up the Reactor Room Scenario normally. The following change is in eﬀect.

It is assumed that Gorman has enough brains to pull the Marines out of the Reactor Room as

soon as there is obviously danger. Because of this, the Marines get 8 free turns of movement to

run for the door before the ﬁrst Alien drop.

After the last Marine has left the Reactor Room, the second part of the Scenario begins.

Gorman has the Marines roll nerve gas into the lair. The results of this are unknown, however,

and have no aﬀect on play. After a period of consideration (and extensive argument between

Burke and Ripley) Gorman decides that there is only one good solution. He has the entire Squad

ﬂy back to the Sulaco, and nukes the site from orbit. The Player should roll the die; this is the

number of nuclear weapons which strike the Colony. 0’s should be treated in the same way as

Bonus Bugs; re-roll the die, and roll an extra one. No matter how many nuclear weapons hit, the

Player wins.

Well, we said it was petty.

3.5

ALIENS EXPANSION

As noted elsewhere, there are a number of Cards and Counters included in this game which

are used only in ALIENS Expansion. This was not done to aggravate you, our customer, or

to manipulate you into buying the Expansion. It was done for sensible and compelling reasons

involving the production process. For example, if we deliberately left out the Counters and Char-

acter Cards for Ferro, Spunkmeyer, and Bishop, we would have wasted room on the Card sheets

for this game, and would have to print up an extra, half-ﬁlled Card sheet for the Expansion. That

would not make this game any better, certainly, but would add to the price of the Expansion.

There are a few tables on the Reference Card that are the same way, as well as Counters for Fires

and Facehuggers. All of these components ﬁgure prominently in ALIENS Expansion, but none

interfere with the play of this game.

For the curious, ALIENS Expansion will focus on details which were left out of this game. In-

cluded will be a number of Optional Rules, including Ammunition Restrictions, Carrying Multiple

Weapons, Backup Weapons, Firing Through Marines, and others. All add a little complexity to

the rules, and can be added into the Scenarios given in this game. There will also be other Scenar-

ios, representing minor ﬁghts which took place in the movie, and battles which never took place

but which might be interesting. Another full-color 1 7” x 34” Map will be included, showing a big

section of the Aliens’ lairs. Ripley’s rescue of Newt is one Scenario; in a hypothetical Scenario the

Players can take the Marines into the lairs to rescue Apone and Dietrich, or hunt for the Queen.

CHAPTER 4. EXPANSION RULES

EXPANSION RULES

The rules contained in this chapter are intended to be standard rules for all Scenarios, both in

this Expansion and in the ALIENS Game itself, where applicable.

4.1

COMPONENTS

The components for ALIENS Expansion are:

The Expansion Map, which is 17” x 33”

The Room I Sentry Card Sheet, 8 ” x 11”

This rulebook

Expansion Map

The Expansion Map shows a portion of the Processing Station which is now serving as an

Alien lair. The rules governing the Expansion Map are generally the same as those given in the

ﬁrst ALIENS game; the exceptions are fully explained elsewhere in the rules. Also shown on

the Expansion Map are the Reactor Damage & Countdown Chart, the Reactor Damage

Table, and the Alien Appearance Table.

The thick black lines obviously indicate Walls; no Counter may move through a Wall at any

time. The rules for obstructions and other Map features are the same as in ALIENS.

Alien Rooms

There are a number of areas on the Expansion Map which have sets of colored numbers in them;

these are Rooms in which Aliens are likely to live. The Room Cards are used to determine exactly

what inhabitants each Room has, if any, and the numbers in the Room are used to determine where

Aliens appear. Rules on this are given in Section 5.2.

Stairwells

There are 9 Stairwells scattered across the Expansion Map They are of various sizes and shapes,

but all of them look like the Stairwell in the Reactor Room of the original ALIENS Map and

have the distinctive yellow railing, as well as a large black number in the center. Aliens frequently

come out of these Stairwells, and the number on each Stairwell is used to determine where the

Aliens appear. Rules for this are contained in Section 5.3.

The rules governing Marine Movement and Fire around the Stairwells are similar to those in

ALIENS; the Marines can Fire into, through, or over Stairwells without restriction, but cannot

Move into the Stairwell squares. In addition, Marines cannot move diagonally across the corner

of a Stairwell where it is adjacent to a Wall.

For Aliens, the rules for these Stairwells are more lenient than those which apply on the ﬁrst

Map. On the Expansion Map, Aliens may freely move through Stairwell squares, without penalty

or restriction. This represents the leaping and climbing ability of the Aliens. The only exception

to this is in Stairwell 9, at the lower right of the Map. This Stairwell is much larger than the

CHAPTER 4. EXPANSION RULES

others on the Map, and the Aliens cannot enter any squares in Stairwell 9 that are not adjacent

to normal squares.

Note also that there are many places where the Stairwells take the place of Walls. In all cases,

it is possible for Marines to Fire and for Aliens to Move through these areas. There are no Walls

along the railings of the Stairwells.

Cocooning Squares

There are ﬁve squares on the Map which feature large white numbers within black circles; these

are called Cocooning Squares. In some of the Scenarios the goal is to rescue Marines who have

been captured by the Aliens; the captured Marines are placed in or adjacent to these Squares at

the start of such Scenarios. The numbers in the Squares represent the general degree of diﬃculty,

with Cocooning Square 1 being the easiest place to rescue Marines, and Square 5 being the most

diﬃcult. The rating system is approximate, and how diﬃcult a particular area is depends on the

actual strategies used by the Players.

The full rules regarding these Cocooning Squares are contained in the Scenario Rules.

Elevator

The Elevator is the tightly gridded eight square area at the upper left of the Map, and represents

the large elevators used to get to the Lairs. Marines will begin Scenarios in the Elevator, and end

the Scenarios by returning to it after pursuing their goals.

It is possible to place two Marines in each square of the Elevator. This is accomplished by

placing the Counter for one Marine on the Card of another, as if the Marine were Incapacitated

and being carried. The Marine whose Counter is on another Marine’s Card is treated, in fact, as

if he were temporarily Incapacitated; he can take no Actions at all. The Marine may, however,

move out of the other Marine’s square whenever his Turn comes, and be treated again as a normal

Marine. It is assumed that the Marine being ”carried” is pressed back against a wall of the

Elevator, or is crouching to stay out of the way of the other Marines, and is therefore incapable

of helping for the moment.

Playing Aids

There are three Playing Aids on the Expansion Map, as mentioned above. The Reactor Damage

& Countdown Chart is located at the right of the Expansion Map. It consists of two rows of

boxes, numbered from 1 to 40. At the lower right are the Reactor Damage Table, which lists

the eﬀects of various weapons on the Reactor, and the Alien Appearance Table, which is used

to determine how many Aliens appear each Turn.

Rules regarding the Playing Aids are explained in Section 5.3.

Card Sheet

Two types of Cards have been provided; Room Cards and Sentry Cards. Each type of Card

serves a diﬀerent purpose, and the two sets should be formed into small decks and kept separate

during play, with the word ”ROOM” or ”SENTRY” face up.

There are six Room Cards, and one of four possible pictures on the reverse of each one. One

Room Card is labeled Empty, and shows a portion of an empty room. Three feature Aliens,

one has a Facehugger, and the last has a picture of the Alien Queen and the words Queen + 2

Alien. In general, this deck is used to determine what Aliens (if any) are in a particular room in

the Alien Lairs. The use of this deck is described in the Scenario rules.

The remaining ten Cards on the sheet are Sentry Cards. These are labeled either Empty or

Alien on the reverse, and are used to determine how many Aliens respond to the Marines’ entrance

to a particular Room in the Lairs. Again, the use of these Cards is fully described in the Scenario

rules.

CHAPTER 4. EXPANSION RULES

4.2

FACEHUGGERS

Facehugger is the term for the ﬁrst form taken by an Alien; looking like a pair of misshapen

hands, it is the aptly-named Facehugger which attaches itself to the host and implants the egg

which grows into the Chestburster form and, in due course, the adult Alien. While Facehuggers

are not nearly as powerful as fully-grown Aliens, they are small, quick, and quite dangerous. The

Counters for Facehuggers were supplied in ALIENS, and the chart for a Facehugger’s attack is

on the ALIENS Reference Card.

Facehuggers are present in the Alien Lairs portion of the Colony, and appear according to the

Scenario rules contained in Chapter 5. The following rules govern the activities of Facehuggers in

all Scenarios.

Facehuggers have four Actions and move exactly as if they were adult Aliens. When a Face-

hugger makes an attack, use the table shown on the Facehugger portion of the Reference Card; a

result of Incapacitated indicates that the Facehugger has successfully attached itself to the Ma-

rine’s face and is in the process of implanting the Alien egg. The Marine in question is eﬀectively

doomed, and remains Incapacitated for the duration of the game. Unlike normal Incapacitation,

the Marine’s condition will not improve to Wounded for the next portion of the Movie Scenario,

and he or she is considered Dead when determining Victory. The other Marines may choose to give

the Facehugger’s victim a merciful death, but this has no aﬀect on play. Results of In Combat

or Facehugger Loses are treated in exactly the same way that similar results are handled when

an adult Alien attacks.

FACEHUGGER

Roll Result

0 Dead

1 Incapacitated

2 Wounded

3-9 None

When a Marine Fires at a Facehugger the die roll is modiﬁed by +3 before checking to see

if the creature is hit. This is because the Facehugger’s size makes it a diﬃcult target, and this

modiﬁer is in addition to any other modiﬁer which may be applied, such as the +5 for being in

the same square as a Marine.

Marines may Melee a Facehugger normally. In all respects the combat is run as if the Face-

hugger were an adult Alien. In addition, Facehuggers spray Acid following the same rules as adult

Aliens, with a single exception; the spray only goes into the Facehugger’s own square. Marines in

adjacent squares are safe.

4.3

THE ALIEN QUEEN

The Alien Queen is obviously the single most dangerous of the creatures, and possesses an

impressive assortment of natural weaponry, high degrees of cunning and malice, and the ability to

withstand tremendous damage. All of this naturally means that the Queen requires special rules.

The Queen is diﬀerent from the other Aliens in that she receives only 3 Actions during Alien

Movement, due to her great size. On the other hand, she can actually make a special form of

attack during Movement; the Queen can Ram any Marine whose square she enters. The Ram

attack is executed during the Alien Movement Phase, using the Ram column on the Queen

portion of the Reference Card. (Note that this is not the Queen vs. Powerloader Table from the

reverse of the Reference Card; this Table is on the same side as the Acid Spray, Grenade, and

Alien Tables.) There is no limit to the number of Marines who may be attacked in this way during

a Turn, except that the Queen can only enter three squares. Note that Incapacitated Marines

CHAPTER 4. EXPANSION RULES

being carried are also subject to the Ram attack. As with all Alien Attacks, simply roll the die

and consult the Reference Card; in this case, a roll of 0,1, or 2 results in an Incapacitated

Marine, and a roll of 3, 4, 5, or 6 Wounds the Marine in question. Roll separately for each

Marine attacked, and be sure to add the Marine’s Melee value to each roll as usual.

QUEEN

Roll Ram Tooth Tail / Claw

0 Incapacitated Dead Dead

1 Incapacitated Incapacitated Dead

2 Incapacitated Incapacitated Dead

3-4 Wounded Wounded Incapacitated

5-6 Wounded - Wounded

7-9 - - -

When the Queen Rams her way through a Marine’s square, the Marine does not have to move.

The Marine’s Counter simply remains in place, the Queen’s attack is resolved, and her movement

continues. If the Queen actually stops in a Marine’s square, then the Marine’s Counter is picked

up and placed upright on the Queen portion of the Reference Card. If the Marine is carrying an

Incapacitated Marine, then the Incapacitated Marine is automatically considered Dead, and the

Card and Counter should be removed from the game.

The Queen may make up to 4 attacks in each Alien Attack Phase. 3 of the attacks are listed

on her portion of the Reference Card; Tooth, Tail, and Claw. Each attack is run separately,

using the appropriate column, and may be directed at any Marine in an adjacent square. Roll

randomly to determine which ones are attacked by which weapon; the Queen will not attack a

Marine more than once per Phase as long as there are other targets available. The attacks are

run normally; roll the die, add the Marine’s Melee value, and consult the Card.

The Queen’s fourth attack is directed against any Marine who has been placed on her Card.

Roll the die, add the Marine’s Melee value, and consult the normal Alien portion of the Reference

Card; if the result indicates the Marine is Dead or Grabbed in any way, then the Marine is Dead.

On a result of In Combat or Alien Loses, the Marine simply remains on the Card.

The Queen’s movement and attacks should be executed so that she can attack as many Marines

as possible, with both her Ram and her regular Combat attacks. In general this will involve moving

directly toward nearby groups of Marines and attempting to get into their midst. Players should

attempt to be as fair about this as possible, and roll randomly to make decisions where necessary.

Because of the Queen’s native intelligence, she should be directly controlled by the opposing

player during Tournament style play (see Section 6.6). There are no restrictions on the Queen’s

tactics in such a situation; the Queen may hide, maneuver, attack and/or withdraw as desired. It

should be noted that a clever player can make the Queen into a nearly unstoppable death machine

if the Marines are not careful.

The last special attribute of the Queen is that she is very hard to kill. The Marines run their

Fire attacks normally, but a hit does not kill her. Instead, when the ﬁrst successful attack is made

on the Queen, place an Alien Counter in the 1 box on the Turn Chart. For each successful attack

made after that one, move the Alien Counter up one box. After it reaches the 5 box, it is possible

for the Queen to be killed. For each successful attack made on her from that point until the end of

the game, the player should roll the die; on a roll of 0, the Queen is Dead. On any other roll, she

continues to operate in her normal manner. Note that attacks which do not kill the Queen still

cause her to spray Acid in the normal way; from the very ﬁrst successful attack on the Queen, the

Marines near her will have to put up with the risk of Acid. Also, each Grenade that is ﬁred into

the Queen’s square is an automatic hit; the Alien Counter is moved up one box and the die need

not be rolled. A Grenade exploding in a square next to the Queen has no eﬀect on her; other than

that, Grenades ﬁred at the Queen have completely normal results, including the usual chances of

injuring Marines.

Morbid Players may ﬁnd it amusing to keep track of how many hits it actually takes to kill

the Queen.

CHAPTER 5. EXPANSION SCENARIOS

EXPANSION SCENARIOS

There are three types of Scenarios in this Chapter. The ﬁrst two Scenarios represent the smaller

battles from the movie; the Aliens’ attack on Ferro and Spunkmeyer aboard the Drop Ship, and

Ripley’s Rescue of Newt from the Aliens’ lairs. The next three Scenarios are for hypothetical

situations; a Marine Assault to rescue Apone and Dietrich shortly after the Reactor Room

battle, an all-out Hunt For The Queen, and an open-format Scenario which allows players to

recreate the movie from start to ﬁnish. Lastly, there are several ideas for use with the Scenarios

contained in ALIENS.

In general the layout is the same as that used in ALIENS, with separate headings for Special

Rules, Set-up, Alien Appearance, Victory Conditions, a summary of the action from the Movie

(where appropriate), and Strategy Tips.

5.1

THE DROP SHIP

Immediately after the Marines’ disaster in the Reactor Room, Hicks calls for Ferro and

Spunkmeyer, aboard the Drop Ship, to ﬂy in and evacuate the survivors. His intention is to

destroy the Aliens (and the entire Colony, in fact) by using nuclear weapons from orbit. He never

gets to do this, of course; the Drop Ship has been inﬁltrated by Aliens, and crashes when Ferro

is killed by one of the creatures. This Scenario allows players to run through this brief, rather

one-sided battle.

Unlike the rest of the Scenarios presented, this one does not require the use of the Map. The

ﬁrst step is the Alien attack on Spunkmeyer. Just roll a normal attack against Spunkmeyer (whose

Melee value is 0). If the result is In Combat or Alien Loses, then Spunkmeyer is able warn Ferro,

using his Headset, that he is under attack. Continue to run the battle between the two using

normal rules. Spunkmeyer may throw the Alien out of his square at some point; if he does, then

he can draw his Pistol, which takes 2 Actions, and he may later be able to open ﬁre. For his

chance of hitting the Alien, use the numbers on Gorman’s Card for Range 1. It he kills the Alien,

then the Marines win the Scenario. If the Alien Grabs Spunkmeyer in any way then the Scenario

goes to the next section.

The second section of the Scenario is Ferro’s battle with the Alien, which begins when it

steps into the Control Cabin of the Drop Ship. Entering the Cabin ends the Alien’s movement

for the Turn, and it becomes Ferro’s Movement and Fire Phase. If Ferro has not been warned

by Spunkmeyer, then she has not drawn her Pistol and must spend her ﬁrst Turn drawing the

weapon. Again, this takes 2 Actions. If she has been warned, then her Pistol is already drawn and

she may open ﬁre at the Alien. If the Alien survives Ferro’s ﬁrst Turn, then it may attack during

the following Alien Attack Phase. From this point forward, their battle is run in the same way as

the one involving Spunkmeyer. If Ferro is Grabbed at any point, then the Drop Ship crashes and

both she and the Alien are killed.

Victory Conditions

The Marines win it they kill the Alien. They lose if Ferro and Spunkmeyer are both either Grabbed

in any way or Dead.

CHAPTER 5. EXPANSION SCENARIOS

Movie Summary

Most of the action occurs oﬀ-camera in this sequence. After Hicks calls for pick-up, Ferro orders

Spunkmeyer to get back aboard the Drop Ship. As Spunkmeyer enters the Drop Ship he notices

some of the distinctive Alien gunk, but he does not understand its signiﬁcance. He discovers the

signiﬁcance oﬀ-camera, and Ferro is angry with him for how long it is taking him to reach the

Control Cabin. Hearing the door open behind her she turns to talk to Spunkmeyer, and ﬁnds

herself facing an Alien. Before she can draw her Pistol the Alien strikes, and the Scenario ends in

a loss for the Marines.

Strategy Tips

There really is not very much to say about this one. Good luck.

5.2

THE RESCUE OF NEWT

After the escape from Operations, Newt gets separated from Ripley and Hicks and is captured

by an Alien. Shortly thereafter Hicks is badly injured by the acid blood of another of the creatures,

and this leaves Ripley as Newt’s only hope. Arming herself thoroughly, she enters the lairs of the

Aliens and ﬁnds her way to Newt as the Colony begins to collapse around her. She accidentally

discovers the Queen’s chamber, and retreats after destroying as much of it as she can. Pursued

by the furious Queen, Ripley carries Newt to the apparent safety of the Drop Ship.. only to ﬁnd

herself in the middle of the Ripley vs. The Queen Scenario, from the ﬁrst game.

Ripley’s Gun and Movement

Before entering the Lairs, Ripley carefully prepares for her ordeal. A major part of her preparation

involves the attachment of a Flame Unit to a Pulse Riﬂe. Because of this unique arrangement,

Ripley may use either of the weapons shown on her Card, depending on which is more convenient.

There is no limit to how she may mix the use of these two weapons; she may even ﬁre the Flame

Unit with 1 Action, then ﬁre at another Alien with 1 Action on the Pulse Riﬂe, and then return

to the Flame Unit for her ﬁnal Action, if she desires.

Ripley also has a single restriction on her movement. Because the Processing Station is about

to explode, a large ﬁre has started which ﬁlls the corridor directly above Stairwell 7. This is the

only passageway which runs safely around the rooms at the center of the Map, and the presence of

the ﬁre blocks the passage and forces Ripley to move through two or more Rooms. The importance

of moving through Rooms is discussed below.

Room Entry

Whenever Ripley enters a new Room, she must check to see what Aliens live there, if any. To do

this, the Room cards are used. As mentioned in Section 4.1, the six cards with the word Room

on the back should be assembled into a deck and shuﬄed.

Each time Ripley enters a new Room, the top card should be ﬂipped over during the following

Alien Appearance Phase to reveal what Aliens live in the Room. There are several possible results.

Empty: There are no Aliens in the Room at the present.

Alien: There is one Alien in the Room. Roll the die, place the Alien on the square with the

number rolled, and move it 1 square toward the nearest Marine. (As mentioned earlier, each

Room on the Map has the numbers 1 through 9 in it.) If the Bonus Bug rule is being used,

then a roll of 0 indicates that there is an additional Alien in the Room.

CHAPTER 5. EXPANSION SCENARIOS

Facehugger: The Room has a number of Alien Egg sacs in it, one of which is open. As usual,

the die is rolled and a Facehugger Counter is placed in the appropriate square and moved 1

toward the nearest Marine. If the Bonus Bug rule is in eﬀect, then each 0 rolled indicates

that there is an additional Facehugger in the Room.

Queen + 2 Aliens: Ripley has stumbled across the Queen’s Lair. The Queen Counter and two

Aliens are placed in the Room using the usual method, except that any Bonus Bugs rolled

when placing the Queen should not be treated as Bonus Queens; they are simply normal

Aliens. If Ripley or Newt stay in the Room or attempt to pass through it, they will be

attacked by the Alien sentries; if they leave on their next Turn, the Aliens will not follow

them. If, on the other hand, Ripley actually ﬁres at the Queen, then her sentries will attack

and the Queen will attack as well, after spending one full Turn freeing herself from her

egg-laying apparatus. Note that the Queen will not move if she is not threatened.

Sentry Arrival

On the two Turns after a Room Card has been ﬂipped, there is a chance that an Alien Sentry will

arrive. As with the Room Cards, the ten Sentry Cards should be stacked and shuﬄed together.

During the Alien Appearance Phase of each of the two Turns, ﬂip the top Card of the Sentry

deck to see if an Alien arrives. There are two possible results.

Empty: No Alien arrives. Play continues normally.

Alien: An Alien appears in the Room. The square it arrives in is rolled normally, and the Bonus

Bug rule is applied if it is in use.

Note that it is possible for a Sentry to arrive even if the original result of the Room Card was

Empty; the Sentry Cards are ﬂipped regardless of the result of the Room Card. To keep track of

the two Turn cycle of Sentry arrival, just keep the Sentry Card from the ﬁrst Turn separate from

the deck until the second Sentry Card is ﬂipped.

Set-up

It is assumed that Ripley makes her way into the Lairs without entering any Rooms and without

encountering any roaming Aliens. Consequently, this Scenario begins with Ripley adjacent to the

Room where Newt is held captive. The Room is the one just below Stairway 8. In the upper right

portion of this Room there are three letters; N, F, and R.

Newt starts out in the square with the N in it. She is assumed to be Cocooned, and therefore

cannot move until the Turn after Ripley moves next to her square.

Ripley starts in the square marked R, just outside the Room.

The ﬁrst Turn begins with the Marine Movement and Fire Phase. Ripley may do whatever

she wishes, although it is likely that she will want to stay away from the square marked with an

Alien Appearance

At the beginning of the second Turn (that is, the ﬁrst Alien Appearance Phase), a Facehugger

Counter is placed in the square marked with an F. It does not get to move the usual 1 square

during this Phase; that movement has already been taken into account.

For the two following Turns, Sentry Cards are drawn as is normal for a Room which has been

entered.

Thereafter, Aliens will only appear when either Ripley or Newt enters a Room. The rules

above under Room Entry and Sentry Arrival are used.

CHAPTER 5. EXPANSION SCENARIOS

Victory Conditions

The player wins if both Ripley and Newt reach the Elevator. If one of them is Grabbed or Dead,

then the Scenario is a draw. If both are Grabbed or Dead, then the Player loses.

Movie Summary

After a tense trip into the heart of the Lairs, following the guidance of the device that is leading

her to Newt, Ripley hears Newt scream; a Facehugger is emerging from an Egg in front of the

child. Racing to Newt’s defense, Ripley quickly dispatches the Facehugger and the Alien sentries

which attack her. Freeing the child from the cocooning, Ripley begins to retrace her steps back

to safety.

Within a few moments there is a renewed series of explosions, which forces Ripley away from

the path she had followed. With Newt held tightly in her arms, she ﬁnds herself in the Breeding

Chamber, facing the immense Alien Queen and several sentries. For a long moment nothing

happens, but as Ripley and Newt begin to back Out of the room, an Egg opens and a Facehugger

begins to emerge. Ripley immediately opens ﬁre, using every weapon at her disposal; the Pulse

Riﬂe, Flame Unit, Grenade Launcher, and even a belt of grenades. She ﬂees with Newt... only to

discover that the Queen has survived the destruction and is close behind her.

Strategy Tips

Like the Drop Ship, this is a fairly straightforward Scenario. Once the initial threats are mastered,

the Player need only select a route and move as quickly and calmly as possible toward the Elevator.

The obvious path is through the Rooms directly above the square where Ripley starts, and this is

clearly the best choice as long as the Queen is not in either of the Rooms on that path. If she is,

then the only real alternative is to backtrack and ﬁnd a new route.

A wise strategy is to have Ripley step only a single square into a Room and then back out

again on the same Turn. This helps to eliminate the risk of being immediately jumped by an

Alien. Another trick is possible if the Optional Rule for Fires (Section 6.3) is used; use the

Flame Unit to set Fires in nearby Alien Appearance squares.

5.3

MARINE ASSAULT

At the end of the battle in the Reactor Room, the Marines ﬁnd that two of their number

(Apone and Dietrich) have been captured by the Aliens and are not dead. There is an immediate

desire on the pant of the Marines to go back and rescue their comrades: in the words of Vasquez,

”We don’t leave our people behind.” Of course in the movie, Ripley’s belief that there is no hope

for the captured Marines deters them from making the attempt, and the destruction of the Drop

Ship removes any possibility of a rescue.

If the Drop Ship were not destroyed, however, and if Ripley were not so negative about the

Marines’ chance of success, it might be possible for the captured Marines to be rescued. After all,

that is exactly what Ripley did when she went back for Newt. On the other hand, when Ripley

entered the Lairs it was at a time when the majority of the Aliens were away attacking Operations.

To rescue their friends, the Marines would have to attack when the Lairs were ﬁlled with a swarm

of healthy, angry Aliens. This Scenario allows the Players to simulate what might have happened.

Weapon Options

When the Drop Ship arrives, the Marines have an opportunity to prepare themselves properly for

their upcoming battle. Because of this, the Marines may be considered to be carrying either of the

weapons shown on the Character Card; for example, Hicks may be armed with either a Pulse Riﬂe

or his Shotgun. If the Ammunition Restriction rule is being used, then the weapon chosen should

CHAPTER 5. EXPANSION SCENARIOS

be noted on the Status Sheet. Otherwise, the Players should either note the weapon chosen on a

scrap of paper, or make the small eﬀort necessary to remember which weapon will be used.

Rescued Marines

Apone and Dietrich begin the Scenario immobilized by Alien Cocoons. Until they are freed, they

can take no actions whatsoever and may be treated as Incapacitated. Their Counters should be

placed on their sides in the appropriate squares; see below, under Setup.

A Cocooned Marine is freed as soon as a completely healthy Marine spends one full Turn

adjacent to him. During this Turn, the healthy Marine cannot take any other Actions; the Marine

may not Move, Aim, Fire, or Melee in any way. On the following Turn the freed Marine has his

Character Card added to the lineup, with its Wounded side up, and the Counter is set upright

and may act normally.

Note that a Marine may not simply pick up a Cocooned Marine and carry him or her to safety.

The Cocooning must be broken in the way described above before the Marine can move at all.

At the moment that a Cocooned Marine is freed he is unarmed, and has neither of the weapons

shown on the Marine’s Card. One of the rescuing Marines may give a weapon to the freed Marine

if desired. This requires that the two Marines spend an entire Turn adjacent to each other, without

taking any other Actions. At the end of this Turn, the rescued Marine is considered to have either

one of the weapons shown on his own Card. Note that the healthy Marine does not lose his own

weapon; it is assumed that the Marines have brought extra weapons for their comrades.

Reactor Damage

In the Reactor Room Scenario the Marines could not use their weapons for fear of damaging the

Reactor; during the Marine Assault they no longer care what happens to the Reactor. They may

now use their weapons as they wish, including Grenades, but as they do so they accelerate the

destruction of the Reactor.

To represent this, the Turn Counter should be placed on the Reactor Damage & Count-

down Chart. As the Marines ﬁre their weapons, the Counter is moved up the Chart, beginning

with the square marked 1, until it reaches 40. Once it reaches 40, the Reactor has been critically

damaged and will soon destroy itself, as explained below.

The number of squares to move the Counter when a weapon is ﬁred is shown at the lower

right of the Map on the Reactor Damage Table; 2 points for Machine Guns, 1 for Pulse Riﬂes

and the Shotgun, none for Pistols and Flame Units, and 0 to 9 for Grenades. This should be

self-explanatory; simply move the Counter up the appropriate number of squares each time that

a weapon is ﬁred. For example, if the Counter is at 18 and three Marines ﬁre their Pulse Riﬂes,

then the Counter should be moved up one each time one of them ﬁres; to 19, 20, and ﬁnally to

21. For the eﬀects of Grenades, simply roll the die and move the Counter that many squares.

REACTOR DAMAGE TABLE

Weapon Damage

Pistol & Flame Unit 0

Shotgun & Pulse Riﬂe 1

Machine Gun 2

Grenades 0-9

Countdown

As mentioned above, once the Counter reaches 40 the Reactor is critically damaged and a Count-

down begins. At the beginning of the next Turn, before the Alien Movement Phase, the Counter

is moved down one square (from 40 to 39), and it is moved down one square per Turn for the rest

of the game.

CHAPTER 5. EXPANSION SCENARIOS

Once the Counter passes 10, players will notice that the numbers are colored a bright red; this

indicates that there is a danger that the Marines will be caught in the explosion when the Reactor

ﬁnally detonates. When Marines exit the Map after the Counter has reached the red numbers, the

die is rolled; if the number rolled is equal to or greater than the number shown in the Counter’s

square, then the Marines are caught in the explosion of the Reactor and are considered Dead.

If the number rolled is less than the number in the square, then the Marines have reached the

Drop Ship and narrowly escaped the destruction of the Reactor. When the Counter reaches 0 (is

moved down from the 1), the Reactor explodes and any Marines left on the Map are automatically

considered Dead.

Set-up

The ﬁrst step for this Scenario is for the Players to choose the approximate level of diﬃculty

desired, from 1 (easiest) to 5 (most diﬃcult). It is recommended that Players begin on Level 1,

to learn the mechanics of this Scenario. Once the Level has been chosen, Setup begins.

Place the Counters for Apone and Dietrich on their sides on or adjacent to the Cocooning

Square with the same number as the Level chosen. For example, if the Level chosen is 3, place

them on or adjacent to Cocooning Square 3.

Next place Hicks, Vasquez, Hudson, Gorman, Ripley, Burke, Ferro, and Spunkmeyer on the

squares of the Elevator. For this Scenario Burke is considered to be a normal Marine; no special

rules apply to him.

Alien Appearance

Aliens can appear on the Map through one of three mechanisms; via Room Cards, Sentry Cards,

or through Wave Appearance.

The rules governing Room Cards are exactly the same as in the Ripley Rescue of Newt Scenario.

Each time a new Room is entered, a Room Card is ﬂipped and appropriate Aliens are placed. Once

the entire deck has been used, all the Room Cards except the one with the Queen on it should be

shuﬄed back together and re-used as necessary.

The Sentry Cards are also used in the same way as the previous Scenario, with one important

diﬀerence. Instead of drawing a single Sentry Card on each of the two Turns after a Room Card

is ﬂipped, the Players should continue drawing Sentry Cards until an Empty Card is drawn. One

Alien will Appear in the Room for each Alien Sentry Card drawn; for example, if three Sentry

Cards are drawn before an Empty turns up, it means that three Aliens Appear in the Room. The

Appearance square of each Alien is rolled separately.

Note that the Sentry deck should not be shuﬄed back together after the ﬁrst Turn of Sentry

Appearance. Make both sets of draws from the deck, and then reshuﬄe the cards. This helps to

balance the number of Sentries which arrive.

The third way that Aliens Appear on the Map is through Wave Appearance. At the beginning

of each Alien Appearance Phase, the Players should roll the die and consult the Alien Appearance

Table at the lower right of the Map. As the Table indicates, a roll of 0 means that three Waves

of three Aliens each Appear at various Stairwells, while a roll of 1 means that three Waves of two

Aliens each Appear.

The Stairwell where each Wave Appears is rolled separately. At each Stairwell, the Aliens are

assumed to Appear within the Stairwell and to move immediately to a square adjacent to the

Stairwell. They will Appear and move into the squares closest to the nearest Marines, as usual.

There are nine Stairwells in all; the Bonus Bug rule may be applied here in a slightly modiﬁed

form. Instead of a 0 indicating that another Alien has Appeared, it means that another Wave of

Aliens has Appeared. The Wave will be of either two or three Aliens, the same size as the other

Waves for that Turn.

The only limit on the number of Aliens who may be on the Map is the number of Counters

provided; there are only 21 Aliens on the Counter Sheet. This gives the Players some protection

from a few bad rolls for Wave Appearance and Bonus Waves.

CHAPTER 5. EXPANSION SCENARIOS

Victory Conditions

The Marines Win if they reach Apone and Dietrich and successfully return to the Elevator with

more living Marines than they started the Scenario with; that is, either 9 or 10 Marines. The

Scenario is a Draw if the Marines escape with 6 to 8 Marines, and the Marines Lose if they have

5 or fewer survivors. Note that if the Marines are caught by the explosion of the Reactor they are

all considered Dead, and automatically Lose.

Strategy tips

As noted in the ﬁrst Chapter, the numbering of the Cocooning Squares is only a rough gauge of

how diﬃcult they are. The exact techniques used by a given group of Players can make a very big

diﬀerence in the results, and it is wise for the Players to rethink their strategies each time they

attempt to rescue Apone and Dietrich.

The ﬁrst important issue is to watch the Reactor Damage very carefully. Whenever possible,

use Flame Units to destroy attacking Aliens, and be absolutely sure to allow yourself enough time

to get out once you hit 40 on the Damage count.

A second point is that it is vital to keep moving. Do not waste an Action, if you can avoid

it. It is far too easy to slow down when some Alien Waves arrive, and then to ﬁnd yourself going

over onto the defensive. Always remember that you are attacking, and that you are rescuing your

friends. If you let that Aliens set the pace, you will ﬁnd that the Reactor is ready to blow and

you are still within sight of the Elevator.

A good tip (most of the time) is that the safest way into the Lairs is along the corridor; no

Rooms get activated, and that greatly reduces the danger. On the way back out, however, it is

generally necessary to cut through some Rooms. This is fairly dangerous, but the group should

be at its peak strength, having been reinforced by Apone and Dietrich, and the path through the

Rooms is the shortest way out.

As always, stay away from the Queen if you have any choice.

5.4

THE HUNT FOR THE QUEEN

The Hunt For The Queen is the most demanding of the Scenarios presented in this supple-

ment. In it, the Players take every single Marine, armed in whatever way they choose, into the

Lairs for a direct confrontation with the Queen. In general, this Scenario is run using the rules

discussed above in the Marine Assault Scenario.

Set-up

The Marines begin the game at the Elevator. All 16 of the Marines are present (including Burke

and Newt), all are in healthy condition, and each has whichever weapon is desired from the ones

shown on the Card. They begin with two Marines per square in the Elevator, as discussed in

Section

Alien Appearance

Alien Appearance is exactly the same as in the Marine Assault Scenario.

Victory Conditions

The Victory Conditions of this grueling Scenario are simple; if the Marines kill the Queen and any

of them survive, they Win. If they kill her but they all die, then it is a Draw. If they fail to kill

the Queen, then regardless of how many survive they Lose.

CHAPTER 5. EXPANSION SCENARIOS

Strategy Tips

There is one obvious tip which the Players may or may not use; it does take most of the fun out of

the Scenario. The key word is Grenades. Any Marine with a Pulse Riﬂe can pump two Grenades

into the Queen’s square, regardless of the situation, if he can at least see her. The vulnerability

of Marines to Grenade blasts is high, but a clever Player can be sure to scatter the Marines at a

safe distance. As pointed out, however, it really does take most of the fun out of the Scenario.

We recommend that Grenades only be used in desperation, or after losing to the Queen a little

too often.

Other than that tip there is not very much to say. Try not to leave the Queen too many Ram

targets, as the free attacks she gets during Movement can be absolutely devastating.

Newt is of special value in this Scenario, as an Elevator Operator. For example, whenever a

Marine is Incapacitated, one of the others (Bishop, perhaps, or Burke) can carry the body back

to the Elevator. Then, if everything falls apart, Newt can hit the Up button, and the Players will

at least have a handful of survivors. This can be of particular importance if the Marines manage

to kill the Queen, but the ’victorious” Marines cannot return to the Elevator either due to time

limitations or Alien attack.

5.5

COMPLETE MOVIE SCENARIO

The addition of the Drop Ship and Marine Assault Scenarios makes it possible for Players

to recreate the action of the entire movie, possibly more to their own taste. Those desiring to

see how well they can do should use the following common-sense guidelines. It is recommended

that Players attempting the full Movie Scenario also use all the Optional Rules, especially Bonus

Bugs and Ammunition Restrictions.

Players begin by playing the Reactor Room Scenario, using all the normal rules. The

survivors of that Scenario get to watch anxiously as Ferro and Spunkmeyer tight for control

of the Drop Ship; if they win, then the Marines may evacuate, or may proceed to either the

Marine Assault (to rescue whoever got caught in the Reactor Room) or The Hunt For The

Queen, depending on their exact situation. If the Drop Ship is lost, however, then the Marines

should probably proceed to the Operations / Air Ducts Scenario, and survivors of that may

attempt their own version of The Rescue of Newt Scenario if desired. Marines who wish to get

oﬀ the planet after the Drop Ship is destroyed must ﬁght their way through the Operations /

Air Ducts Scenario, while Bishop brings the second Drop Ship down from orbit.

Reactor Room

Drop Ship

won lost

Marine Assault

Hunt for the Queen

Rescue of Newt

Operations / Air Duct

Evacuate & Nuke

The Drop Ship plays an especially important role in this Scenario. Aboard the Drop Ship are a

large supply of weapons and ammunition, so that the Marines can choose their weapons freely and

CHAPTER 5. EXPANSION SCENARIOS

always have Reloads available. Without the Drop Ship, they are restricted to whatever weapons

they are currently carrying and one Reload per weapon.

The exact course of the Scenario is left to the Players. If they feel they can take on the Aliens

in their Lairs, and that it is worth it to save their comrades, then they may do so. Of course, if

the Drop Ship has been destroyed then any oﬀensive strategy becomes much more diﬃcult.

At all times, simply follow the logic of the Movie Scenario in ALIENS. Marines have their

condition improved by one level between Scenarios, and surviving Marines are the ones available

for the next Scenario.

Marines Incapacitated by Facehuggers require a little bit of special handling. They are consid-

ered Dead for ﬁnal Victory Conditions; after all, it is just a matter of time before a Chestburster

kills them. On the other hand, it can be assumed that the Facehugger will fall oﬀ the Marine

between Scenarios, allowing him or her to ﬁght for the future of the other Marines. Marines who

are captured are also in danger of acquiring Facehuggers. If they are rescued during the Scenario

immediately following their capture, then they are safe. If they are rescued later on, however,

they are assumed to have already had a Chestburster implanted and are doomed.

The question of victory or defeat is a diﬃcult one for this Scenario. On one level, to successfully

evacuate any Marines is something of a victory; just take a look at what happened in the movie.

For more ambitious Players, simply total up the Victory Points (as deﬁned in the Tournament

Rules, Section 6.6) and use that to measure your level of Victory. If the total Victory Points

is greater than 18, then the Players have done better than the Marines in the movie, which is

certainly a victory of sorts. A true victory is only possible, however, if the Queen has been killed;

a Player who has only 1 Victory Point but who has killed the Queen in battle has a higher level of

victory than someone who has escaped with all the Marines, but who has not defeated the Queen

in combat.

5.6

NEW SCENARIOS FOR ALIENS

There are a number of interesting Scenario possibilities in the original ALIENS game, in

addition to the ones given in the rulebook. The following are some basic ideas about how to

change the Scenarios in ALIENS; they can be used as points of departure for Players looking for

new challenges.

The Reactor Room

Two simple ways of making the Reactor Room Scenario a triﬂe more challenging are as follows.

The ﬁrst (and generally easier) method is to have 3 Aliens drop on the Red Turns, instead of 2.

This apparently slight increase can make a tremendous diﬀerence in game balance. If that is still

too easy for you, make it 3 Aliens on Blue Turns, and 2 on Red Turns. That should be nightmare

enough for almost everyone.

The other option is to double the number of Bonus Bugs; that is, the roll of a 0 means that

2 extra Aliens arrive, instead of 1. If you do not roll a lot of 0’s, this rule will be no problem. If

you tend to roll 0’s, however, this can lead to an unbelievable proliferation of Aliens.

Operations / Air Ducts

We call this variant ”Gorman’s Last Stand.” The idea is simple; do not evacuate Operations. Stay

in the room, and attempt to hold it through the entire course of the Turn Chart for the Scenario.

That means a lot of Aliens pouring into the room at certain points, and times when there is almost

nowhere safe to stand. That is what makes it interesting, of course. If you start looking for a

greater challenge, add 1 to the number of Blue Aliens each Turn (or Red, if you want a game that

will keep you hopping.)

Players are encouraged to experiment with both of the ALIENS games, to create new chal-

lenges or interesting hypothetical situations. If there is a Scenario which you ﬁnd particularly

CHAPTER 5. EXPANSION SCENARIOS

interesting, or of which you are especially proud, we would certainly like to hear about it. Our

address is on the credits page; we look forward to hearing from you.

CHAPTER 6. OPTIONAL RULES

OPTIONAL RULES

All of the rules in this Chapter add realism to the play of ALIENS, and may be used in any

of the Scenarios as desired. Each represents either a comparatively minor aspect of combat or

was considered to be more detail-oriented than seemed appropriate in the ALIENS game itself.

Players should be sure to specify before the game starts which, if any, of the rules in this Chapter

will be used.

6.1

AMMUNITION RESTRICTIONS

A weapon will obviously hold only so many rounds of ammunition, and the lack of ammunition

was signiﬁcant at several points during the movie. The following rules allow players to keep track

of ammunition expenditures, and require the use of the Status Sheet at the back of this rulebook.

Players may freely photocopy the Status Sheet for their personal use only.

Each of the weapons used by the Marines has an Ammunition Capacity; this is the number

of times the weapon may be ﬁred before it must be Reloaded. Whenever a Character ﬁres his or

her weapon, the player should mark oﬀ a single box on the Status Sheet. When all the boxes for

the weapon have been marked oﬀ, the weapon cannot be ﬁred until it has been Reloaded.

Note that for automatic weapons such as the Pulse Riﬂe each point of Ammunition Capacity

represents several bullets, or rounds, while for a weapon like the Pistol each point represents just

a single round. This is because of the diﬀerences in the rates of ﬁre of the various weapons, and

has already been reﬂected in the chances of hitting shown on the Character Cards.

The Ammunition Capacity of Pulse Riﬂes and Flame Units is 16, the Grenade Launchers

attached to Pulse Riﬂes have a Capacity of 4, Machine Guns have 26 shots, Pistols have 13, and

Hicks’ Shotgun has a Capacity of 8.

AMMUNITION CAPACITY

Weapon Ammo

Pistol 13

Shotgun 8

Pulse Riﬂe 16

Grenade Launcher 4

Flame Unit 16

Machine Gun 26

Reloading

In most cases, the Marines have additional ammunition in case they run out. Putting this ammu-

nition into the weapon takes 8 Actions, and is called Reloading. A Marine may choose to Reload

at any time, as long as he or she has Actions available. Note that a Marine does not have to wait

until the weapon is actually empty before Reloading; there may be times when a Marine will have

time to Reload before the weapon is empty, and feel that there may not be a chance to Reload

later. If a Marine Reloads a weapon that is not empty, then the remaining Ammunition Capacity

CHAPTER 6. OPTIONAL RULES

of the ﬁrst load is simply lost; it may not be saved or stored in any way. Simply cross oﬀ all the

remaining boxes, and begin using the Reload line when next the weapon is ﬁred.

Once a Marine has begun Reloading a weapon, he or she must spend the 8 Actions without

interruption. This means that for most Marines a period of 4 full Turns is necessary, during which

time they cannot take any Actions other than Reloading.

Note also that Flame Units, Grenade Launchers, and the Shotgun cannot be Reloaded.

6.2

BACKUP WEAPONS

Most of the Colonial Marines carry more than a single weapon, depending on their personal

tastes and abilities. This rule permits some Marines to use their Backup Weapon, if their

primary weapon is out of ammunition or undesirable for some other reason. Note that for the

purposes of this rule only the term Marine is being used to apply to Colonial Marines speciﬁcally;

the following rule does not apply to Burke, Bishop, Newt, or Ripley.

In general, the Backup Weapon is a Pistol; all Marines carry Pistols, even if one is not listed

on the Character Card. In addition Hicks is carrying a Shotgun as a Backup Weapon, and Drake

has a Flame Unit.

A Marine may elect at any time to drop his or her primary weapon and begin using the Backup

Weapon instead. It takes 4 Actions to drop the primary weapon and prepare the Backup Weapon

for use. If this is done, then the primary weapon is permanently lost to the Marines; the Marine

may not use any weapon but the Backup until it is possible to get a new weapon.

Example: In the Reactor Room Scenario Hicks is using a Shotgun. If he wishes to

drop the Shotgun and switch to his Backup Weapon (in this case a Pistol), then he may

do so at a cost of 4 Actions. From that point forward in the Scenario, Hicks would

only be able to ﬁre at Aliens using his Pistol. In the Operations/Air Ducts Scenario,

however, Hicks is carrying a Pulse Riﬂe; this means that he has acquired a new weapon

(in this case, he has Reloaded his own Pulse Riﬂe with ammunition from the wreckage

of the APC), and may use the Pulse Riﬂe normally in the Scenario. If he chose to go

to his Backup Weapon in this Scenario, he could draw either his Shotgun or a Pistol,

as desired.

Players who would like greater ﬂexibility may even elect to allow Marines to swap weapons, or

to pick up weapons from Incapacitated or Dead Marines. This level of detail is actually beyond

the scope of this game, but the chances to hit for various weapons are shown on the Alternate

Weapon Table, at the back of the book. Curious players are welcome to develop the appropriate

rules for weapon swapping.

6.3

FIRES

Any Marine equipped with a Flame Unit can use the Unit to create a barrier of Fire instead of

shooting at an Alien. For each Action used by the Marine, a Fire Counter is placed on the Map.

The placement of these Counters is subject to the normal restrictions placed on Flame Unit use;

the Marine must be able to see the square, cannot ﬁre through or into other Marines, and so forth.

No roll need be made; the Marine simply states what the Action has been used for and places a

Fire Counter in the square.

Aliens cannot Move through or Appear in squares with Fire Counters in them. They can only

run up to the square and wait for a chance to get through or around the obstacle. If an Alien is

ﬁred at (and survives) while waiting for the Fire to go away, it will immediately set out on another

route to reach the Marines. Note that Aliens can move diagonally past Fire in the same way they

normally move. If, during the Alien Appearance Phase, the die roll indicates that an Alien should

Appear in a square in which there is a Fire, then the Alien is considered dead.

CHAPTER 6. OPTIONAL RULES

All Fire Counters are removed from the Map at the beginning of the Marine Movement and

Fire Phase. Each square of Fire created by a Flame Unit uses 1 point of Ammunition, if the

Ammunition Restriction rule is being used.

6.4

FIRING THROUGH MARINES

In ALIENS, there is no restriction on the Marines’ ability to ﬁre through each other, except

for the +5 modiﬁer applied when ﬁring at Aliens who are in the same square with a Marine.

If the players desire more realism (and a great deal more trouble killing Aliens), the following

rule should be applied.

If a Marine is ﬁring through one or more squares containing other Marines, a modiﬁer of +3

should be applied to his roll for each rank of Marines between the Firer and the target Alien.

The only exception to this is when the ﬁring Marine is directly behind another Marine. In this

case the Marine is assumed to be ﬁring over the shoulder of the blocking Marine, and no penalty

is applied.

6.5

ADDITIONAL AIM TIME

In the basic rules, Marines can only Aim within a given Turn; it is impossible to carry over

Aims into a following Turn, or to go higher in Aims than the number shown on the Character

Card. This rule allows Marines Aim more carefully.

For each Action used above the number shown on the Card, the Marine may add +2 to his

chance of hitting, up to a maximum of 2 Actions. These Actions obviously require more than

the initial Turn to accumulate; simply make a note of the Marine’s Aim on scrap paper, or tell

the other Players.

6.6

TOURNAMENT RULES

The Tournament Rules are designed to be used for competitive play by any number of players.

The general structure used should be a straightforward single-elimination tournament; players pair

oﬀ, and the winner advances to the next round, while the loser is out of the competition.

The Scenario suggested tor use with the Tournament Rules is the basic Movie Scenario. Each

Player goes through the Reactor Room Scenario ﬁrst, and then each plays the Operations/Air

Ducts Scenario. At the end of the second Scenario, each Player totals the number of Victory

Points that have been earned; the Player with the higher total wins. Victory Points are assigned

based on which Marines survive, according to the following list. The list is repeated on the Status

Sheet, for convenience.

VICTORY POINTS

Marine Points

Ripley 6

Newt, Hicks 5 each

Apone, Vasquez, Hudson 4 each

Drake 3

Others 2 each

Burke 1

Example: If a Player passed through both Scenarios and ended up with Ripley, Hicks,

and Newt as survivors (as in the movie), he or she would receive 16 Victory Points; 6

for Ripley, 5 for Hicks, and another 5 for Newt.

CHAPTER 6. OPTIONAL RULES

Tournament play should also be timed. Each Player should receive 20 minutes to complete

the Reactor Room Scenario, and 40 minutes for the Operations / Air Ducts Scenario. For each

minute that a Player overruns the time limit, there is a penalty of 1 Victory Point.

The Player is watched by the opponent he or she has been paired with; this allows the opponent

to make sure that no mistakes are made. The opponent should also move the Aliens during the

Player’s game. The opponent must move the Aliens according to the same criteria given in the

rules; the Aliens must move their full 4 Actions toward the nearest Marine, without exception.

On the other hand, the opponent may choose the exact path taken by the Alien; if the Alien can

conceal itself behind an obstruction without losing any squares of its advance toward the Marines,

that is perfectly legal. In this way a clever opponent can make life far more diﬃcult for the Player.

As a general example of how a Tournament might be run, if there were a Tournament of 10

Players, they would separate into 5 pairs. Each pair would alternate Scenarios, drawing lots to

see who goes ﬁrst for each Scenario. At the end of this round, there would be 5 winners eligible to

advance to the next round. If the organizers wanted to go directly to a round of 4, then only the

4 highest winning scores would advance. These players would again be paired up, with the two

winners competing in a ﬁnal round. Victory Points should be used to break ties, if necessary.

6.7

CLOSING NOTES

There are any number of other possible twists on the game, and we encourage players to expand

on the rules we have given. Some of the other rules ideas that we have toyed with are listed below.

If they sound good, give them a try.

Throwing Grenades

The Grenades shown in the movie are small, light, and extremely powerful; as such, there is no

reason that the Marines could not simply throw them at the Aliens. The maximum range is 8

squares, mostly because the ceilings are far too low to actually throw the Grenades very hard.

As with launched Grenades, they automatically land in the square they are aimed at. It takes 6

Actions to arm and throw a Grenade.

Going Up?

In the movie, Ripley has a number of agonizing moments waiting for the Elevator to arrive. It

only seems fair to give your Marines the same opportunity for anxiety.

Assume that the Elevator squares on the Map represent two Elevators, each of which holds up

to 8 Marines. When the Marines arrive at the Elevator, there is a delay of 0 to 9 Turns for each

Elevator to arrive. This means that the Marines have to allow a little extra time as they race to

safety, and that they might have to risk leaving part of their unit behind. The Players should be

able to choose whether they will leave in the Drop Ship or wait for teammates whose Elevator is

running slow.

Of course, it is possible to send someone on ahead to hit the button, or even to leave a team

behind to keep the Elevator in place. The down side is that these groups might well be attacked

by any number of Waves of Aliens.

Eggs and Facehuggers

Wherever a Marine has been Cocooned, there is certain to be an Egg. To make sure that the

Marines move quickly, it is possible to give each Cocooned Marine a 1 in 100 chance (two consec-

utive 0’s on the die) each Turn that the Egg in front of him will open and that a Facehugger will

come out and attack.

CHAPTER 6. OPTIONAL RULES

Let’s Blow Up Burke

Some people have suggested that an excellent strategy in Operations is to ﬁre a Grenade down the

corridor as Burke is about to leave. This usually results in Wounded Marines, but does guarantee

that the Door is open when the Marines want to leave. This is deﬁnitely not legal in any serious

play, but if you would really like to give Burke what he deserves, then you might give it a try.

The next two pages are the Status Sheet and the Alternate Weapon Table. As mentioned

earlier, you may photocopy the Status Sheet for your personal, non-commercial use only. All of

us at Leading Edge Games apologize in advance for the various horrible things that will happen

to you in these games, and wish you the best of luck.

CHAPTER 7. VARIANT RULES

VARIANT RULES

The following text and rules were originally published by Stuart K. Tucker as ”Alien Metamor-

phosis: Variant Rules for Aliens”, in The GENERAL Vol.32,No.1.

With the release of another movie sequel, why not break out your old copy of Leading Edge’s

ALIENS for another heart-pounding escape? My friends and I did, but we weren’t satisﬁed that

the original game portrayed the movie well enough and came up with some minor modiﬁcations.

Have you ever seen Vasquez survive after popping oﬀ a few grenades in Ops? Now you can. Are

you tired of those light-weight pistols failing to serve a good purpose? Now you can hope to stick

one up the mouth of a nearby alien. Don’t you feel that carrying an incapacitated Marine should

harm your aim a bit? After over 30 viewings of the movie, the discrepancies trouble the purist.

As ﬁne as the game ALIENS portrays the movie, the connoisseur will appreciate these changes.

7.1

HASTY SHOTS

At the moment an alien enters a Marine’s space, the Marine may squeeze oﬀ a point-blank

hasty shot. Aim is aﬀected by the weight of the weapon.

HASTY SHOTS

Weapon Aim Range

Pistol 2 1

Pulse Riﬂe 1 2

Shotgun 1 2

Flame Unit 1 3

Machine Gun 1 5

The usual acid spray takes eﬀect in the space of the alien’s attack.

7.2

GRENADE EFFECTS

Before checking the normal Eﬀect chart, see if the alien or Marine is hit. The alien in the

target spot is automatically hit. Aliens one or two spaces away from the target spot must roll on

the unwounded Burke card Aim 1 line to see if they are hit (and killed). Marines one to eight

spaces away from the target spot must roll on the unwounded Burke card Aim 2 line to see if they

are hit. If a Marine is hit, use the eﬀects shown in the Grenade Table Eﬀect (Marine) column.

Example: Vasquez ﬁres a grenade at range 3. It kills the targeted alien, but kills

adjacent aliens on a 2 or less, and wills aliens two spaces away from the target on a

O. Vasquez must roll a 5 or higher to avoid being incapacitated.

CHAPTER 7. VARIANT RULES

7.3

WEAPON HANDLING

Unload actions must be consecutive. Reload actions must be consecutive. In between unloading

and reloading, other actions may be taken. It costs no actions to drop a weapon. It takes two

actions to acquire the weapon from an incapacitated Marine in the same space.

WEAPON HANDLING

Drop weapon 0

Aquire weapon 2

unload reload

Pistol 1 2

Pusle Riﬂe 2 2

7.4

CARRYING MARINES

A Marine carrying an incapacitated Marine must add +3 to ﬁring die rolls (except for Hasty

Shots - the advantage of the second pair of eyes over the shoulder helps in that case).

7.5

MOVEMENT SEQUENCE

We have always used a predetermined Marine movement order to reduce coordination in the

heat of battle. An alternative is a randomized sequence. At the start of each Marine turn, all

Marines in combat resolve their melee attacks. Then, take the cards of non-incapacitated Marines

and those not in combat or grabbed. Taking care to keep the wounded sides correctly up, shuﬄe

these cards and move each Marine one at a time as revealed from the top of the deck. After all

have moved, any grabbed Marine that has been freed may then move.

7.6

REACTOR ROOM

Randomly place the Marines by rolling dice as if placing aliens, but add ﬁve to all rolls of 0-4

to keep the Marines distant from the exit. Then, give the Marines a free move parallel or away

from the exit at the start of the game.

7.7

RIPLEY, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

In the reactor room scenario, on the turn in which the Marines take their second casualty,

Ripley begins to move the APC to rescue them. Count 12 turns down the turn track to mark the

arrival time. The APC bursts through the exit (use the Ripley card to mark it) three spaces deep

into the room (killing anything in its path). Marines now exit the scenario by moving onto the

card representing the APC. Aliens get one move to jump onto the APC before it departs. The

ﬁrst attacks Ripley through the windshield (Ripley adds two to melee value). If Ripley is grabbed,

the APC doesn’t depart. It takes two actions for another Marine to become the driver. Marines

get Range 1 shots at any aliens on the APC card with them. Any alien not killed or stunned may

attack any Marine on the APC.

CHAPTER 7. VARIANT RULES

7.8

OPERATIONS ROOM

In the operations room, aliens get three move actions, not four. Ripley may not move until

she has shot three times with the pulse riﬂe. Then, Newt and Ripley may enter the passageway

to the door.

7.9

AIR DUCTS

The explosive eﬀects of a grenade double in range due to the nature of the passageways.

Thereafter, the target location of the grenade blast costs three move actions to enter.

RULES SUMMARY FOR ALIENS

These pages contain all the rules for ALIENS in a streamlined form. They should be enough

to get you going in the game; any questions which come up can be answered by checking in the

Rulebook.

Preparing For Play

ALIENS can be played by one or more people. The Players control the human characters from the

movie; the Aliens pretty much control themselves. We suggest that the Players read this summary

and then set up the Reactor Room Scenario according to the guidelines given below. Whenever

you run into something you don’t understand, just check in the Rulebook for a clariﬁcation.

To get started, unfold the Map and put it on a table. You will need a little extra room around

the edges, to put the Cards that are used in ALIENS. For the Reactor Room Scenario, you

will need the Character Cards and the Counters for Apone, Hicks, Vasquez, Drake, Hudson,

Dietrich, Crowe, Frost, and Wierzbowski. A Character Card has the picture of the Marine it

represents, and numbers on it which tell you what the Marine can do; we will explain in more

detail a little later. The Counters are the small playing pieces with just a picture and a name,

and are used to mark where each Marine is on the Map. Each Counter should be put in one of

the plastic stands provided; when you are done, each Counter will stand upright, with the picture

and the Marine’s name clearly visible. The Counters with Aliens on them will need to be put in

stands also, and then set to one side.

Share the Character Cards out evenly among the Players; you can take turns picking your

favorite Marines until they are all gone, or deal them out at random. Each Player should also

take the Counters for each of his or her Marines. The next thing to do is to decide what order

the Marines will move in every Turn; each Player should line up his or her Marines in the order

they will move in, and then the Players take turns moving their Marines. For example, if there

are three Players, then for the Reactor Room Scenario each would take 3 of the 9 Marines and

set their Cards in order in front of them. Each Turn, the ﬁrst player would move all of his or her

Marines, then the second would move, and then the third player would take his or her Turn.

Last, put the Counter with the word Turn on it in a stand, and set it in the top left square of

the Reactor Room Turn Chart at the right side of the Map.

The full rules for setting up each of the Scenarios are contained in Chapter 2 of the Rulebook.

They explain where the Marines start, as well as detailing special rules, how the Aliens appear,

and what the Marines have to do to win. Background on each Scenario and strategy tips are also

included.

In brief, the Reactor Room Scenario starts with the 9 Marines anywhere to the right of the

Stairwell in the middle of the Reactor Room Map; their objective is to leave through the Exit at

the left of the Map. If 7 or more Marines survive, the Marines win. If 4 to 6 survive, it is a draw.

If 3 or less, the Marines lose.

The Die

The die we have provided has 10 sides, and is the only one you will need. It is numbered from 0

to 9; in all cases, the 0 represents zero. It should never be read as a 10.

Sequence

Each game of ALIENS consists of a number of Turns, each of which follows the same sequence.

There are four Phases in each Turn, as listed below.

Aliens Move: All the Aliens on the Map move up to four squares toward the nearest active

Marine. If one reaches a Marine, place the Alien on the Marine’s Card to indicate that it is

attacking him.

Aliens Appear: Any new Aliens which are going to arrive on the Map this Turn are placed and

may move one square toward the nearest active Marine. Rules on how Aliens appear on the

Map are explained later.

Aliens Attack: Each Alien that is on a Marine’s Card now attacks. Attacks may be run in any

order; the rules are given below.

Marines Move / Fire: Each of the Marines moves and ﬁres, in the order established at the

beginning of the game.

This is the end of the Turn. The Turn Counter is now moved down one square, and a new

Turn begins. Once the Turn Counter reaches the bottom of the ﬁrst column, it is moved to the

top of the second column.

Actions

Whenever a Character does something in the game (moving a square or aiming at an Alien, for

example), he or she uses Actions. The number of Actions a Character has is shown at the bottom

of he Character Card. Each Turn the Character may use a number of Actions equal to the number

shown on the Card; not all Actions must be used, but they may not be saved from Turn to Turn.

Marines may use their Actions in one of three ways; Movement, Aim, or Melee. One

Action is used each time a Marine moves one square, uses a point of Aim, or conducts a Melee

attack. Aliens have 4 actions. These Actions are used only for Movement, as Alien attacks are

handled separately. The Alien Queen is a special case; she is described in the Scenario rules.

Movement

Counters are moved from square to square, one at a time, in any direction or combination of

directions, including diagonally. They may not, however, enter squares which contain obstructions

(pillars, equipment, Alien incrustation, and so forth.) Each square moved uses one Action. Each

Counter must ﬁnish using its Actions before another Counter may begin its turn. Counters can

move through each other freely, but no more than one Counter can be in a square after each

Counter has ﬁnished moving.

Alien Movement

Aliens have 4 Actions, so they move 4 squares each Turn. They always move directly toward the

nearest Marine who is not Incapacitated, unless that Marine is already being attacked by another

Alien as soon as an Alien enters the square of a Marine who is not already under attack by another

Alien, the Alien is taken oﬀ the Map and placed on its side on the Marine’s Character Card. The

only exception to Alien movement is on the Turn an Alien appears on the Map, when it may only

move 1 square.

Alien Appearance

The Aliens appear under diﬀerent guidelines in each Scenario (as described in the Rulebook), but

in the Reactor Room the following rules apply. On the ﬁrst Turn, 4 Aliens appear randomly in

the room. Each urn after that, 2 more Aliens appear. This is shown on the Reactor Room Turn

Chart, at the right of the Map. (Note that on every third Turn, the number is printed in Red; it

is recommended that these Aliens not be used in games involving beginning players.)

The location at which each Alien appears is determined randomly. For each Alien, roll the die

twice; the ﬁrst roll indicates the Row in which the Alien appears, and the second determines the

exact Square in the Row. The Rows are listed in Red down the left side of the Reactor Room

Map, and are numbered through 9. (The 0 has been omitted for use with the optional Bonus

Bug rule, Section 3.1 of the Rulebook. Just re-roll any 0’s that appear.)

Alien Attacks

After all Aliens have moved, each Alien which is on a Marine’s Card attacks. Roll the die, and

add the Marine’s Melee value to it. Compare this number to the possible results which follow.

The results are repeated in the Alien portion of the Reference Card, for ease of play.

If the roll is 0, the Marine is Dead: Immediately remove the Marine’s Counter and Card from

the game, and put the Alien back with all the other unused Aliens.

If the roll is 1 or 2, the Marine is Incapacitated and Grabbed by the Alien. Incapacitated

Marines cannot do anything for the rest of the Scenario. They are assumed to be badly wounded

and unable to fend for themselves. When a Marine is Incapacitated, his or her Counter is laid

on its side in the appropriate square. The square is treated as empty for all Movement and Fire

purposes. In addition to the above, the Marine is also subject to the results listed below under

”Grabbed”.

If the roll is 3 or 4, the Marine is Wounded and Grabbed. When a Marine is wounded,

the Character Card is immediately ﬂipped to its Wounded side, and the new values are used. If a

Wounded Marine is Wounded again, he or she becomes Incapacitated. The Marine is also subject

to the results listed below under ”Grabbed”.

If the roll is 5 or 6, the Marine is Grabbed and is no longer capable of resisting the Alien.

The Marine receives no further Actions until freed by the other Marines. During the next Alien

Movement Phase, the Alien will drag the Marine up into the ducts overhead; if this happens, both

counters are removed and the Marine is considered Dead. This means that the other Marines have

one Turn in which to kill the Alien or drive it away. If they try to shoot it, add +5 to their die

rolls; they have to be careful not to shoot the Marine who has been Grabbed. The Marines can

also try to drive the Alien away by using Melee. To signify that the Marine is Grabbed, set the

Alien Counter upright on the Character Card.

On a 7 or 8, the Marine is In Combat and trying to ﬁght oﬀ the Alien. If the Alien is not

killed or driven oft by the other Marines during their Turn, the Alien rolls again during its next

Turn as a normal Alien Attack. The Marine cannot Move or Fire during this Turn, unless he or

she is freed, but can Melee the Alien. The Alien’s Counter remains on its side on the Marine’s

Card.

On a 9+ the Alien Loses. The Marine has managed to ﬁght oﬀ the attack. The Alien is

immediately moved by the Player into any adjacent square which is not obstructed. During its

next Turn, the Alien is considered Stunned and may not move or attack in any way. Show this by

setting the Alien Counter on its side on the Map.

Marine Movement and Combat

Marines move in the same way as Aliens, except that Marines can combine Actions spent for

Movement, Aim, and Melee in any way they choose. For example, a Marine with three Actions

could use one Action to move a square, another to ﬁre at an Alien, and then a third to move

another square. Also, Marines can decide how to use an Action after seeing the results of the

preceding Action. For example, a Marine could use one Action to shoot at an Alien and, if he

missed, ﬁre at it again with his next Action. If he hit with his ﬁrst shot, however, he could use

the second Action to Move, perhaps, or ﬁre at a diﬀerent Alien.

Firing at Aliens

Marines can use their Actions to Aim and Fire at the Aliens. The numbers on the Character

Card determine what each Marine’s chances are. The Character states how many Actions of Aim

will be used, and then rolls a die to determine if he has hit the Alien. If the Alien is hit, it is

immediately removed from the Map, and the Marine may continue to use any further Actions he

has, if any, or play passes to the next Marine. The details on how this works are as follows.

To begin with, the WEAPON column on each Character Card shows the weapons that the

Marine can use. The top weapon is used in the Reactor Room Scenario only, while the bottom

weapon is used in all other Scenarios. Next to the WEAPON column on the Character Card is

the AIM column. Listed in this column are the number of Actions of Aim which the Character

may take with each weapon.

The next section of the Card is labeled TARGET RANGE. There are ﬁve columns in this

section, and listed in these columns are the numbers the Character must roll, with a given amount

of Aim, to hit an Alien at a certain Range. Just choose the appropriate weapon, select the line

for the number of Actions of Aim taken, and read across to the column for the Range to the Alien

that is the target. To ﬁgure out he Range, just count the number of squares from the Marine to

the Alien as if the Marine were moving into the Alien’s square; naturally, you have to count in as

straight a line as possible, and if there is an obstruction in the way, the Marine cannot shoot at

that Alien.

If the number needed to hit is 9 or greater, the Marine automatically hits and kills the Alien;

the player does not need to roll the die. Note that actually Firing at an Alien does not take any

extra Actions; Firing 3 basically a part of Aiming.

Acid Spray

Whenever an Alien is killed, there is a chance that the Acid Blood of the creature will splash onto

any Marines who are in the same square as or adjacent to the Alien. Simply roll a die for each

Marine and consult the Acid Spray Table on the Reference Card. Apply any results immediately.

Flame Units are the only exception to this rule; because they burn the Alien and its blood,

there is no chance that nearby Marines will be Splashed.

Melee Combat

In order to avoid the risk of Acid, a Marine can attempt Melee Combat with an Alien. Melee

Combat can be performed by a Marine who is adjacent to or in the same square as an Alien, and

each attempt uses one Action. The Marine rolls a die; if the number rolled is less than or equal to

his Melee value, then the Alien is Stunned. The Alien immediately lets go of any Marine it has

grabbed and must move one square in whichever direction the Marine chooses. The Alien cannot

end up in a square with a Marine. The Alien is Stunned and loses its next Turn; signify this by

setting the Counter on its side. If the Marine’s roll is greater than his or her Melee value, then

the Action has accomplished nothing.

Carrying Incapacitated Marines

Since Incapacitated Marines cannot take any Actions at all, it is up to the other Marines to

carry them to safety. Each healthy or Wounded Marine except Newt can carry one Incapacitated

Marine. To pick he Marine up, the carrying Marine simply moves into or through the Incapacitated

Marine’s square, and puts the Incapacitated Marine’s Counter on his own Character Card. Picking

up a Marine uses no actions, and carrying him does not use any on later Turns.

Final Notes

As was mentioned at the beginning of this Summary, if there are any questions which remain

unanswered, or if you run into any sort of problem during play, the full rules are in the Rulebook,

including examples of the most important points.