RULES: Aliens versus Marines - Solo

Aliens versus Marines is a solitaire game. You control the Marines during various missions. The Aliens are controlled by
the game system. You need a green six-sided special die with the numbers 2-3-3-4-4-5 and at least one white twenty
sided die. You will also need the following game components:

Game Round Summary

(1) Marines Turn
(a) Tactic Phase
Determine the Marine’s Tactic Points for this turn.
(b) Action Phase
Activate the Marines.
(2) Aliens Turn
(a) Reinforcements Phase
Determine the Alien’s reinforcements for this turn.
(b) Action Phase
Activate the Aliens.
(3) End Phase
If you didn’t win or lose the mission, remove all Flame and Overwatch markers and turn unused TP markers to their back
side. Then start a new Game Round.

1
Tactic Phase and Tactic Points (TP)
Place the five TP markers in front of you with their back side up at the start of the mission. Roll the green die to deter-
mine the TP for this turn. Turn a number of TP markers to their front side according to the die result to record how many
TP are available this turn. If there is at least one Marine on the board with the ability Sergeant you may choose to reroll
the die and use the second result. You must use the second result, when you reroll, even if it is lower than the first result.
Whenever a TP is used turn the TP marker to its back side. Unused TP are lost at the end of the Game Round.

TP can be used by you for the Marines in both the Marines Turn and the Aliens Turn.

When used in the Marines Turn, TP are treated exactly like additional Action Points (see below). They may be spent on
the same Marine, or spread out over several Marines. TP can be used on a Marine at any time, even if the Marine has
already been activated, or if it interrupts the activation of another Marine.

You can also use TP in the Aliens Turn to react to the actions of the Aliens. The TP can only be spent, if a Marine has a
straight, unblocked line of sight to an Alien that has just completed an action. Each such action allows one Marine with a
straight, unblocked line of sight to that Alien to perform one action. This can be an action that costs more than 1 AP. The
Marine’s action happens immediately after the Alien’s action is complete, after all Overwatch Fire, and before any Alien
takes the next action. If an Alien moves onto the same tile as a Marine who wants to use a TP to attack the Alien, the
attack is made without the penalties for Shooting Into Close Combat and Shooting While In Close Combat.

Action Phase, Action Points (AP) and Actions

During the Marine’s Action Phase each Marine receives 4 AP that the Marine can use to take actions. Likewise each
Alien receives 4 AP during the Alien’s Action Phase that the Alien can use to take actions.

In the Action Phases of their turns Marines and Aliens will be activated one at a time. When a Marine or Alien is activat-
ed, it expends AP to take actions. When a Marine / Alien stops taking actions, the Marine / Alien becomes deactivated. A
Marine does not have to use all his 4 AP. Aliens always use all their AP, if possible. Once a Marine or Alien is deactivat-
ed, it may not be activated again in that phase. Unused AP are lost after becoming deactivated.

Actions are performed one at a time. Each action must be completed before going on to the next one. Each action costs
a certain number of AP to perform.

AP Costs Table
Action Marine Alien
Move 2 1
Rearguard 4 -
Ranged attack * -
Set in Overwatch 2 -
Reload 1 -
Open or close bulkhead 1 -
Destroy bulkhead 4 1
Close Combat attack - 1
Facehug - 1

*: Depends on the weapon used. See Weapon Table.

Occupation Points (OP)

Every tile of the game board has a number of OP per faction, which means that both, the Marines and the Aliens factions
each gain this number of OP. Each Marine and Alien takes up room according to its size paid with OP. Each Acid Dam-
age marker placed on a tile decreases the number of its OP by 1, but only for the Marines faction. There are a maximum
number of Acid Damage markers that can be placed on a tile.

2
OP Table
Board tile OP OP
Normal tile Infested tile
(max. Acid Damage Markers) (max. Acid Damage Markers)
Ventilation shaft 1 (0) -
Dead end 3 (1) 3/2* (0)
Corridor 4 (1) 4/3* (0)
Room 6 (2) -
Creature size OP costs
Small 0
Medium 1
Huge 3

*: The reduced OP for infested tiles count for the Marines faction only.

Stacking Rules
A Marine or Alien is not allowed to move onto a tile when there are not enough OP left for its faction. An Alien with the
ability Climber is allowed to move onto a tile when there are not enough OP left for its faction, but the Alien is not allowed
to stop on such a tile. It can ignore the stacking rules only temporarily while on the move.

If an Acid Damage marker is placed on a tile occupied by Marines and there would be not enough OP left for the Marines
on that tile, this tile counts as Overstacked for the Marine faction. The only allowed action for a Marine on an Over-
stacked tile is a Move or a Rearguard action. A Marine on an Overwatched tile already set in Overwatch is allowed to use
Overwatch Fire. As soon as there are enough OP for the Marines on an Overstacked tile, the tile does not count as
Overstacked any longer and all the Marines on that tile are allowed to take every kind of action again instantly.

Move Action / Rearguard Action

Marines and Aliens move from one tile to an adjacent tile by taking a Move action keeping the stacking rules in mind. It is
not allowed to move through a closed bulkhead. A Marine or Alien is not allowed to move onto a tile with a Flame marker,
but it is allowed to move away from a tile with a Flame marker. The Move action can be combined with a ranged weapon,
if the weapon allows to move and fire (see Move & Fire).

A Marine on the same tile as an Alien is bound in melee and has to disengage from the melee first before he is able to
move away. This special movement is called a Rearguard action. The Rearguard action can be combined with a ranged
attack, if the weapon allows to move and fire (see Move & Fire).

Ranged Attack Action

Marines are armed with ranged weapons. They may fire these at Aliens by taking a Ranged attack action. The target of a
non-Area Fire weapon is a single Alien. The target of an Area Fire weapon is a single tile.

In order to be able to fire at a target, the Marine must be able to trace a straight, unblocked line of sight to it. Walls,
closed bulkheads and flames block the line of sight. Marines and Aliens on the same tile as the attacking Marine or on
the same tile as the target don’t block line of sight. Marines and Aliens of at least medium size on tiles between the at-
tacking Marine’s tile and the target’s tile block line of sight.

A ranged attack can be made only within the maximum range of the weapon. To determine the range of a ranged attack
count the number of tiles of the shortest route between the attacking Marine’s tile and the target’s tile, including the tar-
get’s tile but not the Marine’s tile.

When a Marine takes a Ranged attack action find out the Hit Number (Hit#) for the weapon and apply all possible modifi-
ers to it. The Hit# can never be lower than 2 or higher than 20. Roll a white die. If the die result is lower than the modified
Hit#, nothing happens. If the result is equal to or higher than the modified Hit#, the target is hit and loses one Life Point
(LP). If a target loses its last LP, it is killed and will be removed from the game board. If the target has more than 1 LP,
put one Damage marker in contact to the base of the model for each lost LP to record how many LP are lost.

When an Alien with the ability Resilient loses a LP roll one white die. On 1-4 the Alien does not lose the LP. Otherwise
the Alien loses the LP.

3
Weapon Table
Weapon Maximum Area Fire Hit# AP to Move & Over- Sustained
Range Weapon Fire Fire watch Fire
M41A Pulse Rifle 4 No 13 1 Yes Yes Yes
M40 Grenade Launcher 3 Yes 11 2 No No No
M56 Smartgun 5 No 9 1 Yes Yes Yes
M240 Flamethrower 1 Yes 5 2 No No No
Pistol 2 No 18 1 No No No

Area Fire Weapons

The target of an Area Fire weapon is a single tile. Each Marine and each Alien on the target tile is attacked. Roll the
white die for every target on the tile (or use more dies at once against the same kind of target) and resolve the attacks
separately, one after the other. A Marine equipped with an Area Fire weapon is not allowed to attack his own tile with the
Area Fire weapon.

Combined Weapons
Although a combined weapon as the M41A Pulse Rifle and the M40 Grenade Launcher is a single weapon, the two
weapons are treated as two separate weapons. For example, when the rifle has to be reloaded, the grenade launcher
can still be used, a Marine is allowed to move and fire the rifle, but not the grenade launcher, the grenade launcher is an
Area Fire weapon, but the rifle is a non-Area Fire weapon. The rifle can be used in Overwatch, the grenade launcher
cannot be used in Overwatch, etc.

Cover
Aliens on infested tiles with the ability Cover get protection from the infested structure of the tile, when they are attacked
with a non-Area Fire weapon. Add 2 to the Hit#.

Flamethrower
The M240 Flamethrower only carries sufficient fuel for 6 shots. This is the number of Flame markers provided. Place the
six Flame markers in front of you with their front side up at the start of the mission. After an attack with a flamethrower
place a Flame marker from the markers in front of you with the front side up on the attacked tile. Flames block line of
sight through the flamed tile, but not the line of sight to the flamed tile itself. That means Marines have a straight, un-
blocked line of sight to models on flamed tiles or to a flamed tile itself. No Marine or Alien is allowed to move onto a
flamed tile. A Marine is allowed to attack an empty tile with a flamethrower to block movement by Aliens in the following
Aliens Turn. Remove all Flame markers during the End Phase and set each marker aside with the back side up to keep
track of ammunition expenditure. If a Marine equipped with a flamethrower runs out of ammo, he has to use its pistol to
fight on.

Huge
Subtract 1 from the Hit# when attacking a huge sized creature with a non-Area Fire weapon.

Motion Tracker
Subtract 1 from the Hit# when a Marine attacks with a non-Area Fire weapon an Alien during the Alien Action Phase (i.e.
with Overwatch Fire) while a Marine equipped with a Motion Tracker is on the same tile as the attacking Marine.

Move & Fire

If a weapon allows to move and fire, the Marine is allowed to move 1 tile and fire the weapon once. The ranged attack
will be carried out after the movement onto the new tile. Move & Fire counts as only 1 action and it counts as a Move
action. There are no further AP costs for firing the weapon. If a Marine moves and fires, then this action does not count
for getting a Sustained Fire bonus.

Quick
Add 1 to the Hit# when attacking an Alien with this ability with a non-Area Fire weapon.

Shooting Into Close Combat

If a Marine attacks an Alien that is on the same tile as another Marine and the attacking Marines attacks with a non-Area
Fire weapon, the attack is hindered. Add 2 to the Hit#.

Shooting While In Close Combat

A Marine on the same tile as an Alien is bound in melee. Each time if a Marine bound in melee wants to take a Ranged
attack action using a weapon other than a pistol, first roll one white die. If you roll an even number, the Marine is able to
take the action. If you roll an uneven number, the Marine is not able to take the action and he loses 1 AP for the attempt.
The Marine gets no Sustained Fire bonus when Shooting While In Close Combat.

Small
Add 1 to the Hit# when attacking a small sized creature with a non-Area Fire weapon.

Sustained Fire
A Marine taking a Ranged attack action with a weapon capable of Sustained Fire gets a cumulative –3 modifier to the
Hit# for every attack after the first one, but only, if the Marine does not take any other action between the Ranged attack

4
actions and if the Marine continuously attacks the same Alien. If the Marine takes an action other than a Ranged attack
action or attacks another Alien, then he loses the Sustained Fire bonus immediately. The bonus is lost too at the end of
the Marines Turn. The Sustained Fire bonus is not granted when Shooting While In Close Combat or when firing in
Overwatch. If a Marine moves and fires (see Move & Fire), then this action does not count for getting a Sustained Fire
bonus, because this action counts as a Move respectively as a Rearguard action and not as a Ranged attack action.

Veteran
Marine with the ability Veteran rolls two white dice and uses the better result, when he attacks with a ranged weapon.

Set in Overwatch Action / Reload Action

Overwatch
A Marine equipped with a ranged weapon capable of Overwatch Fire and which is on a tile not occupied by any Aliens,
can take the Set in Overwatch action, but only during the Marines Action Phase. Place an Overwatch marker in contact
to the base of the model of the Marine. Every time an Alien spent an AP while in a straight, unblocked line of sight of a
Marine in Overwatch the Marine must take a Ranged Attack action with the weapon as Overwatch Fire versus that Alien.
This attack is mandatory. Every Marine set in Overwatch with a straight, unblocked line of sight has to attack that Alien,
one after the other. You can choose in which order the Ranged Attack actions are carried out, but you must carry out all
Overwatch Fire, even if the Alien is killed by previous Overwatch Fire.

If you roll a 1 while using Overwatch Fire, the weapon has to be reloaded and the Marine is no longer set in Overwatch. If
that happens, turn the Overwatch marker immediately to its back side.

Otherwise the Overwatch status ends, when the Marine takes any other action (i.e. moves via using TP) or when an
Alien moves onto the same tile as the Marine set in Overwatch and this moving Alien is not killed by Overwatch Fire or
by a Ranged Attack made by another Marine using TP. The Overwatch status also ends at the end of the Game Turn.

The Marine’s Overwatch Fire happens immediately after the Alien’s action is complete, before any other Marine can use
a TP, and before any Alien takes the next action. If an Alien moves onto the same tile as a Marine in Overwatch, the
Overwatch Fire is made without the penalties for Shooting Into Close Combat and Shooting While In Close Combat. The
Marine does not get the Sustained Fire bonus when using Overwatch Fire.

Reload
If a weapon has to be reloaded, the Marine cannot use it until he reloads it by taking the Reload action. The Reload ac-
tion can be taken only when the Marine’s tile is free of any Aliens. Remove the turned Overwatch marker from the game
board as soon as the weapon is reloaded.

Open, Close and Destroy Bulkhead Actions

Bulkheads block line of sight and movement when closed, but when opened or destroyed have no effect on the game.
Bulkheads start the missions closed. To open or close a bulkhead a Marine must be on the tile with the bulkhead at the
tile’s edge and the Marine’s tile must be free of any Aliens. The Marine must take the Open / Close bulkhead action.
When a bulkhead is opened turn the bulkhead gaming piece by 90° to show that it is open. When a bulkhead is closed
turn it back to its primary orientation.

Aliens cannot open or close bulkheads. But Aliens with the special ability Strong can destroy closed bulkheads. An Alien
with this ability is able to destroy a closed bulkhead in close combat. The Alien must be on the tile with the closed bulk-
head at the tile’s edge and it has to take a Destroy bulkhead action. Roll one white die and subtract 4 if the attacking
Alien is the Alien Queen. On 1-6 the bulkhead is destroyed. Otherwise the bulkhead takes some damage, but it will not
be destroyed and nothing happens.

Marines can destroy bulkheads with explosives. To destroy a closed bulkhead with explosives the Marine must be on the
tile with the closed bulkhead at the tile’s edge and the Marine’s tile must be free of any Aliens. The Marine must take the
Destroy bulkhead action. No die roll is necessary. The bulkhead is automatically destroyed.

If a bulkhead is destroyed, remove it from the game board.

In some missions there are infested bulkheads. Infested bulkheads are ruled like normal bulkheads, with the exception
that they cannot be opened by anyone. They have to be destroyed to get through. Destroying infested bulkhead is ruled
like the destroying of normal bulkheads.

Close Combat Action

Aliens with the ability Close Combat attack Marines in close combat with claws, fangs and stings by taking a Close Com-
bat action. A Close Combat action can only be done if both, the attacking Alien and the Marine are on the same tile. Only
a single Marine can be attacked with one Close Combat action.
5
When an Alien takes a Close Combat action, roll one white die to check whether the Marine defends himself against the
attack or not. If the result is equal to or higher than the Defend# the Marine defends himself against the attack and noth-
ing happens. If the result is lower than the Defend# the Marine is killed and will be removed from the game board.

Add 1 to the Defend# for a Marine equipped with a M56 Smartgun. The bulky weapon and its gyrostabilizer handicap the
Marine in melee.

A Marine with the ability Veteran rolls two white dice and uses the better result, when he defends himself against a Close
Combat attack.

Close Combat Table

Alien Defend #
Alien Stalker 14
Alien Warrior 15
Alien Queen 17

Reinforcement Phase
Create a reinforcement pool at the start of a mission. The mission rules determine what kind of reinforcement tokens and
how many of each kind come into the reinforcement pool. Put the reinforcement tokens in an opaque bag or cup. You will
have to draw randomly reinforcement tokens out of it at the start of each Reinforcement Phase.

At the start of each Reinforcement Phase draw a number of reinforcement tokens from the reinforcement pool. The mis-
sion rules determines how many reinforcement tokens have to be drawn each turn.

All Aliens except the Alien Queen have special entry points. The entry points of the different kinds of Aliens are marked
with their corresponding entry point markers. The Alien Queen will come into play according to special mission rules.

If there are no reinforcement tokens in the reinforcement pool (because all available Aliens are currently on the game
board), then no reinforcements come into play in that Reinforcement Phase. Take one Alien model for each correspond-
ing reinforcement token drawn and put the reinforcement tokens drawn to the side into a discard pool.

All reinforcing Aliens of a kind (Facehuggers, Stalkers and Warriors) coming into play at the start of a Reinforcement
Phase will be placed at the same entry point of their kind. Place the Aliens at the entry point that is closest to any Marine.

To determine the distance from an entry point to a Marine, count the number of AP an reinforcing Alien would have to
spend to move from the entry point to the tile of the Marine using the shortest route. You have to count 1 AP for getting
from the entry point to the first board tile of the game board.

• A tile with a Flame marker counts as blocked for every reinforcing Alien. So another route has to be used to deter-
mine the distance from the entry point to the closest Marine. If there is no route from that entry point to a Marine be-
cause of flames, then the entry point second closest to a Marine has to be used as the entry point for the reinforcing
Aliens, but only when the reinforcing Aliens are able to move to a Marine within one turn with 4 AP. If this is not pos-
sible, the first closest entry point has to be used regardless of the blocked route.

• A tile occupied by other Aliens so that a reinforcing Alien could not move through it counts as blocked for the rein-
forcing Aliens. So another route has to be used to determine the distance to the closest Marine. If there is no route
from the closest entry point to a Marine because of fully occupied tiles, then the entry point second closest to a Ma-
rine has to be used as the entry point for the reinforcing Aliens, but only when the reinforcing Aliens are able to
move to a Marine within one turn with 4 AP. If this is not possible, the first closest entry point has to be used regard-
less of the blocked route.

• A tile with a closed bulkhead counts as blocked for every Alien without the ability Strong. So another route has to be
used to determine the distance to the closest Marine. If there is no route from the closest entry point to a Marine be-
cause of closed bulkheads, then the entry point second closest to a Marine has to be used as the entry point for the
reinforcing Aliens, but only when the reinforcing Aliens are able to move to a Marine within one turn with 4 AP. If this
is not possible, the first closest entry point has to be used regardless of the blocked route. A tile with a closed bulk-
head does not count as blocked for Aliens with the ability Strong. Count the destroying of the bulkhead as 1 AP
when determining the distance.

• If two or more entry points are equally distant to the closest Marine, choose freely at which of those entry points the
reinforcing Aliens will be placed. Exception: If the reinforcing Aliens have the ability Strong and one of these equally
distant entry points has a closed bulkhead on the route to the Marine and another of these equally distant entry
points has no closed bulkhead on the route to the Marine, then you have to use the entry point without the closed
bulkhead on the route to the Marine.

6
While at an entry point, the reinforcing Aliens are not considered on the game board and take no part in the game. To
come into play, a reinforcing Alien moves onto the first tile next to the entry point during the Action Phase, expending 1
AP for moving 1 tile. Reinforcing Aliens do not have to immediately enter play (i.e. if the first tile next to the entry point is
flamed). They can instead lurk at an entry point. There can be any number of Aliens lurk at an entry point.

When an Alien Facehugger, Stalker or Warrior is killed, put the corresponding reinforcement token from the discarded
tokens back into the reinforcement pool.

Aliens Action Phase

Activate every Alien one at a time. Start with the Alien closest to any Marine and activate it. Then go on to the next clos-
est Alien, and so on. To determine the distance between an Alien and a Marine count the number of AP the Alien would
have to spend to move from the Alien’s tile to the Marine’s tile using the shortest route. You have to use exact the same
rules as for determining the distance to find out which entry point is the closest to a Marine when placing reinforcing
Aliens (see above).

The first priority of an Alien is to attack a Marine on the Alien’s tile. If there is more than one Marine on the same tile
choose freely which Marine will be attacked first. Attack the same Marine until the Marine is killed or until the Alien runs
out of AP.

If there are AP left over after killing a Marine, start to attack the next Marine on the same tile until that Marine is killed too
or until the Alien runs out of AP, and so on.

If there are no Marines on the same tile of an Alien and the Alien has AP left over, move toward the closest Marine. To
determine the distance between an Alien and a Marine count the number of AP the Alien would have to spend to move
from the Alien’s tile to the Marine’s tile using the shortest route. You have to use exact the same rules as for determining
the distance to find out which entry point is the closest to a Marine when placing reinforcing Aliens (see above).

Ventilation Shafts
There is no line of sight from, into or through a Ventilation Shaft tile. It costs 2 additional AP for medium or larger sized
creatures to move onto a Ventilation Shaft tile. Small sized creatures pay only 1 additional AP to move onto a Ventilation
Shaft tile. It is not allowed to use a Rearguard action to get onto or from a Ventilation Shaft tile. Move & Fire (/Move &
Facehug) is not allowed onto or from a Ventilation Shaft. The only attacks allowed while being onto a Ventilation Shaft
tile are Close Combat attacks, Ranged Attacks with a pistol or Facehug attacks.

Abilities / Equipment
Acidic Blood
Aliens with this ability can harm the terrain and the Marines with their acidic blood when killed and/or wounded.

• When an Alien with this ability is killed and the maximum number for Acid Damage markers is not placed already on
the tile of the just killed Alien, then roll one white die immediately after the attack that killed the Alien. On 1-10 place
an Acid Damage marker on the board tile. Otherwise no marker will be placed. If a large or larger sized Alien is
killed, no die roll is necessary. In this case, place an Acid Damage marker on the board tile anyway, if the maximum
number for Acid Damage counters is not placed already.

• When an Alien with this ability lost an LP and at least one Marine is on the same tile as the just hit Alien, then roll
one white die immediately after the attack that hit the Alien to check whether a Marine on that tile is killed by acidic
blood. If there is more than one Marine on the tile, choose freely which of those will possibly be killed. On 1-6 the
Marine is killed and will be removed from the game board. Otherwise nothing happens.

If both circumstances appear, then check first for acid damage on the tile and then for killing a Marine.

Climber
An Alien with this ability is allowed to move onto a tile when there are not enough OP left for its faction, but the Alien is
not allowed to stop on such a tile. It can ignore the stacking rules only temporarily while on the move.

Close Combat
Aliens with this ability attack Marines in close combat with claws, fangs and stings by taking a Close Combat action.

Cover
Aliens on infested tiles with this ability get protection from the infested structure of the tile, when they are attacked with a
non-Area Fire weapon. Add 2 to the Hit#.

7
Facehug
Facehuggers are the only Aliens with this ability. A Facehugger on the same tile as a Marine will attempt to facehug the
Marine by taking the Facehug action. Roll a white die to check whether the Marine avoids becoming facehugged or not.
On 9-20 the Marine avoids becoming facehugged and nothing happens. Otherwise the Marine is facehugged and the
Marine and the Facehugger will be removed from the game board – in this case the Marine counts as killed.

A Marine with the ability Veteran rolls two white dice and uses the better result, when he attempts to avoid becoming
facehugged.

A Facehugger is allowed to move and facehug within a single action. This is handled as Move & Fire. The Facehug at-
tack will be done after the movement onto the new tile. In this case there are no further AP costs for using the Facehug
attack action. Overwatch or the use of a TP can only be done after the Facehug attack. If a Facehugger is killed by
Overwatch Fire or by a Ranged Attack made by a Marine using TP after a Move & Facehug the Overwatch status does
not end. Move & Facehug is not allowed from an entry point.

Huge
Subtract 1 from the Hit# when attacking a huge sized creature with a non-Area Fire weapon.

Motion Tracker
Subtract 1 from the Hit# when a Marine attacks with a non-Area Fire weapon an Alien during the Alien Action Phase (i.e.
with Overwatch Fire) while a Marine equipped with a Motion Tracker is on the same tile as the attacking Marine.

Quick
Add 1 to the Hit# when attacking an Alien with this ability with a non-Area Fire weapon.

Resilient
When an Alien with this ability loses a LP roll one white die. On 1-4 the Alien does not lose the LP. Otherwise the Alien
loses the LP.

Sergeant
If there is at least one Marine Sergeant on the board you may choose to reroll the die to determine the TP for this turn
and use the second result. You must use the second result, when you reroll, even if it is lower than the first result.

Smartgun
Add 1 to the Defend# for a Marine equipped with a M56 Smartgun. The bulky weapon and its gyrostabilizer handicap the
Marine in melee.

Strong
An Alien with this ability is able to destroy a closed bulkhead in close combat. The Alien must be on the tile with the
closed bulkhead at the tile’s edge and it has to take a Destroy bulkhead action. Roll one white die and subtract 4 if the
attacker is the Alien Queen. On 1-6 the bulkhead is destroyed. Otherwise the bulkhead takes some damage, but it will
not be destroyed and nothing happens.

Small
Add 1 to the Hit# when attacking a small sized creature with a non-Area Fire weapon.

Veteran
The Marine rolls two white dice and uses the better result, when he attacks with a ranged weapon, when he defends
himself against a Close Combat attack, or when he attempts to avoid becoming facehugged.

Abilities and Equipment Table

Alien/Marine Size Skills LP Equipment
Alien Facehugger Small Cover, Facehug, Quick 1 -
Alien Stalker Medium Acidic Blood, Climber, 1 -
Close Combat, Cover,
Quick
Alien Warrior Medium Acidic Blood, Close 1 -
Combat, Cover, Strong
Alien Queen Huge Acidic Blood, Close 6 -
Combat, Resilient,
Strong
Marine Rifleman Medium - 1 M41A Pulse Rifle with M40 Grenade
Launcher, Pistol
Marine Gunner Medium - 1 M56 Smartgun, Pistol,
Marine Flamer Medium - 1 M240 Flamethrower, Pistol
Marine Sergeant Medium Sergeant, Veteran 1 M41A Pulse Rifle with M40 Grenade
Launcher, Pistol, Motion Tracker

8
AvM-Campaign: Terror in the Sky
Seeming to appear from nowhere the USCSS Argonaut, a research and development ship from the Weyland-Yutani
Corporation pops up on the screens of the ground control of the terraformed planet Lagos-4. The officers of the ground
control do not get any answers to their radio messages. The only thing they learn is that an alarm was triggered and that
the autopilot operates the giant ship. Because the autopilot’s plan seems to be to land the ship directly on the surface of
the planet, Alex Titov, the ground control’s chief officer informs Hiro Tanaka, the minister of defense of Lagos-4, about
the situation. Tanaka and his staff are worried about a possible crash of the giant ship and a nuclear explosion on Lagos-
4. So, the minister orders the Colonial Marines to fly to the Argonaut and to stop it right there in the outer space.

Only a single Task Force of the United Systems Marines Corps under the command of the aged, but experienced Lieu-
tenant John “Bull” Hartman is based at Lagos-4. Three Combat Teams each consisting of five Marines led by a Sergeant
and two pilots are commanded by Hartman. After getting their orders, the 18 Colonial Marines board their troop carrier,
the Heavy Gale and set off to the Argonaut. When the little ship reaches the orbit Flight Captain Janese Martinez, the
pilot of the Heavy Gale, speaks through the com to the men in the passenger area. “No answers on my calls, Sir. The
hangar gate is closed. I tried to open it with the common codes, but it doesn’t work. That’s strange. The gate is not
locked. I don’t know … there must be something that blocks the gate to get open. So, we cannot land in the hangar.
However, I looked for an outer airlock and found one. We will dock in 2 minutes.”

Lieutenant Hartman speaks to the Marines. His voice is tight. “Ten-hut, Marines! When Martinez docks the Heavy Gale to
the Argonaut, the Team 1 moves through the lock bay and secures the area in front. The other teams follow when the
area is secured. Team 2 turns to the right and Team 3 turns to the left. Let’s see what’s going on there. Be cool and don’t
fuck up. Is that clear for you?” The 15 Marines shout as one man. “Oorah!” Hartman smirks, so that his gold tooth is
seen. “Okay. Get ready!” The Marines stand up from their benches, grab their weapons and make them ready for battle.

With a noisy thrust the carrier docks to the air lock of the Argonaut. Billy Parker, the copilot of the Heavy Gale, speaks
through the com unemotionally. “The Heavy Gale is docked. The lock bay will be readied. Pressure equalization in 3, 2, 1
… Everything is ready for action.” The focused Marines wait for the closed bulkhead. Then the bulkhead opens and
Hartman shouts with his loud voice. “Go! Go! Go!” Sergeant Malone leads the four Marines of Team 1 through the lock
bay into the large spacecraft. “Everything is alright. Area is secured”, Malone says through the head com. Then Sergeant
Burns and his four Marines get in. When Burns reports that the area on the right side is secured too, Sergeant Stone
advances into the Argonaut und turns left. Stone notices an unfamiliar smell in the air and it seems to him that it is way
too warm in the ship. “Area secured”, he says through his head com. The Marines hear the closing of the Argonaut’s and
the Heavy Gale’s bulkheads behind them. “The bulkheads are shut down”, copilot Parker says.

Lieutenant Hartman sits in his little command section in the passenger area of the Heavy Gale. Small monitors show the
life signs of every Marine and the videos of the Marines’ helm cameras to allow Hartman to see what every Marines
sees. “Okay. Let’s see, if everything works.” The Lieutenant looks on the monitors and checks them. “Everything looks
fine. Advance slowly and be cautious. As planned I want that you go to the bridge in level 5. We have to stop that
damned ship. The bridge is not far away from your current position. It’s three levels above your level and straight ahead.
Use the motion trackers.”

Sergeant Stone from Team 3 gives his orders. “Dakota and Franklin, you go in front. Ramirez and I will follow you. Har-
per, you are our rear guard.” Abigail Dakota brings her Smartgun forward and advances first. Tyrone Franklin, the Tech
Specialist of Team 3, follows her. Jack Stone looks at his motion tracker, but he does not see any signals other than
those of the Marines. Juan Ramirez, the team’s medic, moves directly beside the Sergeant. Andrew Harper follows them
looking backward at times to secure the rear side of the team.

Five minutes later the three teams reach the stairs and move up to level 5. Then a few minutes later Dirk Hanson of
Team 2 speaks through the com with an anxious voice. “Hey, Sarge … do you see this goo here … that sticky stuff here
everywhere? What the hell is it?” Sergeant Burns seems to be worried too. “Yes. I see it. I’m not blind. I don’t know what
it is. Don’t touch it and move on, Hanson.” Then Sergeant Malone, the leader of Team 1, speaks through the com. “Hey
… there is something on my motion tracker.” Burns agreed with the other Sergeant. “Yeah. I see it too. There are several
pings on the tracker. Something is moving in front of your team. It seems we find some survivors.” Stone looks at his
motion tracker. But there are no pings in his area. “All is quiet on the left side”, Stone reports. Then he hears a scream
through the com and directly after that the fire of a pulse rifle. “Something grabbed Hanson”, Sergeant Burns shouts.
More pulse rifles are fired and a grenade explodes. “Kill them all”, yells Eliza Miller of Team 2 and Stone and his team
members hear her Smartgun roaring. Meanwhile Lieutenant Hartman attempts to get information about what is going on,
but gets no answers. “They are too fast. I can’t get them”, Sergeant Malone shouts. Stone and Team 3 hear a last burst
of a pulse rifle. Then the screams and the firing stop. Only the enraged Hartman speaks through the com. “What the
hell? Malone? Burns? What is your situation? What is going on?” But he gets no answers.

Mission 1: The Bridge

Sergeant Stone is very agitated. “Lieutenant, what happens and what should we do?” After a few seconds Hartman an-
swers. “Stone, nobody reports back. I don’t see anything useful on the videos of the helm cameras. The life signs show
that all the other Marines are either dead or unconscious. I can’t believe that. They are attacked. I couldn’t see the at-

9
tackers on my screens. The attackers were too fast. I want you and your team to check that out and then advance to the
bridge. Look for comrades not killed and see if you can help them. Report back when you are on the bridge. Good luck.”

Forces and Deployment

Marines: You get 1 Marine Sergeant (Stone), 1 Marine Gunner (Dakota), 1 Marine Flamer (Ramirez) and 2 Marine Ri-
flemen (Franklin and Harper). The Marines must be deployed on the tiles marked Entry Area on the map.

Aliens: Put 5 Stalker and 10 Warrior reinforcement tokens into the reinforcement pool. Draw 4 reinforcement tokens at
the start of each Reinforcement Phase.

Special Rules

The Marines can exit the game board by moving off the tile marked Exit on the map for the cost of 2 AP. Once a Marine
exited the game board, he cannot come back.

Victory Conditions

You win if all Marines exited the game board. You lose if at least one Marine is killed.

Map

Mission 2: Retreat

“For God’s sake! Did you see those damn critters, Lieutenant”, Stone asks through the com. “Yeah, I saw them, Stone. Is
everybody fine?” The Sergeant looks in the faces of his team. “Yes. Everybody is fine. What are these creatures?” Hart-
man is at a loss. “Oh … I really don’t know. I never heard about beings like these before.” Dakota spits out blood from
her torn lip. “These fucking beasts kicked our asses. I don’t care about the species or the origin of these damn critters.
They are very deadly. That matters.”

Stone speaks to the Lieutenant. “We are on the bridge now. On the way to the bridge we had to get through an infested
door. We used explosives to force it open. It seems the creatures didn’t want to let somebody to the bridge. We barely
escaped. Franklin deals with the autopilot and downloads the data from the ship’s log. We find five comrades of the other
teams. All were dead, Sir. There were marks of blood. I think the beasts carried the other five away.”

10
Hartman’s voice sounds frustrated. “Okay. Stone, listen. When I look at the present situation I decide that we have to
retreat. Come back to the Heavy Gale. It makes no sense to stay on that damned ship. The Argonaut is a deadly trap.
This time you made it, but next time it could be worse. We don’t know how many of these beasts are onboard. Stop the
flight of the Argonaut, take the data from the ship’s log and come back as soon as possible.”

Harper is upset about the Lieutenant’s order. “What is about the others? You said they are not dead. Should we leave
them behind?” Stone looks at the young Private. Most likely Harper is concerned about Eliza Miller, Stone thinks. He
knows that Harper and Miller have a mistress relationship, but he never spoke about it. Dakota nods her head. “We nev-
er leave a Marine behind.” Stone speaks to Hartman again. “Sir, do you have still life signs from the other five comrades
on your screens?” The Lieutenant looks at the monitors in his command section. “Yes. Everything is unchanged. Malone,
Jablonski, Samovic, Hanson and Miller are alive, but unconscious. Their cams are not working. I can locate their im-
planted positioning chips.”

“We have another problem, Sir”, Franklin says. “I gave the autopilot the order to stop, but the ship doesn’t react. I don’t
know what the problem is. The Argonaut flies still directly to the planet, Sir.” Hartman thinks about it. “Okay. I will think
about it. First order is to come back here …” Then suddenly loud blows hit the bulkhead in the corridor that leads to the
bridge. “It seems we are having company soon”, Dakota shouts turning her Smartgun to the bulkhead. “The corridor is
the only way out of here. What should we do, Sarge”, Harper asks. Stone answered with a severe voice. “Keep calm
Harper. There is a ventilation shaft over there. We will take it to get out of here. Move on Marines!”

Forces and Development

Marines: You get 1 Marine Sergeant (Stone), 1 Marine Gunner (Dakota), 1 Marine Flamer (Ramirez) and 2 Marine Ri-
flemen (Franklin and Harper). The Marines must be deployed on the tile marked Bridge on the map.

Aliens: Put 5 Stalker and 10 Warrior reinforcement tokens into the reinforcement pool. Draw 4 reinforcement tokens at
the start of each Reinforcement Phase. During the first two turns reinforcing Aliens must enter the game board at the
entry points marked 1+2 on the map. From the third turn on the normal Reinforcement Phase rules must be applied.

Special Rules

The Marines can exit the game board by moving off the tile marked Exit on the map for the cost of 2 AP. Once a Marine
exited the game board, he cannot come back.

Victory Conditions

You win if all Marines exited the game board. You lose if at least one Marine is killed.

Map

Mission 3: Rescue

Stone reports back through the com. “Lieutenant, can you hear me? We had a narrow escape. We are hiding in a clean
utility room in section 5d. Everything is quiet. None of the creatures are in the near. We talked about the situation and
first of all we want to look after the other five comrades.” Hartman looks at the screens. “I located their implanted posi-
tioning chips. Malone, Jablonski, Samovic, Hanson and Miller are in the near of your team, Stone. I can guide you to their
positions.” Stone looks at the other four Marines who nod in agreement. “Okay, Sir. We will go now. Guide us.”

11
Forces and Deployment

Marines: You get 1 Marine Sergeant (Stone), 1 Marine Gunner (Dakota), 1 Marine Flamer (Ramirez) and 2 Marine Ri-
flemen (Franklin and Harper). The Marines must be deployed on the tiles marked Entry Area on the map.

Survivors: Place one Marines marker with its back side up on each tile marked S on the map. These five markers repre-
sent the unconscious survivors Malone, Jablonski, Samovic, Hanson and Miller.

Aliens: Put 5 Facehugger, 5 Stalker and 10 Warrior reinforcement tokens into the reinforcement pool. Draw 3 reinforce-
ment tokens at the start of each Reinforcement Phase.

Special Rules

When a Marine gets a straight, unblocked line of sight to a survivor for the first time the survivor counts as explored. Roll
a white die. On a 1-16 the survivor is currently facehugged. It is Malone, Jablonski, Samovic or Hanson. Remove the
marker from the game board. On a 17-20 the survivor is not facehugged. It is Eliza Miller. Flip the Marines marker to its
front side and let it be placed on the tile. Place the Immovable marker on it. As soon as Miller was found, no die rolls are
necessary after that. When Miller was not found and there is only one unexplored Marines marker on the game board left
over, then this survivor automatically is Eliza Miller and no die roll is needed. If a tile with a survivor will be attacked with
a Are Fire weapon, the survivor will be attacked too.

Eliza Miller is unconscious and – as all five survivors – stuck to an infested wall. As long as Miller is stuck to the wall, the
Immovable marker is placed on top of the Marines marker. A Marine can free Miller from the wall for the cost of 4 AP, but
only if there is no Alien in the same tile. When Miller is freed remove the Immovable marker from the game board. As
soon as Miller is freed a Marine is able to pick her up.

A Marine can pick Miller up for the cost of 2 AP, but only if there is no Alien in the same tile. Place the Marines marker
directly under the base of the Marine’s model. A Marine who picked Miller up starts his activation with only 2 AP availa-
ble. TP can be used normally. A Marine who picked Miller up carries her with him when he moves. If the carrying Marine
takes an action other than Move or Rearguard, he drops Miller to the ground. The carrying Marine can drop Miller to the
ground voluntarily for no AP costs. If Miller is dropped to the ground place the Marines marker in the middle of the tile.
She can be picked up again. Aliens do not attack Miller or pick her up. Miller cannot lose LP. She is not allowed to take
any actions.

The Marines (Miller inclusive) can exit the game board by moving off the tile marked Exit on the map for the cost of 2 AP,
but only if every survivor was explored. Once a Marine exited the game board, he cannot come back.

Victory Conditions

You win if all Marines and Miller exited the game board. You lose if at least one Marine is killed or if all Marines exited the
game board without Miller.

Map

12
Mission 4: Rearm

Sergeant Stone reports back through the com with a sad voice. “We are back in that clean utility room, Sir. It seems the
creatures don’t like the sterility here. I have bad news, Sir. We found the five comrades. They were all stuck to the infest-
ed walls with this strange alien goo. Malone, Jablonski, Samovic and Hanson were all hugged by these spidery nasty
creatures. We had to leave them behind. Eliza Miller from Team 2 wasn’t hugged. I have no idea why. Maybe she had
luck. After we freed her and got away from there, she woke up. She is still weak, but she will make it. The bad news is
that some of the creatures got Dakota when she guarded our rear. The critter spiked her with her sting, but she killed the
beast with her pistol before she dies. We couldn’t help her. Franklin took Dakota’s Smartgun with him. Miller takes it over
now. We are on our way back to the Heavy Gale now.”

Then suddenly Stone and the other four Marines hear loud blows through the com. Hartman sounds very nervous.
“Bloody hell! Stone, I’m sorry about Dakota’s death. But we have a problem here. The creatures attack the air lock. We
have to get away immediately. We cannot risk that they come in here. I cannot hold them off alone.” The blows are get-
ting louder. ”Sorry, Stone. I have no choice. We have to undock from the Argonaut. Do not return to the Heavy Gale. You
have to find another way to get out.”

“Gosh darn it”, Harper yells. “Should we stay here on that damned ship and die?” Miller isn’t happy too. “What should we
do now?” The five Marines hear the blows through the com getting louder and louder. Then they hear copilot Parker’s
voice. “Heavy Gale undocks in 3, 2, 1 … Heavy Gale is undocked.” Then Martinez, the pilot of the Heavy Gale, makes a
proposal. “Guys, there is a dropship in the Argonaut’s hangar. But the hangar gate cannot be opened. Something blocks
it. However, there is a small escape capsule on the other side of the ship, six levels below your current position in the
near of the engine room. I think this EC is the only way for you to get out.”

Stone thinks about the pilot’s suggestion. “The problem is that we are nearly out of ammo. We have no grenades left
over and the flamer has almost no fuel. When we ever want to make it to the EC, we have to reload first.” Hartman looks
at Argonaut’s map on his tactical screen. “Stone, there is an armory, not far away from your position and on the way to
the EC.” Stone looks in the worried faces of the other Marines in the clean utility room. “Okay, Sir. We will try to break
through and to rearm in the armory. Then we will take the EC to get away from here.”

Forces and Deployment

Marines: You get 1 Marine Sergeant (Stone), 1 Marine Gunner (Miller), 1 Marine Flamer (Ramirez) and 2 Marine Rifle-
men (Franklin and Harper). The Marines must be deployed on the tiles marked Entry Area on the map.

Aliens: Put 5 Facehugger, 5 Stalker and 10 Warrior reinforcement tokens into the reinforcement pool. Draw 3 reinforce-
ment tokens at the start of each Reinforcement Phase.

Special Rules

At the start of the mission place a Marines marker with the back side up directly under the base of each of the Marine’s
models to record that the Marines still have to rearm in the armory. As long as a Marine Rifleman or Sergeant has not
rearmed, he cannot use the grenade launcher. The Marine Flamer starts the mission with 3 Flame markers only.

A Marine in the armory can rearm for the cost of 4 AP, but only if no Aliens are in the armory. Remove the Marines
marker when a Marine rearmed. A rearmed Marine can use the grenade launcher again. A Marine Flamer gets 6 Flame
markers. Unused Flame markers before the rearming are lost.

A Marine can exit the game board by moving off the tile marked Exit on the map for the cost of 2 AP, but only if he has
rearmed in the armory before. Once a Marine exited the game board, he cannot come back.

Victory Conditions

You win if all Marines exited the game board. You lose if at least one Marine is killed.

13
Map

Mission 5: The Queen

“Stone, I see on my tactical screen that you are in the research station now”, Hartman says. “The EC is not far away.”
Sergeant Stone explains angrily. “Yes. We know, Sir. We just discovered here that the Weyland-Yutani scientists exper-
imented with these creatures willfully. The Argonaut wasn’t attacked from the outside as we thought first. According to
the data files Franklin downloaded here in the research station they got one of these spidery tiny beasts from LV-426, a
terraformed moon, now called Acheron.

A man called Duncan Black brought the creature from there. The Weyland-Yutani scientists decided to use Black as a
host and let the spidery beast hugged his face in a reinforced cell. 20 hours later a the creature fell from his face, dead,
and a tiny critter burst out of Black’s chest and killed him in the process. Within 26 hours the creature grew up to a very
huge being and seven days later this creature began to lay eggs.

The scientists called this thing the Queen. The scientists referred to a file from a woman called Ellen Ripley. She was the
sole survivor of the missed USCSS Nostromo and was questioned by the ICC on earth a short time ago in the year 2179.
The scientists suspected that in the eggs were the spidery creatures that infest lifeforms to use them as hosts for their
embryos. So, they took the eggs away from the Queen and they created one beast after the other using all of the 40
loaded laboratory monkeys. Can you imagine that, Sir?

Shortly after that the Queen broke free. She killed the security guards and released the 40 other creatures. The crew of
the Argonaut had no chance. The men and women were either killed or grabbed and infested too. After the alarm was
triggered the ship’s autopilot set course to the nearest human settlement and that was Lagos-4.

Sir, we want to find this Queen and we want to kill her. If she’s killed, the creatures are not able to increase their number
and they will lose their leader. As soon as we killed the damn beast, we advance to the EC and get off.”

Forces and Deployment

Marines: You get 1 Marine Sergeant (Stone), 1 Marine Gunner (Miller), 1 Marine Flamer (Ramirez) and 2 Marine Rifle-
men (Franklin and Harper). The Marines must be deployed on the tiles marked Entry Area on the map.

Aliens: Place the Alien Queen on the tile marked Hibernation Room on the map. Place the Immovable marker in contact
with her base. Put 5 Facehugger and 10 Warrior reinforcement tokens into the reinforcement pool. Draw 3 reinforcement
tokens at the start of each Reinforcement Phase.

14
Special Rules

The Alien Queen takes no actions until she gets a straight, unblocked line of sight to a Marine the first time during this
mission. When that happens remove the Immovable marker. After that she immediately is ready for action and will be
activated according to the normal rules.

Victory Conditions

You win if the Alien Queen is killed. You lose if at least one Marine is killed.

Map

Mission 6: The Escape

“Captain. We killed the Queen and we are now on the way to the EC”, Stone says out of breath running along a corridor
the other four Marines directly behind him. The Lieutenant doesn’t sound that glad. “We still have a problem, Stone. The
Argonaut flies directly to the planet and the autopilot wants to land the massive ship on the surface. Even if the landing is
successful and does not end in a nuclear disaster, all the creatures will be able to get off the ship. This would be a big
problem for all the people of Lagos-4. I discussed this with Martinez and she had the idea to set the Argonaut to self-
destruct. I asked the minister of defense and Tanaka agrees. So, before you escape with the EC, you have to initiate the
Argonaut’s self-destruction.”

Stone and the other four Marines stop running. “What do you think about it”, asks the Sergeant the others. “We lost ten
brave Marines here. The damn creatures should pay for it”, Franklin says. Ramirez agrees. “Dakota should not be killed
for nothing.” Eliza Miller from Team 2 nods. “My whole team is killed by these beasts. I want revenge. Let’s kill all these
damn creatures once and for all.” Harper agrees too. “Okay, Sir. We will do that. What do we have to do?” Martinez ex-
plains the plan. “Stone, there is an engine room in the near of the EC. In that engine room you can initiate the overload of
the reactor. Billy will instruct you when you are in the engine room.”

Suddenly Ramirez shouts with wide open eyes. “Fucking hell … the damn Queen isn’t dead. She is right behind us.”
Stone and the others look surprised to the huge creature. “Move, move, move …”, Stone shouts.

Forces and Deployment

Marines: You get 1 Marine Sergeant (Stone), 1 Marine Gunner (Miller), 1 Marine Flamer (Ramirez) and 2 Marine Rifle-
men (Franklin and Harper). The Marines must be deployed on the tiles marked Entry Area on the map.

Aliens: Put 5 Facehugger and 10 Warrior reinforcement tokens into the reinforcement pool. Draw 4 reinforcement tokens
at the start of each Reinforcement Phase. During the first Reinforcement Phase place the Alien Queen at the Warrior
entry point marked Queen / Warrior EP on the map.

Engine Room: Place four Marines markers with the back side up on the tile marked Engine Room on the map.

15
Special Rules

A Marine in the Engine Room can take an Operate action for the cost of 2 AP to manipulate the control instruments, but
only if no Aliens are in the Engine Room. For each taken Operate action remove one of the Marines markers. When all
four Marines markers are removed from the game board, the self-destruction is successfully initiated.

The Marines can escape in the EC (the tile marked Escape Capsule on the map), but only if there are no Aliens in the
EC and only after one Marine spends 2 AP to start the EC.

Victory Conditions

You win if the self-destruction is successfully initiated and if all Marines escaped in the EC. You lose if at least one Ma-
rine is killed.

Map

16