Introduction

Designed by Howard Whitehouse INTRODUCTION Alien War is a game of ground combat for 28mm (1/56 scale) models set in the year 2260. The rules are designed to give you an authentic feel for future warfare including unpredictable events – sudden rushes, explo- sions, ambushes, and malfunctioning weapons – that challenge your strategy and tactics as a tabletop general. The terrain can be as elaborate or as simple as you like; but the game is best played with lots of cover (buildings, trees, rocks, downed landing ships, etc). The playing area can represent anything from a futuristic cityscape to an alien forest to a Bug-infested hive! Each player controls a Force that can be as small as a squad (6-15 models) up to a platoon or even a company in size (40-100 models or more). Some Forces may involve more models than others since they consist either of less skilled human troops (like colonial militia or poorly armed and trained conscripts) or aliens whose strength lies in their overwhelming numbers. As players become more experienced, they can control larger numbers of troops as well as vehicles and incorporate more advanced rules for future warfare. At its most basic size (squad level), a game of Alien War should take an hour or less to play. What you need to play: Regular Six-sided Dice (D6) – we recommend a mix of at least 3 red, 3 green, and 6 white dice. • Tape Measure • Templates • Alien War hard plastic 28mm (1/56 scale) models by Defiance Games • Terrain items for the playing area Interspersed throughout these rules are some quick commentaries by Howard Whitehouse, the designer. It’s as if Howard is sitting with you at the game table and able to lean over and give a word or two of advice on how best to proceed! Howard's Notes: A Bit on Scales: in Alien War each model represents a trooper and each terrain item is exactly as shown. What You See Is What You Get: if there is a door on a scale building, assume it is precisely where it is shown to determine distance and line-of-sight. Ground scale also relates directly to the 28mm (1/56 scale) models, so an inch is almost five feet. This means that weapon ranges are far shorter than in real life - a weapon that fires 48” on the table would be shooting only 75 yards in real life! Likewise, a moment’s thought will suggest that the time scale must be very short indeed, since a standard 4” action is only 18 feet, a bare few seconds for any moderately fit person to walk. As the game designer, I ask you to think briefly of these issues, then set them aside in favor of simply playing a fast-moving game! 1 Contents INTRODUCTION 1 FORCES IN Alien War 4 SQUADS, ELEMENTS, AND TROOPS 4 ELEMENTS 4 SQUAD AND TROOP GRADES 5 SAMPLE FORCES 7 PLAYING THE GAME 10 TERRAIN SET UP 10 MODEL DEPLOYMENT 10 ACTIVATING 11 ACTIONS 11 WHAT THE...?!? 12 REACTIONS 13 MOVEMENT 14 ROUGH GROUND AND OBSTACLES 14 SHOOTING 15 DECIDING TARGETS 15 SUPPORT WEAPONS SPECIAL RULES 15 MARKSMEN SPECIAL RULES 16 TARGET TYPES 16 INFLICTING LOSSES 18 CASUALTIES 20 LEADER CASUALTIES 22 SPRAYING LEAD! 22 PINNED DOWN! 22 2 HITTING THE DIRT 23 RALLY 23 SPECIAL WEAPONS 24 GRENADES 24 FLAME THROWERS 25 CLOSE COMBAT 26 CLOSE COMBAT RESULTS 28 WINNING AND LOSING 30 VICTORY POINTS 30 DESIGNER'S NOTES: 31 3 FORCES IN Alien War To get started with Alien War you first need to collect a Force of 28mm (1/56 scale) models from Defiance Games’ rapidly growing Alien War range. You may choose from the UAMC, Germans, Alien Bugs, or one of the other Core or Edge Forces in the game. Visit http://www.defiancegames.com to see the latest releases! SQUADS, ELEMENTS, AND TROOPS The most basic Force is made up of a single squad. A squad consists of 6-15 troops divided into two to four elements, called ‘fireteams’ (or something similar) in many armies. The squad is led by a Squad Leader with one or more element leaders reporting to him. Howard's Notes On Gender: We use “he” or “him” throughout the rules for simplicity, but the futuristic battlefields of Alien War are filled with women as well. In fact, there are even all-female Forces to be released for the Alien War range by Defi- ance Games! Along with regular infantry troops, elements sometimes include a specialized support team built around a heavy weapon designed to pin down the enemy while your own troops can move freely. One or more troops may have a specialist role – grenadier, marksman, flame thrower operator, etc. ELEMENTS Elements are a group of models acting together, even if they are not performing the exact same series of actions. Each model must be within 3” of another model in the element even if there are obstacles between models. An element led by an NCO (Non-Commissioned Officer) will usually perform better than one without. Sometimes an element may consist of just one model as in these situations: • A single model expected to act alone such as a sniper or a medic. These single models are also permitted to act as part of a larger unit whenever the player prefers. • A model who becomes separated from his initial element will count as an element on his own until he re- joins his element or joins another. • In practical terms, a squad will usually consist of two or four elements at the start of the game. These may break up into smaller elements as the game goes on. • You may form new elements, or divide the elements you have, when you activate your Force. There is no limit on this beyond the obvious fact that the die roll might not permit all elements to act at once. Example: Elements can form and disperse as the player wishes. A UAMC squad might be counted as a single element while riding in a dropship or landing craft, or rushing forward onto a landing zone. Once deployed for action it would usually break up into its separate fireteams (three elements). A fireteam might then break up into two distinct elements if the gunner and assistant set up their weapon while the other marines moved forward. A marksman might move to a firing position to get the best target. 4 Howard's Notes Having very few elements means that it’s easy to get the whole force to obey your orders, but lacks flexibility. It also means that whole chunks of that force may be Pinned Down by heavy enemy fire against one part of it. Hav- ing too many elements means that some may not activate at all, and small elements are easily Pinned Down under fire SQUAD AND TROOP GRADES Squad Grade Each squad is rated according to its training either as Professional (regular squads of high calibre) or Grade 2 (militia, bandits, conscripts, etc). Additionally, the very best Grade 1 squads are counted as Elite which have the highest level of cohesion and mutual understanding. Troop Grade Within the squad, each troop has a grade (Green, Experienced, Veteran) which shows his level of combat effec- tiveness. This is expressed by a number between 2 and 4, known as a Combat Value (CV). Most “arithmetic” in the game is based on rolling a D6 and scoring equal or less than this CV number. The rules will say “Test against CV” when this is required. Experienced troops, with a CV of 3, will thus have a 50% chance of performing any test required of them. Green troops are trained but have seen little combat, or seasoned but poorly trained fighters. Their basic CV is 2. Experienced troops have been in combat previously. They are ‘average’ troops. Their basic CV is 3. Veteran troops have considerable combat experience. Their basic CV is 4. Leadership Leadership is critical in Alien War. Since different Forces have their own specific command structures, we’ll use a simple Rank format to explain how the leaders are rated in value and impor- tance. Rank 0 Enlisted Personnel – Basic Troops Rank 1 Fire Team Leader/Junior NCO Rank 2 Squad Leader /NCO Rank 3 Platoon Sergeant/Senior NCO or Warrant Officer Rank 4 Platoon Leader Rank 5 Company Leader Rank 6 Field Officer - Major, Lieutenant Colonel, or Full Colonel – Battalion and Regimental staff. Above Rank 6 are the generals and admirals. In practical terms, Alien War is a squad and platoon level game, so leaders of Rank 6+ will appear only in the biggest games unless as part of a sce- nario (i.e. Get the General Off Planet!). 5 Weapons The standard weapons used in Alien War are graded according to their range, how many dice are rolled when they shoot, and by Impact – the power of each shot to damage its target. Standard weapons include: Assault Rifle (AR) (Impact 1) The basic infantry firearm of the 23rd century. It fires 2D6 up to 18”, 1D6 up to 36”. The AR may be fired while moving, rolling only 1D6 with a range of 18”. One or more troops per squad may be designated as Marksmen, able to use aimed fire on a specified target. Squad Support Weapon (SSW) (Impact 1) The SSW is a larger, bulkier weapon designed primarily to pin down a target. It counts as a Suppressive Weapon, where each D6 rolled for fire effect counts as 2D towards any test to pin down a target.

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