Not long after the epic science fiction movie Aliens (1986), Leading Edge Games released an official boardgame adaptation (1989).
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 the 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.
Ripley vs. The Queen: On board the ship, Ripley uses a Powerloader in her final battle with the Alien Queen.
These rare Aliens box sets can be troublesome in the used market, with missing parts and pieces. Today I have a nice set that will serve as a photo reference for collectors & players.
The following year, LEG produced an Expansion set. This folio added scenarios to the base game, allowing players to game out the entire movie! See my earlier deep-dive into the Expansion:
ALIENS (Wargame) [BOX SET]
1989 … Barry Naskazono & David McKenzie … LEG 20100 … ISBN 0945571992
COMPONENTS:
• The Map, which is 17″ x 34″
• 3 Card and Counter Sheets (16 character stat cards; 49 mini stand-up counters; one combat card)
• Rulebook (30 pages)
• 4 page Rules Summary
• Plastic Stands
Box
I love the minimalistic black box cover!
Book
Rules Summary
Map
Map is folded into 6 panels. Reverse is blank.
Cards / Standup counters
Card sheets are printed on both sides. The character cards have “Wounded” stats on the reverse side. The standup figures of the Marines, Civilians, and Xenomorphs are intended to be inserted into the plastic stands (next).
Stands & D10
Bonus Photo: Queen Takes Bishop
This miniature figure is not part of the Aliens box set. The toy (“Queen Takes Bishop”) was part of a past Lootcrate release. I’m including it here ’cause I love it!
See Also:
I discuss Leading Edge Games at my post on one of their other game lines:
Run a campaign is a setting very similar to Aliens’ gritty future background: