Aliens: This Time It's War (2010)

• The Company has colonised the planet LV-426.
• Contact with the "Shake and bake" colony is lost.
• The Company sends a team of Colonial Marines, with Ripley as "Advisor", to find out what has happened at Hadley's Hope.

Aliens: This Time it's War is an unauthorised, non-profit and non-collectable card game set within the boundaries of the hugely influential 1986 sci-fi film, Aliens.

Consisting of two balanced 60-card decks, the game pits two players against each other in a life or death struggle. One player takes the role of the Colonial Marines, and his opponent assumes control of the hordes of deadly xenomorphs.

At their disposal, the Colonial Marines - very tough hombres - have a roster of high-tech, state-of-the-art weaponry: M41A 10mm Pulse Rifles, Motion Trackers, M40 Grenades, and M56 Smart-guns. Other deployable assets include the android, Bishop, a Powerloader, and UA 571-C&D Remote Sentry Weapon Systems. Some example cards: "Drake, we are LEAVING!" "LET'S ROCK!" "Eat this!" and "All right, sweethearts, what are you waiting for? Breakfast in bed?"

The Alien player's objective is to eliminate all the Marines, before they escape the planet and "Nuke the entire site from orbit." She can utilise such cards as "They cut the power", "Thirty eight.... simulated.", Burke - Carter. J, "I got signals. I got readings, in front and behind," "Oh dear Lord Jesus, this ain't happening, man..." and Facehuggers.

The game has an asymmetrical design, with both decks featuring different cards and abilities. Aliens: This Time it's War is played using a 5-column system, representing consecutive melees in the following battlegrounds: Reactor Chamber, APC Withdrawal, Ops Centre, Dropship Evac, and Sulaco Loading Bay. Gameplay is quick and bloodthirsty with Marines butchered frequently, and aliens destroyed by the well-placed use of "Short, controlled bursts," and "10 millimeter explosive tip caseless. Standard light armor piercing round."

Numerous tricky decisions must be made throughout. For instance, the Colonial Marine player could choose to deploy the Powerloader during the Reactor Chamber battle, but the resources that this would require make it a very risky, but rewarding, play. Similarly, the Alien player can deploy the Alien Queen at any time during the conflict - she's free to play aboard the Sulaco, but hugely expensive if used during the APC Withdrawal, for instance.

Primarily a combat-driven card game, each player must manage his deck of cards effectively to win. In addition to simple, unique abilities, each card also has two values: power and cost. No icons are used.

"All right, sweethearts, you're a team and there's nothin' to worry about. We come here, and we gonna conquer, and we gonna kick some, is that understood? That's what we gonna do, sweethearts, we are going to go and get some. All right, people, on the ready line! Are ya lean?"

Aliens: This Time it's War can trace its parentage back to San Juan, Magic: The Gathering, Battle Line, BattleTech CCG, and Iliad.

Victory Conditions:

• The Colonial Marine player wins if she manages to "Nuke the entire site from orbit".
• The Colonial Marine player wins if she reaches and survives the Sulaco Loading Bay battle.
• The Alien player wins if Ripley and all the Colonial Marines are either killed or cocooned.

Components:

• Two decks of cards: 61-card Aliens deck, and a 62-card Marine deck.
• Five Battlefield cards: Reactor Chamber, APC Withdrawal, Ops Centre, Dropship Evac, and Sulaco Loading Bay.
• 15 beads, pennies or counters.
• One Airlock card.
• One "Nuke the entire site from orbit" card.
• One Ripley card.
• One Newt card.
• One Sgt. Apone card.
• One Cpl. Hicks card.
• One Pvt. Hudson card.
• One Lt. Gorman card.
• One Pvt. Vasquez card.
• One Pvt. Drake card.
• One Pvt. Frost card.
• One Cpl. Ferro card.
• One Pvt. Spunkmeyer card.
• One Cpl. Dietrich card.
• One Pvt. Crowe card.
• One Pvt. Wierzbowski card.
• One Bishop card.
• One Burke card.

(Other than being double-sided - with the flip-side featuring the manner of the Marine's unfortunate demise - each character card has a Survival Rating, indicating the likelihood of them surviving to the end of the game. For example, Frost and Dietrich have a low chance of survival, whereas Hicks has a high Survival Rating. Also, certain character's deaths have hugely detrimental effects on the game, such as having to discard a card, or in Cpl. Ferro's case: the Colonial Marines having to fight an extra two turns on the Dropship Evac Battlefield, while Bishop remote pilots down another UD-4L Cheyenne Utility Dropship to Hadley's Hope - unless Bishop is also dead, and then it really is "Game over, man. Game over").

Please note: This game is strictly for adults - with profanity on many of the cards.

Online Play

• You can play Aliens: This Time It's War on Battlegrounds Gaming Engine (aka BGE) virtual tabletop software. Click here for details.