2002 - Aliens Miniature Battle - Year 4

In light of the release of "Prometheus" tomorrow (6/8/12) and its association with the Alien universe, I thought it fitting to share pictures from past Alien Miniature Battle events.  


First, the background.  Aliens Miniature Battle (AMB) was a custom rules set my friend Steve and I designed which was inspired by the Leading Edge ALIENS board game.  We liked the fast pace of the game and wanted to scale it up for use with the Leading Edge 25mm series of Aliens figures.   After numerous play tests and rewrites, we finalized a 6 page set of rules which cover everything from Alien movement and melee attacks to how many hits it takes to kill a Predator.  More about the Predator in a later blog...

The first AMB event titled "Return to Klondike IV" was held March 27, 1999 at the University of Rochester at SIMCON XXI.  The scenario briefing describes a "technical issue" at a gold mine located on an ice ball planet named Klondike IV.  When the facility failed to transmit an update, the Colonial Marines were sent to investigate.  As you might imagine, there were Aliens there, and lots of them.  At that point I owned 5 or 6 boxes of the Leading Edge Aliens miniatures and used all of them in the event.  Unfortunately this took place before I purchased by first digital camera (a Kodak DC4800) in mid 2001.


Fast forward to SIMCON XXIV - held March 23, 2002 at the University of Rochester in the Douglas Dining Hall (shown below).

This AMB scenario was titled, "More Unfinished Business On Klondike IV."  Colonial Marines were dispatched for the fourth time to determine the status of the Auric-DeBerg mine and to secure the facility.  It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what happened when they landed.  Fortunately a veteran command crew worked well as a team to overcome the many challenges encountered during the op.


"Operation Mole" was considered a success as the mine reopened shortly after the mission was completed.  Although the Colonial Marine detachment experienced a significant number of casualties (>50%), they were able to defeat the Queen and completely eliminate all traces of the exomorph infestation as outlined in the after action report.  Here are several images uploaded to the flight recorder on the dropship carrier orbiting Klondike IV - note time stamps in lower right corner of frames.

     Figure 1.  View of the mining facility from landing pad.  The APC is awaiting clearance  to enter the facility.
 

     Figure 2.  After entering the mine, several Colonial Marine squads encounter Aliens and place sentry guns for additional security.

     Figure 3.  Minor casualties were sustained after the initial firefight; note the decapitated Alien skulls.  The synthetic Bishop (face down on the cave floor) was repaired with minimal loss of functionality.  This proved extremely fortunate later in the mission.

     Figure 4.  Use of Colonial Marine incinerators proved extremely effective in preventing Alien melee attacks and elimination of exomorphs without acid splash.

     Figure 5.  Upon reaching the end of the mine, the Colonial Marines found the hive next and engaged the Queen.  Note unlucky soldier grabbed in mid-air captured by the Queen.  His next of kin were notified upon the successful completion of the mission.

     Figure 6.  High level view of the battle with the Queen shortly before she changed direction and stampeded toward the mine entrance, causing substantial casualties.

     Figure 7. Leaving the power loader heavily damaged and several bodies in her path, the Bishop synthetic sacrifices himself in a last-ditch melee attack against the Queen (note miniature under Queen's carapace) to prevent further loss of life.

    Figure 8.  Final footage recorded by surveillance camera at mine entrance.  The Queen was terminated shortly afterward thanks to the valiant efforts of the Bishop synthetic.
 
If you'd like to see more AMB pictures from other conventions, let me know and I'll dig deeper into the vault...