I've already talked about my fascination for Aliens and the subsequent tie-in board game published in 1998 by Leading Edge Games.
Well, color me delighted when Gale Force Nine, the same bunch who gave us Spartacus, Firefly and Star Trek Ascendancy, released their own take on the IP back in 2020. An Aliens game featuring modern production values and over thirty years of design evolution? It wasn't a matter of if I would buy it, but how quickly I could get my mitts on it!
Sadly, the game has since come to symbolize a cautionary tale about the dangers of impulse buying. It's taught me to wait until the fervor dies down before I blindly pounce all over something like an Alien drone on a Colonial Marine.
Don't worry...I'll get to that. On to the task of autopsy...
So, what's the pitch for this version? Well, here's the corporate briefing straight from the weird-collared suits at Gale Force Nine:
Aliens: Another Glorious Day in the Corps is a co‑operative survival board game in which you and your team of specialist Colonial Marines will gear up with serious firepower and head into Hadley's Hope to find survivors and answers. But you're not alone. To survive, you'll need to work together, keep your cool, and stay frosty to fight off relentless Xenomorph ambushes and get out of there alive.
Players can play up to six different missions, taking them into different areas from the Hadley’s Hope terraforming facility to the deep, dark recesses of an xenomorph nest. Aliens also offers an exciting campaign mode to play four of the missions linked together, so players will need to fight relentless xenomorph attacks and keep each other alive all the way to the end of the campaign. The remaining two missions are purely about survival, it’s kill or be killed. The players are dropped into the game with nothing more than a pistol. They will need to scavenge weapons and gear while hordes of Xenomorph aliens are trying to get at them.
How long can you survive against the odds?
Looking to perform DCS and tactical database and assimilation by 0830? Well, good luck, 'cuz it looks like GF9 aren't supporting this one anymore.
The good news is, Peter (a.k.a. Universal Head), has a wonderful summary of the 2023 rules which is indispensable for trying to figure out how to play this thing. You can find those files right here.
MISSION ONE PLAY THROUGH
THE HEROES
THE GRUNTS
MARINE PHASE - TURN ONE
Hicks passes the Activation Token to Hudson to start the round. Since he has no cards in hand to fuel his On Activation ability, William just double-moves to the computer terminal in the northwest section of the base. He then Reveals a card for his End of Activation ability...an unfortunate Hazard called "Losing Hope", which is immediately put into play! This freak out is early...even for Hudson!
As a Rank One Private, Hudson can only activate one Grunt, so Frost scampers over to the door to the northeast section of the map and attempts to Barricade it. He rolls a "2"...a success! The door is sealed...at least for now!
The turn then passes to Ripley. She has no Endurance Cards to Recycle but the second part of her On Activation ability triggers and she draws a card: "We're In the Pipe...". She double moves to the northeast door in the southwest section of the map and it opens automatically. The Blip there is revealed as a "0"! Whew!
Since our gurl Ellen has no military authority, she can't order any Grunts around. So she passes the turn to Hicks.
The Corporal uses his On Activation ability to draw a card: "Somebody Wake Up Hicks." How appropriate! He then double moves to the northwest door in the southwest section of the map and it opens automatically. The Blip beyond is revealed as two Aliens!
He then uses his authoritah to activate two Grunts, starting with Vasquez. She double moves eight spaces, intent on Spawn Point One. Then Gorman double moves, keen on sealing off Spawn Point Two.
(NOTE: even though Gorman technically outranks Hicks, the rules state that "the player with the highest rank now activates any remaining Grunts that haven’t yet been activated this Marine Phase.")
ALIEN PHASE - TURN ONE
The two Aliens revealed by Hicks charge at him. He Exhausts a card to perform Defensive Fire on his assailant, rolling a "4"...success! His Aim dial goes down to "6." Using he weapon's Full Auto feature, he spends a second card to fire again, rolling a "1" (two cards in Exhaust). Another hit! Both threats are neutralized and Step One ends.
A "3" is rolled for Blip movement so they start heading towards Frost.
(NOTE: Motion Tracker Cards aren't drawn until Turn 3 in this scenario.)
MARINE PHASE - TURN TWO
Everybody resets their aim dial, namely Hicks.
Hicks prompts Hudson to Activate First. He can't use his On Activation ability because he still doesn't have any cards. Then the horrendous "Losing Hope" triggers, which prompts a card Reveal. The resulting Event Card draw ("Do It Fast!") results in four (!) cards being Exhausted (now six cards in Exhaust) and this random pull is placed under the Reshuffle Card! He then Interacts with the Computer, rolling a successful "2" which lets him peek at the Mission Blip in the lower right hand corner of the southwest section of the map. Newt is found! He then scrambles down to the exit leading to the main corridor, opening the door. Finally his End of Activation effect triggers and he Reveals a card: "Go to Sleep and Don't Dream", which he holds onto.
Frost then hustles down to the door leading to the southeast section of the map and tries to Barricade it as his second action. The resulting "3" is a Success and that portal is also temporarily blocked!
Ripley uses her On Activation ability to Recycle two cards and draw one (a Pulse Rifle), leaving four cards in Exhaust. She then moves five spaces towards the NewtBlip but pauses to use her second Action to Barricade Spawn Point Three. A roll of "1" does the trick!
No military authority? No Grunt activation...on to Dwayne!
Hicks decides to block the northeast path in an effort to corral Newt if she bolts. He then takes a Rest Action, drawing two cards which turn out to be a pair of M40 Grenades! He then Recycles three Cards from the Exhausted pile below the Endurance Deck (one card in Exhaust).
Hicks gets Vasquez to move adjacent to Spawn Point One and Barricade it. She rolls a "1", sealing it up tight as a button! #dreamteam
Can Lieutenant Gorman follow suit? Not with a "10" and a "7" he can! Lemme guess, he barricaded thirty-eight doors during training...all simulated. What an asshole!
ALIEN PHASE - TURN TWO
No Aliens to Activate, on to the Blips! A "3" is rolled and they keep moving toward the exit that leads into the main hallway.
Last turn without drawing a Motion Tracker card! It's about to get real, y'all!
MARINE PHASE - TURN THREE
Aim dials would be reset here, but not applicable this time out.
Hicks passes the initiative on to Ripley. She triggers her On Activation ability by Recycling the remaining card and drawing a Pistol (zero Exhausted cards). She then moves four spaces, reveals Newt and rolls a "3" on the Marine Die for her Interact Action...success!!! Newt joins the team as a Hero!
It doesn't specify when Newt joins the turn order, so I'm just gonna assume it's right after Ripley. Soooo, she double moves out into the main hall.
Hicks is up next. On Activation he draws an Endurance Card and gets a Med Scanner. He then moves eight spaces towards the Exit.
Vasquez moves eight spaces towards the Exit.
Frost is then Activated. He shifts four spaces to the center of the board to try and form up the squad and then takes an Aim Action, going up to a six.
Hudson then Activates. He draws a Pistol because of "Losing Hope", which results in two Endurance Deck discards and then it's shuffled back into the Exhaust Pile! (one Exhausted card)
His On Activation ability is ignored. He then moves four spaces towards Newt and takes an Aim action, putting his dial up to seven. End of Activation: "Stop Your Grinnin'" is added to his hand!
Gorman tries to Barricade again, rolling a "6" and an "8." I swear, this clown is gonna be the death of us all! He then uses a free action to use the Motion Tracker, which Reveals a random "Okay, What Do I Do?". This lets him put the Spawn Point Two card at the bottom of the deck and the Spawn Point One Card back on the top! At last, something productive!
With all Activations complete, it's on to...
ALIEN PHASE - TURN THREE
There are no Aliens to activate, so we're on to Blip movement. A "5" is rolled, so one Blip moves three spaces next to the door and it tries to smash through the barrier. According to the revised rules they need to roll 5+ to do this, but they fail with a "3", ending that Blip's turn. The second Blip moves four spaces next to the door and gets a "2." Again, it holds!
Next up, Motion Tracker cards are drawn! As per the 2023 rules revision, three cards are drawn with two or three players.
"Alien Drones" is the first pull. Instead of destroying a Barricade, the Marines choose to add a second Blip. Here's how Blips at a Barricaded Spawn Point are handled:
"Roll the Alien die. On a 5+, remove the Barricade marker and place the Blip. Otherwise, discard the Blip token. If more than one Blip enters play at the same point, roll for each in turn until they remove the Barricade marker or all Blip tokens are discarded."
The first roll of "3" causes the Blip to be discarded. The second roll is a "6"...it's destroyed! Three Aliens enter the map!
Another "Alien Drones" comes up, but this one is for Spawn Point Two! Again, they opt not to destroy a Barricade and add a new Blip to Spawn Point One...unfortunately its another four Aliens! Ruh, roh! The Blip for Spawn Point Two is mercifully only two Aliens!
Finally the third card is a "False Alarm" and a single Exhausted card is Recycled (zero cards in Exhaust).
MARINE PHASE - TURN FOUR
Dials are all reset.
Hicks gives Newt the initiative so she scrambles ten spaces towards the exit! She then uses her End Activation Ability, Exhausts two cards (two cards in Exhaust) and moves Hudson two spaces towards her!
Hicks draws a Pistol On Activation. After Un-equipping his Shotgun and Equipping Grenades, he then Attacks the lead Alien group with his Pulse Rifle, Exhausting one Card to do so (three cards in Exhaust). His first roll is a "9"...a miss! That's when he uses his Passive ability to Exhaust a card from hand (the Pistol - four cards in Exhaust) to re-roll! The subsequent "4" hits, so he dials down to Aim 6 and the weapon's Full Auto attribute kicks in! Another Exhausted Card (five Exhausted cards), another roll..."10"...another miss! (NOTE: Hicks's ability can only be done "once per Turn", which is considered to be a full Marine and Alien Phase!)
His second attack begins and he fires a Grenade, targeting the space right in front of the two Aliens closest to him. A "3" and a "6" are rolled...both hits!!!
For his two commands, Hicks orders Vasquez to pivot and let loose with her Smart Gun. Thankfully she has a perfectly clear fire line between Hudson and Hicks right to the cluster of four Aliens. Two cards are exhausted (now seven Exhaust) and she rolls two dice...getting double "3's", which is a hit! She dials down to Aim Five and fires again (nine cards in Exhaust), scoring a "9" and another "3." She drops another one!
Gorman fires at the Alien standing right next to him, rolling a "6"...a miss! Since he's using a Pistol he can Exhaust a Card and try again (ten cards in Exhaust), this time rolling a "9." Nope! He's down to a "2" for Aim! He spends his second action Attacking and gets a "3"...which works for a Pistol (they always hit on a "3" or less). He Exhausts yet another card (eleven cards in Exhaust) and fires at the second Alien and rolls a "7." Another miss!
Now it's Hudson's turn! He opts not to perform his "On Activation" ability (still eleven cards in Exhaust). He then plays his "Go To Sleep And Don't Dream" Event Card, which is added to the Exhausted pile when resolved (twelve Exhausted cards). Six Exhausted cards are Recycled (six cards in Exhaust) and so is one Discarded card.
NOTE: As for that last perk, I think the card that's Recycled is whatever happens to be on top of the pile, I.E. you can't rummage through the Discards and cherry pick whatever you want.
I also can't find anything in the rules which prevents the play of multiple Events, so he tables "Stop Your Grinnin'" for free (seven cards in Exhaust) and draws a random "Last Stand" Event which lets him look at the top five Motion Tracker Cards. He top decks three of the cards and buries two more.
He takes his first action to fire at the remaining Alien behind Spawn Point One, Exhausting a card (eight cards in Exhaust) and rolling a "6"...a hit! Cranks another card (nine cards in Exhaust) for Full Auto and rolls "10", which misses. Crap!
Hudson activates Frost, who tries to flame-broil the remaining Alien. Sadly he has to waste an Action and move up one space so he doesn't torch stupid Gorman! He Exhausts two Cards (eleven cards in Exhaust) and rolls an "8"...a miss! He then Reveals a random Card (an Event called "Resolve") which allows a card to be Recycled (ten cards in Exhaust)!
On Activation, Ripley recycles two Endurance Cards and then draws a "Hadley's Hope Map" (eight cards in Exhaust). She plays "In the Pipe, Five by Five" into the Exhaust Pile (nine cards in Exhaust) and draws "Grenades." She roots through the Exhaust pile and recovers a Pulse Rifle (eight card in Exhaust). Ripley moves ten spaces...staring down the closest Alien!
With everyone accounted for, it's time for the...
ALIEN PHASE - TURN FOUR
The Alien close to Ripley charges at her. Defensive fire occurs! She exhausts a card (nine cards in Exhaust) rolls a "6" and kills the thing! Apparently Hicks's thirty seconds of weapon training paid off!
Next the one hovering over Gorman tries to eat him. He performs Defensive Fire, but "7" is a miss. He Exhausts another card (now ten Exhausted cards) and gets another "7". This guy is as useless as a screen door on a drop ship!
Now it's all up to Frosty! He exhausts two cards (twelve Exhausted) and attacks with his Flamethrower, rolling a "4"...a hit!!! The board is currently Alien-free!
Next a Blip tries to smash through the door, rolling a "1"...failure! Blip Two gets a "3"...no dice!
The Motion Tracker Decks reveals a "False Alarm", then an "Alien Lurker" gets placed on Spawn Point Four and - since it's out of LOS - it moves four spaces! Finally an "Alien Assault" occurs on Spawn Point One...so two Xenomorphs enter the map!
MARINE PHASE - TURN FIVE
Dials are all reset.
Newt double moves out the Exit!
On Activation, Hicks draws an Endurance Card, a Smart Gun. He Exhausts one card to Equip Grenades (thirteen cards in Exhaust). He moves three spaces back, reshuffles the Endurance Deck, Exhausts a card (fourteen cards in Exhaust) then takes a pot shot at the Aliens on Spawn point One. He rolls a "4" and hits! He then Exhausts another card for Full Auto (fifteen cards in Exhaust) and shoots again. He rolls a "5"... another hit! The map is clear again!
Frost moves off the map and and Vasquez moves eight spaces.
Hudson ignores his On Activation ability and moves eight spaces towards the exit.
Gorman uses his Motion Tracker and the useless twit pulls "Game Over Man!". Mercifully the very first Revealed card is a Flame Thrower, so this and the Hazard are Discarded. The useless tool then runs off the board.
Ripley double moves towards the exit!
Since the win condition is Newt and at least two Marines survive, it's a Win, so I'm gonna end it there.
***
REVIEW
PROS
- Sadly, the game's biggest draw is purely its cosmetic value. The boards, tokens and especially the models are all top shelf. I also appreciate screen grabs from the film for illustrations, but why is the image resolution so murky and low-fi?
- I genuinely enjoy the squad based tactics. Unless you secure the map by Barricading Doors and Spawn Points, you're in for some real chop.
- The character abilities are thematically on point. Hicks is a great fighter (normally), Hudson is tech-y and has a built-in Motion Tracker, Ripley is protective, resourceful and keeps a level head via the Endurance Deck, Newt is elusive and she inspires characters to protect her, Vasquez and Frost specialize in their particular weapons and Gorman is a waste of space. Just kidding! (not kidding)
- I love the Blip system, even if it was stolen outright from Space Hulk.
- The Alien A.I. is pretty straightforward.
- The concept of the Marines experiencing resource attrition is a great idea...pity the design element used to realize this theme is incredibly clunky. Speaking of...
- Oh...my...GAWD, I hate, hate, HATE this Endurance Deck mechanic sooo much. After a comparatively-elegant "action point" system was used to great effect in the O.G. Aliens game from 1989, adding the Endurance Deck is like putting an M4 Helmet on top of an M4 Helmet. It's cumbersome, confusing and I doubt if anyone has ever played a game where the card flow didn't get hopelessly cocked up. Reveal, Exhaust, Recycle, Discard, Play, Resolve...there are cards going everywhere! Just look at all of the needless book-keeping the Endurance Deck caused during my play-through! And to think that all of it could have been avoided if they'd just taken the Leading Edge rules and then just spruced them up a bit. What a wasted opportunity!
- The instruction book included in the original 2020 release is so notoriously vague it spawned nearly five-hundred pages of rules questions on Board Game Geek. It got so bad that Gale Force Nine essentially re-issued the game in 2023 with a revamped rmanual. Even armed with that, the ground-up design is so frustratingly un-intuitive that you'll find yourself constantly looking stuff up over and over again. Towards the end of my play-through I was silently praying for no more Aliens or Blips to appear - not because of tension - but because I didn't want to wade through the inherent annoying complications. By the end of it, I just wanted it to be over.
- The graphic design on the box cover and the cards / character mats have only the bare minimum of aesthetic value. Very intro level Photoshop.
- For the longest time, we gamers were incredibly spoiled, blessed with board games that came with fully assembled minis. Hell, sometimes they came assembled and painted! But no, somehow those Games Workshop weirdos - with their seemingly limitless fountain of free time - managed to convince the industry that everyone wanted to put a fucking board game together before we can even play it. Despite the fact that I knew damned well that "some assembly was required" going into it, my heart absolutely sunk when I opened the box and saw all of that hard plastic on sprues. If I'm cast down into the pits of Hell in the afterlife, the punishment during my eternal damnation will be to assemble this shit over and over again.
Sadly, Aliens: Another Glorious Day in the Corp is an unwieldy and needlessly top-heavy disappointment. I'd love to get rid of it, but a part of me wants to keep the tiles and models to use with the old Leading Edge game. If I do that, however, I'd probably feel obliged to pick up the three (!) expansions required to get the other characters, as well as the queen and the power loader. If the game was good I'd have no qualms about doing that but, as it is, I'd just as soon ditch it.
The game scores three pips outta six with a tilt down into that Alien egg farm.
(NOTE: this rating is based on the 2020 game right out of the box. I'd rate the game a "3" - no tilt - with the 2023 rule set.)
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