For an upcoming game, I want to pit some NSL soldiers against a bunch of Gray
aliens. You know the ones: big heads, big eyes, unfortunate penchant for
probing people? The ones that Speilberg's "Close Encounters" made popular.
I know that other people have used these guys in their games (Beth? I'm
looking at *you* here....), and I'm curious as to how you statted 'em up.
Here's what I'm going with thus far.... Quality: Regular at best, maybe green,
with Leadership of 1. All units are identical.
Movement: Fast. 10" / 2*1d10". Additionally, they can move across
water or up vertical surfaces without any reduction in speed.
Armor: d12. Force fields, or something like that.
Weapons: Probe: Firepower 2, Impact d8. Victims are paralyzed, not killed, but
for game purposes it's all the same.
Special Rules: The Grays are not suppressed by enemy fire *unless* one of more
members
of a squad is actually hit -- not necessarily injured, as even a
non-penetrating shot will count
here. Grays can only have a single Suppression marker at a time, and it
effects them differently than it does a human unit. A Suppressed Gray unit
*must* spend its first action to make a combat move away from the attacker(s)
and (if possible) into cover. Doing so removes the Suppression marker, and the
unit may now act normally on its second action.
Secondly, individual Gray units do not make confidence checks. Only the force
as a whole has any kind of Morale (it's a group mind kinda thing), and this
will require me to write up a little chart to indicate when rolls should be
made. Additionally, they don't have a command structure as such, so there's no
transferal of actions allowed.
Now, I need to come up with some Close Combat rules that reflect that, while
they are still
hard to kill, the Grays really suck at hand-to-hand combat. Maybe a d12
roll for CC, but if a Gray wins he inflicts no damage?
The scenario will be a simple one: the NSL will have 10 men defending a cruise
missile base against twice that number of Grays. The typical UFO EMscrambling
effect will have knocked out the automated defenses (and will be making
communication rolls a little more difficult), but the defenders should still
have enough of an advantage to hold the invaders off. What do you all think
about the odds? Increase the number of defenders? I'd prefer to have some more
attackers, but I've only got 20 Grays painted....
[quoted original message omitted]
On Mon, 7 Oct 2002 14:45:53 -0400 (EDT), "John Crimmins"
> <johncrim@voicenet.com> wrote:
> Now, I need to come up with some Close Combat rules that reflect that,
I'll have to read up on the rest of what you wrote before posting ideas.
However, Greys are bad at CC?
Slight spoiler for the movie _Signs_.
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You haven't seen the movie _Signs_ with Mel Gibson, have you...? I was
vaguely disappointed in the movie, myself (I expected something different) but
it does have an interesting take on Greys in CC. The greys have nasty claws.
More importantly, they have some sort of gas extruding from an orifice in the
inner wrist. This is a nasty gas that's very dangerous when inhaled, though
harmless if not inhaled.
On the other hand, one guy with a baseball bat can take one out almost single
handed, so maybe they aren't so good in CC after all...
On Mon, 7 Oct 2002 20:58:16 +0200, KH.Ranitzsch@t-online.de
(K.H.Ranitzsch) wrote:
> ----- Original Message -----
Well, I want them to be easily beaten in CC...but still be difficult to kill.
They're short,
skinny, and not very well-trained...but they have the force field to
keep them alive.
I have it! Grays roll 1d12 in CC, but if they win you divide the roll by three
to determine if their opponent is actually injured. If not, both opponents
continue fighting.
So, Gray rolls an 8 on 1d12. Human rolls a 6.
Gray wins, but 8/3 rounds up to 3...so the human is uninjured.
That way, if the human had rolled a 2, he *would* have been injured. Gives the
Grays a chance in CC, but not a very good one.
On Mon, 07 Oct 2002 14:25:12 -0500, Allan Goodall <agoodall@att.net>
wrote:
> On Mon, 7 Oct 2002 14:45:53 -0400 (EDT), "John Crimmins"
These guys, at least, yeah. I'm seeing these guys as being pretty much
overwhelmed in CC; they're not that used to violence of any sort, let alone
actually hitting someone.
> Slight spoiler for the movie _Signs_.
Eeek! Haven't seen it yet! Want to, though, and will as soon as the video
arrives.
My actual inspiration was twofold: the first is a book called
_Nighteyes_ ,by Judith
and Garfield Reeves-Stevens, which has a really interesting take on the
whole Alien
abduction thingie. _Nighteyes_ has the Grays as the distant descendants
of the human race, who have traveled back in time to harvest genetic material
in an attempt to perpetuate the race after millenia of war has resulted in a
severely depleted gene pool.
One of the nice touches was an exchange between a Gray and a modern human,
after the modern human asks whether there really is alien life out there.
"There *was*," the Gray says, and then goes on to explain that "We won."
The other is a half-remembered report of an alien encounter from a book
of "True UFO Stories" that I read when I was a kid: The Hopkinsville Goblins.
There's a brief account (and a picture!) on this page:
http://www.tangledforest.com/states1/kentuckyx.html
> On 7-Oct-02 at 15:29, Allan Goodall (agoodall@att.net) wrote:
Hey, you start the combat with a good whacked by a ballbat and see how
affective you are.:)
> Roger Books wrote:
The moral _I_ took away from that movie was, "always kill the alien when
you have it locked in a pantry".
On Mon, 7 Oct 2002 16:41:02 -0400 (EDT), Roger Books
<books@jumpspace.net> wrote:
> On 7-Oct-02 at 15:29, Allan Goodall (agoodall@att.net) wrote:
I'd like to think that I wouldn't just stand there and let the hairless ape
whack me with a solid looking piece of timber... *L*
On Mon, 7 Oct 2002 16:31:27 -0400 (EDT), "John Crimmins"
> <johncrim@voicenet.com> wrote:
> Eeek! Haven't seen it yet! Want to, though, and will as soon as the
It's worth renting. It's an interesting take on alien invasion, and I am a fan
of M. Night Shyamalan. (Everyone talks about _Sixth Sense_, but I
actually
prefer _Unbreakable_.)
However, I was disappointed with the film, for a number of reasons. The acting
was very good, and the atmosphere in the film was good. It just didn't go
where I hoped it would.
Spoiler Space, about the film's aliens
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I didn't think the aliens "worked", when you consider their key weakness was
"water". You'd think if water was that nasty to them, that the amount of water
vapour in the air would be at least an irritant, if not lethal. It's hard to
imagine an alien that could breathe in an oxygen rich atmosphere that didn't
evolve where water was important to their development. Obviously this is the
case, as water can hurt the aliens, but that doesn't make sense in light of
their oxygen ability. Or, if you can buy that, how come these critters don't
wear suits? You'd think they'd wear suits on Earth, or they'd be in a great
amount of pain the first time it rained...
I had other issues with the film, particularly the main sub plot. But I'll
leave it off list.
***
> >Now, I need to come up with some Close Combat rules that reflect
I'd like to think that I wouldn't just stand there and let the hairless ape
whack me with a solid looking piece of timber... *L*
***
I thought the ID4, laughable though that movie could be, scavengers, and
Predator hunters, made more sense, but you can always claim Earth was somehow
unusual, perhaps in population density, and the aliens were inflexible.
*shrug* It's not my damn planet, monkey boy...
The_Beast
G'day,
Well I've finally got the email thing sorted, apparently an Aussie server that
passes stuff from overseas to CSIRO had got thwacked. Thankfully I get
duplicates of most gzg posts anyway (another server idiosyncrasy) so I didn't
miss much;)
> I know that other people have used these guys in their games
Now I wonder why that could be?;P For what they're worth I've stuck my grey
rules on the bottom, they are fun, but seem a bit different to what you're
after.
> Here's what I'm going with thus far....
I'd probably stick with regulars.
> Movement: Fast. 10" / 2*1d10". Additionally, they can move
Sounds good, I gave them 12" but didn't have the other tweaks.
> Special Rules: The Grays are not suppressed by enemy fire
This could make them very tough, just keep an eye on whether they're getting
too much of a benefit out of this.
> Secondly, individual Gray units do not make confidence
OK no confidence checks isn't too much of a killer unless you use Allan's
morale houserules normally. The lack of transfer of actions may also balance
out the suppression mechanism change.
> Now, I need to come up with some Close Combat rules that
I'd say do CC as normal, but if the opponent is 'hurt' the worst possible
result is a stun result. That way the Greys could win the CC, but the humans
will be able to recover from it eventually... assuming they survive the
abduction;P
> The scenario will be a simple one: the NSL will have 10 men
Given the changes you've made the defenses the NSL are sitting behind would
want to be pretty good. I'd probably start with 10, but have a "reserve"
deeper into the complex which could appear as reinforcements should the aliens
prove to be getting too all too easy;)
Have fun
Beth
> RULES FOR GREYS <<<<<<<<<<<<
Run away pretty easily however they come back even faster. Thus they get a
-1 to their roll on confidence tests and a +1 to rally tests. They can
only
have high motivation missions under exceptional circumstances - like
you're about to take over their ship! However, they do not surrender to
humans.
They have a terror affect (vs humans) for close combat purposes.
The first time a human squad SEES them in a game they cause a confidence
test with the threat level of +1. In addition to this their leaders have
PSI powers (gadget based, like the alien equivalent of a radio operator, once
this equipment is lost the commander can't use these PSI powers anymore)
that allow them to try and influence weak-willed members of opposing
human squads. To do this they make a communication attempt with any human
squad within line of sight. If they succeed then they may do one of the
following: a) make the human squad take a confidence test as if they had been
forced to abandon wounded ("the bastards are going to leave us behind, the
bastards are going to leave us behind...") b) cause a panic test (as if seeing
them for the first time... "We've actually got fangs, are 10ft tall and
standing right behind you!") c) shift the die type up one type if the target
of any spotting attempts initiated by that human squad during its next
activation (this one is not announced at the time, but noted down, let them
sweat on it! "Nobody here but us chickens") d) cause a reaction test if the
target of any firing initiated by that human squad during its next activation
(this is another one that's not announced at the time, but noted down, now
they've got a choice of things to be worried about. "Target, what target?") e)
cause a "who's my buddy" test, performed in the same way as a reaction
test, but if they fail their target is actually the nearest/easiest
human target. If their are no human targets around pick a piece of scenery
(not one any greys are hiding in obviously). The human squad must fire at that
target during their next activation and may not fire at the greys at all.
("You're not my buddy, you're out to get us, you're one of them...")
They are fast with a basic move of 12" (Combat move of D12x2"). They can pop
out from cover and disappear again like lightning. They don't seem to have
light troops or anything in power armour - at least not yet...
They usually wear partial light armour, though no combat or heavier armour has
been reported.
They use the following weapons:
Small Arms Range Firepower Impact
Energy rod Close 2 D6
Power sphere Close 3 D8
Light ray-gun Close 3 D8
Heavy ray-gun 2 D8
Laser rifle 3 D10
Support Weapon Firepower Impact Plasma launcher D10 D12* Laser cannon D10
D10x2** *Impact value against dispersed targets of for MINOR hits on point
targets -
DOUBLE this for MAJOR hits on point targets. ** These are RARE!!!!!
When killed they emit a high pitched squeal (regardless of whether they died
under fire or while their medic was treating them), at this point if that
alien had been hidden its corpse is placed on the table. The rest of the
recently ex-alien's squad must make an immediate 6" concealed movement
(with
the usual test, if they fail then they're seen as normal) - this may
well be out of sequence and is in addition to their usual activation.
Their reactions are good and, while they're unwounded, if they do not move
before firing they get a +1 to their impact die roll in the wound
determination (step 3) phase of the infantry fire procedure.
They definitely see a lot better in the dark that we do, they get a D6 for
vision even without sensors. They also avoid fighting on clear days, though
its not completely unheard of.
Being small and sneaky they can find a corner and remain still for quite a
while. Thus, even when attacking up to half their force may be deployed as
hidden units. All greys may also use the snipers' concealed movement and going
into hiding rules (though rather than doing it for each figure you do it for
whole squads at a time and just mark the centre of the squad with a chits
rather than each figure).
They're willing to destroy their technology to prevent humans getting it, even
if this means going up with the ship. If a last stand test has previously been
past and the unit in question is defending an
artefact/ship/piece of their own technology and has been reduced to one
man
then a "pull the plug" test is made - on a 3+ (you've got to leave some
stuff for the conspiracy theorists to gesticulate about) the figure shoots the
power core and everything in a 12" (or more appropriate self destruct) radius
goes up. If they fail the test they must immediately begin using concealed
movement to exit the area.
Taking human prisoners as a past time for these guys and interrogation is just
so much run of the mill. Thus they get a die shift up one level during any
interrogations. If they are successful and the prisoner is an ordinary trooper
the interrogating player gets to choose three inverted counters on the
tabletop and then the owning player choses one of these to reveal. If
the prisoner is an officer/NCO then the interrogating player choses
which counter on the table will be revealed (as for standard human
interrogation). Prisoners are often released again, however they are a bit
vague as to what just happened and are effectively broken and exhausted (see
Rest and
Recovery rules in SGII) - and they keep talking about hard metal
surfaces and flashing lights...
The greys aircraft may use a "light" round - basically they shin very
bright light at the target. To do this place a fire marker and any human
within
3"
must take a panic test. The light is then removed.
> At 10:00 AM 10/9/02 +1100, you wrote:
> Special Rules: The Grays are not suppressed by enemy fire
That's my concern, yes. Forcing them to flee will slow them down nearly as
much as pinning them down will, but the inability to create multiple
supressions might outweigh that.
> The scenario will be a simple one: the NSL will have 10 men
Ah, the old "Reinforcements? Of course I planned on reinforcements; I, *ahem*,
knew that you guys were going to get slaughtered by the aliens!" trick. It's a
good one, innit?
Thanks for the input!
> RULES FOR GREYS <<<<<<<<<<<<
And thank you for these, as well. One other thing: whose figures do you use? I
picked up a bunch of Lance and Laser Greys, but I'm thinking of adding to my
collection at some point. Lord knows, they were easy enough to paint....
G'day,
> That's my concern, yes. Forcing them to flee will slow them
Not necessarily in my experience. Sometimes it can actually be a benefit
;)
> Ah, the old "Reinforcements? Of course I planned on
Yep;)
> And thank you for these, as well. One other thing: whose
Why the GZG ones of course!;)
They're under "Abduction aliens" at the gzg store
(http://www.gtns.net/gzg/)
If you want a look at mine go to
http://www.users.bigpond.com/derekfulton/Gallery/Gallery.htm
and hit the "Bugs & 'X-Fools'" link. The 2nd and 3rd from the bottom. I
have done some kitbashing on them, extra power spheres = beads (<1c each from
the local sewing store), extra power rods = bits of brass rod, powerguns =
either spare guns (from Nic at Eureka) or from a sprue of plastic GW weapons.
The easiest "modifications" ever actually as it really was glue on as needed
no chopping required.
Cheers