When does the xenomorph attack?

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When does the xenomorph attack?
« on: December 28, 2013, 05:54:15 PM »
Since the 2.5 Attack move doesn't directly allow for a marine to be damaged as a result of failed roll (6-) how does, e.g. a xenomorph's Attack move work?  Do we take turns?

Related: if an enemy wants to Attack a whole bunch of marines in one go should I treat that like the "Solder vs. Group" rule under Force Parity? 

Sorry for the dumb questions - this is going to be my first time running an AW-hack game.

Re: When does the xenomorph attack?
« Reply #1 on: January 01, 2014, 09:56:16 PM »
When a xenomorph attacks, it's usually one of two things:
- They're in a position to do damage, so they roll damage (they have a marine pinned on the ground and they bite his face off).
- They're about to be in a position to do damage (leaping, rushing forward, popping out of a wall), so you say what the alien is doing then ask the marine what they do. This is usually (but not always) a "combat action" roll.

On 10+, they do it, taking fire as established, which means "established from the intersection of what the alien is doing and what the marine is doing." Sometimes this means rolling damage anyway, or reduced damage, but that's up to how brutal the situation is.

On a 7-9, I often do reduced damage or stress, or sometimes destroy gear. "It bites into your helmet instead of your face, tearing it into metal and kevlar shreds. What do you do?"


Enemy vs. group, yep, use the Parity rules. You can rule that a single drone counts as a fireteam or squad if you want to be really nasty. But for "hordes of aliens" games, treat each drone as a soldier.

No worries on the questions! I like rules questions.
Good luck on your first game. :)
« Last Edit: January 01, 2014, 10:01:16 PM by John Harper »