"Mobile Infantry Tactics" Topic

Most of us have probably read Starship Troopers, but have we gamed the book?

I'm thinking about doing that (or at least gaming forces similar to the mobile infantry). But my one issue is in thinking up the proper way to represent the tactics of the MI. The book describes their weapons and armor pretty well, and has some things to say about their tactics, but the main thing seems to be that they tend to advance in bounds while firing extremely heavy weapons all around them, keeping each other safe by being spread out in half mile increments.

But how feasible are these tactics, really? Those half mile increments give enemies a lot of space to hide and sneak by you. For raids like at the beginning that's fine but I'm not sure I'd want that for most situations… Any thoughts from SST gamers or war vets?

The Original AH game does give a good feel. Part of the issue is scale. MI are 2-3 MILES apart most of the time

The raid described in the book was against fixed structures in a civilian area and not against enemy combatants, so in a way it's like bombers using smart bombs.

Yup, as I said, half mile or more is pretty logical for a raid like that, where it's all about shock and awe, getting a wide area messed up, and keeping them from responding to you by spreading out and constantly moving. Even then you have the issue that if someone is hit then it takes awhile to help them which could result in preventable casualties, as seen in the book, but that seems a reasonable book.

Tactics aren't as detailed in later engagements but it seems that they're stil very spread out… Dutch and johnnie are said to cover a square mile by themselves in the first battle of the war. But it seems that may be a unique situation because it was johnnies first drop. But combat doesn't seem particularly long ranged in that operation; johnnie and Dutch seem to be within fairly modern spacing of each other, in fact.

I get a feeling during the first battle (of Klendathu?) the Terran Federation didn't have a good idea of bug tactics, which was why they lost. Johnnie had to be within eyeball distance of Dutch because he was an "understudy".

During the battle to capture the brain bug they had a better idea and deployed to cover known bug holes and monitor new tunnels.

They were still spread wide apart, probably because they were still short of boots (or suits) and because each infantryman could cover a lot of area and take a lot of punishment.

There is a limit to how much firepower an individual trooper can carry. How many micronukes was Rico carrying in that drop on the skinnies? 2?

I've always considered the book MI very hard to game (and my stepdad has a copy of the Avalon Hill game). They're generally far enough apart that they can't easily support each other, it seems. My impression was that Cap Troopers deployed outside weapons range of each other, to minimize the risk of fratricide.

Also recall that pick up is for a limited window.
Miss the boat and get left. Either until they can get another boat down or for good.

I have the 1970s AH game and it's great.
I also liked the 90s film version game for what it did.
SST from Mongoose was also very good.

I'm thinking of adapting my GZG 15mm power armor to fight some 15mm bugs using FoW rules. I'll have to make up some special rules and OOBs but I think it's doable with Ambush, Delayed Reserves and so forth. Also thinking the bugs should have unique bug hole/hive objectives that can be destroyed.

I've been thinking about something like this also.

The 15mm, Blue Moon Orion troopers seem to fit the bill for me, at least stylistically, since they've got what appear to be rocket nozzles on their backpacks, and heavy armored suits.

If I recall correctly, the bounce troopers in the novel have Y-racks with mini-nukes too, so may have to overlook that, or do a bit more searching for figs, or some conversions.

The new UNSC Hardsuits, with their anti-grav packs would be another option too, but they are a bit lighter in the armored suit arena, and don't have the Y-racks either. More high tech, but the rocket troops might be more exciting to play, since they only have limited fuel for so many jumps, whereas the grav troopers might be less restricted (of course, I guess they could be limited as well too, if desired).

15mm.co.uk also has some heavy troopers, even with the rocket nozzle exhaust sculpted on to them, so would be another option as well.

Obviously, table scale would need to be compressed considerably, even in 15mm scale, to make it work.

Then, I need to decide on various opponents too, e.g.: just bugs; lower tech planetary defense forces; higher tech opponents; etc.

Also, need a plausible scenario, or three, e.g. recon in force, and then attack; take out a strategic base; search for a powerful warlord, and/or fugitive (or band of fugitives); nuke the local city; etc.

This is a bit more difficult than it might seem at first blush, since many of the above can probably be accomplished better, and more safely, using other forces.

Perhaps the retrieval of an important prisoner, scientist, or technical research data as well, which precludes the much easier option of "nuking it from orbit, just to be sure".

The bounce infantry always seem to get the dirtiest jobs…..

There is a Dirtside variant for the SST Book. I have been slowly building up 6mm forces for fighting ala the Cartoon series. Personally, I liked it better than the movie or the book. I think 6mm is a great fit for it too.

Thanks,

John

One of the things on my "some day" list is to recreate the old Avalon Hill game in miniature. It did a great job of portraying the different MI and Bug tactics.

Yes, the old AH Game is very good … it certainly captures the "feel" as already mentioned … And is accurate to the book …

This is another project I've been thinking about for awhile. I much prefer the book to any later interpretations of the material, which lost a lot of what made Starship Troopers interesting in the first place. Here's my very rough take on the type of fighting presented:

1. I view the Mobile Infantry tactics as being something of a cross between infantry and helicopter gunships. Remember that when Heinlein was writing the book 'air cavalry' operations were being explored and must have seemed very futuristic. The two-mean teams of the MI don't operate only like an infantry fireteam, but also like a helicopter and his wingman to a certain extent; those MI suits can 'jump' huge distances. Using that as a model puts some of the tactics in perspective.
2. The average MI has an incredible amount of firepower with their micro-nukes. I agree that spacing out to avoid friendly fire is a big reason for half-mile spacing.
3. The sensor suites of the MI are implied to very advanced; they provide vision magnification, night vision, infrared, radar and enhanced hearing. Half a mile might not be all that much room to hide in from the MI.

More thoughts later, but that's my justification for the very wide spacing for the typical MI deployment.

-Will

The other thing the book doesn't go into any detail about was who the MI were used to fighting? The bugs are a new enemy, IIRC. is the Federation one amongst many, or are the bugs and Skinnies it? Do the MI spend most of their time putting down insurrections on colony worlds? Are there other human nations the Federation doesn't get on with?

I agree, the book is a lot better than the movies.

I was disappointed when I saw the masses of MI troopers fighting it out on the planet, without much in the way of tactics.

Of course, the hordes of bugs was rather fun though.

Seems to me an early version of Iron Man would have been a bit closer to what Heinlein was going for, assuming he could carry some micro-nukes.

I like the concepts in the book. But lets be honest. There was precious little combat action in the book and what there was was minimally explained. The movie did have the really cool Arachnids. This is why I prefer the cartoon series to both the book and the movie.

Thanks,

John

What little combat there was in the book was far more interesting than the entire movie, and I want my bugs to have guns. Never watched the cartoon, no interest in it. Sorry. But I know we've argued this before. ;)

-Will

There's a set of rules, with cardboard counters, that covers the type of movement at least, for the drop troopers.

Can't recall what it is called, but it was released quite some time back, when 25mm minis were popular, as well as boardgames.

There are several types of aliens in the rules, along with the Mobile, or Bounce Infantry.

It's been mentioned here on TMP, which is how I found out about it, and got a used copy.

I imagine someone else may know the name.

Never played it, but will have to give it a go, sometime.

To properly game the book, what rules should I use for the long discussions on political theory and history…?

I quite enjoy games of armored jump-troopers vs. hoardes of bugs, but 'book accurate' combat, as mentioned above, might be a little dull from a tactical stand-point. Besides, the MI will eventually figure out that nuking it from orbit is the only way to be sure… Zulus vs. nukes…

Also, it always seemed to me that the MI were generally used to bully non-compliant populations into accepting Federation doctrines, most often against opposition with much lower tech wargear/systems… we never hear about engagements vs. enemy MI, which would be a whole different ball-game. Not many stand up fights… just 'diplomatic actions' and bug-hunts…

I'm not sure the bugs were lower tech; they had beams that could fry a MI in his suit after all. Their doctrines were very different from the MI though.

It's not clear who else the Federation is worried about or if anyone does field a force equivalent to the Federation's MI. I'm also pretty sure the MI did try to nuke the bugs from orbit and the bugs just waited for the nukes to stop falling and crawled back out and got back to business….

-Will

Starguard, by Reviresco.

Apparently available in its 6th edition now, for $10 USD as a PDF, and $20 USD as a hardcopy.

Not sure what the difference is, from the others, so would appreciate more info on that, comparing them to older variants of the rules.

They also have lots of different, old skool-type, 25mm figures to use with the rules.

Finally, there's a supplement, called Orilla, but didn't see it listed on their website. It has more races, and other rules, but don't know if its still available.

I got the above info from the Boardgamegeek site.

Battlesuit may be worth a look.

link

That's exactly why the book offers MUCH more scope in various ideas folks create than what it did in actual print. Say what you want. The movie created a pretty impressive Arachnid army. Yeah, it was a bio army. However, that made a lot more sense to me than bugs armed with weapons ala the book. Now take those same awesome bugs and replace the troops from the movie with combat walkers power armored infantry and more and bingo! You've got the best of all of it.

Or let me put this another way. How many miniature games have any of us ever seen or played in reflecting combat from the book? Precious few……?

Oh, do yourself a favor if you get the chance. Check out the cartoon series. I think you might be pleasantly surprised.

Thanks,

John

Onthe miniatures front I always thought the 15mm Power armour from TTG was pretty much right for SST. Nowadays the Corsair Battledress minis from Khurasan have to be the front runners, and the "Intruders" may well do for Skinnies

However, that made a lot more sense to me than bugs armed with weapons ala the book. Now take those same awesome bugs and replace the troops from the movie with combat walkers power armored infantry and more and bingo! You've got the best of all of it.

1. Why don't bugs with guns make sense? The Arachnids were an intelligent star-faring technological civilization, at least in the book. I know the movies made them basically dumb animals, but that's not what we're trying to simulate, thankfully.
2. I don't want 'and more'. I just want Mobile Infantry as they were portrayed in the book. ;)

That said, it's clear from the book that MI are only one branch of the military; there's the Neo-Dogs and Special Talents and the Heavy Brigade and so on. I'm not opposed to the idea of non-MI forces, but the MI forces should be done right and then incorporate those other forces.

Nowadays the Corsair Battledress minis from Khurasan have to be the front runners, and the "Intruders" may well do for Skinnies

Yep, if I was going to do this in 15mm the Corsair suits from Khurusan would be my choice. I'm considering doing this in 6mm and using the power armor from Brigade Models though.

Battlesuit may be worth a look.

Yep, a couple of other old board games can also serve as inspiration for rules and scenarios:
link

Olympica pits a UN taskforce against the 'Webbies'. The UN forces as basically mobile infantry with some heavy support, while the Webbies are a cult that's well dug in and just needs to hold the UN force off for long enough for the telepathic alien artifact they worship to get turned on. The cover art of the second edition in particular screams 'Mobile Infantry'.

link

Outpost Gamma has a squad of 10 power-armor troopers trying to protect a mining colony from hundreds of native warriors. The battlesuits are much more powerful than the locals, but the natives some odd technology to help even the odds and the local weather conditions are on their side. Definitely a different sort of Mobile Infantry scenario.

-Will

I was browsing the other day (looking for Zvezda tank availability as it happens) when I noticed Model Hobbies had some of the 1:180 scale Viking ship re-issues on their listings … so I ordered a couple.

I'm always a little edgy when I make a first order from a supplier I've not bought from previously (will it work, will it take ages? etc.) so am very pleased the models have turned up undamaged and in double quick time (ordered on the 8th, delivered on the 11th with no special service specified!)

… so I will definitely use them again.

By the way … the ship is the one I have used for DBA camps and for part of Richard's fleet at Arsuf ..

A modified version here …

(from Ancients on the Move/Anglo Saxons ..)

Phil

QUICK CAVEAT as I was editing my post somehow imposed onto someone else's post (Phil's above) I don't know what to make of that so I am reposting sorry if it comes up double. The above post with the viking ships is not mine even though it has my name on it.

I did a fair amount of miniatures SST by the book over ten years ago. For forces I simply used the 6mm Epic 40k space marines based on small washers. I painted up enough for one full platoon w attachments per the AH SST game roster and I did use that roster. For bugs I simply bought the small plastic ants you get at party stores and a bag of larger spiders which would serve as tank bugs. I even put a small white dot under a percentage of the ants to represent worker bugs, which, in the book are indistinguishable from warrior bugs and serve a critical role in distraction and dispersal of human fire.

I think I was using something like 1"= a half km or some such thing.

The game was essentially an asymmetrical conflict between the bugs and the humans. The warrior bugs could fire but at a limited range (under 1km) as their main thing is close combat and the bug tank platforms are the main direct fire weapons. The Bug player developed a full underground network plotted on a paper map. They can create new tunnels and create demolition opening, nuke mines and other nastiness under the ground completely hidden from the human player unless he plants sensors w engineers or uses the special talents humans.

The human focuses a certain amount on his own resource management of men and materials on the table, as the MI carry limited loads of special weapons and the platoons small arms (esp. being spread out) no matter how powerful ultimately can not destroy massed formations of bugs by themselves

SO the Humans drop, scatter is taken into account, and then the sections shake out into their formations and move out on their mission, be it heading to a city, or finding the bug tunnel complex. Dispersal is important because of those nuke demo charges that erupt suddenly out of the ground often followed by swarms of bugs. SO essentially you rarely see any bug activity until it's too late.

Fire combat and hand to hand were resolved w D6s nothing too fancy.

Once casualties occur then there is the issue of getting them evaced since the MI doesn't leave anyone behind.

Going into tunnels could be done at a smaller scale based on the scenario.

Anyway it was all good fun. I'll see if I can dig the rules up.

If I was to redo the rules I would add the variation in bug forces from the movie or the TV series especially the hoppers and the plasma bugs.

I always wanted to d a more planetary invasion command exercise of SST at something like GZG con, perhaps using something like Dirtside for battle resolution….

Los

Los, Thanks for the description, very inspirational! I'd like to see the rules.

-Will

Why don't bugs with guns make sense? Well, it is scifi so anything is possible. However, it would take a pretty fair amount of intelligence to use an advanced firing weapon in combat. It makes a lot more sense that bugs would have a Hive mind and basically operate as bugs do here using some bio-weapons. No advanced thinking. Just basic functions. The movie definitely is an improvement on the book if only in that regard.

Thanks,

John

Its going to take a lot more intelligence to get a space ship working. Its really just not plausible for a species without either conventional tech or extremely advanced biotech (which could and should include gun-equivalents) to be much of an interstellar force.

But really the whole thing is irrelevant… what I'm most interested in is the MI, and their portrayal in the book is far more interesting than in the movie. Its not that the movie is bad or 'wrong' or something, its that they're basically the same as half of all the other SF forces… the MI are much more unique in their tactics and equipment.

As for models… Corsair looks really cool but to me its too big. MI have always in my mind looked like metal gorillas… not elephants. Most illustrations show them as roughly equivalent to the guys from Outpost Omega (I vaguely recall playing that way back when) and thats how they look in my mind.

Tactics… I want to use 5150 as THW tend to work well for "comparative" tactics as they take things rather literally.. not a lot of abstraction when it comes to the way the action flows. Now everything should work fine but their extremely large spread.

As I said earlier, I see the benefits of this (and with good comms/positional displays/whatever there are less of the traditional drawbacks of a larger spread) but the fundamental problem of just having a lot of space to cover and a significant amount of time before back up can save you is hard to deal with.

If really good sensors are the solution… how do you game it? Do MI have LOS to everything within a few km even if they're in cover? Its possible but doesn't seem that likely given the action described in the book. They have good stuff but it mostly has to do with showing each other's positions, not the position of their enemies. Granted flying is a big bonus, but not necessarily enough in dense terrain.

As for dealing with getting hit… its a problem in the book, it'll be a problem in the games. You're really relying on people just not getting knocked out and needing immediate back up and that the advantages of being spread out outweigh this disadvantage.

In the original book, I seem to recall that the warriors WERE intelligent. Just limited in their motivations to orders from the brain operating below. Much like modern fighters depend on airborne radar planes to quarterback for them, but are also thinking, intelligent agents in their own right. Remove the brain bug, and your warrior doesn't lose his intellect, he loses his motivation. Rico even comments that they're born with a wealth of combat expertise, ready to fight.

To me, the idea of mobile infantry is that they're well-enough armored to endure anti-personnel weapons and the splash damage from area weapons. Area effect weapons, their own and the ones used against them, also explain the spacing between troops. Against heavier weapons, their main defense is size and mobility. Rico mentions that a power suit can easily defeat an archaic weapon like a tank. Firepower probably explains part of it, but mobility and small size explain why the tank doesn't smash the cap trooper.

So how do you defeat MI?

Heavy, single-target weapons are a problem, because the trooper is tiny and always moving. Light weapons can't penetrate his armor. Area effect weapons don't make much sense either; the trooper is protected against incidental damage, you need a lot of dispersed firepower to dig out one trooper, and that soldier probably dropped into the middle of an area that you don't want to call artillery down onto in the first place.

Apart from more MI, the best I can see working in Heinlein's universe is targeting the retrieval boat; raise the cost of a combat drop.

Outside his universe, computer-controlled precision fire seems to be the key. In modern terms, the CIWS you get on an Aegis ship. Upgrade that to a computer-targeted laser, and then kill the apes in mid-air when they bounce. Network a bunch together so one mininuke doesn't neutralize your defenses. Like most SF authors of his era, he simply didn't expect the IT revolution to play out the way it did. OTOH, most game systems still follow the conceit of aiming mostly over iron sights. A few drones shooting at one another over an empty battlefield is boring, as Tuffley says.

I never have advocated the MI from the movie. I think the animated series sets the right balance. You have Power armor and lots of other weapon systems. I just think that scifi was too limited to have bio bugs in the original book. Too ahead of its time. So, instead he gave them weapons which make little sense to a non-humanoid bug.

Bottom line is we can play what we want and I know the book remains popular. I personally don't see it. But that's ok. I just don't buy into the book bugs make more sense than bio-bugs. I am not convinced.

But we all can play what we want and have a good time doing so.

Thanks,

John

Too ahead of its time. So, instead he gave them weapons which make little sense to a non-humanoid bug.

No, he gave them weapons since he knew that a bug trying to bite or spit acid on a MI and hope to win is plain dumb; the MI in the book (vs the movie) need to be taken down by equally high-tech hardware. Also the book bugs were NOT a telepathic hive-mind; just like real earth insects, incidentally. The movie aliens were just a rip-off of the xenomorphs in Aliens in that regard; 'they are bugs, they MUST have a telepathic hive mind' is a cop-out, if you ask me. Bio-weapon bugs have been to DEATH and have become quite boring, in my opinion. But as you said, to each his own. :)

but the fundamental problem of just having a lot of space to cover and a significant amount of time before back up can save you is hard to deal with.

I see this as a the real crux of the issue; the MI doctrine seems to assume that few squad members are non-fatally hit or have a mechanical failure that needs immediate help to keep moving; if they do it totally disrupts the mission. One possibility is that MI doctrine is just flawed in this sense; more than a few troopers being knocked out means a mission scrub. We don't know who the MI have fought before and how that influenced their doctrine.

Outside his universe, computer-controlled precision fire seems to be the key. In modern terms, the CIWS you get on an Aegis ship.

Yes, if one was writing this today it would be a totally different animal in a lot of ways, but one could forsee other technological developments in ECM and stealth that would also mitigate the risk to a 'bouncing' MI. Though how often and how high the MI bounce could likely also determined by the local threat environment.

-Will

lots of other weapon systems

Also, and this not to harp on the movie/cartoon in particular since their inclusion of extra equipment is logical given their version of MI, but one of the ideas behind the original MI was that hauling lots of heavy equipment across interstellar space was very expensive and difficult; the core concept of the book MI is that they could handle a lot of situations on their own *without* support, since no support was going to be available. So the MI had to be an all-in-one fighting force.

-Will

I think despite the sci-fi trappings, Heinlein was also trying to make the point that the infantry experience is universal across history: the physical demands, the variety of missions (the versatility of the infantryman), the comradeship, and the vulnerability one feels.

If a game can recreate some of that, I thnik it would be good.

I think for gaming purposes it's perfectly fine for the MI to have perfect LOS to whatever is on the board. Some sort of ultra Blueforce Tracker integrating all the sensors of each man, whatever is deployed into the ground, Remote sensors and Listening posts, and of course satellites.

The beauty of the situation is of course that the MI are not fighting a similar force, they are fighting an underground force, so to a large extent the sensors they have don't help them with that, unless the enemy chooses to go above surface. It makes for a great dilemma.

Perhaps "late war" MI tech gives them better visibility and capability into what's under ground, as in war typically both sides are constantly adapting.

I don't think the issue of how far apart they are is anything to short circuit on. The MI are faster moving have greater sensors and longer range weapons than Napoleonic troops…hence they can disperse more until they have a need to get closer together. The gaps between troops are typically a matter of controllability and dispersion to prevent massive damage form weapons

Los

And that is WHY we disagree completely about the book and the movie/animated series bugs. Like I said, game what you want! I would humbly suggest though that anecdotally, the majority of folks who game this in miniature do so with Hive mind bio warriors rather than those you describe.

Thanks,

John

The other option would be for the TV/Animated series bio type arachnids to have smaller-faster flying suicide boring/exploding bugs that act as longer-ranged high-velocity munitions. But now we're getting into Tyrannid territory!

Los

>>>I see this as a the real crux of the issue; the MI doctrine seems to assume that few squad members are non-fatally hit or have a mechanical failure that needs immediate help to keep moving; if they do it totally disrupts the mission. One possibility is that MI doctrine is just flawed in this sense; more than a few troopers being knocked out means a mission scrub. We don't know who the MI have fought before and how that influenced their doctrine.<<<

The issue with extracting Flores is that they can't get him out of the suit.

>>>And found Ace standing over him, a couple of skinnies flamed down and more running away. I lit beside him. "Let's get him out of his armor — the boat'll be down any second!"

"He's too bad hurt!"

I looked and saw that it was true — there was actually a hole in his armor and blood coming out. And I was stumped. To make a wounded pickup you get him out of his armor… then you simply pick him up in your arms — no trouble in a powered suit — and bounce away from there. A bare man weighs less than the ammo and stuff you've expended. "What'll we do?"<<<

>>>Dutch and I were zipping along close to a wall, headed for our special-weapons squad in answer to a yell for help, when the ground suddenly opened in front of Dutch, a Bug popped out, and Dutch went down.

I flamed the Bug and tossed a grenade and the hole closed up, then turned to see what had happened to Dutch. He was down but he didn't look hurt. A platoon sergeant can monitor the physicals on every man in his platoon, sort out the dead from those who merely can't make it unassisted and must be picked up. But you can do the same thing manually from switches right on the belt of a man's suit.

Dutch didn't answer when I called to him. His body temperature read ninety-nine degrees, his respiration, heartbeat, and brain wave read zero — which looked bad but maybe his suit was dead
rather than he himself. Or so I told myself, forgetting that the temperature indicator would give no reading if it were the suit rather than the man. Anyhow, I grabbed the can-opener wrench from my own belt and started to take him out of his suit while trying to watch all around me.

Then I heard an all hands call in my helmet that I never want to hear again. "Sauve qui peut! Home! Home! Pickup and home! Any beacon you can hear. Six minutes! All hands, save yourselves, pick up your mates. Home on any beacon! Sauve qui — "

I hurried.

His head came off as I tried to drag him out of his suit, so I dropped him and got out of there. On a later drop I would have had sense enough to salvage his ammo, but I was far too sluggy to think; I simply bounced away from there and tried to rendezvous with the strong point we had been heading for.<<<

--

For that matter, I have a strange urge to comment that the MI are not the big stick of the Terrans. MI are a precision weapon, who do the jobs you can't achieve with brute force alone.

The raid at the beginning is supposed to terrorise the Skinnies in to switching sides, not wipe them out. The later battles all have a reason for deploying the MI as well – rescuing prisoners, capturing Brain Bugs or digging Bugs out of a planet to heavily fortified to be bombed in to submission.

If you want a planet gone, call the navy and their Nova Bombs. If you want every left handed red head in the target area rounded up and shipped off for interrogation, call the MI.

Well said, Dezmond!

John, lots of people do game the movies, and do like the Aliens / psychic brain bug paradigm. This thread is explicitly about the book and playing it as written.

I am surprised to see such interest in gaming from the book….
I've spent years at this task and thought I would add a few comments…
The old AH game comes closest to the book of any of the other published materials… The game scenarios mirror events in the book and represent the best starting point to try to game the book as it was written. Still the game departs form the book in some ways… Ratio of workers/warriors is 50:1 in the book, 1:1 in the game.
The book is too vague as to whether individual warriors had weapons, the game makes them close combat only, with a single beam weapon apart of each combat cell.
After many games, the real factors against the MI are time & casualties that must be retrieved….the strength of the Bugs is free tunnel movement & surprise.
Currently playing AH scenarios with "book suits" (as close as I can currently get, anyway) vs. "unlimited" toon bugs, using modified Combat-Alien War rules for movement, combat resolution & casualties.