"How badly can earth lose in an alien invasion" Topic

Our group had a game of Invasion of the air eaters board game with mini's and this is roughly what happened.

Apparently the Terrans didn't want it enough…

Looks like the beginning of a bad day

The thing with all these "Planetary Conquests" themes is just how incredibly difficult it is to actually subjugate and entire populated planet. I can't go along with Sci-Fi plots where one ship lands in one city, captures one citadel/fort/nation and then claim to have conquered the whole planet.
The only way I can see such a thing being viable is if enough "ships" arrived in orbit to threaten to blow whole sections of the globe to bits, thereby winning compliance through fear and threat.

Aliens conquering Earth would be a bit like me getting ants out of pantry.

If aliens made it here from another star system then there isn't doodly we could do to stop them.

Invasion of the Air Eaters is a great game! The Air Eaters Strike Back was decent too.

I tend to agree that earth would meet an alien invasion with similar effects to this sentence meeting a full stop.

Ever been to Manchester? :+)

Actually we're a canny lot and unless the aliens ate terraforming for a totally new look they'll be needing/using us to do all the dirty work, just like we do to ourselves. So more of an overlord scenario or a genetic harvest for fuel, either way we will have our uses.
Cheers and AckAck.

If the aliens are truly hostile and will not coexist with humans then it's pretty bad. Worst case: enthralment leading to slow protracted extinction. Best case: extinction.
Cheers and have a great, alien-free day.
Rod Robertson.

Looks like the beginning of a bad day

We'll have to have some hearings and find someone to blame.

Yes, if they just want to wipe us out, they'll wipe us out. I'm not sure sending Geoff Goldblum into space with an anti-alien 'virus' and a nuke would work in real life.

If they merely wish to take over, then dismantling the existing organs of government backed by overwhelming force has worked every time we've done it to another country, so no reason why it shouldn't work for them. Unless there is another alien race willing to sponsor terrorism/resistance against our new overlords, but then we are probably back to scenario 1.

YouTube link

Park up on the dark side of the moon – send a few drones to seed our atmosphere with an engineered human-specific virus – kick back and relax.
Within a few weeks, the only functional groups on earth are submarine crews and maybe some kalahari bushmen.

Or, use the earthmen's satellite system to broadcast your mind-control signals directly into their brain-jelly.
A somewhat lower-tech variation on that theme is to have alien parasites mind-controlling human hosts in positions of power to bring about the alien-agenda 'New World Order'.
Either way, you land to encounter a pacified race who can be herded obediently into the processors.

Poison the atmosphere, steal the water, replace the humans with pod-people, take control of the machines; all viable tactics FTW.

Conventional invasion – mech vs. Abrams, saucer vs. Typhoon, ray-gun vs. AK, force-field vs. missile – is probably the worst of all options.

Earth seems to be losing right now, maybe we're the Aliens.

I will get no amount of criticism for this but…

If Aliens come here I think the LAST thing we will have to worry about is invasion and them destroying us.

The reason is simple. They can have all the resources and energy they wish far nearer at hand than travelling hundreds of even tens of light years to get to us. In fact, the energy expended on such a trip will likely be MORE than simply scrounging around in space for it. This is of course if they have only slower than light ships. If they have faster than light ships they have access to so much energy that they won't have to go ANYWHERE!

The old saw about them eating us can be dismissed the same way. If they needed things to eat, having all that energy could easily support vast space platforms growing whatever they want, or raising the tasty critters they like.

The wish for power doesn't work because that's a human idea, and they probably don't think that way.

But if they do, then I am convinced that they have gone into space for the same thing that we do. Answers! They want to know, they want to discover, they want to go where no Kawabangi has gone before and seek out strange new worlds. I suspect that if any species has the desire to go to space they will have reached the same point as we. That is, they will have reached the point where they know that what you see is not all what you get, that we are far more then our biology or our science, or our space-ships.

V'ger wishes to touch the creator.

They will be in one sense looking for answers "out there" but they will also be looking for new questions "out there."

There for I think that if we were to make ships to contact alien races, make them ones where they can see reproductions of our art, our music, our literature. Show them a Noh Play, A symphony, the repetition of a Mantra, the Temples of Ankor Wat, The Monuments in Washington. Give them these things that define so much of us and see if the intelligent Bees of Tau Ceti 4 think that Midsummer Night's Dream is a soul searing tragedy. Find out from them if they are shocked that we can see only the visible light spectrum and hear them tell us of the beauties of the colors beyond red and violet. Find out if they think our "Progressive Insurance Commercials" are incredibly bawdy and naughty And we will want to understand their theology and art, politics, and culture besides.

I reject these ideas of the aliens as murdering destroying locusts and I reject the idea of them coming here merely to make us playthings and pets. As I said, if you're going to spend that much time and energy then they are coming here, and we are going there out of curiosity, and they are not going to destroy that which they are curious about.

I would just like it if the aliens would land on earth and put a ban on all reality TV shows that we are polluting earth and space with. Oh, and I hope they have big stompy robots.

But we're tasty!

Anyone know how close they'd need to be to watch our TV?

> put a ban on all reality TV shows

See, there *IS* a reason aliens would come here and destroy the planet! No intelligent race would let us live after seeing any of that stuff.

As for not wanting to kill us, only thing worse then that is wanting to "save" us…

I will side with OSchmidt.

If you have the technology to arrive here--in a reasonable amount of time from when you left your "origin" planet--why even bother.
Take water or air---big chunks of water frozen in space
Minerals---most interesting thing here is the H3 that is on the surface of the moon
Take all the people---I can't see how we would be tasty--or worth the time or effort

Figure any technology able to arrive here from a great distance would be able to figure out our language and collect all of our computer information---so between building huge monuments out of brick and stone--and learning how to blow each other up in new dramatic ways--we don't have much to offer---unless reality TV is all the rage and the aliens want to start up a few more networks

"Our group had a game of Invasion of the air eaters board game with mini's and this is roughly what happened."

We were obstructing some aliens view of Venus weren't we. Of course it would take an Ilonium Pew-36 explosive space modulator to do that, but it could be done…or so I've heard somewhere.:)

Oh, I'm sure we could be taxed and made into profit centres of some sort…

DeltaBravo, you cynic you :)

No intelligent race would let us live after seeing any of that stuff.

Just saw a "comedy" show on TV that asked the question: "How would we explain the Khardashians to aliens? "

The answer was: After trying to explain them the aliens would look at us and say – "We're just going to kill you all."

They could be just looking for Lebensraum.

It may turn out that creatures that live in a gravity well cannot live in space even with "artifical gravity". If your species is to expand you need a habitable environment on a planet.

As with 'Invasion of the air eaters' – the only thing we have to do to win is limited r+d on laser weapons, and GET THAT MOTHER SHIP!

Dear Random Die Roll

Thank you I agree. I elaborated more than you, but your point is correct. If they have the energy to get here, cheaply and easily, they have the energy to make anything they want where they are and why bother going elsewhere.

I am always amazed how, typically with people, they know both kindness and cruelty, and they do not think that aliens can understand the same. Yet wouldn't any civilization that would survive and endure have to have the idea of kindness as part of it?

I think that it is kindness that truly terrifies people.
The Seromon on the Mount is the greatest turn off to people becoming Christians.

But itsn't it far more fun to imagine going to a film on Gamma Hydra 3 and seeing a film with a set of 3D glasses which also shows you the colors beyond infra-red or Ultra-violet? Or to Fomahaut 6 where we can see plays from a culture we've never known and marvel how different- or how similar they are? I rather think the aliens once they understood us more, would be fascinated by the ideas we have like interpreting Bob Dylan Songs, and argueing vehemently on "Is Paul McCartney Dead" even while he's obviously alive, and saying, after they've seen an episode of "The Librarians"-- "Oh-- you know about the Library."

Mostly I think they will be driven by the same anxieties and fears-- are we Really Alone? Is there no one else to share this with?

They could secretly help us create SkyNet, by whispering in a few ears, or dropping helpful hints on the darknet. I'm fairly certain in my believe that SkyNet could wipe us out in short order, without having to create all those pesky walking and flying robots.

Dear Tberry

Why would they say that? I think they'd say "Umm… ok, so most of you really don't belive the hype of the Kardashians? And when we said "Of course not, but some do." I think they'd look around at each other and sayd "ummmm can we meet these idiots who do? We need a good laugh. Don't worry we've got idiots like them among us too."

The real test would be if they thought Mel Brooks movies were funny.

I have information ……..that……………………………………..have….help..

OSchmidt: Because it was a standup routine not a serious discussion on the subject.

Apparently the Terrans didn't want it enough…

And neither did the aliens, apparently, going by the picture.

Perhaps they want to make us into their call centre – imagine how many people are needed to man the lines for an intergalactic goverment!

Good one Moonbeast

They'll stomp us out because we're dangerous. Like a large nest of hornets that haven't flown off yet and started spreading in the neighborhood.
"Get'em! BEFORE they get space travel!"

all we would see is everyone dieing and never know why.

Ah, but what happens if the aliens are religious and we happen to be orbiting their most holy star? We could be polluting the "promised space" and in that case we gotta go! And for the crime of pollution maybe we gotta go painfully. Just because aliens have rational and superior engineers, don't assume that they are all rational. They could be wack-jobs just like us. I think I fancy a Snickers Bar or maybe a Milkyway.
Cheers and prostrations to our alien overlords.
Rod Robertson

I think the pic just about gets it right.

The astronaut on the moon, for the first-hand view is a nice touch, though.

I immediately thought of ants, where the aliens are the knowing, sentient beings, and we are the unknowing, mindless drones trying to scratch out an existence, daily.

That picture pretty much says it all. At least it looks quick and painless unless they have technology that would make it feel longer than it was.

A sobering thought:

We might be the first to have reached this level high enough to worry about an invasion.

Yes there are X trillion gazillion stars (and planets)…but enough things have to go remotely correct to let us live this long..so….

Maybe we haven't heard any signals from anywhere because there simply haven't been any yet or are so far away as to be beyond the reach (notice?) of even a super advanced race.

This is roughly how far our radio and TV media has gone to date give or take…

Surprisingly long string?

Thank you I agree. I elaborated more than you, but your point is correct. If they have the energy to get here, cheaply and easily, they have the energy to make anything they want where they are and why bother going elsewhere.

My Imperium Alieni scenario comes from a campaign where the aliens were escaping from a dying world and needed a new home. We were the only suitable planet in this solar system (we are pretty different); is it such a far stretch to thing we are the suitable one to them in within 10 LY or so, and thus attractive?

And who says they had to make it here easily just because they got here? That campaign has several alien ships crashing into Earth in different centuries because it was a tough journey to a planet like their home that wasn't in a solar system experiencing supernova. In the campaign, most of the aliens didn't make it anywhere (there was a nice Sargasso Sea derelict story arch in that).

In that campaign, the aliens didn't take over. But that was because it was one of the underlying thematic elements of the campaign. Aliens land – Aliens rise to some level of power – Aliens are killed off, humanity continues. In any one, the could have just as likely arrived with enough technology, power, and numbers to make wiping up the Earth easy or a struggle.

Another motif (that I haven't used yet) is the Alien Pilgrim motif. Not Alien pilgrim … aliens coming to Earth for some religious reason (or other reason beyond our comprehension). Alien Pilgrim … they were outcast from their home star system – partly by choice/party by force – and are colonizing the New World. The rest of the species is neither required nor desired to come along and make it an easy conquest.

And I actually have another campaign we just finished playing out (I need to write it up) about aliens destroying the Earth but not invading. They have a good reason, and no, it's not to clear the way for a hyperspace bypass (I think that's been done), but it is related. They came here (our solar system) to colonize Mars (very suitable for them) and the closest place for them to dispose of their industrial waste was … wait for it … Earth. We (21st century Earth) fought back. We didn't win. Maybe next time…

BTW, I do agree with your reasoning that there are plausible reasons why arriving aliens wouldn't care to or bother with destroying us. I just don't think that those reasons negate the other multitude of reasons why they might.

Photo Caption: "What the earth….?"

Prof Kaku link said something like on a show on the Science Channel (NOT SyFy !!) … Humans vs. Aliens would be like Kermit the Frog vs. Godzilla … And even Hawkings said something like we should be careful with making contact. As we say how things worked out when the techno Euros landed in the New World and the feral locals generally didn't fare very well … Of course we have seen and read many TV shows, movies, books, etc., about aliens and human contact. Even H.G. Well's WotW published around a century ago, and has been re-done may times in the media. Some may consider it a the seminal work on the subject … Not to mention all the iterations of ST and SG, etc. came up with many scenarios too … some good for us Terrans … some not so good …

Dear Etothepi

All very well and good, but that's a game. I'm speaking of plausible reality. But one supposition is as good as another.

I wrote a novel two years ago called "Matilda Frankenstein: Homecoming Queen." It keyed off the Third Reich sending the first television broadcast into space. By the usual mumbo-jumbo of these things in science fiction, an alien race heard it, and sent an expedition to earth. The "racist" theories of the Nazi's appealed to the aliens but not in the way you think. The aliens were intelligent vegetable life and they misinterpreted the racist theories as "perfecting the biology of the species." As they journeyed to Earth they became more and more knowledgeable about the us, and the Nazis, and saw their error. but the perfection of species was still a viable and valuable quality for them. Anyway, they took a few DNA samples and some tissue samples from a few humans (no need for corny abductions etc., and created a dozen "perfect" humans.

These humans were all female, all 6'2" tall, all looked identical, in being gorgeous to human eyes (after all, that's part of reproduction and species success plants know all about physiological attractors) etc., But the important part was that they had an enhanced immune system, such that they rarely got sick from infectuouis diseases and sor forth, and could regrow even vital organs, and they had a SECOND immune system that eliminated all genetic and congenital diseases, all degenerative diseases, and were while not deathless, (if you ran into a burning building you would still die) but they were in a sense immortal. The final part was they had the ability of parthenogenesis. That is they could reproduce all on their own by will. They could for example have sex with a human male, but the fertilized egg would, by their second immune system be reworked to be "perfect" no degenerative traits could be inherited from the male. The Little Miss Frankensteins however could alter the appearance of the progeny somewhat if they wished.

It was an interesting story. There was none of this stupid-hive-mind or queen bee themes, they walked and spoke and talked as normal human beings, and had all the foibles of human beings. Being human they enjoyed all of the things humans did, and for all this included family life, emotional relationships, sex, In fact, they did not even know they were "perfect beings" or anything but real humans. They became corporate executives, soccer moms, soldiers, (Though their appearance was striking). But back of it all the biology was ticking away, slowly spreading through the human race, changing, altering, wiping out birth defects, diabetes, heart disease, Multiple Schlorosis, Cancer, and the immune system was keeping them healthy and safe, and as they produced babies these would grow up, male or female, and advance the genetic improvement even further. Female progeny of the "perfects" were the same in every way. Male progeny were also perfect in the same way, but as they do not produce progeny, mating with an "imperfected human female" does not affect her, but does effect the progeny of that union. All children of the perfect/ non perfect mating will be perfect. The mother however will remain imperfect and not get any of the benefit of it. However, the gradual replacement of imperfected by perfected females will eventually triumph.

In the story several people discover this and begin to work against it, until they realize --- "why?" It doesn't effect anything, doesn't affect our way of life, and in fact makes the world better. Why fight it?

Yes, some of the UFO ancient alien/astronaut pundits/officinatos talk about 160 alien species exist and visit or are currently on Earth. Some of this may be a little ? Of course I'm hoping the "Nordic" type aliens link they talk about are around and are my personal fav !

"Good one Moonbeast"

Thank you good sir. You obviously have excellent taste in classic animation.

Dear Legio 4

Actually I don' believe it. I think we very well may be alone in the Universe.

Dear Legio 4

Actually I don' believe it. I think we very well may be alone in the Universe.