aliens conversion

The following is my attempt at converting the source material given in
the
Aliens Colonial Marines Technical Manual into vehicles with Full Thrust
and Dirtside Statistics.  I dont have Stargrunt II, which these would
probably work best with, so Ill leave it to someone else to work out
those
stats.	

ALIENS COLONIAL MARINES FOR FULL THRUST AND DIRTSIDE II 

M577A Armored Personel Carrier
	"We came outta that APC spitting sweat and blood.  Up ahead we
heard screaming as the twenty-mike-mike chopped the bugboys into salad. 
Sarge screamed Split Orange, an we broke into a four-by-four formation,
charging the hill with the smarts in support and the APC on overwatch. 
The bugboys saw us coming and launched a buzz-bomb.  Theyd have had us
cold if it werent for the Loot in the APC - he caught their launch flash
and iced the suckers with the peebees before their bomb had even left
the
tube!  Sdamndest thing I ever saw!"

MEDIUM vehicle (class 3), HI-MOB
WHEELED mobility, CFE power, Armour 3A 1 x HKP/1 in Turret with ENHANCED
FireCon, 1 x APSW ENHANCED ECM, STEALTH-1, capacity for 3 Infantry
Teams. 
Basic Signature 3, Effective Signature 2 (D10) POINTS:	142

	Logic:	Ive made it size 3 so it can hold three infantry teams
(the book says it holds up to twelve passengers).  Ive given it ablative
armor because it supposedly is surfaced with 2mm polymer resin that
provides ablative protection against pulsed lasers.  Ive given it armor
3
because thats the best for this size vehicle, but that might be too much
since it is described as unable to stop dedicated tank-killing weapons. 
	The book describes pretty bitching sensors, though the M40
Rideway
tank is supposed to have better sensors, so I gave the APC only Enhanced
FireCon. 
	The APC is supposed to have radar absorbent materials, which
justifies the Stealth-1, though this too could be too much since it says
the radar-absorbant materials are only a partial success. 
	The book describes all sorts of fire control jammers and
decoy-dispensors which account for the ECM. 
	The A version of the APC is armed with a turret- mounted phased
plasma gun, which sounds a little bit like David Drakes powerguns. 
Cadmium Telluride pellets of five grams mass are fed into a laser where
it
is vaporized to plasma and accelerated by the magnetic coil to high
velocities, around 5000 m/s.  Even though its a plasma weapon, its low
rate of fire and high penetration and range (4,000 meters on a good day)
led me to classify it as a Hyper-Kinetic Penetrator.  I really dont see
how this weapon can be used to good effect against infantry.  However,
the
gun is double-barrelled, and fires in sequence, so you might be able to
justify this as a Mass Driver Cannon instead.  

M577A2 Armored Personell Carrier
	"Yeah, right.  What are these ideal conditions?  I never goet to
see them.  If the weather is even slightly crappy the beam is screwed. 
As
a rule of thumb I never pulse at anything over a thousand meters cause
of
atmospheric scattering-that and the giveaway DEW line."

MEDIUM vehicle
(class 3), HI-MOB. WHEELED mobility, CFE power, Armour 3A 1 x Enhanced
ADS, 1 x APSW ENHANCED ECM, STEALTH-1 Basic Signature 3, Effective
Signature 2 (D10) POINTS:  428

	Logic:	This is the anti-aircraft version of the APC.  I just
decided its 40mW free-electron lasers were an area defense system,
usable
against ground targets with the same effectiveness as a RFAC.  

M577A3 Armored Personel Carrier MEDIUM vehicle (class 3), HI-MOB.
WHEELED
mobility, HMT Power, Armour 3A 1 x MDC/2 in Turret with ENHANCED
FireCon,
1 x APSW ENHANCED ECM, STEALTH-1, capacity for 2 Infantry Teams.  Basic
Signature 3, Efffective Signature 2 (D10) COST:  158

	Logic:	This is supposed to be the most radical new design of
APC,
with two 20 MeV turboalternator powered charged particle beam cannon
powered by the introduction of a Martin-Continental micro
magnetohydrodynamic turbine.  I translated that techno- babble into just
the most bitching, super-advanced weaponry I could fit into the hull and
by changing the power plant from CFE to HMT.  I managed to retain some
infantry capacity, although I cheated it out of 1 of its infantry teams.

If you make the normal M577A mounted with a MDC instead of an HKP, give
this one an HEL instead of an MDC.  

M22A3 Jackson Medium Tank MEDIUM vehicle (class 3), FAST TRACKED 
MOBILITY, CFE power, Armour 3A 1 x HKP/4 in Turret with ENHANCED
FireCon, 
1 x APSW ENHACED ECM, STEALTH-1, ENHANCED
PDS Basic Signature 3, Effective Signature 2 (D10) POINTS:232

	Logic:	They dont really describe this tank at all, so I just
made
it an anti-tank version of the APC with the PDS thrown in to fill out
its
capacity.  

M40 Ridgeway Heavy Tank LARGE vehicle (class 4), FAST TRACKED
mobility, CFE power, Armour 4A 1 x HVC/4 in Turret with SUPERIOR
FireCon,
1 x RAM Mortar (Light Artillery), 1 x APSW SUPERIOR ECM, STEALTH-2, LAD
Basic Signature 4, Effective Signature 2 (D10) POINTS:	461 plus cost of
Mortar ammunition

	Logic:	This is an weird tank, bitching in every way except for
its main gun.  But its described as a fairly conventional 115mm cannon
with the exception that it can fire 60 rounds per minute.  Maybe this
warrants an upgrade to a MDC, but I didnt think so.  Its supposed to
have
stealth, mobility, firepower and air defenses better than the M22, as
well
as 60mm mortars.  

UD-4L Cheyenne Utility Dropship

	"Fact: the Cheyenne handles like a cow.  If its carrying a load,
make that a drunken cow.  Listen up kiddies; these are righteous words I
speak.	Do no, I repeat do NOT get into a dogfight with one of these
babies, cuz you will BURN!  You are not Cool Jo or Panda from No Guts,
No
Glory and unlike the teevee shows you watched as little boys and girls,
popping the airbrakes and throwing the nozzles forward NEVER EVER causes
the enemy fighter to overshoot into your guns!	If an enemy air threat
appears, there are two sensible reactions: Run, which is good; or Hide,
which is almost as good.  Anyone who tries to fight back is a dumb
conehead who will burn in Marine Hell for wasting a perfectly good
dropship.  Any questions?"

OVERSIZED vehicle (class 6), VTOL mobility, FGP
power, Armour 2 1 x SLAM/3 in Fixed-Mount with SUPERIOR FireCon, 1 x
GMS/L
w/ SUPERIOR Guidance SUPERIOR ECM, 2 x FireCon, STEALTH-1, capacity for
1
Size 3 Vehicle or 6 Infantry Fire Teams.  Basic Signature 6, Effective
Signature 5 (D4) POINTS:  554

	Logic:	This is a hulking beast of a VTOL that serves in Full
Thrust as a dropship.  Even at Size 6, I had to get rid of its
chin-mounted auto-cannon and degrade its air-to-ground missiles to
GMS/Ls
in order to account for the unguided rockets--the SLAM system.	Its
supposed to make an attempt at stealth, though how could you really hide
this monster?  

USS Sulaco, Conestoga Class Light Assault Battleship

	"Good captains should have an assassin mentality - prepared to
sneak up on an enemy and stab him in the back before he can react. 
Almost
90 percent of space battles are settled this way - without even an
exchange of fire."

MASS 40, 20 damage points, thrust rating 4.  Fitted
with SUPERIOR sensors, ECM Systems, Planetary Bombardment System, 2 x
Missiles, 6 x Class 1 Railguns (2 x forward, 2 x port, 2 x starboard),
Size 3 Hangar Bay (containing 2 x UD-4L Dropships) 350 POINTS COST 

160 CS
for its MARINE DETACHMENT, Usually the Following:  2 x M577A Armored
Personel Carriers (24 CS) Command Team (Lieutenant, Android) (2 CS) 2 x
Dropship Crew (2 Pilots, 2 WO) (4 CS) 2 x APC Crew (2 Drivers, 2 Serge)
(4
CS) 4 x Infantry Teams (12 Rifle,4 MG) (16 CS) 2 x UD-4L Dropships (in
Hangar Bay) (Hangar Bay) TOTAL:  50 Cargo Space Capacity Note that all
these personel are stored in Cyrogenic chambers (due to the technology
of
the Sulacos FTL drive all crew members have to travel in Cyrogenic
chambers to avoid pre-mature aging).  As such, up to 110 more Cargo
Space
can be filled for combat missions.  These might include 2 more APCs, 4
more Infantry Teams, a Platoon (4) of M22 Light Tanks, and the personel
to
go with them. 

	Logic:	The book describes the lasers and particle beams as
merely
sensor-destroying systems, so I gave it ECM.  Though its supposed to
have
8 missiles, to cut down mass constraints I assumed these were fired in
4-
missile salvos (the book /does/ describe missiles launched from dirtside

at space targets in salvos), so its only got 2 salvos.	Its got two 
turret-mounted
railguns, which are a no-no in Full Thrust, so to account for the
turrets
I gave it two railguns into each arc.  Its definitely a military ship
rather than a merchant one, so although it has a hangar with
drop-capable
interface craft, it is only able to drop its marine contingent. 
Considering its personel are all transported in cyrosleep, however, it
can
transport a lot of troops--pretty close to the 90 described in the book 
plus some vehicles. I costed it at 18 points extra to account for the
cyro 
chambers. 
	I hope the Micro Machines of the Sulaco are a decent scale for a
battleship.  It sure would be cool to send in a few of these to try and
assault a poorly- defended planet.