Ok guys this has been bugging me since I saw the film. It's common knowledge that Gorman shit the bed with the mission but what would YOU have done differently?
Remember
-You're new (only 2 combat drops)
-You have limited knowledge of what's facing you (you only have Ripley's story that you may or may not believe)
-Your mission is to find/save colonists (no nuking from orbit)
-You have just landed (your men have just left the APC)

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Over Kill Is Under Rated

When Ripley says: "no firing". I say: "OK, everyone get the F out! Fall back and we'll figure out a new plan"


The new plan could be sending in Marines with flame units as a recon team to feel it out. Hell, re-arming everyone with flame units and sending them back in may have been an option. They implied there were more units available as they inventoried 2 units (1 only half full, but functional. The other damaged) from the wreckage. Had they acted before there were any wreckage there were probably more flame units available to redistribute.

^THIS!^ And, as soon as my Marines arrived at the "area" the weird s#*t was on the wall, I would have stopped them until I figured out what the hell was going on! Starting with asking Ripley a LOT more questions!!!

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Lead. Follow. Or get the h*ll out of the way. I just want to see that it is done!

I fully agree with that what has been written, apart that although Gorman being inexperienced he is not untrained. So “limited knowledge of what's facing you“should ring his alarm bells.

He lets them walk in the APS with HE weapons that would not just liberally kill the squads and the mission, but also destroys the colony.
That’s for me his second major mistake he made.
And a mistake his training should have thought him how to prevent.

IMHO sending in not enough man and backup as the first big mistake, but an understandable one.

He should have checked his options at the power plant before rushing in without thinking.

Okay, if he would identify the treat he could have found a way to solve it and there would be a Happy Ending and not the Movie we all love.

So what would I have done differently?

Well this depends on which point of the movie you are referring to.
If we are at the point where they just prepare to go into the APC and to the APS than I would have build a small recon team, let’s say Hicks, Crow and Dietrich and let them go in until they would have found the first signs of the Alien hive and than its back to the lab and the SULACO to reassess the situation. Oh and not to forget the dropship would not have landed after quickly dropping off the APC.

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Sgt. Frank Peters 'reload' Smartgun Operator
A03/TQ3.0.12136E1 "It will be no picknick!"
AL Colonial Admin. - Sergeant at Arms (SgtA) -- 2020-2022
GERCM - Executive Officer (XO)
UKCM Foreign Legion: The Deviant Dragoons

Okay it's easy to Monday Morning Quarterback this ( ) and say to pull the squad out at the first sign of weirdness or the fact they couldn't have any explosive weapons fire/grenades.

However had Gorman done that, most likely the squad would think of him as being weak or even cowardly. Marines don't high tail it at the first sign of trouble- they improvise.

Gorman is fresh out of the USCM equivalent of West Point, has nearly zero field experience and is dealing with "not" the most discipline bunch of Marines. So he can't take the chance of looking anything less than "in charge" in their eyes, and so he has them press on inside the hive despite the weapons restriction.

And on top of all this, they weren't expecting an ambush by an overwhelming number of enemy warriors- they were looking for civilians, and "possibly" some Xenos that might pop out. They probably believed the Xenos had overrun the colony, so the civilians had abandoned it in favour of hiding out in the processing station. Up until the main attack I don't think anyone thought the civilians had been kidnapped.

So now they are in the hive, surrounded, and the shit has hit the fan very quickly. Gorman continues to go "by the book" and starts relaying orders to Apone to fall back to the APC- however by then there is too much interference from the processor and communications go dead. So at least he "did" try to pull everyone out, it was just too late. Gorman's downfall was going to pieces once communications were out and his MSgt was a casualty.


What would "I" have done (considering I have even less combat experience than Gorman did )- Despite the fact that the idea of running the squad from the comfort of the APC and not being with them is repellent to me, I more than likely would have done exactly what Gorman did up until he fell apart.

At "that" point, I would think that my only option would be to pull a Ripley and rescue the squad myself. I would just hope I could handle the corners in the APC better than her.


Kevin

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I told you I'd shoot, but you didn't believe me! WHY DIDN'T YOU BELIEVE ME!?!

Is this YOU also an Ltd. Coming fresh (here meaning this positiv) from the Acadamy?
Or a civilin or grunt YOU?

As a Ltd You i understand why the Marines were overconfident,
But not why you get and consider all data on the APS and Run blind into a potential ambush/trap of an unknown number of Aliens that might even overrun them.

I agree with Kevin from a grunt or civilin Point the ME YOU would have performed worse.
From a Ltd. Perspective I personal would expect that the Art of War is still being learned and that you don't run into an unkown Area to fight against an unknown enemey.

What do You think: how many Aliens did they expect to find lets say After their planned rescue mission
At the APC? How would you act?

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Sgt. Frank Peters 'reload' Smartgun Operator
A03/TQ3.0.12136E1 "It will be no picknick!"
AL Colonial Admin. - Sergeant at Arms (SgtA) -- 2020-2022
GERCM - Executive Officer (XO)
UKCM Foreign Legion: The Deviant Dragoons

What goes around comes around I guess! http://forum.alienslegacy.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=8897

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Cheers

Winch

"Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow I shall fear no evil for thou art with me. And together we'll kick ANY bugs ASS!"
You know who you are!

You try to solve a problem after it has happened, I try to stop the problem from happening in the first place either way it interesting to read peoples ideas.

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Over Kill Is Under Rated

If you were Weyland-Yutani, would you have wanted a seasoned commander in charge of the mission? Or someone like Gorman? If their goal was "to sneak an embryo past ICC quarantine"…?

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I gave it a few more thoughts and sadly I have to admit even after neutralizing all attacking Alien Warriors and destroying the spaceship I might have "forgotten" the Alien Queen, if the Recon team wouldn’t found it (by accident).

So once more congratulations to Ripley! Not bad, for a human.

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Sgt. Frank Peters 'reload' Smartgun Operator
A03/TQ3.0.12136E1 "It will be no picknick!"
AL Colonial Admin. - Sergeant at Arms (SgtA) -- 2020-2022
GERCM - Executive Officer (XO)
UKCM Foreign Legion: The Deviant Dragoons

I'd have set the strategy and objectives then let my NCOs deal with the tactical situation as they saw fit.
That's what the relationship between COs and NCOs is supposed to work like: a CO states the 'what' and the NCO develops the 'how'.

End of discussion

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2nd Lt Jon "Jaylo" Lopez
A11/TQ1.0.72144E1
USCM Quality Assurance Division- Aerospace and Space Products- Earth
"Checklists Save Lives- No Service Stations at 30,000ft"

After the escape from the APS, I think I would have switched the fuck on and ensured that everyone had some decent hardware in hand to ensure that they were able to fight off any Xenos coming from the APS.

Metal grinding or not, to be honest, I'd have continued to the landing grid... But assuming the vehicle had to stop, as Hicks, I'd ensure that, as well as myself, Hudson and Vasquez both had PRs fully loaded with grenades in the tube ready to go. In the film, Hudson is bombed out morale wise and may not have bombed up his PR. Vasquez carries her pistol.

It's always bugged me as to why they even take incinerators into the colony or APS. They're hardly precision weapons with civvies supposedly in the area. The only explanation I can think of is that the information from Ripley is heeded... She has told the marines about the acid for blood and the fact the Nostromo crew made flame throwers...

You can talk about collateral damage from SGs or PRs but incinerators spouting napalm which is very difficult to extinguish would be a nightmare in a colony packed with civvies...

The whole film is about over confidence in technology and echoes Vietnam...

When the marines find the hive they still hope to find survivors. They could hardly turn back... Apone refers to "let's finish our sweep..." when they find the cocooned corpses...

I would never have taken away the PR mags... But I agree with the linked thread... It would have made little difference... Gorman did freeze up... Ferro should have been listening and been airborne when the APC left for the APS, or at the very latest, as soon as the first indications of casualties came over the air...

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A02/TQ2.0.52141E1

"Errr... Roger that's a 2-1-6..."

Fully agree and not only Vietnam.
Like Gorman said “The area is secured now!”.
This continues with no support from the Dropship etc..

Considering the film logic why should they be more careful?

Gorman thinks he has everything under control.
They just go for the civis, repair the damaged data transmission system and kill those Aliens (they’re just animals).
So they had to learn the hard way not to go into the APS with HE and flame units.

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Sgt. Frank Peters 'reload' Smartgun Operator
A03/TQ3.0.12136E1 "It will be no picknick!"
AL Colonial Admin. - Sergeant at Arms (SgtA) -- 2020-2022
GERCM - Executive Officer (XO)
UKCM Foreign Legion: The Deviant Dragoons