History TabletopGame / XenosRampant

Based on Dan’s earlier DragonRampant fantasy variant of his Rampant family of games, ''Xenos Rampant'' is a setting-neutral science fiction ruleset, meaning that models from virtually any range of miniatures can be fielded. The game includes several chapters of optional rules and suggestions for games set in [[WeirdHistoricalWar Weird War One and Two]], modern day UrbanFantasy and [[AlienInvasion alien invasions]], post-apocalyptic survivalism and SpaceOpera boarding actions.

* AfterTheEnd: One of the suggested settings is the post-apocalypse, with sample detachments in various flavours of ZombieApocalypse, Film/MadMax1, VideoGame/Fallout1 and a cult led by a [[OurAngelsAreDifferent (possibly) literal angel]].

* AlienInvasion: One of the sample settings, the [[Pun War on Terra]], is about various modern-day human factions defending against aliens and their human sympathisers. Once the setting becomes SpaceOpera, this can be played straight or inverted by the warring factions.

* ArtifactTitle: The ‘Rampant’ is a reference to heraldry. The original Rampant game was LionRampant, about medieval warfare. From there, it spun out into the fantasy DragonRampant, and from there to science fiction as ''Xenos Rampant''. Aliens very rarely appear on medieval European heraldry.

* BreathWeapon: Xenomorphs can be upgraded to have a shooting attack, allowing for StarshipTroopers-style tanker bugs.

* {{Cult}}: Several, ranging from post-apocalyptic followers of an angel, through backwoods militiamen who pray to aliens, to demon-worshipping urban gangs. One or two of the War on Terra sample detachments could be used to represent the {{Taliban}} or {{ISIS}} as well.

* EvilEmpire: Name-checked in the more brutal, Roman-inspired SpaceOpera counterparts to the StarTrek style crew.

* TheFederation: One of the SpaceOpera sample detachments represents a landing party akin to a scaled-up StarTrek away team.

* {{Homage}}: Lots of them. Max Max, Star Trek, Aliens, Predator, HP Lovecraft, The Philadelphia Experiment, John Carter of Mars, Starship Troopers, Terminator…

* PlanetLooters: Space pirates in the space opera setting and, on an IndependenceDay scale, the aliens in the War on Terra setting.
* PoliticallyIncorrectHero: They’re fighting occult/alien-collaborating Nazis, so I guess that makes the Soviet Union heroes in the Werwolf campaign? Taking the term ‘politically correct’ on face value, the Red Army Detachment are this, since it is politically incorrect in the USSR to believe in superstitious nonsense like, say, the witch Baba Yaga and her chicken-legged cottage… Guess which piece of Russian mythology is accompanying that detachment into battle? Also politically incorrect is WinstonChurchill, who disbands the Strange Research Group at the end of World War Two, as he's concerned its colonial members might use the skills gained during their MilitaryMage experiences against the BritishEmpire.

* PowerOfHatred: Hatred is a Xeno Rule that can be added to improve a unit’s eagerness to assault certain enemies in melee.

* SchizoTech: Perfectly feasible in any setting, particularly when the players haven’t coordinated which armies they’re bringing to the table (Mad Max survivors versus Daleks, or extra-dimensional demons versus the Red Army), and essentially enforced in the Werwolf setting, as the Handwerkers have ray guns, power armour and flying saucers alongside their MP40’s and panzers.

* SharpenedToASingle Atom: Mono-Molecular Blades, obviously.

* RealityEnsues: For the Handwerkers. Alien-inspired super-weapons might make a difference to the war effort, but when they’re near-impossible to mass produce and the resources needed are drawing away from the production of regular armaments, it was unsurprising that the Handwerkers fell out of favour with the German government and allowed the Schulers (who need little more than some chalk, a long knife and a couple of disposable prisoners of war to produce a similar impact). Also, the War on Terra setting doesn’t assume that the world unites to fight off the aliens. People turn traitor, warlords fight for whoever gives them the most weapons, and politics still divides humanity’s response.

* [[Supersoldier]]: The space opera setting has a sample detachment composed of supersoldiers. There are five models in the entire army.

* [[Teleportation]]: The Special Insertion rule represents this, as well as DeathFromAbove or tunnellers or other ways of getting onto the battlefield.

* Supersoldier: The space opera setting has a sample detachment composed of supersoldiers. There are five models in the entire army.

* Teleportation: The SpecialInsertion rule represents this, as well as DeathFromAbove or tunnellers or other ways of getting onto the battlefield.

The game was nominated for Best Miniatures Rules at the UK Games Expo 2023 (but was beaten by ''Moonstone'') and for the 2023 Charles S. Roberts Award For Excellence In The Conflict Simulation Industry.

* Archaic Weapon for an Advanced Age: Swords and other weapons, sometimes technologically enhanced, regularly appear. The Unarmed xeno rule even strips a model of its existing ranged capability so that units can run around hitting things with swords.

Loads and Loads of Rules – Averted. Everything’s in the one rulebook.
Luck Manipulation Mechanic – Re-rolls.
Machine Worship – There’s a primitive cult of technology cultists in the post-apocalyptic setting.
Mad Scientist – The Handwerkers, who are engineers, rocket scientists and other assorted twisted geniuses, producing staggering scientific advances without ethical restraint. Unfortunately for them, but fortunately for the world, their projects are also grossly inefficient and expensive, so the Third Reich eventually sidelined them in favour of their more cost-effective Schuler rivals.
Made of Explodium – One version of the Exploder Xeno Rule makes a unit detonate if it hits 0 Strength Points. (The other lets them explode at will.)
Magic or Psychic – Obviously it depends on the setting in which a given game is being played, but the same rules are used for the sorcery of the Schulers, the Strange Foundation and various demon-worshipping cults as for the miracles of the Angel and the psychic abilities of various aliens. Of course, given that the Schulers’ contemporaries are the puppeted Handwerkers, who’s to say that the Schulers aren’t manipulating previously unknown-to-humanity physics when they cast ‘spells’ that raise the dead or summon ‘demons’?
Man-Eating Plant – Mentioned several times in the book, and one of the uses of the Immobile Xeno Rule.
Master of None – Averted. Even the basic infantry units, Heavy and Light, have their definite uses and advantages over other unit types.
Mechanical Horse – Steampunk British cavalry appear on mechanical mounts. DO THEY?
Mighty Glacier – Fighting Vehicles are slow (for vehicles), but hit harder than any other unit in the game (before upgrades).
Military Mage – There’s nothing to stop you adding the Psychic rule to a unit proficient in combat, but since units can only take one action per turn, that’s a round of shooting or stabbing that’s been skipped to allow you to summon a demon or cloud someone’s mind.
Mohs Scale of Science Fiction Hardness – As a setting-neutral game, Xenos Rampant is all over the place, depending on what any given player wants, but being a game about small unit infantry combat, probably tends towards the lower end. That said, the game can always be used to play Hardness 6 ‘Real Life’ games, either in the modern day or the 20th century, where no science fiction elements occur.
Mook Commander – The Commander trait is ‘always on’ (except if the Commander is dead or suppressed), applying bonuses to activation rolls and Courage tests for allies within a certain radius.
Morale Mechanic – Units that come under fire or suffer casualties in melee must take Courage tests. Failure results in them becoming suppressed, which forces them to move into cover until they rally. A particularly bad failure results in them routing and the entire unit being removed from the table. Demonic, undead and mechanoid troops each have special morale rules, which emphasise those units’ lack of fear but replacing it with one of several varieties of Critical Existence Failure.
More Dakka – Anything can be killed, although you might need to resort to this if you’re attacking a tank with Light Infantry. And the tank, which will probably be shooting back, already has more.
Motive Decay – The Handwerkers were meant to be producing technology to aid the Nazi war effort, i.e. fighting for the supremacy of the Ayan race. Perhaps it was just desperation for safe harbour when the Reich fell, but at least one Handwerker ends up siding with their patrons, against humanity, during their later invasion of Earth during the War on Terra. (ALSO TRAITOR)
Non-Human Undead - ???
Obstructive Bureaucrat – You, that is, the Commander of your force, can be one of these, if you roll badly on one of the Commander Trait charts. Due to your incompetence, your army is several points smaller than your opponent’s.
One Man Army – Nearly. Units can be fielded as Reduced or Single Model Units, which have the same stats and Strength Points as a larger unit, but compressed into fewer models. As such, an army can be composed of as few as three models (i.e. the minimum requirement of three units, each fielded as SMU’s).
Organic Technology – Presumed to be the case when Xenomorph units are upgraded to have ranged attacks.
Sword and Gun – Berserk Infantry can be assumed to fight this way, due to their short range. (Alternatively, they can represent assault troops with submachine guns or simply riflemen firing inaccurately from the hip.) Other units can be upgraded to have shorter range and/or increased melee proficiency.
Our Monsters Are Different:
Our Angels Are Different – Or are they? Is the Angel an actual celestial being, a mutant or a genetic experiment gone awry? Her followers believe the former.
Our Demons Are Different – They’re as likely to be alien entities as actual fire-and-brimstone hellspawn or fallen angels. Incidentally, angels use the Demonic Xeno Rule, although it’s suggested they rename it as Celestial or Angelic.
Our Dwarves Are All The Same – Mantic Forge Fathers cameo.
Our Zombies Are Different – Zombies can be represented by several troop types, depending on how staggery, shooty or resilient you want them to be. The zombie apocalypse optional rules also allow for NPC zombies to appear in various flavours, from runners to lurchers to flyers to tunnellers.
Outscare the Enemy – The Brutal Leader Xeno Rule does this through carefully applied battlefield executions.
The Paladin – The Crusader Xeno Rule. The Angel’s followers include self-style post-apocalyptic paladins.
Pelts of the Barbarian – The Redrum boarding party wear animal pelts on their armour.
Perplexing Plurals – Does Xenos Rampant refer to the plural of Xeno, in which case it’d break the convention of the other Rampant-titled games Lion and Dragon Rampant. That said, Xeno Rampant doesn’t quite scan as well.
Phantasy Spelling – The road warriors might fight for supplies of guzzoline for their vehicles, but that’s a nod to the source material (they’re a Mad Max homage).
Planet Looters – Space pirates in the space opera setting, and the aliens in the War on Terra setting.
Politically Incorrect Hero – They’re fighting occult/alien-collaborating Nazis, so I guess that makes the Soviet Union heroes in the Werwolf campaign? Taking the term ‘politically correct’ on face value, the Red Army Detachment are this, since it is politically incorrect in the USSR to believe in superstitious nonsense like, say, the witch Baba Yaga and her chicken-legged cottage… Guess which piece of Russian mythology is accompanying that detachment into battle?
Politically Incorrect Villain – Werwolf are actual Nazis, so yeah. Several other sample Detachments are, or could be interpreted as, being politically incorrect in one way or another.
Post-Apocalyptic Gasmask – Worn by some of the post-apocalyptic models.
Power of Hatred – Hatred is a Xeno Rule that can be added to improve a unit’s eagerness to assault certain enemies in melee.
Powered Armour – Several space opera forces, plus the Weird War Two Handwerkers.
Private Military Contractors – They show up in several sample Detachments throughout the settings, but also have their own dedicated modern-day PMC list in the War on Terra setting. There’s also a Mercenaries Xeno Rule, intended for unreliable PMC’s, which has a random chart for how their unpredictability helps or hinders you, their employer, during a given game.
Psychic Powers – Units can have them.
Quantity Versus Quality – Being a points-build game, this is always in effect. Ignoring the use of Reduced or Single Model Units, some of the sample Detachments have as few as 15 Strength Points worth of troops, while others have 60+. On a competence-per-Strength-Point basis, the quantity lies in the latter, and the quality in the former.
The Quisling – A Handwerker (ex-Nazi, now ambassador for an invading alien species) appears as the commander of the human collaborators army in the War on Terra setting.
Ragtag Bunch of Misfits – Most post-apocalyptic forces, and several from other settings as well.
Random Transportation – The teleport psychic power and Teleport Jump Xeno Rules let you pick the direction, but you roll for the maximum distance the unit travels.
Reality Ensues – For the Handwerkers. Alien-inspired super-weapons might make a difference to the war effort, but when they’re near-impossible to mass produce and the resources needed are drawing away from the production of regular armaments, it was unsurprising that the Handwerkers fell out of favour with the German government and allowed the Schulers (who need little more than some chalk, a long knife and a couple of disposable prisoners of war to produce a similar impact). Also, the War on Terra setting doesn’t assume that the world unites to fight off the aliens. People turn traitor, warlords fight for whoever gives them the most weapons, and politics still divides humanity’s response.
Recycled in Space – Xenos Rampant is the science fiction version of Dragon Rampant, which was itself the Recycled in Fantasy version of the medieval Lion Rampant.
Religion of Evil – The various cults that worship demons and aliens in the Meanest Streets setting.
Rule of Cool – Being a setting-neutral game, Rule of Cool is in full effect with the sample Detachments. Even within one of the sample genres (e.g. the post-apocalypse), any or all of the factions providing the sample detachments can be assumed to exist or not exist.
Sapient Tank – Vehicles with the Mechanoid or Demonic Xeno Rules are this. In the former case, it’s literally a vehicle controlled by an AI. In the latter, it’s possessed by a demon. Vehicles can also be Undead, but quite what that involves is up to the player (is it the crew that are reanimated, or is the vehicle organic?).
Schizo Tech – Perfectly feasible in any setting, particularly when the players haven’t coordinated which armies they’re bringing to the table (Mad Max survivors versus Daleks, or extra-dimensional demons versus the Red Army), and essentially enforced in the Werwolf setting, as the Handwerkers have ray guns, power armour and flying saucers alongside their MP40’s and panzers.
Screw This, I’m Out Of Here! – Units that roll 0 or less (after modifiers, obviously) on a Courage test don’t just become suppressed, but rout entirely and are removed from the table.
Separate, But Identical – Essentially one of the things that makes the Rampant series of games great at representing multiple settings. Based on the principle that two squads of power-armoured space knights are pretty much the same, there’s no point having two virtually identical unit entries with slight tweaks, when you can instead just have one (Elite Infantry, in this example, or maybe Heavy Infantry, if there are bigger fish).
Sharpened to a Single Atom – Mono-Molecular Blades.
Short-Range Long-Range Weapon – Averted. Any unit with a weapon range of greater than 12” can fire at reduced effect at any targets within line of sight. The rules suggest capping this at around 4 feet when it comes to larger gaming tables, which is the maximum range of a unit with the artillery upgrade.
Shout-Out – List these, they’re more like them than homages.
Space Opera – The largest of the five genres covered by the sample detachments. Spaceships are limited to off-table support, teleporting troops into action, and the occasional shuttle or drop-ship. Or the entire table could be a space ship, and the game a boarding action.
Space Pirates – A couple of the Space Opera sample detachments are for space pirates.
Squishy Wizard – Because each unit only gets one action per turn, it’s often seen as wasteful to apply the Psychic Xeno Rule to units that you’d otherwise want to be shooting the enemy or attacking them in melee. Therefore, a lot of Psychic units are fielded as second-line units like Light Infantry or similar.
Stealth Pun – The War on Terra, if that’s stealthy.
Straight For The Commander – A viable strategy, since losing your Commander triggers Courage tests across the army. Of course, since units that haven’t taken casualties rarely fail Courage tests and will probably rally next turn, so the results may be disruptive but disappointing.
Summon Magic – Psychics have access to a power that allows them to summon certain units from reserve.
Supernatural Fear Inducer – The Fearsome Xeno Rule can represent this, although it just makes it harder to pass Courage tests caused by the fearsome unit due to normal things like inflicting casualties, rather than inducing terror from scratch. Demonic units get the Fearsome rule for free, so are a more literal example of this trope.
Supersoldier – The space opera setting has a sample detachment composed of supersoldiers. There are five models in the entire army.
Take Cover! – Cover provides an Armour bonus, which increases the number of hits a unit takes before suffering casualties. Soft cover provides +1, hard cover +2 and reinforced cover (fortifications and the like) +3.
Taking You With Me – The cheaper version of the Exploder rule; don’t destroy a unit of these troops in melee.
Tank Goodness – Downplayed, as each Detachment is only allowed one armoured vehicle, either a Fighting Vehicle (a tank, basically) or a Transport Vehicle (what journalists call a tank).
Techno Wizard – Psychics have access to the Machine Friend power, which repairs damaged Mechanoid and vehicle units.
Teleportation – The Special Insertion rule represents this, as well as Death From Above or tunnellers or other ways of getting onto the battlefield.
Turn-Based Strategy – With activation tests, and if one fails then it’s turn over.
Walking Tank – Vehicles can be upgraded to become walkers, which makes them as mobile as infantry and better at melee (i.e. they hit or stamp on things rather than just drive into them).
We Will All Fly In The Future – Or you can, if you want, with the Flyer or Skimmer Xeno Rules.
We Will Wear Armour In The Future – Well, the ‘toughness’ stat is called Armour, although it also represents general resilience and determination to fight on.
You Have Failed Me – Brutal Leader. In a campaign game, a Commander who loses too many Career Points due to defeats and other drawbacks can be removed from his post (and possibly executed or even eaten by his troops).
Zerg Rush – Horde armies of cheap troops can do this.
Zombie Apocalypse – There are rules for simulating battles taking place during one of these.

* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: Many sample detachments have the toughest unit in the army as their Commander, occasionally fielded as a Single Model Unit (i.e. one model has the stats of an entire squad).

* BFG: The Artillery upgrade for Fighting Vehicles and Support Infantry, and neither unit was exactly sporting peashooters before the upgrade.

* BreathWeapon – Xenomorphs can be upgraded to have a shooting attack, allowing for StarshipTroopers-style tanker bugs.
* CaptainErsatz – Several of the units described in the rules, and particularly the sample detachments, appear to be referencing specific settings with the serial numbers filed off.
* CarFu – Vehicles can attack in melee, representing ramming, although they’re not very good at it without certain upgrades, particularly Walker, which presumably brings arms as well as legs.
* ChurchMilitant – There are several cults detailed in the sample detachments, including one led by a (possibly) literal angel.
* CombatMedic – It’s an available upgrade to any unit, supplying a saving throw to nearby units that take casualties.
* CrapsackWorld – This being a wargame, each of the settings described is quite crapsack: Nazi and Allied troops fighting a secret war during and after the final months of World War Two, gangs of cultists clashing with police and each other in The Meanest Streets, the War on Terra is the middle of a worldwide alien invasion, where the superpowers have been decapitated and it’s only humanity’s dogged determination
* CriticalFailure – Unstable units suffer damage on fumbled activation rolls, while Psychic Hazard units do on fumbled activation rolls for psychic powers only.
* Cult – Several, ranging from post-apocalyptic followers of an angel, through backwoods militiamen who pray to aliens, to demon-worshipping urban gangs. One or two of the War on Terra sample detachments could be used to represent the Taliban or ISIS as well.
* Cyberpunk – d
* Cyborg – d
* DeathFromAbove – The Special Insertion rule often represents this, particularly in modern or historical settings.
* DecapitatedArmy – The Hive Mind rule.
* DefencelessTransports – Not quite, but they are pretty rubbish in combat. Softskin transports that haven’t been given the Technical upgrade are assumed to have only whatever guns the driver is waving out of a window.
* DespairEventHorizon – If a unit rolls 0 or below due to modifiers on their Courage tests, they rout, being removed from the board in their entirety.
* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu – Being a large-skirmish/small-battle level of game, even the most powerful units, which can represent demons, alien overlords or god-machines, can be killed.
* DieselPunk – The Weird War Werwolf setting has lashes of this, mixed with pulp adventure stories and Cthulhoid horror.
* TheDogBitesBack – Following the surrender of Germany in World War Two, the British made use of German turncoats as local guides, spies and foot soldiers in the fight against Werwolf. These turncoats were a mixture of anti-Nazi resistance and German soldiers repulsed by the horrors unleashed in their nation’s name by Werwolf. In-setting, these were the oppressed fighting back against their oppressors, and it can count in-game as well, if a unit of turncoats kills a Schuler or Handwerker commander.
* DyingRace – The Ancients sample Detachment represents an aeons-old species that something something
* EasyLogistics – In general, this trope is in force. However, there are optional rules in the After The End post-apocalyptic setting for ammunition shortages.
* TheEarthThatUsedToBeBetter – After The End
* EliteArmy – Perfectly possible, since there aren’t any restrictions on Detachment composition beyond limiting the number of armoured vehicles.
* EliteMooks – A common composition for an army is to include one hard-hitting unit of elite mooks (often Elite Infantry), backed up by lighter, cheaper units.
* EmpireWithADarkSecret – The Third Reich, but not just for the obvious reason. The two factions of Werwolf, the Schulers and the Handwerkers, are both dabbling in things man was not meant to dabble in. Arguably, the Handwerkers have the greater secret, in that they’re not actually super-genius Mad Scientists, but just reproduce technological concepts that they are given by their alien ‘patrons’ in return for handing over undesirables as research subjects. Considering that a Handwerker appears in the human Les Collaborateurs sample Detachment for the War on Terra Alien Invasion setting, it seems the ‘patrons’ have a far bigger end goal than just helping a gang of racists take over Europe.
* TownWithASecret – Innsdorf is an Expy of Innsmouth, just in Germany.
* EnemyCivilWar – The Schulers and the Handwerkers were constantly struggling for supremacy within the socially Darwinist byzantine political structures of the Third Reich, with the Handwerkers dominant for much of the war (because who doesn’t like power armour and flying saucers?) and the Schulers taking the lead when Germany ran out of money and resources to pay for bloated, inefficient Handwerker projects. This rivalry did result, on occasion, in violence between the factions, even though they were both, theoretically, on the same side against the Allies.

* AncientConspiracy: One of the suggested UrbanFantasy factions is one of those occult organisations with libraries, magicians, automata and paramilitary death squads. In the Weird War chapter, although both the [[{{Ghostapo}} Schulers]] and the [[StupidJetpackHitler Handwerkers]] pre-date the rise of [[NaziGermany the Third Reich]], only the Schulers claim to be ancient, descended from the priesthood of [[{{Atlantis}} Thule]]. WordOfGod says they’re lying; they’re actually a nationalist group of mystics from the spiritualist craze of the mid-19th Century.

* AncientConspiracy: One of the suggested UrbanFantasy factions is one of those occult organisations with libraries, magicians, automata and paramilitary death squads. In the Weird War chapter, although both the [[{{Ghostapo}} Schulers]] and the [[StupidJetpackHitler Handwerkers]] pre-date the rise of the ThirdReich, only the Schulers claim to be ancient, descended from the priesthood of [[{{Atlantis}} Thule]]. WordOfGod says they’re lying; they’re actually a nationalist group of mystics from the spiritualist craze of the mid-19th Century.

* AncientConspiracy: One of the suggested UrbanFantasy factions is one of those occult organisations with libraries, magicians, automata and paramilitary death squads. In the Weird War chapter, although both the [[{{Ghostapo}} Schulers]] and the [[StupidJetpackHitler Handwerkers]] pre-date the rise of TheThirdReich, only the Schulers claim to be ancient, descended from the priesthood of [[{{Atlantis}} Thule]]. WordOfGod says they’re lying; they’re actually a nationalist group of mystics from the spiritualist craze of the mid-19th Century.

* TheBadGuysAreCops: Aside from games in which one side plays a detachment of law enforcement officers, there are rules in the UrbanFantasy chapter for NonPlayerCharacter police patrols responding

Possibly the case, if you’re playing a good guy faction and your opponent is literally playing the police.
* BadassArmy – It’s possible to create forces composed entirely of elite troops, although it’d be very small in size.
* BadassBikers – The Mobile upgrade available to many infantry units is intended, in part, to represent this.
* BadassCrew – Elite Infantry are good at everything, but come with a points cost to reflect that.
* BadBoss – The Brutal Leader rule allows for ‘morale-boosting’ battlefield executions (You Have Failed Me), while several of the Commander Traits are actually negative, such as poor administrative skills, cowardice, impulsiveness and other personality flaws.
* BFG – The Artillery upgrade for Fighting Vehicles. A more infantry-portable BFG would be the weapons carried by Support Infantry; they’ve got the longest range of any unmodified unit in the game, representing anything from machine guns up to artillery pieces.
* BodyguardingABadass – The rest of your Commander’s squad, although this is really a subversion in that, with stats being for an entire unit, whether it consists of one man or ten, bodyguards actually dilute your Commander’s badassery.
* BoringButPractical – Heavy and Light Infantry are your basic soldiers, but the former are capable of holding their own in sustained firefights, while the latter are squishier but capable of seizing objectives ahead of slower-moving infantry.
* BreathWeapon – Xenomorphs can be upgraded to have a shooting attack, allowing for Starship Troopers-style tanker bugs.

* Anti-Infantry – A default, since any unit with an armour-penetrating weapon is likely armed with some sort of pintle-mounted MG or equivalent.
* ApocalypseHow – It varies, depending on your post-apocalyptic setting.
Archaic Weapon for an Advanced Age – Swords and other weapons, albeit sometimes technologically enhanced, regularly appear. The Unarmed rule even strips a model of its existing ranged capability so that units can run around hitting things with swords.
* TheArmiesOfHeaven – The Demonic rule can be renamed Celestial for when the demon in question has whiter wings.
* ArmourIsUseless – Averted. Armour is a central part of the wound resolution system, where even naked savages have at least one point of Armour. That said, it represents all-round resilience. Troops actually wearing armour though are potentially very, very tough, with Elite Infantry being upgradeable to the level of light tanks.
* Armour-PiercingAttack – The lighter and cheaper version of Anti-Tank is literally called Armour-Piercing. It has a melee equivalent in Rending.
* ArmyOfThievesAndWhores – Several of the sample detachments are for pirates, bandits and the like.
* ArtifactTitle – The ‘Rampant’ is a reference to heraldry. The original Rampant game was Lion Rampant, about medieval warfare. From there, it spun out into the fantasy Dragon Rampant, and from there to science fiction as Xenos Rampant. Obviously, aliens very rarely appear on medieval European heraldry.
* AsskickingEqualsAuthority – Many sample detachments have the toughest unit in the army as their Commander.
* AwesomePersonnelCarrier – Transport Vehicles are, like most units, quite generic, but, again as with most units, with a few extra rules, they can be flying, invisible, psychic infantry fighting vehicles. Softskin Vehicles upgraded to have transport capacity have an even wider array of options, including bigger guns (CHECKTHIS), but they’re quite a bit flimsier and arguably not really worth spending too many points on.
* Ax-Crazy – Berserk Infantry and Primitive Infantry (the latter only with the Savages downgrade) will attempt to charge any enemy unit that comes within range. Xenomorph units usually have the same rule, but they’re more bestial than ax-crazy.
* TheBadGuysAreCops – Possibly the case, if you’re playing a good guy faction and your opponent is literally playing the police.

* AliensAreBastards: Well, this is a science fiction wargame, so yes. This is made explicit with the UFO Scientific Team sample detachment.

* AncientConspiracy: One of the suggested UrbanFantasy factions is one of those occult organisations with libraries, magicians, automata and paramilitary death squads. In the Weird War chapter, although both the [[Ghostapo Schulers]] and the [[StupidJetpackHitler Handwerkers]] pre-date the rise of TheThirdReich, only the Schulers claim to be ancient, descended from the priesthood of [[Atlantis Thule]]. WordOfGod says they’re lying; they’re actually a nationalist group of mystics from the spiritualist craze of the mid-19th Century.

Based on Dan’s earlier DragonRampant fantasy variant of his Rampant family of games, ''Xenos Rampant'' is a setting-neutral science fiction ruleset, meaning that models from virtually any range of miniatures can be fielded. The game includes several chapters of optional rules and suggestions for games set in [[WeirdHistoricalWar Weird War One and Two]], modern day UrbanFantasy and alien invasions, post-apocalyptic survivalism and SpaceOpera boarding actions.

Based on Dan’s earlier ''Dragon Rampant'' fantasy variant of his Rampant family of games, ''Xenos Rampant'' is a setting-neutral science fiction ruleset, meaning that models from virtually any range of miniatures can be fielded. The game includes several chapters of optional rules and suggestions for games set in Weird War One and Two, modern day urban fantasy and alien invasions, post-apocalyptic survivalism and space opera boarding actions.

* AlienInvasion: One of the sample settings, the [[LamePun War on Terra]], is about various modern-day human factions defending against aliens and their human sympathisers. Once the setting becomes SpaceOpera, this can be played straight or inverted by the warring factions.

* AncientConspiracy: One of the suggested UrbanFantasy factions is one of those occult organisations with libraries, magicians, automata and paramilitary death squads. In the WeirdWar chapter, although both the [[Ghostapo Schulers]] and the [[StupidJetpackHitler Handwerkers]] pre-date the rise of TheThirdReich, only the Schulers claim to be ancient, descended from the priesthood of [[Atlantis Thule]]. WordOfGod says they’re lying; they’re actually a nationalist group of mystics from the spiritualist craze of the mid-19th Century.

!!XenosRampant contains examples of:


* AbsoluteXenophobe – The Hatred xeno rule.
* AbsurdlySharpBlade – The Mono-Molecular Blades xeno rule, which is also ''Sharpened To A Single Atom'', if taken literally.
* AbnormalAmmo – Xenomorph upgrades, possibly, and in general shooting attacks can represent anything, including psychic powers.
* AfterTheEnd – one of the suggested settings is post-apocalypse, with sample detachments in various flavours of zombie apocalypse, Mad Max, Fallout and a cult led by a (possibly) literal angel.
* AIIsACrapshoot – The blurb for the robot sample detachment suggests that a lot of planets run by artificial intelligences are somewhat reticent to discuss what, exactly, caused their creators’ extinction…
* AliensAreBastards – Well, this is a science fiction wargame, so yes. There’s this.
* AlienInvasion – one of the sample settings, the War on Terra, is about various modern-day human factions defending against aliens and their human sympathisers. Once the setting becomes space opera, this can be played straight or inverted by the warring factions.
* AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs – The orbital assault scenario is an attack on an enemy headquarters.
* AncientConspiracy – One of the Urban Fantasy factions is an occult organisation. The Schulers and Handwerkers are implied to be older than the war.
* AnnoyingArrows – Primitive Infantry can be upgraded to carry missile weapons, but they’re not that effective.
* AnotherDimension – In Space, No One Can Hear You Scream.
* Anti-Armour – Two variant upgrades, each with a version for shooting and melee respectively. Anti-Tank/Demolitions, for weapons designed for penetrating vehicle armour, but that are less useful against unarmoured targets, and Armour-Piercing/Rending, for weapons such as rapid-fire autocannons, in that they reduce Armour slightly for all targets.

* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu? – Being a large-skirmish/small-battle level of game, even the most powerful units, which can represent demons, alien overlords or god-machines, can be killed.

The game was nominated for Best Miniatures Rules at the UK Games Expo 2023, but was beaten by ''Moonstone''.

* Absurdly Sharp Blade – The Mono-Molecular Blades xeno rule, which is also ''Sharpened To A Single Atom'', if taken literally.
* Abnormal Ammo – Xenomorph upgrades, possibly, and in general shooting attacks can represent anything, including psychic powers.
* After the End – one of the suggested settings is post-apocalypse, with sample detachments in various flavours of zombie apocalypse, Mad Max, Fallout and a cult led by a (possibly) literal angel.
* AI is a Crapshoot – The blurb for the robot sample detachment suggests that a lot of planets run by artificial intelligences are somewhat reticent to discuss what, exactly, caused their creators’ extinction…
* Aliens are Bastards – Well, this is a science fiction wargame, so yes. There’s this.
* Alien Invasion – one of the sample settings, the War on Terra, is about various modern-day human factions defending against aliens and their human sympathisers. Once the setting becomes space opera, this can be played straight or inverted by the warring factions.
* All Your Base Are Belong To Us – The orbital assault scenario is an attack on an enemy headquarters.
* Ancient Conspiracy – One of the Urban Fantasy factions is an occult organisation. The Schulers and Handwerkers are implied to be older than the war.
* Annoying Arrows – Primitive Infantry can be upgraded to carry missile weapons, but they’re not that effective.
* Another Dimension – In Space, No One Can Hear You Scream.

* Apocalypse How – It varies, depending on your post-apocalyptic setting.

* The Armies of Heaven – The Demonic rule can be renamed Celestial for when the demon in question has whiter wings.
* Armour is Useless – Averted. Armour is a central part of the wound resolution system, where even naked savages have at least one point of Armour. That said, it represents all-round resilience. Troops actually wearing armour though are potentially very, very tough, with Elite Infantry being upgradeable to the level of light tanks.
* Armour-Piercing Attack – The lighter and cheaper version of Anti-Tank is literally called Armour-Piercing. It has a melee equivalent in Rending.
* Army of Thieves and Whores – Several of the sample detachments are for pirates, bandits and the like.
* Artifact Title – The ‘Rampant’ is a reference to heraldry. The original Rampant game was Lion Rampant, about medieval warfare. From there, it spun out into the fantasy Dragon Rampant, and from there to science fiction as Xenos Rampant. Obviously, aliens very rarely appear on medieval European heraldry.
* Asskicking Equals Authority – Many sample detachments have the toughest unit in the army as their Commander.
* Awesome Personnel Carrier – Transport Vehicles are, like most units, quite generic, but, again as with most units, with a few extra rules, they can be flying, invisible, psychic infantry fighting vehicles. Softskin Vehicles upgraded to have transport capacity have an even wider array of options, including bigger guns (CHECKTHIS), but they’re quite a bit flimsier and arguably not really worth spending too many points on.

* The Bad Guys Are Cops – Possibly the case, if you’re playing a good guy faction and your opponent is literally playing the police.
* Badass Army – It’s possible to create forces composed entirely of elite troops, although it’d be very small in size.
* Badass Bikers – The Mobile upgrade available to many infantry units is intended, in part, to represent this.
* Badass Crew – Elite Infantry are good at everything, but come with a points cost to reflect that.
* Bad Boss – The Brutal Leader rule allows for ‘morale-boosting’ battlefield executions (You Have Failed Me), while several of the Commander Traits are actually negative, such as poor administrative skills, cowardice, impulsiveness and other personality flaws.

* Biomanipulation – CHECK PSYCHIC POWERS
* Bodyguarding a Badass – The rest of your Commander’s squad, although this is really a subversion in that, with stats being for an entire unit, whether it consists of one man or ten, bodyguards actually dilute your Commander’s badassery.
* Boring But Practical – Heavy and Light Infantry are your basic soldiers, but the former are capable of holding their own in sustained firefights, while the latter are squishier but capable of seizing objectives ahead of slower-moving infantry.
* Breath Weapon – Xenomorphs can be upgraded to have a shooting attack, allowing for Starship Troopers-style tanker bugs.
* Captain Ersatz – Several of the units described in the rules, and particularly the sample detachments, appear to be referencing specific settings with the serial numbers filed off.
* Car Fu – Vehicles can attack in melee, representing ramming, although they’re not very good at it without certain upgrades, particularly Walker, which presumably brings arms as well as legs.
* Church Militant – There are several cults detailed in the sample detachments, including one led by a (possibly) literal angel.
* Combat Medic – It’s an available upgrade to any unit, supplying a saving throw to nearby units that take casualties.
* Crapsack World – This being a wargame, each of the settings described is quite crapsack: Nazi and Allied troops fighting a secret war during and after the final months of World War Two, gangs of cultists clashing with police and each other in The Meanest Streets, the War on Terra is the middle of a worldwide alien invasion, where the superpowers have been decapitated and it’s only humanity’s dogged determination
* Critical Failure – Unstable units suffer damage on fumbled activation rolls, while Psychic Hazard units do on fumbled activation rolls for psychic powers only.

* Death From Above – The Special Insertion rule often represents this, particularly in modern or historical settings.
* Decapitated Army – The Hive Mind rule.
* Defenceless Transports – Not quite, but they are pretty rubbish in combat. Softskin transports that haven’t been given the Technical upgrade are assumed to have only whatever guns the driver is waving out of a window.
* Despair Event Horizon – If a unit rolls 0 or below due to modifiers on their Courage tests, they rout, being removed from the board in their entirety.
* Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu? – Being a large-skirmish/small-battle level of game, even the most powerful units, which can represent demons, alien overlords or god-machines, can be killed.
* Diesel Punk – The Weird War Werwolf setting has lashes of this, mixed with pulp adventure stories and Cthulhoid horror.
* The Dog Bites Back – Following the surrender of Germany in World War Two, the British made use of German turncoats as local guides, spies and foot soldiers in the fight against Werwolf. These turncoats were a mixture of anti-Nazi resistance and German soldiers repulsed by the horrors unleashed in their nation’s name by Werwolf. In-setting, these were the oppressed fighting back against their oppressors, and it can count in-game as well, if a unit of turncoats kills a Schuler or Handwerker commander.
* Dying Race – The Ancients sample Detachment represents an aeons-old species that something something
* Easy Logistics – In general, this trope is in force. However, there are optional rules in the After The End post-apocalyptic setting for ammunition shortages.
* The Earth That Used To Be Better – After The End
* Elite Army – Perfectly possible, since there aren’t any restrictions on Detachment composition beyond limiting the number of armoured vehicles.
* Elite Mooks – A common composition for an army is to include one hard-hitting unit of elite mooks (often Elite Infantry), backed up by lighter, cheaper units.
* Empire with a Dark Secret – The Third Reich, but not just for the obvious reason. The two factions of Werwolf, the Schulers and the Handwerkers, are both dabbling in things man was not meant to dabble in. Arguably, the Handwerkers have the greater secret, in that they’re not actually super-genius Mad Scientists, but just reproduce technological concepts that they are given by their alien ‘patrons’ in return for handing over undesirables as research subjects. Considering that a Handwerker appears in the human Les Collaborateurs sample Detachment for the War on Terra Alien Invasion setting, it seems the ‘patrons’ have a far bigger end goal than just helping a gang of racists take over Europe.
* Town with a Secret – Innsdorf is an Expy of Innsmouth, just in Germany.
* Enemy Civil War – The Schulers and the Handwerkers were constantly struggling for supremacy within the socially Darwinist byzantine political structures of the Third Reich, with the Handwerkers dominant for much of the war (because who doesn’t like power armour and flying saucers?) and the Schulers taking the lead when Germany ran out of money and resources to pay for bloated, inefficient Handwerker projects. This rivalry did result, on occasion, in violence between the factions, even though they were both, theoretically, on the same side against the Allies.

[i]Xenos Rampant[/I] is a ‘large skirmish’ tabletop wargame, written by Daniel Mersey and Richard Cowen and published by Osprey Games.

Based on Dan’s earlier <i>Dragon Rampant</I> fantasy variant of his Rampant family of games, <i>Xenos Rampant</i> is a setting-neutral science fiction ruleset, meaning that models from virtually any range of miniatures can be fielded. The game includes several chapters of optional rules and suggestions for games set in Weird War One and Two, modern day urban fantasy and alien invasions, post-apocalyptic survivalism and space opera boarding actions.

The game was nominated for Best Miniatures Rules at the UK Games Expo 2023, but was beaten by <i>Moonstone</i>.