Primary attributes — Strength, Intelligence, Will, Health and Agility — are either generated by dice rolling, or by a point-buy system.

The player adds the character's relevant Skill Rating modifier to the Difficulty, and must roll less than or equal to this total on three dice.

If nothing else, the source material is a good read and should give you plenty of ideas for military missions, whether you're running Aliens, MegaTraveller, Twilight: 2000 or Mechwarrior.

[5] In the July 1992 edition of Dragon (Issue 183), Rick Swan thought the combat aspects of the game heavily outweighed the roleplaying.

Swan found the simplified version of the Phoenix Command rules were still convoluted, pointing out that "Complex actions, such as those involving an active opponent or a chance of physical harm, may require Movement modifiers, Risk levels, rolls on the Opponent Skill Rating Generator, and Equipment checks from the Damage to Equipment table."

The detailed combat system allows experienced referees to stage reasonably engaging tactical battles, and the Aliens make formidable opponents.