This game was played on Saturday, 12 November 2011. We used the Pegasus Expansion with six players. No Cylon leader and we did not use the Sympathizer rule.
Gaius Baltar (President)- Nate
Admiral Cain (Admiral) - Me
Apollo - Remington
Chief - Will R (Matt)
Starbuck - Will B
Helo - Ryan (BSG virgin)
I am a Cylon
This is the first time in a while that I have been a Cylon right off the start. As it is my game and I have played the most of our group, I am often in the position of giving advice or suggestions to other, newer players to get them into the game. All of my suggestions revolve around helping the humans, so if I suddenly stop giving advice, they will suspect me. I decide that I better play it straight at the start, and do everything to help the humans win the game.
All our games seem to start with people going to Sickbay on the first play, and this game is no exception. Chief Tyral goes first, shoots at the Basestar and for his crisis, the Basestar hits weapons control, sending him to Sickbay. The rest of the first round is fairly typical. Pilots shoot Cylons, Cain (me) XO's Starbuck to shoot more Cylons. For my crisis, I pull Guilt by Collusion. We pass it and the Chief is brigged. Baltar is getting aggressive right off the bat, mixing things up to see what happens.
During round 2, the Chief fails to get out of the Brig, but we get to jump. Both the cards I pick are 2 distance, so that will help me avoid suspicion. One destination loses us 1 fuel and 1 of another resource, the other loses 2 fuel. I choose to lose 2 fuel, thinking that I will control the ability to get fuel throughout the game, so I will focus on that resource.
Round 3 puts more Cylons on the board right from the start. Pilots are spending their time killing raiders and I am XOing them. Baltar is getting out of control. He is accusing everyone of being a Cylon and threatening to put them in the Brig. He is causing so much chaos, I am sure he is a Cylon as well, although he claims not to be. Yet he is coming to me for suggestions and advice. We are starting to form a bit of a team. I figure I can use him to cause chaos. On his turn he gets Code Blue which allows him to check a loyalty card. I figure this is unnecessary to pass, as I know I am a Cylon and suspect he is the other. Since he is asking my advice on who to check, I figure I am safe and decide not to risk spiking the skill check. Surprise, he decides to check me! (After the game, Baltar says he decided that since he was going to trust me so much, he had to be sure I was human.) He doesn't say anything.
My turn is immediately after Baltar. I revel I am a Cylon. Although I prefer to remain hidden as long as possible, I do not fully trust him. Although he did not immediately revel that I was a Cylon, he did not say I wasn't. I figure I better get out now before I am in the Brig. If he is also a Cylon, it may remove suspicion from him. I send Helo to the Brig for my revel. Admiral passes to Apollo. Helo fails to get out on his turn.
Round 4 sees more shooting of Cylons (my poor brothers!) and we jump another distance 2, for a total of four and the start of the sleeper phase. On his turn, Baltar executes Helo for some reason (further convincing me he is a Cylon). Helo is not a Cylon and is replaced by Dee. I am next and I go to Caprica and try to use a crisis to cause the humans problems. But they don't really need my help, as Dee goes next and is executed on her turn. Dee is human and is replaced by Saul Tigh. This must be the record for fastest executions.
Round 5 begins with the Chief shooting Scar and killing him. He had just come up and I was looking forward to using him to cause problems, so much for that. The board is pretty much free of Cylons, so much so that Starbuck is repairing Vipers. The Chief goes to sickbay and Apollo, who now also suspects Baltar, successfully brigs him. Baltar uses Quorum cards to Brig Apollo. This is going well for the Cylons. Baltar is acting like a Cylon. The president and the admiral both suspect each other, yet both claim to be human. If both are telling the truth, the humans will tear themselves apart with suspicion. I am chortling with glee, still thinking Baltar must be the Cylon. He is doing a great job of acting indignant and swearing revenge on Apollo.
Round 6 starts with the Chief and he revels! Oh no, what are you doing? The humans were just getting ready to tear themselves apart! So much for that plan. Baltar and Apollo quickly make up, both pass their checks to get out of the Brig and start to focus on the reveled Cylon threat.
Round 7 starts off badly for the humans. There are already a lot of Cylons on the board and they are getting close to doing some real damage. Starbuck goes to FTL and jumps early, distance of 2 for a total of six. Apollo gets the Tactical Strike crisis and Baltar uses his Quorum cards to raise morale. My turn. The humans have not been paying attention. There has been a Cylon Boarder on the ship for some time now and he is one step from venting oxygen. If I go to the Cylon Fleet location I can activate Heavy Raiders and end the game. With the recent draw of the Tactical Strike crisis, there are a lot of Cylon ships on the board and they are far from being able to jump. My Super Crisis card is Massive Assault, so I decide to play that, thinking we will get them by attrition with our ships (a much more satisfying way to victory). I may regret this.
The humans are now in a bit of a panic, with so many Cylon ships on the board. Tigh uses a nuke and severely damages a Basestar. This doesn't really help them. But for his crisis he pulls Legendary Discovery, which allows the humans to advance 1 distance if passed.This would put them in the New Caprica phase and render useless all the ships above them. They throw everything into it and pass by a lot.
The occupation of New Caprica begins. As this is our first time getting to the New Caprica phase, there is a lot of delay and rereading of rules. Resources stand at Fuel 3, Food 2, Morale 4 and Population 10. Another food is lost immediately on Starbucks turn, setting food at one. I am at a bit of a loss for Cylon strategy. We can force ships to be destroyed and hope to get lucky that one will contain food, but this seems risky and is putting the fate of the Cylons on luck. Both sides get to it. The humans focus on preparing ships, while the Cylons try to advance the Centurians. The humans prep 4 ships, the Cylons destroy one. One population is destroyed.
Galactica returns. The Chief has to leave (it is now 3 am), so Matt steps in to finish the game. We discuss the best strategy to defeat the human threat. The humans try to get more ships off the planet, but Cylon Cain moves to the Cylon Fleet location, advances the Heavy Raiders and the Cylon Boarders end the game by destroying Galactica.
It is now almost 4 am. Everyone is very tired. I regret not ending the game earlier.
Overall, a good game, if a bit long. I enjoyed the New Caprica phase, it added a nice twist, putting the focus on civilian ships. I think we will use it again.
However, there is a new house rule. All BSG games must start before 10 pm.
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