Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Session Report - BSG Pegasus - The Most Epic Adama Betrayal Ever?

This game was played on Saturday, 26 November 2011. We used the Pegasus Expansion with seven players. We had one Cylon leader and we did not use the Sympathizer rule.

Caprica Six - Matt
Starbuck - Brandon
Baltar (Roslin) - Nate (President)
Tyrol - Remmington
Helo - Will
Apollo - Jeff (BSG Virgin)
Adama - Me (Admiral)


I am a Cylon.


This is two games in a row that I have been a Cylon right off the start. Adama is my favourite character from the show and I hate to see him as a Cylon. Adama is the last person who should be a Cylon. It just seems wrong. 


As a Cylon, I usually try to play it as straight as possible and try to revel at the worst possible time for the humans. As the Admiral, the most epic Cylon win would be to wait for Galactica to return during the New Caprica phase and then jump the ship with all the humans and civilian ships still on the planet. Can I pull it off? I decide to go for it. I will play it straight for as long as possible and focus on lowering morale and population during the game. If I can get morale down to between 2 and 4, it should be a sure win.



Another typical beginning. Starbuck goes first and launches in a viper. Baltar squirrels himself away on Colonial 1 and starts to collect Quorum cards. I XO Starbuck who proceeds to use a Maximum Firepower and kills 5 raiders. Not so great for the Cylons, but we manage to lose 2 morale, 1 population and 1 fuel during the first turn, so a good step for my plan. 


Round two starts off and we jump right away. Very fast completing our first jump (for us) and I make sure to mention it and say what a good thing it is. I pull a distance 3 and distance 1 card. No choice, I have to go with the distance 1. Luckily for us Cylons, Baltar is next and his crisis is boarding parties, so there are Cylons on the board immediately after the jump. Caprica Six plays the Super Crisis card Footage Transmitted. It is just about the most useless crisis to play at this time. We point that out to him, but he does not seem to care. We suspect one of his victory conditions must be humans win. I XO Starbuck (again). Not a great round for the humans. Two population and 1 fuel is lost, but it looks like the Cylon leader is on their side.


Round three goes better. Starbuck is on fire, killing 2 heavy raiders. Baltar kills 2 raiders with Civilian Self Defence, Tyrol damages a Basestar and it cannot launch raiders, Apollo gets XO'd and kills another heavy raider, while Caprica Six moves to infiltrate. We lose a total of 1 fuel and 1 morale and jump again. Both distance cards are 1's so no difficult decision for me. I pick the one where we can't get any fuel and move on. I hope the next jump gives me a distance 2, or the others will start to get suspicious.

Round four starts with Starbuck pulling up Dogfight for her crisis, but we jump a few turns later, both choices being distance 1. I make a show of our bad luck, no one seems suspicious at this point. Right after the jump Heavy Assault comes up and Starbuck is sent to Sickbay. I go last and for my crisis I pull Legendary Discovery, sending us to the sleeper phase. The humans do well this round, losing only 1 food and getting half way to the end despite my jump distance sabotage. So far, no one seems to suspect me except Baltar, but his method is to accuse everyone at some point and gauge their reaction. I act tired with his constant accusations against everyone, and suggest that we should put him in the Brig, even if he is not a Cylon, as his constant accusations just cause disharmony. That keeps him in check, or at least off my back. Last game we played the same player was Baltar and he trusted me, but still checked my loyalty card, and forced me to revel. With the sleeper phase upon us, I have received a You Are Not A Cylon card, so I have some insurance if he does the same thing.

Round five starts with Starbuck pulling the Verdict of Guilty crisis, causing 2 damage to Galactica. We lose 2 more food on Baltar's turn, but before we get to me, we jump again. This time both destination cards are distance 2. One loses us 2 fuel the other 1 fuel but gives us a chance to use a Raptor to gain fuel. I agonize over this a bit. I want to take us down 2 fuel instead of one, but something makes me pause. I decide that since I plan to strand everyone on New Caprica, fuel doesn't matter, so I make the safe play. It is a good thing I did, as soon after someone plays a card that allows them to check under the decks. They check the Destination deck and I make sure to point out that I buried the lose 2 fuel card. Everyone is distracted talking, so I forget to mention that we could risk a Raptor for more fuel and no one notices. Six is still in the fleet, with no one suggesting we do something about her. She goes to communications and checks 2 civilian ships and moves both of them away from the Cylons. There is nothing for me to do on my turn except kill the Cylon boarder. I go to the Armoury, hoping to miss. The leadership skill of Adama turns the tide and he leads the Galactica marines and defeats the boarders. Whoops.

Starbuck leads off round five and revels that she is a Cylon. There was no indication up to this point. At least I know who the other one is. Baltar tries to shake things up and on his turn. He Brigs me and checks the loyalty cards of Apollo. He states Apollo is not a Cylon, which I already know. I start to make the case that either Baltar is the other Cylon, or his unfounded accusations are a threat to the fleet. I note that I am not a Cylon and have done nothing but help the fleet. We fail Baltar's crisis, Standoff with Pegasus, and lose 1 morale and 1 population. My argument seems to have an effect, as Tyrol is next and he attempts to brig Baltar. Previous to this Baltar had played a card which makes brigging him more difficult (by 2) and that, along with the help of our newly reveled Cylon, makes the difference and we fail the check. Of course, playing that card made him all the more suspicious which I was sure to point out to everyone else. Helo is next and he decides to Airlock Baltar, which we pass. Apollo takes over the presidency, Baltar is reveled as a human and we lose 1 morale. We fail Helo's crisis Code Blue and he ends up in the Brig. Caprica Six misses as she shoots at a Basestar and I fail to get out of the Brig.


Round six has Starbuck (Cylon) activating Basestars and damaging the Admirals Quarters. Baltar is now Roslin. She goes to the Pegasus CIC and damages a Basestar and we jump, taking us to the New Caprica phase. Everyone moves to prep the civilian ships as quickly as possible, while Starbuck tries to move the Centurians and complains loudly that she could use some help from the other Cylon.

I am now starting to get nervous. I am so close to an epic Cylon victory I can taste it. I am still playing the loyal human, but the number of suspects for the second Cylon are starting to thin. Starbuck has reveled, and everyone is pretty sure Caprica Six is on our side. Baltar/Roslin is human for sure and Apollo has been checked and is human. Apollo is starting to get suspicious of his father. He suspects Tyrol, Helo or me. I suggest it has to be either Tyrol or Helo and ask him why he would suspect me. He says he suspects me only because he knows I am a good liar. Apollo's turn comes up and he brigs Helo. More ships are prepped. Galactica returns. Two more ships are prepped. Even Caprica Six preps a ship. My turn comes up. I return to Galactica and with no one else on board, jump the ship, leaving every human and civilian ship stranded on New Caprica. With morale at 2, there is no need to count the lost food and population of the civilian ships.


Cylons win.

Postscript: Stabuck revels she got her Cylon card on the sleeper phase. Caprica Six revels her win conditions were humans win and play a Super Crisis card.

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