Sunday, October 4, 2015

The Sunday Miscellanea - Battlestar Galactica (2008) plus Expansion

After the last time we played Battlestar Galactica (2008) (blogged about here), we decided not to wait too long to get it back on the table.  Our next time playing, we added the Battlestar Galactica: Pegasus Expansion (2009).  Although the Battlestar Galactica: Exodus Expansion (2010) was available to us, we opted not to add that into the mix.  We also did not add New Caprica.  We had a blast but screwed up in a significant way that I will detail later.


The description for the base game from Board Game Geek is as follows:
Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game is an exciting game of mistrust, intrigue, and the struggle for survival. Based on the epic and widely-acclaimed Sci Fi Channel series, Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game puts players in the role of one of ten of their favorite characters from the show. Each playable character has their own abilities and weaknesses, and must all work together in order for humanity to have any hope of survival. However, one or more players in every game secretly side with the Cylons. Players must attempt to expose the traitor while fuel shortages, food contaminations, and political unrest threatens to tear the fleet apart.
After the Cylon attack on the Colonies, the battered remnants of the human race are on the run, constantly searching for the next signpost on the road to Earth. They face the threat of Cylon attack from without, and treachery and crisis from within. Humanity must work together if they are to have any hope of survival…but how can they, when any of them may, in fact, be a Cylon agent?
Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game is a semi-cooperative game for 3-6 players ages 10 and up that can be played in 2-3 hours. Players choose from pilots, political leaders, military leaders, or engineers to crew Galactica. They are also dealt a loyalty card at the start of the game to determine if they are a human or Cylon along with an assortment of skill cards based on their characters abilities. Players then can move and take actions either on Galactica, on Colonial 1, or in a Viper. They need to collect skill cards, fend off Cylon ships, and keep Galactica and the fleet jumping. Each turn also brings a Crisis Card, various tasks that players must overcome. Players need to play matching skill cards to fend off the problems; skill cards that don't match hinder the players success. Fate could be working against the crew, or there could be a traitorous Cylon! As players get closer and closer towards reaching their Earth, another round of loyalty cards are passed out and more Cylons may turn up. If players can keep their up their food stores, fuel levels, ship morale, and population, and they can keep Galactica in one piece long enough to make it to Earth, the Humans win the game. But if the Cylon players reveal themselves at the right moment and bring down Galactica, the Humans have lost.

The description for the expansion from Board Game Geek is as follows:
The first expansion for Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game, Pegasus adds two new supplemental game boards featuring the Battlestar Pegasus and the planet New Caprica, seven new characters, two plastic Basestars, as well as new Destination, Crisis, Loyalty, Quorum, Super Crisis, and Skill cards.
The new Pegasus board can be used by itself or together with the New Caprica board to create the game you desire – the Pegasus alone for the additional firepower she provides, or add the New Caprica board to simulate the rebellion on the new human colony, bringing the game to an epic level.
New rules introduce the ability to play as a new character type – the Cylon Leader, with a new Treachery Skill card type.
From the Box:
The arrival of the Battlestar Pegasus heralds a new era in the lives of the Galactica crew and the Colonial government, bringing badly needed manpower and firepower to humanity's ongoing fight against the Cylons. However, under the command of Admiral Cain there is no place for compassion or mercy. Now brutal necessity and hard choices erode humanity's moral compass. The Cylons, in turn, are changing as well. The more they are exposed to humans, the more their individual agendas begin to guide their actions. In a time of suspicion and desperate need, the line between right and wrong grows less and less distinct.
The Pegasus Expansion for Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game brings players the next chapter in the popular Syfy series. In addition to more Destination, Crisis, Super Crisis, Loyalty, and Skill Cards, this expansion introduces many new card types such as Treachery Skill Cards, representing the underhanded methods used to sabotage humanity's struggles. New characters in the expansion allow players to play as Cylon Leaders, who can win or lose based on their own mysterious motivations. New gameboards allow characters to explore both the Pegasus and New Caprica. Finally, with the New Caprica Objective Card and board, humanity will be subjected to Cylon rule, and must defend themselves from their oppressive overlords until Galactica can return to attempt a daring rescue.

Let me just say up front that the Humans never stood a chance.  In the first turn, there were so many Cylon attacks the game would have kicked the co-ops butt in short order anyway.  The fleet was limping by the second turn.  Food and fuel were low very quickly with population and morale even lower.  In the end it was the population that killed the game.  But, what really killed the game was having three skin-jobs.  Somehow we had left in the extra card that should only be used with more players.  Granted, only two of the traitors ever effectively did any damage, the third was a new player that played the game like a human anyway, thinking it was safer to blend in and not make any moves.  However, without him being much more pro-active and just the vibe in the air as folks were questioning one another, may well have confused things and made the Cylon victory even more probable.

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