JP
Canada
Sherwood Park
Alberta
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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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Epic indeed! They allowed you to do a lot of bad stuff, three distance 1 destinies... We usually check the admiral on the first opportunity for that reason.
Good play, so say we all!
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You got brigged, making Helo the Admiral.
Did you get out of the brig before Helo failed Code Blue? Otherwise, Apollo should have been Admiral. That's a pretty important detail to leave out...
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Evgeny Reznikov
Israel
Haifa
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Getting to New Caprica with the Admiral that revealed three 1 distance cards unchecked for Cylonhood is not "the most epic betrayal ever".
It's more like "we don't know how to play this game well" (with all due respect for your group).
And yes, he wasn't the Admiral when they got to New Caprica, but making him the Admiral again is just asking for it.
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Darren Nakamura
United States
Tempe
Arizona
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Also, if Baltar got executed and came back as Roslin, shouldn't Roslin have gotten the Presidency rather than Apollo?
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Holger Hannemann
United Kingdom
Severn Beach
South Gloucestershire
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Great session report!
Even if you got some rules wrong I guess it was great fun for all players.
And isn't the experience and the atmosphere all that counts in this game?
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Jason Beck
United States
Springfield
Virginia
May the odds be ever in your favor.
If you bring me the Arrow, I will show us the way.
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Grusome99 wrote: 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.
The issues that commenters above have raised are valid: as-written, it sounds like you all may be playing incorrectly regarding the transfer of titles from the brig and executions.
Additionally, you're not really supposed to disclose specific information about cards that aren't public knowledge like this; the Admiral can't, after all, ask for advice on which destination to choose, and so on.
Also, as has been pointed out, this is less of an epic reveal and more that it sounds like your fellow players need to brush up more on how to play. If you'd chosen a 1-distance as the first jump in my game, I'd be watching you very, very closely, and if you'd chosen a second 1-distance, you'd have gotten escorted to the Airlock. It may be helpful to remind your play-group that every jump cycle costs the humans resources, so it is not in humanity's interest to just crawl along with tiny jumps.
And, if the second Cylon has not been identified by the time New Caprica is reached, checking the Admiral's loyalty is of paramount importance, precisely to prevent this sort of scenario. If you're playing with people who are relatively new to the game, it can be helpful to give little strategic tips and hints like that before and after the game so that they can improve as players and hopefully step up the challenge level a bit.
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JP
Canada
Sherwood Park
Alberta
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Yes, we should have caught that.
The sequence was, Starbuck revels, Baltar goes next and tries to Brig Adama with a card and checks Apollo. The next player is Tyrol, he tries to Brig Baltar with the Admirals Quarters, we fail and then the next player, Helo, Airlocks Baltar, which is successful. Helo's crisis card is Code Blue and he is sent to the Brig. Apollo should have been Admiral. Baltar was acting very suspicious. If he was not a Cylon, he was making it difficult for the humans. I did not mention that Starbuck gave his extra loyalty card to Baltar, so at this time he had 4 loyalty cards.
Although I am very sure Apollo would have chosen the same destination card as I did, whether I could have got the Admiral position back is questionable.
Rule Question: Adama actually did not get out of the Brig. The New Caprica phase began before he could get out. We checked the rules for this, and it states that all players go to Resistance HQ. Nothing is mentioned about brigged players going to detention, etc. Any clarifications?
As for the point about checking the admiral early, most of the players have 5+ games under their belt, with the exception of Apollo, who was new. I don't think it necessary to mention any more strategy points like checking the Admiral, although they did eventually do so. At some point the hand holding must end. I suspect they will check sooner next time.
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Jason Beck
United States
Springfield
Virginia
May the odds be ever in your favor.
If you bring me the Arrow, I will show us the way.
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Grusome99 wrote: Rule Question: Adama actually did not get out of the Brig. The New Caprica phase began before he could get out. We checked the rules for this, and it states that all players go to Resistance HQ. Nothing is mentioned about brigged players going to detention, etc. Any clarifications?
This is correct: even players who are in the Brig are released to Resistance HQ.
Since the Admiralty does *not* transfer when someone *leaves* the Brig (unless *everyone* is in the brig at the time), the Admiralty should have stayed with Apollo.
Additionally, getting thrown in Detention on NC does not move the Admiralty, as getting thrown in the Brig does, so it would've had to have been moved some other way. In this case, it sounds as if Apollo should've stayed Admiral and you shouldn't have been able to jump them away from NC.
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JP
Canada
Sherwood Park
Alberta
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This is a good question.
Not sure, but we discussed it and decided it would be a bit strange to give that player back the President position. I guess it depends on the sequence of events. If Baltar is eliminated, does the Presidency pass immediately, or does it pass after a new character is chosen. Note that at this time, everyone was pissed at Baltar for jerking everyone around, and if he wasn't a Cylon, he might as well have been. After getting airlocked, Baltar specifically stated that he was going to choose Roslin so he could still be President. No one wanted that.
The question is, can the Presidency pass to the newly added player just by choosing someone at the top of the succession list?
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Jason Beck
United States
Springfield
Virginia
May the odds be ever in your favor.
If you bring me the Arrow, I will show us the way.
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Yes.
If it helps, you can think of it this way: When a player is executed, any titles they have go into limbo. Once the players-in-game have been established, then that (or those) title goes to whomever is highest in the line of succession.
So, if you execute someone and they turn out to be a Cylon, their title goes to whomever is highest in line. If, however, you execute someone who is human, you wait until they've chosen their new character, and then assign the title via lines-of-succession.
Baltar was correct in this case: choosing Roslin would have allowed him to continue on as President.
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Michael Aldridge
United States
Nashville
Tennessee
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Grusome99 wrote: The question is, can the Presidency pass to the newly added player just by choosing someone at the top of the succession list?
Yep, Jason's correct. The rule is clearly stated in the Pegasus rulebook on page 8, above the order of succession table. It's stated again on page 12 in the rules for Execution, top right.
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I really wanted to read this report, but then I found out that you used New Caprica. Big mistake.
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