Hi All,

my gaming group has played five or six times now with six players and Cylons have won every time, though it has always been close.

One thing still seems unclear - activating unmanned vipers.

Players can only activate one thing per turn, which makes me think you can only activate once, but the FAQ says

Q: Can a player use the “Command” location to launch a viper and then move or attack with the same viper?
A: Yes. There is no limit to the number of times an unmanned viper may be activated per turn.

So can a player "use the “Command” location to launch a viper and then move" AND "attack with the same viper?"

Can a single player launches the viper, then can move and shoot as much as they like? This seems excessive.

Can someone give me an example how they play this?

Cheers,

Steve

Hi Steve,

I believe the FAQ is referring to the following kind of situation: character A is in the "Command" location. It is character B's turn. B uses Executive Order on A. Executive Order says "the chosen player may move and take one action, or take two actions without moving. Character A stays in "Command" and uses its ability twice, taking two actions. For each "use" of the ability, he chooses two vipers to activate.

I think what the FAQ means is: if A activates viper 1 and viper 2 the first time he "uses" Command, he IS allowed to activate vipers 1 and 2 again with his second "use" of the location. But each individual time a viper is activated, it can only move or shoot.

Hopefully someone else can confirm or correct me.

Using the ACTION on the Command Location grants you TWO ACTIVATIONS of unmanned vipers. You can take any of the following ACTIVATIONS:

1) Launch one Viper from the reseerves into either of the corresponding space sections.

2) Move a Viper from one space section to an adjacent space section

3) Attack a Cylon ship in the same space section.

These ACTIVATIONS can be with the same or different Vipers. So if you were on Command and someone played an Executive Order on you, you could activate the location twice for a total of 4 Viper Activations. You could launch 4 Vipers -OR- you could launch one viper, move it twice and then attack -OR- you could launch 2 vipers, and attack with 2 different ones -OR- any other combo of the 3 above listed Activations.

So you can Activate the same Viper multiple times but you are limtied to the number of activations you have. If you use Command only once and only on one Viper, you will most likely either launch and move -OR- launch and attack -OR- move and attack -OR- attack and move -OR- move and move -OR- attack and attack.

Thanks for the reply 00Zaphod,

But the rule in the main book also states

"There is no limit to the number of times an unmanned viper may be activated per turn"

From your example then the Turn referred to is a game turn not a player turn? ie all players may go to command and use the same viper in their respective turns, but one player may not activate the viper multiple times within their own turn (unless affected by executive order, or some other occurence).

Cheers,

Steve

Thanks ColtsFan76

That's the way we have played it.

Just an unusual way to phrase the rule when the actual condition of it occuring is so specific. Command deck - two actions - may be on the same viper. Seems to cover it, and works for Executive order as well, just double the actions.

So in all our games Humans aren't losing 'cos we're not doing the viper piloting properly, that's a relief.

Cheers all,

Steve

Actually, what's confusing is the text on the board. "Activate two unmanned vipers" implies they have to be different. A better text for the location would be something like "Apply two unmanned viper activations".

azuredarkness said:

This is the way my group's played it. I think that's pretty much the consensus about how it's supposed to work, although I think perhaps the FAQ could be further clarified by saying whether or not a viper can be activated multiple times in the same action as opposed to turn. This would confirm beyond a doubt whether we're all right, or if 00zaphod has it right about the intention of it being for an XO situation.

Yeah, my playing group has a nickname for me referring to my obsessive grammatical deconstruction of the rules, but I won't repeat it here in case anyone might be offended - think the guy who served soup to Seinfeld.

Why do you need it explained in that level of detail? There is no limit to how many times it can be activated in a player turn so why would you need further clarification that it means per action? The intent is quite clear, you can activate an unmanned viper as many times as you possibly can, even if it is under the same action.

The question in the FAQ is in regard to the Command location. How much more specific to this exact situation can you get? Activation of Command is the same action and the FAQ addresses that you can launch and move/attack with the exact same viper. It's all there: activate the same viper multiple times under the same action. Where is there any more doubt?

I never really thought there was any other intention, only wondered if the wording could be strengthened a bit. But before this conversation crosses that blurred line between "discussion" and "argument," let me just say that after reading the wording of the FAQ again to refresh my memory, I see it's actually pretty bullet-proof. Phew, crisis averted!

Re: Humans can win?

They sure can, but it requires a certain amount of cooperation among the humans. That amount is "all of it". There can be no needless brigging, no needless elections, and executive orders must be passed around (though, some can be spared, executive ordering presidents can be really bad if they're a cylon). Even still, depending on what crises get drawn, the cylons may win anyway.

There are some other things, however. In a three player game, the one Cylon definitely has the advantage. Some characters have their drawbacks made more significant as well. For example, William Adama cannot use the brig location. If a cylon brigs the remaining player, Adama is powerless to brig the cylon player in retaliation, and, furthermore, cannot throw against because of the cards he draws. Another case is Boomer, who gets brigged in the sleeper phase. This automatic brigging sets up the remaining Cylon to brig the remaining human (unless Boomer is the cylon), and then crises and skill cards will repeatedly fail. Generally speaking, in a small game, the characters with the greatest variety of skill cards drawn (like Lee, Kara, Baltar, Tom Z) are your best options. Anyone drawing politics for consolidate power is also a plus.

Our group is about 50-50, with four players. The humans may win more of the time, it's a bit unclear.

It doesn't appear to be necessary at this point, but I withdraw my initial explanation - I hadn't read/absorbed that question on the FAQ when I wrote that reply.

ninjamatic3000 said:

Sorry, didn't mean to blur the lines. I was just trying to stress the point, perhaps too enthusiastically, that the answer is clear enough and has very little wiggle-room.

ColtsFan76 said:

No apology necessary, I never took it any other way. I just wanted to make sure my post didn't get taken the wrong way!