Trust me when I say that while the chain of command is strict, it is not heartless... and neither am I. This is your ship, and I have no desire to interfere with Galactica's internal affairs.

-Admiral Helena Cain, "Pegasus"

Battlestar Pegasus, with its superior weapons, reinforced armor, and massive size, appears to bring salvation to the crumbling colonial fleet. Newer, larger, and more powerful, it offers firepower capable of devastating a Cylon Basestar. Its formidable main weapon batteries can quickly dispatch enemy raiders, and its automated engine room can make an FTL jump with remarkable efficiency. With all of this newfound force, humanity’s journey might have become immensely more secure... but this power comes at a price. Admiral Helena Cain and her crew do things a bit differently. To the discontent of most of Galactica’s complement (and despite her promises), Cain has consolidated the crews, and has disrupted the comfort of Adama’s status quo. Far worse, with reckless disregard for the safety of the civilian population, Cain lets her lust for revenge guide her actions, often with tragic results. Humanity has little time for infighting, and room enough for only one leader. But can the two crews learn to work together, or will some internal conflicts require drastic solutions? And what’s the point of saving humanity if, in the process, we lose that which makes us human?

We've all gotten used to bending the rules, having our way, letting things slide. Well, that's over. You wear the uniform; you will accept the rules that go with it. You've been transferred. Pack your gear and report to the Pegasus CAG. Dismissed.

-Commander William Adama, “Pegasus”

Welcome to the second preview of the upcoming Pegasus Expansion for Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game . In our last preview , we explored the Cylon Leader role, with all of its power and trickery, we met “Caprica” Six (a deeply conflicted Cylon Leader), and we took a look at the new “treachery” skill type. This time, we’ll take a look at the human team’s response to those impressive threats: Battlestar Pegasus. We’ll also get a look at the cutthroat commander of the Pegasus, Admiral Helena Cain, and we’ll explore some of the reckless new tactics available through never-before-seen skill cards!

The Pegasus Board, placed adjacent to the game’s main board, offers four aggressive new spaces for human players to employ, while also providing a space for the new treachery skill deck. In the Pegasus CIC, activating players can unleash a barrage of fire onto a nearby target basestar... at the risk of some collateral damage. Likewise, the Main Batteries location has the potential to take out four raiders, if it doesn’t accidentally hit a viper or a civilian ship. The Engine Room allows players to exchange their personal resources – skill cards – for a guaranteed move on the jump track. Finally, the most ruthless of the Pegasus spaces is the fearsome Airlock. By passing a skill check (one of the few for which the “treachery” skill type counts as positive), the human players can send a character to an untimely death!

“Airlocking” a player means he immediately reveals his loyalty, and executing a suspected Cylon will (in addition to stopping his “reveal” ability) prevent him from drawing a devastating Super Crisis Card upon his resurrection. Either way, executed players lose their entire hand of skill cards, but be certain! Sending innocent friends screaming into the cold vacuum of space can put a damper on a crew’s morale. After this unpleasant business, players of wrongfully-executed human characters draw new characters and begin anew, but if too many players restart in this fashion, the humans immediately lose the game!

You think I don't understand his feelings towards his men? Sometimes terrible things have to be done. Inevitably, each and every one of us will have to face a moment where we have to commit that horrible sin. And if we flinch in that moment, if we hesitate for one second, if we let our conscience get in the way, you know what happens? There are more kids in those body bags.

-Admiral Helena Cain, "Resurrection Ship, part 2"

Respected by some and feared by others, Helena Cain’s callous attitudes and unmerciful methods make her the ultimate double-edged sword. Her “Intolerant” ability allows her to cut through the formalities and quickly execute her enemies, while her once-per-game “Blind Jump” action lets her make a hasty (and expensive) retreat from ugly situations, just like she did from the attack on the Twelve Colonies. Perhaps most potent, however, is her position on the updated chain of command; outranking Adama gives her control over the fleet, for better or worse...

But this fall, Cain won’t be the only character with daredevil tactics at her disposal. As humanity’s plight becomes more desperate, their actions must follow suit. New skill cards allow human players to make any skill check “reckless,” thereby improving their odds of success. The humans may choose to play a single reckless skill card before each skill check – they have a number to choose from, and each has a powerful effect designed to “hedge their bets.” Such recklessness has its risks, however, and doing so opens the door to various dastardly responses from the Cylons (or the Destiny Deck); a variety of “treachery” skill cards have effects that respond specifically to “reckless skill checks,” and if these cards appear in a reckless check, their devastating text applies!

Pegasus Expansion offers a bevy of new strategic choices for Cylon and human alike, but for the humans, each new choice presents a costly gamble. In our next preview, we’ll take a look at the optional revised endgame: the New Caprica board. Once humanity finds itself under the oppressive yolk of Cylon control, it will take everything the human players have to gather their broken remnants and escape, before they’re wiped out once and for all!

Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game is a semi-cooperative game of politics, betrayal, and survival for 3-6 players, based on the hit SciFi Channel series.