Played another game (6 player) last night with another group. I'd like to post some impressions from the group and get responses from other players.

Characters: Helo, Apollo, Chief, Zarek, Adama, Baltar

First off, this group did a very great job at keeping the cylon secret. We all had suspicions, but never a guarantee, only our president (baltar) got the opportunity to peek at Loyalty cards who kept quiet because HE was a cylon since the beginning.

We had a lot of action early. Our crisis draw was unlucky and we got two cylon attack cards in the first time round the table. Luckily we escaped (jumped) with little casualties . maybe only one civilian ship lost, two centurions onboard and a damage token on Galactica. So unlke some other games that were "quiet" in regards to space battle this game really put the pressure on early! We thought the game would be over quickly!

Since the cylon was the president he did a great job of doing "wasted" actions of drawing quorum cards and just doing the crappy ones (like assigning a VP) and not doing the +morale ones. Heck we even gave him extra actions with Executive Orders.

In the end it was close .. we were at 1 fuel .. a few morale and 1 population (after the final jump that gave us -3).

Some issues/frustrations the new players had (which could even out after several more plays)

1 - Baltar the cylon got a second Cylon card in the Sleeper Agent Phase. He then had to waste two whole turns to get someone to aid him during a critical moment. He revealed himself, through someone in the brig, but then his turn was over .. next turn he had to go to Ressurection ship to give his extra Loyalty cards to someone else. So the humans had 8 actions (5 human players first time round and 4 human playser 2nd time round) before he could start doing cylon ship actions. He couldn't really stay unrevealed .. 5-1 would not have worked (and wasn't).

2 - Along with #1 .. the Sympathizer didn't come out .. it seems pretty easy to have one resource drop to 1/2. In our case, knowing this, I purposely made a crisis fail (despite being NOT a cylon) that gave us -1 morale to drop it into the red shortly before we hit 4 distance ... I felt it was the only smart thing to do . .if I became a cylon in the sleeper agent phase .. I had helped lower a resource .. if I wasn't a cylon after sleeper agent phase I didn't want to have a 3-3 game. Lucky I did .. a few turns later we jumped and I got the sympathizer card! This has been discussed in both groups .. when a sympathizer card is in the game .. the humans should ALWAYS try and let one resource drop to half (specifically the easier ones to control like morale or food) so the humans will outnumber the cylons.

3 - Drawing only two cards as a cylon player. A revealed cylon gets to put in ONE card to a crisis after revealed. When I have played cylons and in yesterday's game it is frustrating beyond belief to draw two cards .. and draw two 1's. So even though you have the right colors to mess up a crisis, being able to pitch in a "1" usually makes it pointless. On the key last round of the game, our cylon drew those dreaded 1's and knew he had absolutely no way to make a crisis fail (if we lost 1 fuel .. we lost) if it came up. He felt helpless.

#1 and #2 really screwed the cylon player. Getting both cylon cards AND not having a sympathizer pretty much sealed the deal for the humans I think. I have never liked how the cylon player essentially loses a turn when he reveals. It becomes way too hard to take advantage of a board situation. A lot of ships on the board and you want to reveal so you can start activating them? Well by the time your turn rolls around again they probably will have jumped or shot them down. A few people low on cards or in the brig and you want to pull of a Super Crisis or normal crisis with a good chance to make it fail? Well they all get a chance to fill their hands before you go again.

After sleeper agent phase .. and he got that second cylon card .. we were at 5 distance ..

Action 1 - Reveal

Action 2 - Ressurrection ship to give Adama the cylon card.

(We end up jumping to 8 during this turn).

Action 3 - Play Super Crisis (which failed but wasn't enought to make us lose).

(We end up FTL-ing the final jump at -3 since we had 4 population).

Overall everyone liked it. They liked the banter and the accusations and paranoia. The lone cylon had a grand time during the opening rounds of the game .. It just has been frustrating for the cylon players for that lack of control they have in the key end-game spots. The frustration is bothersome as it may prevent some people from trying it again.

Last_Crusader said:

As Admiral, I encouraged this strategy in the last game I played and the humans won, though barely (every resource at 1 when we made the last jump). Fortunately I did not end up a Cylon in the sleeper phase.

The interesting thing was that had I been a Cylon, I could've used the Admiralty to jump to a water moon and restored the food dial back to blue. So it's not a fool proof strategy.

Part of the game is that you don't have much control, as either a human or cylon.

A suggestion in terms of saving time revealing: reveal right before your turn by getting someone to Executive Order you, that way you waste more precious human resources.

Last_Crusader said:

I agree with this. In the "no sympathizer" variant, a revealed cylon draws 3 cards. Is that such a radical change to not use that rule in normal game?

Last_Crusader said:

Yes, I think a revealed cylon is kind of "limited" on what he can do. An revealed players may get bored. But that would indicate that it is more fun to stay unrevealed as long as possible.. an strike at the right time.

What can a revealed cylon really do to have fun messing up with everything?

From the games I've played, the act of revealing yourself as a Cylon is a pretty powerful move. Sure, it's all you get to do for that turn. But in doing so you have the potential to damage Galactica, chuck a human into the brig or sick bay, and generally mess things up for the humans. Not to mention you can draw a Super-Crisis card. Also, even if the other players realise you're a cylon, if you feel you're in a better position not revealing, then don't. The only time a Cylon should feel like their only option is to reveal is if they've been stuck in the Brig and the other players are all unshakeable in their conviciton that you're a Cylon.

Otherwise, a Cylon's real strength is in spreading paranoia and mistrust, and manipulating the decisions of the humans. And you can do that best by staying hidden.

Timing of revealing is fairly important....if you leave it too late then your strikes may have no effect in a big game, especially if the humans get through a jump post the halfway point rapidly....