BSG

I'm glad to hear you enjoyed Cally, ND. It seemed like it would have been frustrating! Although, I lost track of the card counts about halfway through, which would have affected what I was expecting from you. I also thought to myself at one point that her weakness would be great for a closeted Cylon, because you could feign that you didn't want to play because of the card restrictions, when you did have cards that would have helped. Mind you, I didn't think this about you; this round I felt you were in the clear pretty much all along.

I also thought Cain was in the clear early, which was interesting given her character (very in character) choices. I could easily have seen how you could have made those calls as a player pretending to be making character points, and really just making aggressive moves. But I loved that the way the abilities shook out meant that she was played making the brutal decisions.

As tends to be the case for me, I did okay with my actual gameplay, but sucked at the social (i.e. suspicions) stuff. I think partly because we had previous negative reactions, I want everyone to be happy and not feel bad if accused. But that's the wrong way to play this game! And it seems like at this point, everyone's enjoying playing both sides. So j'accuse next game! Of course, then I'll be the Cylon, and I'll be all, hey, I'm accusing you because I'm the Cylon, whoo! But I'm learning, and I really like the gameplay this round, very exciting, even though it ended spectacularly badly for Team Human.

BSG

On a character note, yeah, bt and I did discuss the character traits of Anders before I went with him. But I loved him! I did think the card limitation would be one and done, but it really was problematic all game. And I think I should have played more aggressively to increase his hand early, but we really just didn't have that much time to.

Cain, on your last turn, if you'd XO'd Anders instead of Cally, I had orders that he'd use Star Player, which would've netted him an Evasive Maneouvre and 2 Max Firepowers. There's the chance he could've cleared out Sector 6, and still had something left to defend from the other raider squadron too.

Oh, man! I can't believe that would have been the draw! Again, social stuff. I should have spoken up and offered that as an option, instead of just thinking it through and leaving invisible CO's. But I agree, we were in a world of hurt at that point. It would have been very dramatic, but it would likely have only put off the inevitable.

I really liked Star Player. I did a little research on it, and because Sam is only a half-ish pilot, it was made clear that the way to capitalize on the character ability was to use it to boost that half of his game. It would have been interesting to have had a longer, more tactical game, where I could have used it on the non-combat side of things.

One of the things I feel I did successfully was to combine that with Critical Situation. I was able to significantly boost my hand for the situation, and still get action in. It would have worked equally well in most XO situations as well, as I did do the once, even though that was a mistake.

I liked my OPG as well, and think I was able to use that well. But at that point we were already on the downward slide. I'm glad I didn't try to put it off, because the subsequent activations would have been even worse.

So overall, Anders did turn out to be a challenge to play, but a good one, and I'd definitely try him again in the future. Both of his traits were more pronounced than I'd expected; his weakness hurt him more than I thought, and his strength was more useful than I thought. But I do feel like I really got to try him out this round, especially when the other pilot turned all evil and stuff. I think he was able to be a successful pilot, but only because of using his character strength to that advantage. Without that, he'd be tough to play, and it did mean I had to use turns to get his hand in shape.

BSG

I enjoyed playing Cally and would do it again. I enjoyed the challenge of her weakness. It actually makes the decision process on skill checks a lot crazier. It's very much an all or nothing and you can't spread out where you help.

Cool, I'm glad you enjoyed it. She's been immensely popular on BGG. Another interesting feature, she draws four colours as her regular draw, that's more versatile than any other character. She'll probably be my choice next Exodus game I play.

I wish I'd gotten to use my Cylon Detector for good!

I would've settled for you using it for evil. Of course, by the time you'd picked up 5 loyalty cards, I doubt anyone would've listened to you no matter what you said. I know I was fully prepared to be sceptical.

On a character note, yeah, bt and I did discuss the character traits of Anders before I went with him. But I loved him!

You... mean Anders, right? I'm spoken for! Bilingually!

And I think I should have played more aggressively to increase his hand early, but we really just didn't have that much time to.

It's not always a feasible move, but the Press Room can be great for that. If you can score an XO out of someone, that's four cards right there. (Including ICs, which are less powerful in Pegasus, but still very useful for avoiding overspending.) Not an option for you, sadly, as you didn't even have a card to spend to get over there. Both games I played, I had an extended stay in the Press Room at some stage.

So overall, Anders did turn out to be a challenge to play, but a good one, and I'd definitely try him again in the future.

Yes, he looked to be more fun than I expected, really. You certainly wound up in the thick of things after you got a Cylon pilot again.

You... mean Anders, right? I'm spoken for! Bilingually!

{makes blinky eyes at the whole bt family} Well, okay, I love bt too, in a chaste sort of fraternal way, but I meant Anders!

Yes, he looked to be more fun than I expected, really.

Agreed. And I think more versatile than I expected too. I think you could play him a number of different ways.

Plans for the next game: I have an assignment and a couple of other bits and pieces to take care of right now, so I'm thinking we start in about a fortnight's time - April 9 or 10. This will also work for P-C, who's fleeing the country. He should be back by the time we start.

In the meantime, I've the same questions as last time:

Who's in for another go-round? Any former players, whether in the last game or not, are most welcome; so too are any newbies who'd like to give it a shot. Post here or email me.

What version would you like? Options:

1. Standard Pegasus, just like the last couple of games.
2. Base game, like all the games before then.
3. Standard Pegasus plus the simple Exodus elements.

Those are the ones I recommend. If people want to extend things further, I could also offer any of:

4. Add a Cylon Leader.
5. Add New Caprica.
6. Add Conflicted Loyalties (Exodus).

If you'd like to play next game, send me as many preferences (in order) as you'd like.

We have a couple of weeks to sort everything out, so feel free to think it over, and any questions, just ask.

BSG

I'm fine with using the version we've been using (hell, it's going to be weird playing the base game in real life after this, it seems so much more simple with so few cards!), and I'd be interested in trying out New Caprica or even Cylon Leader (but not both, let's not go too crazy).

BSG

I'm in for next game. I'd be interested in adding the Exodus elements. But I'm up for whatever people want to do.

BSG

Status report on preparation for game 8: we have four players who've signed up so far. There's still over a week to go before we get underway, and there are up to two more places free.

Preferences so far:

Polter-Cow: Pegasus. Would be interested in adding New Caprica or a Cylon Leader.
Liese: Exodus.
-t: Exodus.
Laga: Pegasus. Second choice: add a Cylon leader.

So we're currently running more or less even between sticking with Pegasus and adding Exodus. My own preference is adding Exodus bits, as they're not much more complicated (it's considerably less of a step up to Exodus than it was to Pegasus) and it gives me more Crises and things to play with. Ultimately, though, it's player's choice.

If any newbies would like to give it a shot, we'd be happy to have you on board. We offer excellent support, and it can be quite an experience. If anyone has any questions about the way it works, there's plenty of time to ask.

BSG

I'd be up for adding Exodus stuff for more Crises and things to play with. Plus then nukes will finally blow up civvies like we always think they will anyway!

BSG

I'd be up for adding Exodus stuff for more Crises and things to play with. Plus then nukes will finally blow up civvies like we always think they will anyway!

Strictly speaking, the new nukes (now with added devastation) are only part of the Cylon Fleet expansion module. (Along with a bunch of other stuff, including souped-up vipers and the CAG title.) Certainly not proposing we do that, it adds a lot of complexity; but once we have a crew together, we can discuss whether people would rather use the new nukes anyway.