I kept getting caught up in all the options that were open to me and it was hard to focus on one thing (like the Boarding Party). I didn't have the greatest strategy, more a Nibbled By Ducks approach and just pick at resources.

Seriously, there are tons of options for a revealed Cylon, so many ways to cause havoc and so little time. I'd recommend revealing.

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BSG

So, were there any other weird loyalties out there than the one that came up in the context of the game?

I'm glad you asked. Boomer was extremely bland, holding three plain vanilla "YOU ARE NOT A CYLON" cards.

Gaeta of course had his Personal Goal which would have hurt Fuel if it'd gone unrevealed. He was also a member of the Final Five; if anyone were to look at his FF loyalty card, he would kill them. (Really.)

Tory got a Final Five card from Cally - she would simply arrest anyone checking her out. She also had the other Fuel PG. (Fuel was highly volatile this game.)

Then there's Anders. He was a Cylon, with a reveal power: add a Centurion to the boarding party track. (Because you needed more of them.) But it's his other card that would have killed you. He too held a Personal Goal, which if unrevealed by game end, would cost... 1 Morale. If you jumped before either Airlocking Anders, or finding a way to raise Morale, the fleet would've seen defeat snatched from the jaws of victory (and they would've been really sad about it).

Also, bt, it seems like the Centurions really are the best weapon for Cylon victory. Do you have the stats on how many times they caused the Cylons to win?

On this forum, Centurions have been the cause of victory twice. On boardgamegeek, I have stats for 56 games including the Cylon Fleet module. Four of them were Centurion losses, which is not so bad. The Cylons' most successful path to victory hasbeen blowing up Galactica, accounting for ten games. Population losses are just behind on nine games.

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BSG

We fought hard, at least. Cylon Fleet was really interesting and changed a lot of strategies.

You did! Came remarkably close, really, If Tory's last crisis hadn't had a heavy raider activation, I think you might just have made it - as long as everyone XO'd Tory. After using her OPG, and with the cards she had in hand, Tory had quick access to any or all of the following:

Authorisation of Brutal Force: Destroy a Lannister Centurion!
Inspirational Speech: Raise Morale! Maybe!
Resources for Galactica: Repair FTL and a couple of vipers!
Arrest Order & Execute Prisoner: Brig Anders, and then KEEEELL HEEEEEM!

It would've taken another four crisis cards before you could find the last jump icon, but only one of those crises could have killed you (Medical Breakthrough - you'd need at least 6 to avoid a Morale loss), and Six still had her OPG. If you'd survived Cally's turn, you stood a real chance of getting out of there.

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BSG

I think because of the Cylon Fleet stuff, I kinda lost track of the boarding party. I mean, I knew they were there, I just kinda forgot about how threatening they were.

On this forum, Centurions have been the cause of victory twice.

Okay, seemed like more.

If you jumped before either Airlocking Anders, or finding a way to raise Morale, the fleet would've seen defeat snatched from the jaws of victory (and they would've been really sad about it).

Oh, man, that would have been a brutal way to lose. I should have used my OPG to avoid getting us down to 1 Morale, probably. I didn't because I was still trying to reduce population at that point.

I think we underused Tory, for sure.

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That was fun! I really like the Cylon Fleet module, though I wouldn't say I exactly understand it, yet.

It was fun to watch too! And yes, all the new things confused me too. But it was fun chatting with BT in the background. And even then, I was a little confused with all that was going on. Huge Kudos to BT for keeping everything going, and knowing what the heck was doing!

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BSG

Some other replies:

I really liked playing a Revealed Cylon! It started out because I had no idea how to hide spiking checks when was forced to play 2 cards or no cards.

It's true, Cally's weakness makes spiking less straightforward. However, it does mean you can 'soft-spike' a check more often, by not supporting it at all and blaming it on your weakness. (Advanced paranoia: if you do spike a check and people start looking for a culprit, while you can't identify particular cards and claim that those were the ones you played, you can remind people of your weakness and claim you made a net positive play.)

I was totally confused by the Cylon Fleet most of the time, and because we added both Cylon leader and Conflicted Loyalties at the same time, it was almost impossible to figure out peoples' motivations.

That led to one of my favourite exchanges, after Boomer accused Anders of being a Cylon for the first time. I recall it going something like this:

Boomer: "Anders is totally a Cylon! He spiked that check and good!"
Gaeta: "She who smelt it dealt it, jailbird."
Tory: "Whoa, hey, let's not be hasty here. Maybe whoever spiked the check had a good reason, you know?"
Anders: [crickets chirp in the distance]

(Incidentally, that check damaged some vipers in the reserves. There was a person who had a legit reason to spike, namely Tory - her PG could only be played if at least six vipers were damaged. She didn't spike the check, but she had reason to. Of course, so did Anders, insofar as he was a frakking Cylon.)

We fought hard, at least. Cylon Fleet was really interesting and changed a lot of strategies. But it was hard to manage it all without two pilots in the air.

I quite enjoyed running the Cylon Fleet. It does change the game experience considerably. I assume people want to keep it for the next game?

I think we underused Tory, for sure.

This is one gripe I have with the Cylon Fleet module. It often happens that, in the latter half of the game especially, the crew never has time for anything but combat (and repairs). Makes it harder to utilise the Presidency effectively.

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Scavenger Hunt on Infinite Earths

Okay, victor, I realize it takes a certain amount of hubris to look at the entirety of time and space, both fictional and non, and say, you know, who I really want to be is me. But I do.

So I shall play myself, albeit a slightly fictionalized version of myself, one with a Marty McFly version of a tour bus.

I chose ella sprink as my nom du game, since it already exists in the world; i.e., as my author name back in the day in Nov. 3rd Club.

I very nearly backed out, as my schedule will be a bit wonky during the specified gameplay time, but it looks like too much fun.

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Excellent! I was actually kind of hoping someone would play themselves when I threw the possibility out there!

Glad you decided to play. Once it's rolling, it's built to be flexible, so I don't think schedules will be that bgi of a problem. (And Lor dknows, there are no real stakes...)

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BSG (Andersbot 9000)

Yes, I really was hoping we could get all the way there just so I could pull the rug out.

I fully enjoyed being an unrevealed cylon and having the accusations be baseful for a change. I found when I was human before, the more I tried to argue for my humanity, the more people thought I was a cylon. So I tried to keep my trap shut and it really worked! It's a lot harder to let the accusations slide when you're not actually a cylon.

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BSG

One last thing I wanted to say about the game, everyone kept a brisk pace throughout, and I think the game really flowed and kept everyone's interest throughout. You finished a 39-turn game in almost exactly one month - that's faster than getting through a turn a day. Good effort, everyone.

Let's start planning game 15. I propose that Conflicted Loyalties and Cylon Fleet be on the table once more (unless the crew wants to omit either or both of them). Same policy as for the last three games re Cylon leader:

5-player: out.
7-player: in. Last player has to be a CL, if no one else has taken it already.
6-player: optional. First person to put their hand up gets to be one; no problem if no one takes the option.

But our first order of business is: who's in? We have GMs working around the clock to take your call. Post here or email me if you'd like to join in "Buffistica 15 - the Admiral's Jodhpurs".

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