My love for me now / Ain't hard to explain / The Hero of Canton / The man they call...ME.

Jayne ,'Jaynestown'


Gaming 1: You are likely to be eaten by a grue

A thread for the discussion of games: board, LARP, MMORPG, video, tabletop RPG, game theory etc. etc. and all attendant news, developments and ancillary subjects thereof, as well as coordinating/scheduling games either online or IRL. All are welcome to chime in, talk about their favorite games or learn about gaming of any sort.

PLEASE TO WHITEFONT SPOILERS for video games, RPG modules or anything for which foreknowledge of events might lessen one's enjoyment of whatever gaming experience.


Laga - Apr 16, 2014 4:50:11 am PDT #22833 of 26134
You should know I'm a big deal in the Resistance.

BSG (R.0.M.0)

Even though I was on the losing team, it is nice to see Humans win for a change.

As always way fun. Thanks, GM!


Liese S. - Apr 16, 2014 7:19:34 am PDT #22834 of 26134
"Faded like the lilac, he thought."

BSG (Apollo)

WHOOOT!

I was only in sickbay the once, and as you'll recall, I angled to stay in there so that I could meet my personal goal, but at the time, the Centurion on the track seemed the greater threat, so I gave up on my personal goal in order to survive as a team. Because I am a team player like that. I was so sure that was going to cost us at the end. Thank goodness it didn't!

I screwed up basically allll the way through this game! I did a good job accumulating presidential powers, and then basically couldn't use any of them. I suspected Baltar (sorry, Baltar!) which meant I accidentally defended Romo (were you a Cylon already then, Romo? I bet you were.) when suspicion came up. I should have been much more assertive, because I had in my hand the ability to essentially keep someone from spiking, brig them and kill them. And I never did! I also could have sprung Zarek and/or Athena from the brig when we got to that point. So then once both Cylons were revealed, half my Quorum hand was useless.

I really liked NewPollo as a character. He was very usable, and his weakness wasn't nearly as problematic as his strength was awesome. I felt like I was pretty able to be effective in that way.

I think I just need to strike a balance between classic Liese PARANOIA! ALL THE TIME! and not talking about suspicions at all. The suspicions are half the fun!


NoiseDesign - Apr 16, 2014 7:30:09 am PDT #22835 of 26134
Our wings are not tired

BSG (Hot Dog)

Good game! I thought we had you on the ropes and then the tide turned. It was a toss up between advancing the centurion on board the ship and the crisis draw and I went for the draw with got 33, and then the humans got lucky and were able to jump away before an activation that would have been devastating.

Ah well, at least I keep up my reputation for turning into a toaster.


Laga - Apr 16, 2014 9:27:46 am PDT #22836 of 26134
You should know I'm a big deal in the Resistance.

BSG (Romo arigato Mr Roboto)

I was indeed a cylon the whole game. At sleeper phase I was able to pass Apollo the card I later managed to peek at and cause all kinds of havoc.

That you humans still managed to survive is quite amazing


Polter-Cow - Apr 16, 2014 9:32:23 am PDT #22837 of 26134
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!

BSG (Zarek)

At sleeper phase I was able to pass Apollo the card I later managed to peek at and cause all kinds of havoc.

YOU JERK. I wondered why you picked him instead of Cally, who had publicly stated that checking her Loyalty could be bad. (Mine would have been even more disastrous, as it would have killed me.)


Laga - Apr 16, 2014 1:59:11 pm PDT #22838 of 26134
You should know I'm a big deal in the Resistance.

YOU JERK

yeah. It really felt good drawing the card I'd hoped for with a 1/3 chance.


Liese S. - Apr 16, 2014 2:43:17 pm PDT #22839 of 26134
"Faded like the lilac, he thought."

Yeah, I was pretty pissed at that because I knew you knew!

eta: I mean, not for reals. But in game, PISSED!


billytea - Apr 17, 2014 6:45:09 am PDT #22840 of 26134
You were a wrong baby who grew up wrong. The wrong kind of wrong. It's better you hear it from a friend.

BSG

Thanks everyone, I really enjoy running these games (for the most part).

My wrap-up. As always, congratulations humans and commiserations Cylons. This is the first human victory in seven games, so well done. I continue to be impressed with the new Daybreak elements, not least being the 0-value and Treachery cards. There were skill checks that were made of awesomeness, with all the effect cards therein.

Some other notes:

  • Romo was a Cylon from the start. Hot Dog turned at Sleeper Phase.

  • This may be the first game where no one used their OPG.

  • The first time you drew Thirty Three, just before it got shuffled back into the deck, the next nine crisis cards all had jump icons. So that was unfortunate.

  • For the humans: It took six jumps to win the game. Three of them were for just 1 Distance; two of them, the Admiral had a 2-Distance choice, but chose the 1-Distance option. As a general rule, unless there's an imminent need for it, it's best to go for the distance and try to end the game earlier. On average, with each jump, you lost about 4 points of resources; after the Sleeper Phase, it was over 5 points. 1-Distance jumps typically offer the chance to gain 1 resource point (or some other benefit), which may or may not wind up mattering. In short, it's not really worth it. In fact, I'd also recommend thinking more often about jumping at 4 (Blue). Risking just 1 Population is often worth shortening the game.

  • For the Cylons, and I mention this a lot in the post-game: the object of the game is not to stay hidden. Both Cylons had worthwhile opportunities to reveal, on an XO or State of Emergency, not long before their next turn and with a space battle in full swing. Things might have been different if they'd sabotaged and revealed instead of helping to fight back.

  • For me, behind the scenes, the situation looked very interesting coming into the final jump. There was a Centurion three steps from a Cylon victory, and I could see that the next two crisis cards have heavy raider icons. (Incidentally, at game end too, the next two crises had heavy raider icons.) If the Cylons had both activated William the Bastard, then the humans would have had to destroy him in a single turn (Apollo's) or lose the game. However, the Cylons didn't know that of course. Only a fifth of all crisis cards have a heavy raider activation, so it was more likely that William would just sit there for a while.

All that could have been pre-empted anyway. Cally's final choice of destination was between Asteroid Field (which she chose) and Mining Asteroid. That card would have activated Scar again, and then reshuffled the crisis deck. It's anyone's guess how that would have turned out. However, Mining Asteroid was only 2 Distance, so the humans would have had to survive for yet another jump cycle.

  • This crew was very short on Purple cards - more so after Romo and Hot Dog revealed. That showed mostly in the dearth of Strategic Plannings, which hurt the crew on occasion. There's no real suggestion there, just I suppose during character selection, if you're choosing your character from a shortlist of interesting choices, overall card draw can be worth considering. (Of course, there was a way to improve matters. Cally could have shot Zarek and have him come back as Cain or Tigh, or one of the pilots.)

  • The funniest check, to me, was Weapon Malfunction, on turn 4.6. Failing it would've damaged two vipers during a space battle - not fatal, but certainly making this more difficult. This was before any Cylons had revealed. There were six negative cards played into that check, only one of them by Destiny. Both Cylons played negative (Hot Dog obscured things by adding one low positive). So did Athena, who needed damaged vipers for one of her motive cards. And I really really wish Baltar had played negative too. He had a Personal Goal that also needed damaged vipers. I would've loved watching P-C's head explode trying to work out if I'd finally done it and just given everyone else but him a Cylon loyalty card.


billytea - Apr 17, 2014 6:45:11 am PDT #22841 of 26134
You were a wrong baby who grew up wrong. The wrong kind of wrong. It's better you hear it from a friend.

BSG

  • On that note, kudos to Athena for fulfilling every one of her motive cards, though not all of them were really under her control.

Does anyone have questions about anything else from this game?


Laga - Apr 17, 2014 8:14:15 am PDT #22842 of 26134
You should know I'm a big deal in the Resistance.

BSG

I feel like the last time I was a cylon was also a human victory. Do you happen to know?