I loved that the manual emphasized that you should "cheat" as much as possible.

Yes, Junta was very effective at getting the players to act like they were (or wanted to be) in charge of a banana republic.

And Jess, I'll fire up a couple of Conquer Club games shortly.

I have played Junta a couple of times (first in high school and more recently in Greece) and I agree it is fun -- the assassinations, the double-dealing, the graft. Good times, good times. My only quibble is the mini war game that I felt was a bit grafted onto the structure of the game. It certainly captured the flavor of a banana republic environment, but I think I would have prefered a more abstract (and quicker) mechanic -- maybe a card play system, or a vote system. Our Junta games usually ran 5 to 6 hours, which is certainly outer edge for my tolerance for any one game.

Still, for its time Junta was really pretty unique and very forward leaning. Between that and Dune we whiled away many an hour.

My only quibble is the mini war game that I felt was a bit grafted onto the structure of the game. It certainly captured the flavor of a banana republic environment, but I think I would have prefered a more abstract (and quicker) mechanic

Yeah, the coups really disrupted the fun. I suppose that's true in reality as well.

I have heard of Junta. It is a game I must track down one of these days.

When, y'know, I unplug myself from the 360.

I have never played Junta. I do, however, own it, and look forward to the day when I can give it a whirl.

BSG

Policy on side conversations is I'd rather avoid them. My feeling is that in a F2F game of BSG, it wouldn't really be part of the spirit of the game, so I'd rather avoid it here too.

Conversely, you can talk to me as much as you like, though I don't promise I'll be helpful.

BSG

I opt for losing 2 population.

BSG

Very well. The bad news is, you've just lost a sixth of the Fleet. The good news is, the lost portion included all the whiners, so Morale is holding steady. (Just thematically, I love that you only lose the Morale if you get these people back.)

Let's finish up the card:

Cylon: Raiders activate. Somewhere. Probably where the lost ships are. But not here, as your space is empty. No effect.

Jump Prep: Yes. Advance to Red 2.

We're missing one small thing, I neglected to ask Dr Baltar what he would like to draw with his Delusional Intuition. Once I have that, I'll post the end-of-turn summary and we'll move on to Apollo's turn. (Apollo, as you're in Sickbay you draw only 1 Skill Card. You can email me your choice, and your move and action if you wish.)

BSG

Baltar should have remembered too. Sorry about that- card choice sent.