All about Battlestar Galactica

Anyone who games with me knows that Battlestar Galactica (aka BSG) is one of my favorite board games. The game has dominated my game playing since I first played it in late 2008. From the first play, it was obvious that this game was a masterpiece of theme and function.

The combination of co-operative game with the uncertainty of hidden traitors makes for a game experience that both entertains and intrigues the players. And this is after I have played the game over 500 times.

Some random BSG factoids from my 500+ games

It took me almost 4 years to log my first 100 games. My first 2 games were on November the 28th, 2008 at Loscon #35.
We held BALTARFEST 2012 on November the 11th, 2012 where I played my 100th, 101st and 102nd games of BSG. The group played 9 games of BSG that day.
Since then I have played approx 100 games of BSG a year. I logged my 500th game in January 2017. I was a cylon in that game, and the cylons won.
The most games I have played in one day is 5. I have done so at least twice, the last time was February 4th 2017 when I reached 500 games played.
I have played 4 complete games in one evening, in little more than 4 hours.
My regular BSG players can play a full game in around 1.5-2 hours.
I like to play (original) Gaius Baltar. Next I like to play (New) Zarek.
The longest game was a 7 player game that took 7 hours. Do NOT play 7 player BSG.
The shortest game of BSG that I have even witnessed was little more than 30 minutes. David M, an unrevealed cylon, held both the Admiral and President titles. He was able to consume all 8 food without the humans being able to stop him.
In my regular BSG gaming circle; the reward for simultaneously holding the CAG, President, and Admiral titles is the Princess badge. Before that we had a cheap plastic tiara but that did not fit in the game box.

Value for money

Most of the times I have played BSG have been with the same copy I bought back in late 2008. The game has had a lot of use.

The game box has been repaired and then replaced at least twice.
The basic cards are original, they are still in almost perfect condition. Then again the cards been re-sleeved several times.
The main game board has broken along the fold lines, I am now on the 3rd main game board.
A great example of wear and tear are the Starbuck character pieces. Starbuck is a popular character and gets a lot of use. As you can see from the photo below the original Starbuck pieces were getting a little threadbare. Dodgy John, a regular BSGer, very kindly donated a copy of BSG so I could have pristine Starbuck pieces. The problem is… well I quite like the originals, they have character. Cylon Chris noted that the two Starbucks represent the evolution of the character from Season 1 to Season 4.

My worn and replacement Starbuck character components

BSG House Rules

My regular BSG group uses several House Rules to fix perceived problems with the BSG games.

Cain character card – We have found that this characters Once-Per-Game action is too powerful. Out House Rule is when Cain draws the Destination card, it is drawn from the middle of the card deck rather than the top. This stops the use of a previous Launch Scout Action to setup a specific Destination card for Cain.

pic2780860_lg — My 400th game coincided with BALTARFEST/FATDOG 2015

Useful BSG related links

Dynamic BSG Online Rulebook – A unified rulebook for all of Battlestar Galactica and its expansions. An online rulebook that is intended to be a single source for looking up rules for Battlestar Galactica, unifying the various sources of information in a single place. It’s also intended to be as detailed and precise as possible.