Fantasy Flight Games
By Ron McClung
At GenCon 2008, I was able to obtain a prerelease copy of the Battlestar Galactica, The Board Game, based on the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica (BSG) hit show on Sci-Fi Channel. Being a fan of the show, normally I would be concerned that this was just another licensed product that took advantage of the popular title but had not substance. However, knowing Fantasy Flight Games fairly well, I knew they would not insult my intelligence as a gamer as well as a fan with a simple game.
The game board is made up of five major areas – the Galactica, Colonial One, the Viper hanger/damaged Viper area, the resource dials, and the Cylon area. The ships and the Cylon are divided up in locations that players can visit and have special effects if activated. The Resource dials measure the fleet resources and these diminish as the game goes on. The Cylon area are used by the Cylon characters and the Viper hanger is where the in-play Viper and Raptor figures are placed when they are not used or damaged . Also on the board is the Jump Preparation track where the fleets FTL jump preparation is tracked during play.
The game plays with 3 to 6 players and each play one key character from the show like Admiral Adama, Apollo or Starbuck. Characters are either political, military or pilots. Character can also have a role – either the Admiral or the Presidency. These allow for special abilities like the Admiral has access to two nukes. Players are also given a Loyalty card, randomly. A key concept in the game, this defines the
There are several sets of cards used in the game as well. The most important of these are the Skills cards and the Crisis cards. Skills cards enhance players actions and are also used when challenges and skill tests are made.
Game play is simple. Each player take their turn by going through series of steps. Starting with their character actions and ending in the Crisis card,