Thursday, June 4, 2009

Title Strategy

Below are some strategies pertaining to the Admiral and President titles.

Admiral

First 4 Line of Succession: Adama, Tigh, Helo, Apollo

Duties
1. Makes decisions on certain Crisis Cards.
2. Decides the next destination after jumping the fleet.
3. Has control of the two nukes.

Good Strategies as Admiral
-"SCOUT, SCOUT, SCOUT!"Be sure to scout the destination deck as much as you can. Once you find a place you are satisfied with, scout the Crisis deck.
-Keep a good balance on how you make decisions. Do not let the other players consistantly tell you what decision you make. If you make a decision that is unpopular, be sure to explain yourself seriously so that you are not pegged as a Cylon (the guy next in line could be the Cylon).
-Keep the nukes safe before the sleeper phase. They should only be used when overwhelmed by a Cylon fleet.

Characters as Admiral (Things to keep in mind)
Adama: Starts with Admiral title and his passive ability only works positive for humans which will help reduce attempts to detrone him.

Tigh: Careful using his Martial Law ability as it will make you suspect of being a Cylon (too much power for one).

Helo: Re-roll ability will greatly help with scouting and when you use nukes, you can reroll to hopefully get a better score (per errata, strategic planning on first roll will also count towards second roll).

Apollo: Many Crisis cards will make the Admiral have to discard skill cards, and for Apollo, you will have to discard randomly.


President

First 4 Line of Succession: Roslin, Baltar, Zarek, Apollo

Duties
1. Makes decisions on certain Crisis Cards.
2. Has control over the Quorum cards.

Good Strategies as President
-Stay on Colonial One to build a decent Quorum hand (if you are unseated, the Quorum cards are passed to the next President).
-Since YELLOW cards are most abundant to you, be sure to use Investigative Committee as much as you can.
-Like the Admiral, keep a balance on how you make decisions. If you need to, explain why you are making unpopular decisions.

Characters as President (Things to keep in mind)
Roslin: Remember you must discard two skill cards to activate a location. If you cannot depart with skill cards, use the President Title card to draw or play a Quorum card.

Baltar: Right off the bat, you will not be trusted. It's probably best to just not get overagitated by early accusations as it will look bad for you. Remember that a player must waste a turn and bring about a skill check to the group to get you out of the Presidency.

Zarek: Your only problem will be that some other player may block you from using a specific location. Remember that it is harder to take the Presidency from him because of his passive ability.

Apollo: Just like his stay as Admiral, Crisis cards forcing the President to discard will make Apollo discard randomly.

Chief: Chief may not seem to be a likely President but consider that besides repairing, he has no real specific purpose. For the good of the group, it may be wise to have him sit in the President's Office building a Quorum hand until repairing is needed.

Location Strategy

Press Room: Lets the player draw two politics cards.Strategy: More often than not, you will draw at least one Consolidate POwer card, which will allow you to draw two more cards of any type. After jumping from a Cylon attack, use this location to stock up on skill cards.

President's Office: The President may use this location to either (A) draw a Quorum card, then play a Quorum card from his hand or (B) draw two Quorum cards.Strategy: The President should try to use this location to build his Quorum hand, especially when the fleet is not under attack. Remember, when a new President is chosen, the Quorum hand stays in play under the new President.

Administration: Use this location to nominate a new President. If the skill check on the location is passed, that player becomes the new President.Strategy: Obviously, if the current President is a Cylon, or is just simply not doing their job, activate this location to get them out.

FTL Control: By activating this location, the fleet will complete a forced jump. Then roll the die, if 1-6, the fleet loses population based on the number currently on the Jump Track.Strategy: This should only be a last option. If the civi ships are backed into a corner or Galactica cannot survive another damage token, the population loss is worth it. However, its best to have a Strategic Planning skil card ready. Plus, if Helo is in the game, he can use his re-roll ability for a better chance to not lose population at all.

Weapons Control: Allows a player to attack one Cylon ship with Galactica.Strategy: This location should only be used if attacking a Basestar or if the Command location is damaged.

Command: Gives the player two Viper activations (lauch Viper, move Viper or attack with Viper).Strategy: The best option for non-Pilots to fend off Cylon attacks. If you see a player at this location during an attack, use an executive order (if you can trust them) to give that player four Viper activations.

Communications: A player uses this location to look at the back of two civi ships. Then those ships can be moved to one adjacent space.Strategy: Many players overlook moving the civi ships from Raiders. Most players will take Raiders head on with Vipers. Step one to an attack should be to move civi ship strategically away from the bulk of Raiders and then move Vipers into a defensive position.

Admiral's Quarters: Any player uses this location to accuse another of being a Cylon. If the location's skill check is then passed, the accused player is sent to the Brig.Strategy: This is self explanatory, if you suspect someone, use this location. However, it's best to gauge whether the group can afford the skill card loss from the skill check first. And lastly, make sure you are certain that person is guilty or the group will waste more skill cards getting them out of the Brig.

Research Lab: Use this location to draw either a Tactics or Engineering skill card.Strategy: This location should be used if the group needs a quick repair. If the fleet is not under attack, its probably a better idea to use the Press Room to get the cards you need.

Hangar Deck: Pilots use this location to launch themselves in a Viper. After launching, they are given another action. This action can be the use of a skill card ability, a character ability, move Viper action or attack with viper action.Strategy: Really depends on what Pilot you are:
1. If you are Starbuck, get into space ASAP during an attack.
2. If you are Boomer, you might be better off using Command since you have no character ability that effects your piloting of a Viper.
3. If you are Apollo, you should NEVER use this location. Your passive ability puts you into a Viper whenever an unmanned Viper is placed on the board (you could potentially use Command, move or attack with one Viper activation, use the second activation to lauch a Viper then use your ability to put yourself in that Viper, and get an extra action).
4. If you are Helo, its best you stay on Galactica since you will not have many Pilot skill cards.

Armory: Used to combat Centurions that board Galactica.Strategy: This is pretty straight forward. If Centurions board Galactica, this location needs to be used ASAP.

Sickbay: When in sickbay, the player only draws one skill card from his skillset.Strategy: Basically, just move out of sickbay the first chance you get. Best is to convince another player to give you an executive order before your next turn.

Brig: If in the Brig, as an action, try and escape by having the group pass the skill check.Strategy: Remember you can still use skill card actions while in the Brig. If you need to wait another turn to stockpile some more skill cards, it might be a better option.

Skill Card Strategy

During the game, its imporatant to balance the amount of skill cards used for their ability and the amount used in skill checks. Below will help guide the best way to handle each skill card type.

Politics (YELLOW)

Investigative Committee
Playing this card before the group adds cards to the skill check will cause all cards to be played face up. Even if you don't suspect anyone, this card will prevent the group from over playing a skill check.
Skill card value: 3-5
Using on Skill Checks: Since many skill checks with YELLOW as positive also include GREEN, it might be better to save these cards for the ability and use your GREEN cards (all but one character draws GREEN cards).

Consolidate Power
A greatly underestimated skill card. Since there is a location that lets you draw 2 YELLOW cards, this gives you the ability to stock up on a skill you really need.
Skill card value: 1-2
Using on Skill Checks: You will have many of these throughout the game, probably at least one in your hand at all times, especially if you are a Political Leader. Don't be afraid to use the 2 value cards in skill checks often.

Leadership (GREEN)

Declare Emergency
If the skill check fails by up to 2 points, use this card to lower the strength requirement.
Skill card value: 3-5
Using on Skill Checks: If a Cylon is sabotaging skill checks, it is unlikely you will fail by 1 or 2 points. It's nice to have one in your hand just in case, but since 26 out of 41 Crisis skill checks need GREEN as positive, its better to play these and keep your Executive Orders in hand.

Executive Order
Play this card to give another player 2 actions at his current location OR one move and one action. Extra useful during massive Cylon attacks.
Skill card value: 1-2
Using on Skill Checks: Absolutely one of the best skill card abilities in the game. Do not waste these on skill checks unless completely necessary.

Tactics (PURPLE)

Strategic Planning
Before rolling the dice, play this card to raise the player's dice roll by 2.
Skill card value: 3-5
Using on Skill Checks: Very good to keep on hand for important dice rolls. Also found as positive on 29 of 41 Crisis skill checks. If possible, keep one in hand just in case and use the remaining for skill checks.

Launch Scout
Like Consolidate Power, this skill is very much overlooked. Use this skill to look at the top of either deck.
Skill card value: 1-2
Using on Skill Checks: The key to humans winning is to try and control the amount of luck that goes into the destination and crisis decks. However, since many characters pull PURPLE cards, don't be afraid to part with these on skill checks.

Piloting (RED)

Massive Firepower
Play to attack with a Viper 4 times instead of 1.
Skill card value: 3-5
Using on Skill Checks: Nice card to have, but most of the time when RED is positive in a check, political leaders will not have any cards to help, so these are better kept for skill checks.

Evasive Manuevers
Play to have raider attack roll again, if viper is manned, reduce second roll by 2.
Skill card value: 1-2
Using on Skill Checks: Same as above, especially when there is no Cylon attack.

Engineering (BLUE)

Scientific Research
Play before cards are put into skill check, but before revealed. Make all cards of one color equal zero.
Skill card value: 3-5
Using on Skill Checks: Like RED cards, BLUE are not held by most players, therefore these should be saved for skill checks.

Repair
Play to repair a location or two vipers in the hanger deck.
Skill card value: 1-2
Using on Skill Checks: These are best to conserve just in case. Because only one character draws two per turn (other two characters draw only one), there aren't many players that have easy access to these cards.