by hybridfive
Very nice report. And thanks for the quote. Playing BSG at cons is usually a great experience. I'm glad it was for you as well.I would rate your team's character selection higher than you do. Both Roslin and Helo in seats 1-3 is strong. 3 piloting cards per cycle is enough if you also have one power combat ability, which is either Starbuck's or Apollo's. Starbuck + Helo is a fine combination. Helo will usually build up red cards over the course of the game, by not using them. Similarly, 2.5 repair cards per cycle is not that low, considering that you're base-game-only, and have two political leaders who can consolidate power. It's hard to get more than 3 engineering, unless you have Baltar in the mix. You just got unlucky that both engineers went Cylon.
The rookie who picked Zarek made a good choice by not picking Baltar. I don't know if that happened organically or not, but Roslin + Baltar creates a little bit of natural tension about trust vs effectiveness of the president's office. Whereas Roslin + Zarek creates a more natural system for transfer of power. Zarek also got a bit unlucky that the giant population swing invalidated his usually-strong OPG.
Transfer of power is something that you can't expect rookie players to understand, but was sort of the missing link, in terms of what happened pre-sleeper phase. It was the opportunity for Cylon Chief to cause chaos, as well. A player who really knows the ins and outs of the game would suggest that in times of peace, the presidency moves out of Roslin's hands to someone who can use the Office location without triggering a downside. Zarek is the perfect candidate for that, but Chief and Helo are also both good candidates.
The last thing I see is that knowing the contents of the Quorum deck, even after the fact, can help spur interest in the game. Using Roslin's OPG to search for Authorization of Brutal Force is only available as an advanced play. Hopefully Roslin had a chance to look at all the cards in the Q deck after the fact. Then the player says "Man, I could have done that, if only I had known. I'll have to keep that in mind next time I play." You get people hooked that way. Get them thinking not only about what they did when they played, but what they could do next time.