BATTLESTAR GALACTICA COLLECTIBLE CARD GAME

QUICK-START DEMO GAME

Two players can use these 16-card demo decks to learn how to play this fast and fun game based on the
popular science-fiction television property. The order of the decks is important for the demo script
provided.

You lead a group of powerful individuals attempting to gain control of the Colonial fleet. From your capital
ship base, you convince important persons to join your cause. You then use these key personnel to
challenge the agendas of opposing groups.

TURN ONE Throughout this demo, we’ll have

sidebar text in boxes like this that
Victory in the game is measured in influence. There is one way to win the game, quote the rules of the game. For a
and two ways to lose it. You win the game when your influence total reaches 20. full description of how to play,
You lose the game when your influence total reaches 0. You also lose the game consult the complete rules. Don’t
when you have to draw a card or reveal a card from your deck and can’t. Keep shuffle the cards. Take the top 16
these conditions in mind as we play the demo. cards to make the Galactica deck.
Put the Galactica card face up in
Players play their cards in three areas, which are “rows” in front of them. These front of you, and turn the rest face
three areas are called alert, reserve, and resource. Alert is the area closest to your down to make a deck (Starbuck
opponents, and resource is the area closest to you. goes on the bottom). Give the rest
to the your opponent, who puts
the Astral Queen card in front of
her and the rest face down to
make a deck (Billy goes on the
bottom).

During a normal game setup, players shuffle their decks and place them face down on the table. To play
this scripted demo game, DON’T SHUFFLE THE CARDS. If you get them out of order, there’s a list at the
end that will help you reorder them.

To begin, Bill and Laura simultaneously reveal their base cards. Bill reveals Galactica, and Laura has
Astral Queen. Both players put these cards in their respective resource areas.

Each base card has a fleet defense value. Players add these together to get the fleet defense level, which
determines if Cylons attack. Bill’s base provides 7 and Laura’s provides 5, so the fleet defense level for this
game is 12.

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Each player needs a way to keep track of his or her total influence. A 20-sided die or paper and pencil are
recommended. A player’s starting influence is found on his or her base card. Bill’s is 12, and Laura’s is 15.

Bill and Laura then draw their starting hands from the tops of their decks; a player’s starting hand size is
indicated on his or her base card. Bill draws four cards, and Laura draws five. Now the first turn can begin.

TURN ONE
Each turn has three phases: ready phase, execution phase, and Cylon phase. During each phase, all players
participate.

READY PHASE
All players simultaneously draw two cards from the tops of their decks. Then, once
each ready phase and starting with the first player, each player can play a card from In the ready phase, players ready
hand to his or her resource area to help create resources to play more cards. Bill goes cards by moving them from the
first because he has the lowest influence (12 vs. Laura’s 15). reserve area to the alert area, and
restore their assets and bases by
He plays Colonial Viper 516 from his hand face up to his resource area as an asset, flipping those cards face up. For
right next to his base. This creates a second resource stack (his base is the first). the first turn, there are no face-
There is no cost for playing a card to your resource area in your ready phase. down assets or bases and no cards
in reserve areas, so none of this
Laura plays Raptor 101 from her hand to her resource area as an asset. Each player needs to be done.
can play only one card in this way each turn, so the ready phase is complete.

EXECUTION PHASE
Bill goes first because he still has the lowest influence. He plays Saul Tigh,
Executive Officer to his reserve area—the row just in front of his resource area. An asset is a ship or personnel
This personnel card has a cost of 1 logistics and 1 security. played in your resource area so
that you can use it to produce the
resource that is shown on its
bottom edge. There are three
different resource types:
Persuasion, Logistics, and
Security.

Bill exhausts (flips face down) his base to generate 1 security and exhausts Colonial Viper 516 to generate
1 logistics to pay for Saul Tigh.

Laura plays Raptor 227 to her reserve area, exhausting Raptor 101 to generate the To exhaust a card, flip that card
1 security needed to do so. from face up to face down.
Most of the time, this happens
Bill has no resource stacks left to play cards with, so he passes. when you’re paying costs with
your resource stacks.
Laura plays Test of Faith, an event costing 1 persuasion, which she pays for by
exhausting her base. (For the purposes of this demo game, ignore the A mission card is played to the
“Expedite” game text on Test of Faith.) reserve area. During the next
turn’s ready phase, that mission
An event card is revealed to all players when played. After you pay its cost, its moves into the alert area. Then
game text takes effect. After the effect resolves, that event card is put face up into it can be resolved with an
its owner’s discard pile. action during the execution
phase, provided its
requirements are met.

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©2006 WizKids, Inc. All rights reserved. WizKids is a trademark of WizKids, Inc
Laura gains 1 influence for playing Test of Faith, so now she has 16 influence. Then she puts that card
face up into her discard pile, which she starts beside her deck.
Bill again passes.

Laura plays Press Junket, a mission with no cost, to her reserve area. In a later turn, she’ll be able to
complete this mission and use its game text.

Bill passes and then Laura passes. When all players pass consecutively during the execution phase, that
phase is over.

CYLON PHASE
Players check for a possible Cylon attack by adding together the Cylon threat values of all face-up cards in
play. (Exception: Don’t count the cards in resource areas.) If the total is more than the current fleet defense
level of 12, the Cylons attack! This phase, the total Cylon threat value is only 4, so there is no attack. As
players put more cards into play, it becomes more likely that the Cylons will attack.

TURN TWO
READY PHASE
All players ready the cards in their reserve areas, pushing them forward into their alert areas. They then
restore (flip face up) their resource stacks (bases and assets). Bill pushes Saul Tigh forward into his alert
area, and Laura pushes both Raptor 227 and Press Junket forward into her alert area.
To ready a card, move that card
All players simultaneously draw two cards from their decks.
forward in the play area from
the reserve area to the alert
Bill still has the lowest influence, so he goes first, playing D, PO Second Class
area. Most of the time, this
Dualla to his resource area as another asset, at no cost.
happens in the ready phase.
Laura plays Laura Roslin, Leader of Prophecy as an asset at no cost, and the ready
phase ends.

EXECUTION PHASE
An alert ship or personnel can be used to challenge your opponent. This can result in a loss of influence for
your opponent. Bill decides to challenge with Saul Tigh.

Laura can choose any alert personnel to defend against this challenge, but she has
To commit a card, move that
only a ship. The defender of a challenge must be of the same type: personnel vs.
card backward in the play area
personnel or ship vs. ship. Her mission can’t defend the challenge, either. So she
from the alert area to the
passes.
reserve area. This happens to
cards involved in a challenge
Players get the chance to play abilities and events at this time, and Bill gets the first
when the challenge ends.
opportunity because he’s the challenger. He uses the game text on his base to give
Saul Tigh +2 power, exhausting his base to do so.
To resolve a mission you
Bill passes, and Laura passes. Saul Tigh has a final power of 4, so Laura loses 4 control, use an action in the
influence, reducing her total to 12. That ends the challenge, and Bill commits Saul execution phase when that
Tigh. mission card is in your alert
area. The mission lists other
Laura decides to resolve the Press Junket mission. The “Resolve:” game text cards that must be in your alert
of Press Junket requires that she have one ship in her alert area, and she has Raptor area when it resolves. The other
227 there. The game text of the mission gains her 2 influence, which puts her at 14 cards are not committed or
influence. She then puts the mission card into her discard pile. moved in any way. The
mission’s game text then takes
Bill plays Helo, Raptor ECO from his hand to his reserve area, exhausting D and effect, and that mission card is
Colonial Viper 516 to do so. placed into its owner’s discard
pile.

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©2006 WizKids, Inc. All rights reserved. WizKids is a trademark of WizKids, Inc
Laura challenges with Raptor 227. Bill has no alert ships to defend with. Both players pass, and Bill loses 1
influence, putting him at 11. The challenge ends, and Laura commits Raptor 227.

Bill passes, because he has no more resources to spend this turn.

Laura plays Galen Tyrol, Chief Petty Officer to her reserve area, exhausting her base and Laura Roslin to
do so.

Both players pass on further actions, so the execution phase ends.

To play a supply card, take any
CYLON PHASE card from your hand and put it
The total Cylon threat value is 8—not enough to produce a Cylon attack. Because face down beneath the base or
the fleet defense value is 12, a Cylon threat of 13 or more is required to initiate a an asset in your resource area.
Cylon attack. Leave the bottom edge sticking
out so that all players can see
TURN THREE how many supply cards are
READY PHASE there. A supply card increases
Both players ready the cards in their reserve areas by moving them to their alert the output of the resource stack
areas, restore the stacks in their resource areas, and draw two cards. by producing 1 more of the
resource provided by the asset
Bill still has the lowest influence, so he plays a card to his resource area first. But he on top of the stack. The supply
does so in a different way. Besides playing an asset as a new resource stack, Bill can card is just a marker. Its card
play any card from his hand face down as a supply card in his reserve area beneath type, name, game text, and
his base or one of his assets. He chooses Setback, an event card he has no plans to other statistics are ignored.
play right now, and puts that card face down beneath Colonial Viper 516. He doesn’t When you exhaust a resource
have to show that card to Laura. Now that resource stack will produce 2 logistics stack that has a supply card,
instead of 1 because there are two cards in that stack. just flip over the top card and
leave the supply cards face
Laura plays Colonial Viper 442 face down as a supply card under Raptor 101 in her down.
resource area, so that stack now produces 2 security.

EXECUTION PHASE
Bill is still the first player, so he challenges with Saul Tigh. Laura defends with Galen Tyrol. Both players
pass on playing events and abilities. Because this challenge has a defender, both players will reveal a
mystic value to add to the power of their personnel.
To reveal a mystic value, flip
Laura reveals Wounded in Action (mystic value 3), and Bill reveals Fury over the top card of your deck
(mystic value 3). Those cards are then put into their owners’ discard piles. and note the mystic value of
that card. Then put that card
Bill wins 5 to 4, so Galen Tyrol is defeated and put into Laura’s discard pile. Saul into your discard pile
Tigh is committed and put into Bill’s reserve area, and the challenge ends.

Laura plays Number Six, Secret Companion to her reserve area, spending all three of Players can tell when a Cylon
her resource stacks. Raptor 101 produces 1 excess security, but there’s no way for attack is imminent by keeping
her track of the total of all face-up
to use that, so it’s lost. Cylon threat values in play.
When a Cylon attack happens,
Bill plays Cylon Raider to his reserve area, exhausting all three of his resource each player reveals the top card
stacks to pay its cost of 2L and 2S. from his or her deck to
represent a Cylon threat. Each
Both players pass—they can see a Cylon attack is coming—and they want to have time a player defeats a Cylon
alert units to challenge the Cylon threats. Consecutive passes end the execution threat, that player gains 2
phase. influence, so sometimes it’s a
good strategy to make one
CYLON PHASE happen.

Battlestar Galactica © USA Cable Entertainment LLC. Licensed by Universal Studios Licensing LLLP. All Rights Reserved.
©2006 WizKids, Inc. All rights reserved. WizKids is a trademark of WizKids, Inc
Once again, we check the total Cylon threat in play, and now it’s up to 14, which is more than the fleet
defense level of 12. Cylons attack!

Both players reveal the top cards of their decks to produce two separate Cylon threats. Bill reveals Apollo,
Commander Air Group, with a Cylon threat of 3, and Laura reveals Dr. Baltar, Brilliant Scientist, with
a Cylon threat value of 2. Only the Cylon threat of these cards is important; game elements like names,
traits, and card types are ignored.

As the first player, Bill gets to choose which threat to challenge; he chooses to challenge the power 2 threat
with Helo. If he wins the challenge, he gains 2 influence. Laura acts as the “Cylon player,” which means
that she can play events and abilities for the defending Cylon threat if she so chooses. Both players pass on
playing events and abilities, and then they reveal mystic values by turning over the top cards of their decks.
Laura reveals Mr. Gaeta, Senior Officer of the Watch for a 2, and Bill reveals Colonial Viper 113 for a
3. Both those cards are put into their owners’ discard piles.

Adding their respective mystic values to the challenger and defender, it’s 4 to 4, but the challenger wins
ties. Bill commits Helo, moving that card to his reserve area. The power 1 Cylon threat card is put into
Laura’s discard pile because it is her card. Bill defeated a Cylon threat, so he gains 2 influence, putting him
at 13.

Laura chooses to pass, because she doesn’t want to risk her weak units against the power 3 Cylon threat
card. That’s her option, because challenging Cylon threats is not mandatory. However, she loses 1
influence for not challenging the Cylon attackers, putting her at 13.

Bill has to pass, because he has no remaining alert ships or personnel. He also loses 1 influence, putting
him at 12.

Since both players have passed consecutively, the Cylon phase (and the turn) ends. The power 3 Cylon
threat card is put into Bill’s discard pile.

This is the end of the demo game. The players survived a Cylon attack, and both are prepared to continue
the fight until only one controls the Colonial fleet. If you’d like to see how it turns out, shuffle each
player’s discard pile into his or her deck and keep playing! Once you’ve finished the demo game, you can
shuffle these decks and play again for a different play experience.

If you get the cards out of order, stack them according to the order below, with 1 on top, 2 second, and so
on.
BILL’S DECK LAURA’S DECK
1. Galactica 1. Astral Queen
2. Colonial Viper 516 2. Raptor 101
3. Saul Tigh, Executive Officer 3. Raptor 227
4. Fire Support 4. Test of Faith
5. D, PO Second Class Dualla 5. Press Junket
6. William Adama, Commander 6. Raptor 301
7. Colonial Viper 315 7. Apollo, Military Advisor
8. Helo, Raptor ECO 8. Galen Tyrol, Chief Petty Officer
9. Boomer, Junior Lieutenant 9. Laura Roslin, Leader of Prophecy
10. Setback 10. Number Six, Secret Companion
11. Cylon Raider 11. Colonial Viper 442
12. Fury 12. Shuttle Diplomacy
13. Apollo, Commander Air Group 13. Wounded in Action
14. Colonial Viper 113 14. Dr. Baltar, Brilliant Scientist
15. Colonial Viper 229 15. Mr. Gaeta, Senior Officer of the Watch
16. Starbuck, Hotshot 16. Billy Keikeya, Press Secretary

Battlestar Galactica © USA Cable Entertainment LLC. Licensed by Universal Studios Licensing LLLP. All Rights Reserved.
©2006 WizKids, Inc. All rights reserved. WizKids is a trademark of WizKids, Inc