The Game


Babylon 5 was an incredible science fiction TV series that first aired in the late 90s. It had 5 successful seasons, several TV movies and a spin off series, Crusade. The series centered around the ambassadors of 4 major galactic powers, the "space UN" headquarters (space station: Babylon 5), and the men and women who ran this diverse city in space.

The CCG allows 3-7 players to recreate and retell their own possible Babylon 5 saga by allowing each person to either take on the role of one of the major political powers (either via their ambassador to B5 or their home faction) and attempt to dominate the other factions using diplomacy, intrigue, military, or access to fearful and deadly ancient powers. With several expansions, the CCG really is one of the best (if not the best) war/intrigue games ever made.

Monday, October 13, 2014

Babylon 5 CCG House Rules: Stacking it in the House's favor, or good for gameplay?


BTW: what a typical Crusade blind-side min/max card

As I look at the game and how it will play in our little club, I have to wonder if we should have a few house rules.  Most of these were taken from the only tournament I ever played in.  They were designed to speed up play without unbalancing the game.

Ambassador assistants not in the starting hand go into the Inner Circle when sponsored

Enhancements do not require sponsoring

Any agenda change cannot win a victory on the turn the new agenda was put into play

Start the game by raising all influence to 7 and letting everyone draw 4 cards
                                                         or
Only sponsoring and building influence for the first 4 turns, play is simultaneous

  Just looking at them they all seem reasonable, and I don't see any major downsides to them.  If everyone is aware of the house rules while building their decks, it seems fair to me.

Another thing I noticed on older tournament AARs around the interwebz is the use of side decks. Does anyone know what the established norm for this was (if there was one)?  I assume this would have to also include any ISA or anti faction specific cards?  20 card limit?  Just curious.


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2 comments:

  1. AnonymousOctober 31, 2014 at 5:36 PM

    I can't recall what the reserve size was nor find any emails about it. I think it was 15 cards. It was primarily a tool for the ISA, an awful mechanic, but there were some uses for multiple factions of the same race and whatnot.

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  2. IanOctober 31, 2014 at 6:52 PM

    Found an old post where I laid out a 20 card reserve. So, yup, 20 cards for the reserve (sideboard).

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