We talk to Corey Konieczka about bringing the action, suspense and suspicion of the much loved sci-fi series, Battlestar Galactica, to our tabletops

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA

Words by Owen Duffy

In 1978 the science fiction series Battlestar Galactica hit American television screens. Its premise was nothing remarkable by the standards of the genre: humanity found itself under attack by the Cylons – warlike sentient robots intent on wiping out any potential opposition to their dominion over the galaxy. But the programme’s creator, Glen A. Larson, mixed far-future tropes with religious symbolism in a way that captured viewers’ imaginations, and while it was cancelled after a single season, it retained a loyal fanbase for decades after its last episode was aired.

In 2004, the programme was revived in an ambitious reboot helmed by producer Ronald D. Moore. As a former Star Trek writer, he was a veteran of science fiction television. But the new take on Battlestar Galactica was darker and bleaker than anything he’d previously written – or the original 1970s series.

In Moore’s reimagining, the Cylons were mechanical servants created by humans to assist in the colonisation of the stars. After rebelling against their makers, they launched a devastating coordinated attack on all of human-occupied space. The only survivors were a rag-tag group on a fleet of spacecraft protected by a single ageing warship. With the odds stacked against them, the remnants of humanity embarked on a desperate journey, trying to outrun their murderous enemies while seeking a new world to claim as their home.

But while their situation was already dire, the remaining humans faced an even deadlier threat. In Moore’s vision, the Cylons had taken human form. With spies and sleeper agents embedded in the fleet, the survivors fell to rampant paranoia, threatening to tear themselves apart under the strain of day-to-day survival.

The new series was a hit, and in 2008 US publisher Fantasy Flight Games released a tabletop adaptation that aimed to capture its blend of action, suspense and suspicion.

A ship filled with traitors, as far as we know, anyway

Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game cast players as characters from the programme, battling to repel the Cylon threat. But while some players portrayed humans, others became secret Cylons, subtly working to sabotage the crew’s attempts at survival.