Trashdome - Fury Of Dracula v Battlestar Galactica

Fury of Dracula is one of the first bigger box games my wife and I got and we played it many, many times, going from 5 to 3 to mostly two player. It's a blast, not least because she loves playing the hunters, me Drac. But gradually she's gotten a bigger kick out of LNoE with the zombies as a Fury alternative. In terms of gameplay they are comparable at least in terms of horror theme and card/dice-based combat an we are zombie fans (the original Dawn by Romero)... so Drac has paled a bit. Which brings me to Battlestar - played twice with a lot left to discover. Like most people at this site, we love games with deceit and backstabbing & plenty of trashtalk - plus I liked the first season of BSG (haven't seen the others)... BSG is still largely undiscovered country for us but seems to have a lot of potential so I'm going with...

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA

Interesting. Both are good games, possibly even great ones, but both are largely dependent on players to do the "right" thing in order for them to be much fun at all.

If the GW FoD is in the dome with BSG, then my vote goes to BSG. The old FoD blows. Don't get me wrong, it does deserve the praise it gets for the way it recreates the mood and circumstances of the book with a board and cards. Beyond that, though, the game is long, boring, and way too luck driven. Once you've got your stakes, "stormy seas" cards, and your wafers on the bottleneck cities, it's just a matter of burning through the deck until your get a card that forces Drac to give up his position. No thanks.

The new FoD's movement rules for dracula are silly and contrived, but as far as I am concerned they're a godsend. You're actually on a hunt in the new one, as opposed to being on a wild goose chase in the old. The maturation of events keeps a wussy Dracula player from turning the game into an interminable bore. There's just more incentive for both sides to get into the thick of things from the jump, which gives the game more immediacy and tension.

So, if it's a choice between the NEW FoD and BSG, the choice is a little harder, but I think FoD is a little better. I played BSG before I saw a single episode of the show, so I can definitely say it stands on its own without the license. My group has had some really fun times with BSG, but as I've said before, if the Cylon players don't destroy the Galactica right after they reveal themselves, the game becomes a boring processional thing. I've also found that I've given less and less of a shit who the Cylons are the more games I play, because even if I figure it out, what am I going to do about it? If they're not playing enough off-color cards during skill checks to give themselves away, they're not really doing the humans any harm. If they are, I think I'd still rather have them sabotaging skill checks or messing with my head than activating heavy raiders or wasting FTL prep cards on their turn.

I'd recommend either game to a fan of the source material without an reservation, but if that's not an issue, FoD is a bit more consistent with delivering the fun.

Ooh, this is the toughest Trashdome matchup to call yet.

BSG has gone over well so far when we've played it, but even though I haven't had any lame sessions I spotted the potential for them. Still, I'm very glad to have it in my collection.

Fury of Dracula (FFG) has been a rip-roaring good time without fail. Maybe it's just the people I've played with, but everyone gets into it. I prefer to play without the Evasion card so Dracula doesn't get the luxury of a mid-game reset. One line that we all remember was a game when I was Dracula and the rest of the guys were, while slightly intoxicated, discussing amongst themselves which hunters should move where and why. One guy shouts "The only way out of Eastern Europe is THROUGH ZUGBUG!!!11~" (doing a hatchet job on Zagreb, haha). Obviously the "40 ounces of Dracula killing fury" bottle of Mickey's wasn't doing him any favors.

Vote: FURY OF DRACULA

The last several times that I've played FoD, I've hit on a solid strategy for hunters.

When you don't know where Dracula is, draw from the event deck early and often. Also, nobody should take the train at this point, because you could roll an X and miss your chance to draw an event. Worst case scenario, the clock runs through a whole day and then you get a resolve point to spend, to reveal the leftmost unrevealed location.

Now the strategy shifts: stop drawing event cards. Period. As long as you are within a few locations of Dracula's current location, do not draw event cards. Item cards are still fair game, at least until every hunter has at least one weapon against Dracula and one weapon against gypsies.

If by chance Dracula manages to give hunters the slip, at least it won't be a total reset like Evasion, so there is still hope. Plus there are a couple of helpful cards in the item deck. If you get really stuck, start hitting the event deck again, but know that you are risking the dreaded re-set card.

With one exception, this strategy has consistently delivered taut, thrilling games, with the hunters beating Dracula 2:1. The one outlier game involved an aggressive Dracula who beat up Mina and Seward and matured one female vamp for the win.

Although I have played BSG more recently, I must say that FoD is the superior game. BSG can produce a more complex dramatic environment than FoD (although both games score exceedingly highly in this area), but, for me at least, more plays have revealed that there is not as much to explore as a player in BSG. The main flaw with BSG is that the entire game is driven by the crisis deck, which can be unreliable, and, in any event, makes the game purely reactive and tactical. Dracula, on the other hand, is driven by the bluffing and deductive reasoning of the players, which leaves more room for creativity, especially strategic creativity. BSG is about anxiety and crucial moments; Dracula is about the hunt. Both are impeccably thematic, but Dracula's theme is better suited to a game.

VOTE: Fury of Dracula

Battlestar Galactica
Ska_baron
Ken B.
dysjunct
sanildefanso
Grundunza
Columbob
Schweig!
KingPut
JonJacob
drmabuse00
scissors

Fury Of Dracula
the*mad*gamer
Shellhead
MattDP
Space Ghost
grimnir
Michael Barnes
Octavian
The Dukester
lj1983
metalface13
mjl1783
JoelCFC25
Tamburlaine

Newcomer BSG is definitely holding is own against the seasoned veteran Dracula. Its not over yet though so anything can still happen.

I have to throw my vote to BSG.

I've played both from both sides of the table (hunter/drac in FoD, Human/Cylon in BSG). Both are very good, thematic, solid competitive/co-op mixes. My problem with Fury comes from card frustration. When the Hunters get the right set of cards out and the dice keep you from being able to drain them away it's nigh impossible for Dracula to do anything. I played a game as Dracula where the hunters exposed Drac right off and always had the perfect counter card when I did anything. It's frustrating in games like that because there's nothing you can do about it. BSG I've yet to see that. Even when playing as Tyrol the Toaster with nearly every important skill check publicized I could still find opportunities to sabotage little bits of the ship. I ended that game with a quickened jump that zeroed the population. The humans bought it as an acceptable risk because there were two troublesome basestars on the board. I was just hoping to blow the roll and I did. I think BSG's slightly better because it's hard to really marginalize anyone without keeping them in the brig. If it's a cylon, they may as well reveal if they're not getting out and go cause some chaos. If it's a human that can't get out, the humans handicap themselves further.

Oops...I forgot to tally these on Friday. Fury of Dracula is the winner.

Battlestar Galactica = 12
Ska_baron
Ken B.
dysjunct
sanildefanso
Grundunza
Columbob
Schweig!
KingPut
JonJacob
drmabuse00
scissors
mrmarcus

Fury Of Dracula = 13
the*mad*gamer
Shellhead
MattDP
Space Ghost
grimnir
Michael Barnes
Octavian
The Dukester
lj1983
metalface13
mjl1783
JoelCFC25
Tamburlaine