There are currently three campaigns available. The Broken Alliance DLC adds additional missions and content to the default campaign.
Following these, in chronological order, are Operation Anabasis the Sin and Sacrifice campaign, the Resurrection campaign, and the Ghost Fleet campaign.
This page will discuss the strategic layer - what is done in between battles. For the tactical layer, see the Gameplay page.
The campaign is available in four difficulties:
- Lieutenant: Provided you aren't careless with the Daidalos or your ships, completing all the campaign missions will be very straightforward. Large Cylon fleets will be mostly absent, and you will continue to encounter large amounts of escorts even late game. While challenging when first starting out, it is easy to build and keep momentum. A fortified colony can provide upwards of 48 Tylium per turn. With the Economic boost provided by Daidalos, this can be as high as 57. Side missions begin with a 5 turn countdown.
- Commander: A slightly more challenging version of Lieutenant, and overall the starting point for most players. The AI is not much more difficult, but reduced resources means you must be more cautious with your ships. There will be more roaming fleets, and these fleets will grow in strength roughly at the same pace of yours.
- Admiral: Cylon forces will be numerous, and income will be poor. Fleet officers will provide less of a bonus to stances from Commander difficulty.
- Fleet Admiral: Side missions exist for only one turn, making it very difficult to get additional resources. Income is sharply reduced, fleet officers will provide less of a bonus to stances, and the map will consist of mostly Cylon fleets.
In addition, there are three additional options available when starting your campaign.
- Persistent Damage: Damage done by enemy fleets must be repaired out of battle. Without this option, your fleets will magically repair themselves for free once the battle is concluded.
- Ship Veterancy: Veterancy bonuses are enabled, giving ships small boosts for surviving battles. 3 EXP are granted if the battle is auto-resolved; 4 EXP are granted for each victory, with 1 additional EXP earned per kill. For information on the bonuses themselves, see the ships page. Additionally, some Cylon ships will have a Cylon icon
next to their name to indicate that they are veteran as well. Cylon veterancy ship statistics are unknown, but they are not significantly more of a threat than their non-elite counterparts. - Skip Tutorial: Skips the first four missions of the game, and places the Daidalos at Cocalus.
Strategic Layer[edit]
In between battles, players can look at the map of the Cyrranus System and move fleets around to respond to the Cylon threat. The Cylons will deploy fleets to the Twelve Colonies and attack them, reducing their willingness to support the Quorum and, most importantly, your income. If there are fewer than six colonies remaining, the game is not lost - instead, campaign missions (and thus progression) will be halted. Colonies can be brought back into the fold by stationing friendly fleets around them. To win the campaign, complete all thirteen campaign missions.
The only way to lose the game is to have the Daidalos shipyard be destroyed. It is also possible to "lose" the game by having your fleets be destroyed and having too few resources to replace them.
Building ships is also done in between combat. Tylium is a resource used to construct vessels for your fleets, and each ship requires a certain number of turns to be deployed. Additional tylium can be spent to rush the construction of a vessel and send it out immediately. Up to three ships can be built at once, with others remaining in a queue. After a certain campaign mission, a fourth construction slot will be opened.
Blueprints acquired from progressing through the campaign can be unlocked using Requisition Points.
Hiring officers for your fleets will help bolster their effectiveness, and having an officer assigned to a fleet above a colony will have it be Fortified, and produce additional resources. Officers are also necessary to increase the points budget for each fleet, allowing you to field larger and more powerful ships.
Map Markers[edit]
In addition to your own fleets, the map also shows the position of Cylon fleets. These fleets will lower the colony's support of the Quorum, reduce the amount of Tylium received by the player from them, and ultimately cause them to leave. If there are fewer than six of the twelve colonies aligned to the player, all campaign missions are put on hold until you can re-recruit them.
The strength of Cylon fleets is unknown until you engage them. The game selects from a predetermined list of fleets which one you will face. Destroying Cylon fleets will boost support for the Quorum.
There are also Side Missions, sometimes called Resource Missions. These missions provide players with Tylium, Requisition Points, research discounts, and sometimes hinders the Cylons with a penalty. Side missions will eventually disappear, but are otherwise not required to win the game.
Either an officer or the Daidalos is required to be present to begin a side mission.
Broken Alliance also features its own set of missions, alongside the main scenario missions of the main game.
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Cylon Fleet Marker
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Side Mission Marker with 1 Turn left
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Broken Alliance Mission Marker
The Cyrranus System is the setting for Battlestar Galactica: Deadlock, and is a quaternary star system - two binary stars operating a shared barycenter.
Navigating fleets is done in jumps. The ship must jump either to a planet within its current star, or if it needs to get to another star, to one of the star lane planets surrounding the star. To go from any planet in Helios Gamma to any planet in Helios Beta, stops must be made at the two center planets Gortyn and Knossos. Once at Knossos, however, all planets in Helios Beta are within jump range.
Fortifying Colonies & Maintaining the Quorum[edit]
The status of the Quorum can be determined at a glance by looking at the flags at the top of the screen. The support has four levels: Steadfast, Concerned, Unstable, and Faltering. The flags are, from left to right: Caprica, Gemenon, Picon, Tauron, Leonis, Virgon, Libran, Sagitteron, Scorpia, Aerilon, Aquaria, and Canceron.
Cylon fleets and side missions will appear around colonies. Cylon fleets occupying a colony will have a blue Cylon indicator beneath their flag. When left alone for a few turns, Cylon fleets will disappear and missions will expire, lowering the colony's confidence in the Quorum as well as its Tylium production.
Eventually the Colony will leave the Quorum entirely, shown on the top of the game screen as a grey, ravelled up flag. If more than six of the twelve colonies leave the Quorum, campaign progression will be put on hold until you re-recruit them.
Fortifying colonies will prevent them from losing confidence in the Quorum, increase their Tylium yield, and re-recruit them into the Quorum if they have left. Any fleet with an officer attached will fortify a colony. Fortified colonies have the Colonial Fleet symbol underneath their flag.
Daidalos Colony Bonuses[edit]
While stationing Daidalos anywhere that isn't Ragnar will leave it open to attack, it will also provide powerful bonuses for as long as it's stationed there. The four bonus types are:
| Bonus Type | Science | Military | Political | Economic |
| Effect | -10% Blueprint Costs, -1 Turn on Colonial FTL Cooldowns | -15% Officer Promotion Costs, -10% Ship Building Costs | +4 Tylium from Unfortified Colonies, +1 Turns on Cylon FTL Cooldowns | +20% Tylium from Fortified Colonies, -40% Supply Costs |
| Colonies With This Bonus | Aquaria, Leonis | Scorpia, Picon, Virgon | Libran, Sagittaron, Gemenon | Canceron, Aerilon, Tauron, Caprica |
Bold indicates the colony is on Helios Gamma, and thus can jump straight to the safety of Ragnar. Italics indicates the colony is on Helios Delta, meaning Daidalos must jump to the star lane planet Naucratis before finally jumping to Ragnar.
Note that these bonuses only apply when Daidalos itself is stationed at a colony. Having a fleet present will not yield any bonuses. If you lose Daidalos, you lose the game!
Non-Colony Planets[edit]
In addition to the Twelve Colonies, listed above, there are other planets around each star around which missions and Cylon fleets can spawn. These regions have a moderate environmental risk when fleets battle in these areas, but are otherwise unremarkable. They do not provide any bonuses when Daidalos is deployed, so avoid sending it here.
Outer Planets[edit]
Ragnar is a gas giant. Stationing Daidalos here will not provide any innate advantages, but the Cylons will never go here. It is your safe harbour; if you don't need a colony bonus, keep Daidalos here. It is accessible by the star lane planet Naucratis, or directly from Helios Gamma.
Other outer planets provide links to the other stars. Naucratis, Helicon, Delium, and Cocalus connect the four stars together in a circle. Gortyn connects Helios Gamma, Helios Delta, and another outer planet Knossos - which in turn is connected to Helios Alpha and Helios Beta.
These outer planets all have high environmental hazards, so be cautious when engaging the Cylons in these regions. While Ragnar is listed as having a high environmental hazard, the Cylons will never go there.
Marathon only appears close to the end of the game. It is a massive rogue planet, around which orbits the Cylon outpost of Avalon. This is the setting of the final confrontation for the final missions of the base game. It is accessible from Helios Alpha.