The Babylon 5 Collectible Card Game (B5 CCG) is an out-of-print collectible card game set in the Babylon 5 universe. It was published from 1997 to 2000. The game is ideally set for 4-5 players but can be played with a minimum of two players up to as many as 20 if using multiple Non-Aligned Factions and Home Factions. This CCG is distinct from most others of the genre for being specifically designed to be played by more than two players. The gameplay tends to have strong political elements encouraging significant player interaction aka "table talk" which is appropriate for a game based on a series which featured such a strong element of political intrigue. During its six-year existence under the Precedence Entertainment banner it released two core sets, five expansions sets and one revision set. There were two World Championships during that time. The game still continues to have a cult following as further expansions were made available online.

History

Initially planning for a November release, the game was launched on December 11, 1997 in North America with the release of Premiere. Precedence then began hiring more staff to promote the B5 CCG as quickly and completely as possible. A large part of their success came with their promoting of the game. Not only would they give free starter decks at major conventions but they offered solid prize support for local tournaments that were organised through their Ranger program. Precedence was also the first company to begin a successful promo chase card program, where various promo cards were made available through different means of acquiring them, some more difficult than others. This, as opposed to other companies who offered relatively common cards as promos, gave Precedence an edge in marketing not seen before. They followed up their debut with the Shadows expansion and within the same year released the Deluxe edition, a reprint of the Premier Edition (minus the starter decks) and the Great War expansion. By the beginning of 1999, they found themselves near the top of the CCG market at that time.

"1998 was a year of triple digit growth for Precedence, much of it spurred on by the broad based international success of our Babylon 5 Collectible Card Game," reports Precedence Entertainment CEO Paul W. Brown III

"For some months now, Babylon 5 has been one of the best selling and most played hobby card games in every country where the game is sold; particularly in North America, the UK and as far abroad as Australia. The enthusiasm and support of the fans has been overwhelming," stated Brown. "We're most proud of the game's reputation for being true to the show. When your die- hard players even include people who have written for the actual series, like Babylon 5's original executive story editor Larry Ditillio, you know you're doing something right."

In 1999, Precedence and Warner Brothers came to an agreement to renew the licensing to continue use of the Babylon 5 franchise until June 2001.

After their breakout year they released Psi Corps, an expansion dedicated to the world of telepaths. To promote this release, Precedence ran a contest where booster pack purchasers could collect 5 randomly inserted psi corps identicards (chase cards) to redeem them for a chance to have dinner with Walter Koenig, the actor who portrayed Alfred Bester on the show. This caused the cancellation of the Collector's set which was already at the printers, and the well into development Anla'shok expansion. The company closed its doors in 2002 although this was not as a direct result of the ending of the Babylon 5 licensing agreement with WB.

Sets

The Babylon 5 CCG was released as a base set (Premiere Edition) in December 1997. It consisted of 445 cards sold in 60-card starter decks and 8-card booster packs. Each starter deck was keyed to one of the four races in the game, and consisted of 50 commons fixed to a particular race, and 10 random uncommon and rare cards. Ultra-rare chase cards, some signed by actress Mira Furlan (who had the role of Delenn in the television show), were randomly inserted in some booster packs.

  • Psi Corps (1999)
  • Severed Dreams (1999)
  • Wheel of Fire (2000)
  • Crusade (2000)

The Collectors Set was at the printers at the time that the games production was stopped.

The Shadows, released in June 1998, was the first expansion set and had 203 cards (100 rare, 53 uncommon, 50 common) sold in 12-card booster packs that each contained two rare cards. It was known as Shadow War during its early development. Because of collation errors in the original set, Precedence Entertainment enacted a new policy that individuals whose booster packs had problems could send in the UPC code and receive six rare cards in exchange, and individuals who bought five booster boxes but failed to complete a set would receive a copy of each missing card. It introduced the Shadow and Vorlon fleets, and the Non-Aligned Worlds faction. It enabled games to have more than four players. It introduced the Psi Corps factions based on the Psi Corps agency of humans with telepathic or para-psychological abilities from the television show.

The planned expansion set Crusade would be based on the Babylon 5 spin-off television series Crusade The set The Third Age was planned for release in 2000 and based on the fifth season of the television show.

A number of fan sets have been created and there is an active Facebook group led by Bruce Mason, one of the senior Rangers, that is re-imagining the game under the name the B5 Virtual Card Game (B5VCG)

Zeta Squadron

Zeta Squadron was the official member club of B5 CCG players registered with Precedence publishing. They received newsletters which informed them of upcoming events and expansions. They also received promo cards such as the Na'Toth (variant).

Opposition came from Australians Steve Green and Les Allen, Marcel Kopper of Germany, UK Champion Mike Pemberthy, Pan-European Champion Hayden Gittings, as well as Americans John

Paiva, Pete Simpson, Kyle Bennick, Mike Jasperson, Anthony Oshmago, David Sisson, Paul Beaman, Kyle Sykora and John and Johnna Golden.

The second World Championship again featured national qualifiers, but there was also a pre-qualifying tournament run the day before. This allowed a number of locally based players to qualify for the World Championship itself and led to the makeup of the "top table" i.e. 4 out of the 5 players were "local" Germans. It was commented upon that this turned the World Final into a team event with the German players ensuring that one of them won the tournament.

Gameplay

Each player represents one of the races holding a seat in the Babylon 5 Council of Races, for which there is a related starter deck. They begin the game with a hand of four cards they choose, one of which must be the ambassador for their chosen race.

Reception

In a review published in the May 1998 issue of The Duelist, Cory Herndon stated that Precedence Entertainment had "done the popular sci-fi series justice" because "the card game is just as complicated and involved as the show's five-year story arc" with a "great creative framework in which to play".

References

  • Precedence's discontinuation statement - Statement on the old Precedence site about the discontinuation of Babylon 5 CCG
  • Review in French magazine Backstab