If the cause is considered worth it, a Cylon Raider can be nominated as being a Death Squad. The name has two meanings - firstly, it means certain destruction of the Raider and the Cylons piloting it, and secondly it (hopefully) means death for the target.
There are no differences to a Death Squad and a normal Raider, and indeed, the only time a Death Squad will be noticed is when they make their attack run.
Death Squads generally operate singly, but can operate in groups larger than that. They function as normal during a battle, but when the time comes, they dive bomb their target, strafing it as they go, and then colliding with it for greater damage. Targets for a Death Squad will only include capital ships with fighter bays. Because a fighter bay is where precious fuel and supplies are stored for fighters, this is where the biggest explosions can occur, and because most ships rely on their fighters for offence and defence, this can be a crippling blow in more ways than one. In addition, landing bay entrances are not protected by the heavy armour that covers all other areas of a ship. Other targets (such as engines and fuel supplies) are simply too well protected for a Death Squad to make any noticable impact.
Death Squads are not that common - Cylons adhore waste - but when used they can be devastating in their effect.
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Availability:
Death Squads will be listed in any given scenario, along with the amount, and this is generally the only time they can be used. A Death Squad is generally a single fighter although it may be more. These Squads are added to another flight for protection, and thus each Death Squad must be assigned to a fighter flight (replacing a fighter per Death Squad, so the flight will still only contain 8 fighters). Whilst it is possible for there to be as many as 8 Death Squads to a flight, the average is actually only one.
Death Squads In Action:
A flight with Death Squads can act normally until it is time for the Death Squad to do it is stuff. When that moment comes, the flight with the Death Squad must be in the hex of the target (which must be a capital ship with fighter bays), and at the beginning of the fighters next movement impulse it will break away from the flight (so the flight can be moved to wherever). Any amount of Death Squads may break away from the flight and at this point reduce the flights damage by three points per Death Squad to account for the missing fighters.
The Death Squad itself must state which shuttle bay the fighter is diving into if there is a choice of more than one and all damage will be applied to that bay.
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Then roll 1D per Death Squad to see how much damage the kamikazee attack scores:
| Die Roll | Damage Effect |
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| 1 | Craft is shot down before impact. It is destroyed with no damage to the target |
| 2 | Death Squad impacts and inflicts minor damage (4 points) |
| 3 | Death Squad impacts and inflicts minor damage (4 points) |
| 4 | Death Squad impacts and inflicts average damage (8 points) |
| 5 | Death Squad impacts and inflicts average damage (8 points) |
| 6 | Death Squad impacts and inflicts major damage (12 points) |
Use the following DAC instead of the normal one for this damage:
| Die Roll | Damage Effect |
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| 1 | Weapon (must be in arc) |
| 2 | Hull |
| 3 | Shuttle |
| 4 | Fighter |
| 5 | Hull |
| 6 | Cargo |
All damage must be done to the shuttle bays (which for Battlestars and Gunstars are the two protruding side bits on the SSD's).
If an item is not present, reroll. If all weapons and shuttle, fighters and cargo are destroyed, then all damage is hull based.
Shuttle and fighter bays can chain react.
When a flight containing a Death Squad is hit, there is a chance of a Death Squad fighter being hit and destroyed. Thus whenever the flight takes damage, roll 1D on the following table to determine where this damage goes. If a Death Squad is indicated, then it takes the full damage. If this destroys the fighter with damage to spare then this damage is then allocated to other fighters. If there are multiple Death Squad fighters in the flight, then roll again to see if another Death Squad fighter was hit. Continue this until there is no more damage or Death Squad fighters left. If a Death Squad is not indicated, then an ordinary fighter takes damage, and when it is destroyed, roll again.
When rolling, use the same row for all damage, regardless of how much damage is scored in one attack.
| Fighters in Flight |
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Death Squads
Present | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
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| 1 | A | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
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| 2 | - | A | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
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| 3 | - | - | A | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
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| 4 | - | - | - | A | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
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| 5 | - | - | - | - | A | 5 | 4 | 3 |
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| 6 | - | - | - | - | - | A | 5 | 4 |
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| 7 | - | - | - | - | - | - | A | 5 |
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| 8 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | A |
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A - The Death Squad fighter is automatically hit.
The number listed is what must be rolled or lower on 1D.
For example, a full flight of eight Cylon Raiders is being attacked by Vipers. The flight contains 2 Death Squad fighters. The Vipers attack and score 10 points of damage. Because the flight contains Death Squads, a roll must be made to see where the damage is. The flight contains 8 fighters and 2 Death Squads, so a roll of 1 would indicate a Death Squad hit. The roll is actually a 3, so three points of damage is applied to a Raider, which is enough to destroy it. With the Raider destroyed, another Death Squad roll must be made. This time, a 1 is rolled, which indicated a Death Squad. This will destroy the craft. Another roll is made (4) which indicates another Raider destroyed, and finally the final point of damage has a roll of 1, which indicated the final Death Squad fighter is damaged.
Optional - D8: If you have access to a 1D8 then that should be used instead of the above table. The number of Death Squads in the flight or less should be rolled to indicate a hit.
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