[Hunpecked]

That's the episode where Michelle Forbes first shows up? I'm not sure how that one makes the base stars seem any less important, unless it's because they're acting as escorts for the you-know-what.

It just seems strange that the Cylons would give up a base ship so easily. If their objective was to keep the humans away from Kobol, a base ship + raiders certainly seems more effective than a lone assassin. If they wanted the humans to reach Kobol, then why put a base ship there and tip off the humans that they were on to the whole Earth thing? Note that a third base ship would have been very useful when the Colonials later attacked the you-know-what.