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  The game is over! The US has won!  "Now the trumpet summons us again -- not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need, not as a call to battle, though embattled we are -- but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle..." --John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Speech, January 1961 What's all this, then? Twilight Struggle is a two-player board game designed by Ananda Gupta and Jason Matthews, and published by GMT games in 2005. As the box proudly proclaims, the game chronicles the fascinating conflict between the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics between 1945 and 1989 that would later become known as the Cold War. Each player takes on the role of one of these global superpowers as they seek to spread their influence throughout the world and counter their opponent's, through both friendly diplomacy with other countries and... less savory means. Oh god, is this one of those games with a million different counters and thirty little things to worry about and-- Nope! Twilight Struggle is one of those board games that looks really complicated at first, but turns out to be relatively simple. There is a grand total of one type of counter that the players place on the board, and six different "status" tracks to pay attention to (two of which are simply the current turn and round). I'd say it's possible to learn all of the rules of the game in less than a half-hour. Fine. So why would I want to play this? Twilight Struggle has held the #1 all-time rank on BoardGameGeek for several years now, and with good reason. Not only is it an extremely well-balanced and approachable game, but it is probably the supreme example of a board game that successfully weds its gameplay design with its theme. Quite simply, playing Twilight Struggle feels like the Cold War. The game mechanics are designed to fill both the US and USSR with a constant paranoia that the world is one move away from falling to the opponent's ideology, and a need to respond to every single move their opponent makes, even if it turns out to be a bluff. Add to that the specter of global nuclear war, which both superpowers must constantly threaten but never actually allow, and you end up with a game that is intense and exhilirating to play. Wait, you said two-player? So we're just going to watch two random goons duke it out with no input? Not quite. While there will indeed be two goons playing the US President and the USSR's General Secretary, I will be taking a page from other excellent board game LPs, and will be allowing other goons to join in as members of Congress and the Politburo, to advise their leaders on the best course of action and hopefully spice up the thread. Twilight Struggle's gameplay is based heavily around a hand of cards that each side holds, so there will be some secrecy required for each team, but the scope of possible actions is limited enough that I'm hoping it will be possible to do some general strategizing in-thread. Also, in addition to people participating in the game itself, I will be allowing goons to participate in the thread as journalists, to chronicle the events that occur in-game and hopefully provide some historical context. Okay, I'm in. How do I play this game? And how do I sign up? Glad you asked! I'll be doing my best to summarize the rules below, but I urge all participants (and will require the two leaders) to read the official game rules on GMT's website. Sign-up details are in the second post, below!  Link to official rulebook The Board  (click for huge) The board of Twilight Struggle is divided into several Regions, each with their own scoring value. These Regions are in turn divided into several Countries, each with space for the Influence markers of the two superpowers. Each Country also has a number in the top right, known as its Stability. Certain countries have purple title bars, which indicate that they are Battleground Countries. Battleground Countries are mostly identical to regular Countries, but are much more important for scoring purposes. Controlling them is key to winning the game. Victory Points  The object of Twilight Struggle is to score victory points through playing cards and scoring Regions. Instead of keeping track of each superpower's individual score, Twilight Struggle only records the difference between the two. If either superpower attains a lead of 20 VPs, they immediately win the game. Otherwise, if the game runs through all of its turns, the winner is the superpower whose side the VP marker is on. Influence  Influence is the main "resource" of the two superpowers in Twilight Struggle. Influence markers can be placed or removed by playing cards, and can be used to take control of countries. A superpower has control of a country if the difference between their Influence and their opponent's is equal to or greater than that country's Stability. If a superpower controls a country, the colored side of their Influence marker is turned face up; otherwise the white side is used. Game Flow  A game of Twilight Struggle is made up of ten Turns, but this name is a bit misleading since players will alternate playing cards multiple times over the course of a single Turn. A better way to put it is that a game of Twilight Struggle is made up of ten "hands". At the start of a Turn, each superpower receives a hand of cards that they will make use of to perform various actions. The ten Turns of the game are also divided into three chronological periods: Early War, Mid War, and Late War. The current period determines which cards are available in the deck, as well as the number of cards each side receives and can play per Turn. Cards    Twilight Struggle makes use of a deck of cards, nearly all of which are based on an actual historical event or concept from the Cold War. All actions in Twilight Struggle require a player to play a card from their hand. Every card has four important aspects: a time period (along the top), an Event (the title and text), an Event affiliation (the color of the star in the top-left), and an Operations Value (the number in the star). Events can be affiliated with the US (white star) or the USSR (red star), or be neutral (half-red, half-white star). A card's time period determines when it will be available in the deck. At the start of the game, the deck is made up of only Early War cards. Mid War cards are shuffled into the deck at the beginning of Turn 4, and Late War cards are shuffled into the deck at the beginning of Turn 8. Playing Cards  At the beginning of a Turn, both players draw cards until they reach the current time period's hand limit, which is eight cards in the Early War and nine cards in the Mid and Late War. After each player has drawn their hand, a Turn is divided into two phases in which the players play cards: the Headline Phase and the Action Rounds. During the Headline Phase, both sides simultaneously choose and play a card from their hand for the Event. Both Events are immediately resolved, with the card with the higher Operations Value going first. The US wins ties. After the Headline Phase, play proceeds to the Action Rounds. Starting with the USSR, players alternate playing and resolving cards one at a time. During the Action Rounds, a card can be played in three ways:
Operations  If a superpower plays a card to Conduct Operations, it has three Operations to choose from:
If a superpower chooses to Place Influence, they may place Influence markers on the board in countries that contain or are adjacent to countries already containing some of their Influence at the time the card was played. It costs 1 Operations point to place 1 Influence in a country that is not controlled by the opponent, and 2 Operations points to place 1 Influence in a country that is. If a country "flips" out of the opponent's control while placing Influence, the superpower can continue placing Influence there at the lower rate. If a superpower chooses to attempt Realignment, it may attempt one realignment anywhere in the world for each Operations point on the card, and may attempt to Realign the same target more than once. To attempt a Realignment, the superpower chooses a country to target, and then both players roll a die. Each player adds to their roll:
If a superpower chooses to attempt a Coup, it may attempt one coup anywhere in the world, regardless of the Operations value on the card. To attempt a Coup, the superpower chooses a country to target and then rolls a die. The superpower adds the Operations value of the card to this roll, and then compares the sum to two times the target's Stability. If the sum is higher, then the Coup is successful, and the superpower removes the opponent's Influence from the target country equal to the difference. If the difference is higher than the opponent's Influence, any extra points are added to the Influence of the superpower that backed the Coup. Nothing happens if the Coup fails. Regardless of whether or not the Coup is successful, a Coup attempt in a Battleground country lowers the DEFCON status (see below) by one. All Coups also add the Operations value of the card used to the Military Operations track. The Space Race  Once per Turn, each superpower can choose to play a card on the Space Race. By playing a card with an Operations Value equal to or greater than the value listed below the next box, a superpower may roll a die and move their Space Race marker forward if they succeed in their roll. Advancing in the Space Race grants VPs and additional abilities to the superpower in the lead. While the VPs and abilities of the Space Race are nice, the real use of the track is to allow the superpowers to discard Events that they really, really don't want to see happen, since any card played on the Space Race has its Event ignored. Remember, though, that cards discarded this way might be shuffled back into the deck later! Scoring  The main way the superpowers earn VPs is through the several scoring cards scattered throughout the deck, one for each Region on the board. When one is played, both superpowers receive VPs based on their Influence in that Region. There are three states that a Region can be in for each superpower, and each Region has a VP value for each state:
In addition to scoring cards, a Final Scoring occurs at the end of Turn 10. At this time, all regions are scored simultaneously, as though their scoring cards had all been played. DEFCON  Although each superpower must fight fiercely against its opponent for control of the world, they also must ensure that the Cold War remains just that: cold. The DEFCON track measures tension in the world and the likelihood of the Cold War turning into a real one, on a scale from 5 (peace) to 1 (global nuclear war). Several things in the game will cause DEFCON to "improve" (i.e., increase) or "degrade" (decrease):
The DEFCON track is a bit of a paradox for both superpowers, since both high and low levels offer advantages and disadvantages. A high DEFCON means you can make Coup or Realignment attempts pretty much anywhere, but the same goes for your opponent. A low DEFCON (specifically DEFCON 2) means Coups in Battlegrounds aren't allowed at all and you could potentially instantly lose if you play a bad card, but it also means your opponent will have much fewer options for breaking control of your countries. In practice, though, games of Twilight Struggle will usually spend most of their time at DEFCON 2. There simply aren't that many ways to improve DEFCON, and if it does improve, both superpowers will immediately leap at the chance to perform a Coup in a Battleground country while it is still available, if for no other reason than to deny it to their opponent. The China Card  Although China was a major player in the Cold War, it does not have a space on the board. Instead, China's role in the Cold War is abstracted through The China Card, a special card that begins the game with the USSR. Unlike other cards, The China Card is placed face up in front of the superpower who holds it, and is not considered to be part of their hand. During the Action Rounds, a superpower that owns The China Card may choose to play it instead of a card in their hand, but using it requires the player to give the card to their opponent face down. The China Card remains face down until the Turn ends, at which point it turns face up and becomes available for use by its new owner. Required Military Operations  Lastly, there is a track on the board that records the Military Operations undertaken by each superpower in a Turn, in order to encourage the players to not be too passive. Backing Coups and certain Events will add Operations to this track. At the end of each Turn, if a superpower conducted fewer Military Operations than the current DEFCON status, they will lose the difference in VPs. For example, if the US conducted 1 Military Operation in a Turn, and the Turn ended while DEFCON was at 3, the US would lose 2 VPs. TheOneAndOnlyT fucked around with this message at 02:53 on Sep 21, 2014 |
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May 7, 2014 18:03
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| # ? Apr 23, 2024 08:01 |
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Before I explain how to sign up for the game, a few Thread Rules:
HOW TO SIGN UP  I will be looking for goons to take on one of the following roles:
If you wish to be a leader, vice-leader, or a Congress/Politburo member, then please do the following two things:
 Each side is also free to set up other means of communicating among themselves, such as IRC, but I would appreciate it if you could keep most of the discussion in your side's strategy document. Leader Rules The President and General Secretary will be ultimately responsible for all decisions made for their team, but if you are playing one of these roles and know you are going to be unavailable (say, because you're out of town), you may post in the thread to temporarily promote one of your vice-leaders to the top spot. Once you are available, you may post in the thread again to regain your role. Likewise, if something unexpected comes up while I'm waiting on you and you find yourself having to care more about real-life poo poo than a board game on the internet, feel free to request a deadline extension in the thread. Please try not to abuse this though. If the President or General Secretary misses a deadline for submitting an action or decision without informing me in advance, then I will post in the thread saying so, and promote one of the vice-leaders to the top role myself. The new leader will then receive a new deadline for the decision. If a leader does this once, they may post in the thread to request their old role back, and I will grant it to them. If they do it twice, however, then that leader is out and the vice-leader will permanently take on the top role from then on. A leader who loses his or her spot will become a member of Congress or the Politburo. Deadlines Every card play and action will have a deadline by which a leader will have to submit their decision. Deadlines will always be at 7PM Pacific time, though you are of course permitted to send in your decision before then. For Headline Phases and the start-of-game Influence placing, there will be a 48-hour deadline to submit decisions, to allow each side time to review their new hand and come up with a general strategy for the Turn. Action Rounds and all other decisions (including decisions needed due to Events during the Headline Phase) will have 24-hour deadlines. Journalists Lastly, in addition to people actually playing the game, I also welcome goons to participate in the thread as Journalists, chronicling the events of the game as though they were observing the real thing and providing fluff for the thread. Being a journalist is not an "official" role, so you don't have to sign up or anything, and you can switch between being pro-US or pro-USSR as you like. Though it would be nice if we could get at least one explicitly pro-US and pro-USSR journalist each for maximum propaganda. 
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May 7, 2014 18:03
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Signing up to be a Deputy General Secretary! e: email sent. The Merry Marauder fucked around with this message at 18:31 on May 7, 2014 |
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May 7, 2014 18:19
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Politburo member spot comrade. Email sent. The Soviet Union has only peaceful ambitions. 
Pimpmust fucked around with this message at 18:58 on May 7, 2014 |
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May 7, 2014 18:55
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Politburo, but I'd be willing to bump it up to DGS if need be. For the workers of the world! FAN ART AND STUFF  (by Sniper4625) Pravda        Features on Soviet Notables       World Tour of Socialist Journalism    Other Stuff    Hyper Crab Tank's House of Fraternal Comradely Art   (by UnwantedPlatypus       Lumberjack Monthly (by Jobbo_Fett)     Daily Truth/Twilight Struggle (by NewMars)   
sniper4625 fucked around with this message at 22:02 on Jun 30, 2014 |
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May 7, 2014 19:11
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Looks cool, I'll sign up to be a Journalist and get knee deep in the trenches and bogs of this conflict!
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May 7, 2014 19:27
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I've been itching to play a game of this, the box is collecting dust in my closet. I'm up for the American Vice Precidency, seeing as the dirty commies are getting all the love.
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May 7, 2014 19:39
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Senator Nicola email sent... my dad fucked around with this message at 20:10 on May 7, 2014 |
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May 7, 2014 19:43
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I would like to be the General Secretary, but I think the fun of this game is watching people screw up and I think it would be boring to have someone experienced in charge. For the same reason, I don't really want to be a politburo/congress. I'll sign up as a Journalist and for this game I'll be specifically Pro-Russia.
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May 7, 2014 19:56
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I've played this game a bit but I'm far from any good at it, so I'll sign up as President.
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May 7, 2014 20:03
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I would like to be member of the politburo. Let's turn the Olympics games into the final push towards Defcon 1 and nuclear annihilation! E: email sent. malder fucked around with this message at 20:22 on May 7, 2014 |
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May 7, 2014 20:12
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Tekopo posted:I would like to be the General Secretary, but I think the fun of this game is watching people screw up and I think it would be boring to have someone experienced in charge. For the same reason, I don't really want to be a politburo/congress. I'll sign up as a Journalist and for this game I'll be specifically Pro-Russia. I agree with this - it will probably be a lot more entertaining to have less experienced players running things. I'll probably try to provide some commentary on the game play aspects of the struggle (neutrally and avoiding giving advice to either side); I guess that would make my role something like one of the retired generals that show up on talk shows a lot of the time.
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May 7, 2014 20:42
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If people are interested in less experienced players in greater positions of power, I'll make a powerplay and seize the open DGS slot. Don't have time for the big chair, alas.
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May 7, 2014 20:44
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Sign me up as a member of the US Congress. (e-mail sent)
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May 7, 2014 20:47
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You know what I'm completely inexperienced in this game and it would be kind of hard to do too much worse than history so I'll take the General Secretary
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May 7, 2014 20:51
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Sign me up as a Member of the US Congress.(email sent)
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May 7, 2014 21:22
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Vice President of the United States. We must not let the world fall to the spectre of Communism. Or else we'll all be playing Kolejka next.
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May 7, 2014 22:38
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Let's hide my complete incompetence among the ranks of the Politburo.
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May 7, 2014 22:44
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I'll throw in for Congress.
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May 7, 2014 23:34
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journalist doing my part for freedom and democracy. I promise my headlines to be all-American and pro-USA
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May 7, 2014 23:35
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I'll sign on as a commie, must crush capitalism. Politburo
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May 7, 2014 23:57
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This game's awesome, sign me up as a US Congressman.
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May 8, 2014 00:50
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This just in: I just purchased a newspaper. "The Daily Bugle" will be a bastion of Journalistic integrity. Probably.
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May 8, 2014 00:53
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I have received emails from everyone who asked to join a side except NutritiousSnack. Everyone else should have received access to their side's hand and strategy documents by now. If any of you haven't gotten those yet, or you are having any issues accessing your side's documents, please let me know! In any case, we certainly have enough signups to start the game, but I was planning to wait to start the game until at least 24 hours after opening the thread, so that everyone who wants to join will have the chance before the game begins. And since 7PM Pacific is going to be the time I try to post updates... THE GAME WILL BEGIN ON THURSDAY, MAY 8TH, AT 7PM PACIFIC TIME. I will then draw both side's hands and we will begin with the start-of-game Influence placing.Also, a quick bookkeeping note: Wheezer and The Merry Marauder, since you two were the first to sign up as vice-leader for your side, you will be first in line for the leader spot if it becomes necessary to promote someone. Gutter Owl and sniper4625 will be second.
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May 8, 2014 00:57
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Oh boy. Now, I've never played this game before, and the deadline is 4 AM in my time zone, but I'd still like to sign up for the glorious
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May 8, 2014 08:01
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Please, you can't just have propaganda newspapers. You're all forgetting the utterly amoral ones as well. As a journalist I promise to do my part to inflame tensions, obscure facts, spin lies and manufacture flagrantly untrue scandals in the name of profit! Some call me Red, some call me Blue, but Green is my favorite color! Edit: Communist guerrillas in Cuba? American false-flag! Cocaine rings in south america? Communist insurgents! Turns out it's real? President's a racist! NewMars fucked around with this message at 08:37 on May 8, 2014 |
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May 8, 2014 08:34
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Hyper Crab Tank posted:Oh boy. Now, I've never played this game before, and the deadline is 4 AM in my time zone, but I'd still like to sign up for the glorious Yes join us Comrade and we will forge a new world where we are no longer oppressed by imperialistic amerikanskiy timekeeping.
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May 8, 2014 08:39
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Hyper Crab Tank posted:Oh boy. Now, I've never played this game before, and the deadline is 4 AM in my time zone, but I'd still like to sign up for the glorious The struggle for Communism never sleeps, time zone buddy. 
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May 8, 2014 08:41
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It begins. 
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May 8, 2014 08:50
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Sounds fun, sign me up for the Politburo.
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May 8, 2014 10:40
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I'll be joining the Politburo MUST. DESTROY. CAPITALISM.
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May 8, 2014 10:43
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I would like to be a member of Congress, to make my new avatar extra confusing.
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May 8, 2014 10:54
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Neutral for life!  I'm just gonna read the thread, I know if I pick a side I'll forget to join in anyway. This game looks super neat I can't wait to see how it plays out.
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May 8, 2014 12:25
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As a journalist, I feel it is best if I experiment to see what is best before we begin.  (Also I am an infant.)
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May 8, 2014 12:51
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Oh god, this will be brilliant!  Sign me up as a US congressman.
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May 8, 2014 15:55
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I'm going to be a lazy journalist who only reports on trivialities in places halfway across the world from events.
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May 8, 2014 16:02
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Now all we're missing is a Hunter S. Thompson and we'll have ourselves a
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May 8, 2014 16:11
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NewMars posted:Now all we're missing is a Hunter S. Thompson and we'll have ourselves a I'm actually really looking forward to writing about the importance of saving cows from the commies in Poland while a coup is going on in Tehran etc etc.
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May 8, 2014 16:29
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| # ? Apr 23, 2024 08:01 |
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But what about the capitalist system of cow-slavery in Amerika, comrade?
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May 8, 2014 16:30
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