2 players180 minby Ananda Gupta, Jason MatthewsGMT Games
Each turn consists of a Headline Phase followed by Action Rounds. During the Headline Phase, both players simultaneously select a card and reveal them; events are resolved in order of Operations value (higher first, USSR breaks ties). Then players alternate Action Rounds starting with the USSR. Turns 1-3 have 6 Action Rounds each; Turns 4-10 have 7 Action Rounds each. At the end of each turn, check Military Operations penalties, advance DEFCON status by 1, flip China Card face up if applicable, advance the Turn marker, and deal cards.
Actions
Play Card for Event — Play a card and resolve its event text. The card is removed from the game if it has an asterisk (*) after its name; otherwise it is discarded.
Place Influence — Spend Operations Points to place influence markers in countries. Each Ops point places 1 influence in a country where you already have influence or adjacent to one where you do. Placing in enemy-controlled countries costs 2 Ops per influence.
Attempt a Coup — Target any country where your opponent has influence. Roll a die, add your Operations value, and subtract double the country's stability number. If the result is positive, remove that many opponent influence and/or add your own.
Realignment Roll — Attempt to remove opponent influence from a country without placing your own. Both players roll a die; the higher roller removes 1 of the opponent's influence from the target country.
Space Race — Discard a card to attempt to advance on the Space Race track. The card's event does NOT trigger, making this useful for discarding opponent events safely.
Play Scoring Card — Play a regional scoring card to score that region. Check Presence, Domination, or Control for each superpower, plus battleground country bonuses and adjacency.
Key Concepts
Country Control — You control a country if your influence exceeds your opponent's by at least the country's stability number. Example: A stability 2 country with 3 US i...
Battleground Countries — Key countries in each region marked with a star. Coups in battleground countries degrade DEFCON. These countries provide bonus VP during scoring and a...
DEFCON Status — Level 5: Peace — no restrictions. Level 4: No coups or realignment in Europe. Level 3: Also no coups or realignment in Asia. Level 2: Also no coups or...
Military Operations — Each player must conduct Military Operations equal to the current DEFCON level by end of turn. Coups count (value = card's Ops). War events count. For...
Operations Points — Cards have Ops values from 1 to 4. Ops are used for influence placement, coups, realignment, or Space Race. When playing an opponent's event for Ops, ...
Headline Phase — At the start of each turn, both players simultaneously select a card and reveal. Both events occur (higher Ops value resolves first; USSR breaks ties)...
China Card — Starts with USSR face up. Worth 4 Ops (5 if ALL Ops are used in Asia or Southeast Asia). After use, passed face down to opponent (cannot be used until...
Scoring Regions — Europe: Presence 3/1, Domination 7/3, Control automatic victory. Middle East: Presence 3/1, Domination 5/3, Control 7/5. Asia: Presence 3/1, Dominatio...
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