Five Year Plan
1946-1950
Beginning in the 1920s, the Soviet Union became obsessed with centralized planning of its economy and industrial development. Twelve such plans were adopted by the USSR during its history. While economists differ, it is largely agreed that these plans caused more dislocation within the Soviet economy than they resolved.
Time: Early War
Side: US
Ops: 3
Removed after event: No
As USSR
One of two excellent Early War US events for the USSR, the other being Duck and Cover. By playing it on your last Action Round, you can discard the one remaining card in your hand, which, conveniently, happens to be a scoring card for a region that you don’t want to score. This is the only way for the USSR to get rid of a scoring card without playing it.
Even if you aren’t using Five Year Plan to discard scoring cards, its discard can be timed to mitigate the effect of a low-Op US event. For instance, OAS Founded is a hugely problematic card for the USSR because you only have 1 Op to deal with the 2 US influence it places. But by playing Five Year Plan when you only have OAS Founded left, you are now able to respond with 3 Ops instead of just 1. Similar tricks can be performed with most of the other annoying US 1 Op cards (e.g., Sadat Expels Soviets, Truman Doctrine, etc.).
On the other hand, Five Year Plan can be a serious liability in a hand of DEFCON suicide cards. Either you risk playing it early on (hoping the US doesn’t draw one of the suicide cards), or you’re forced to treat it as yet another unplayable card in your hand.
As US
Almost always played for operations. Occasionally played for the event: one possibility is that you know that the USSR is trying to hold a DEFCON suicide card, and by cutting their handsize (perhaps in conjunction with other handsize-reducers like Grain Sales to Soviets), you can force them to play it and lose. If you’re able to hold onto the China Card and play several discarders against your opponent, you might be able to force a DEFCON victory. Alternatively, if you’re desperate, you might play it in hopes of drawing an otherwise game-ending card like Wargames or an unfavorable scoring card. In the Early War, with excellent card knowledge, you may be able to force out De-Stalinization or Decolonization if you are fortunate. The event is also more attractive while under Red Scare/Purge, since it slows the USSR down at the cost of only 2 Ops.
Otherwise, you should always play this for operations. 3 Ops is quite valuable in the Early War for the US, and moreover, playing Five Year Plan risks drawing Duck and Cover and losing the game by thermonuclear war.
Twilight Strategy 
As US, playing the event is sometimes a good way to put pressure on URSS and force him
to play the China Card.
Interesting strategy. I never tried it, but sometimes it’s worth the 3 Ops.You can also use this to disarm Blockade (temporarily, until next Reshuffle) if it has not been played yet and you think USSR could hold it. So it is played the best on AR5 (in Early war) if you want to try this.
Never forget how great this card can be for the US to cause USSR DEFCON suicide. If it is Turn 3 and CIA Created has not yet been played AND the USSR does not have the China Card, then US can just play it for the event and cause an easy DEFCON suicide win. Same thing happens if USSR has this card AND CIA Created in their hand, but no China Card, IF USSR does not headline CIA Created.
True, but USSR has to have some influence in third world states (usually through Fidel). This is quite easy way for USSR to play around CIA created in first 3 Turns.
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I was surprised to see that this card is rarely used as the event because I have often used it as an event to great effect. Then I realized why. I play almost exclusively CCW with my friends and this card is a lot more valuable when it means the USSR can’t hold a card, especially in the Early War.
I’m confused. If the US player is holding this card and plays it for the event, wouldn’t that mean the US is the phasing player, and thus the forced DEFCON suicide would mean that US loses?
It will force USSR to discard a card, thus leaving them unable to hold a card and needing to play their whole hand.
Sure. I guess it could be rather risky though if a card like DUCK and COVER is in USSR hand and it is the one randomly drawn when at DEFCON 2…
Of course. But for it to lose you the game, they not only have to have Duck and Cover in hand, you also have to hit it with Five Year Plan. If they have
Lone GunmanCIA Created in hand, you just have to hit any other card for you to put them in a really uncomfortable spot.I think you mean CIA created, not Lone Gunman.
Yes!
This can be a killer event. Drum roll, please…
I was USSR, holding CIA Formed, so I bit the bullet and headlined it on Turn 4. Having seen my hand he played Five Year Plan, pulled Grain Sales, pulled Nixon Plays The China Card, and then pulled the China Card. Ouch.
Five Year plan was harmful for Soviet economy? It`s realised as useful event for USA? It`s something new…
If it makes you feel any better, it’s a stronger event for the USSR even though it’s supposed to be pro-US.
It’s especially important for the Chinese approach to TS, which emphasizes the space race and maximizing early VPs. The weakness of this strategy is that you’ll be dominated in multiple regions, but FYP lets you discard a bad scoring card.
Put it to you this way: one of the top Chinese players considers FYP the single most valuable card to hold onto as the USSR (not counting China). Yes, even more important than UN Intervention!
I dont understand why this is a terrible event for the US almost always played for ops whilst Grain Sales is considered the best US event in the game.
Four reasons, in ascending order of importance:
It’s 3 Ops instead of 2;
It’s Early War instead of Mid War;
You have no flexibility: you must always trigger the event instead of potentially using for Ops;
It might do nothing if you hit a neutral/USSR event.
Not explicitly stated, but Grain Sales can let you do ops during the headline phase (which is always a great idea — if you could headline ‘using ops’, it would be a common choice), and Five Year Plan never lets you do so.
Firstly, having read your thoughts on a lot of the cards I’m much more likely to play events so that’s a big factor. Secondly, I don’t see stripping out a great card from the enemy as a bad thing. I always judge it by thinking how I’d feel if that was done to me; I’d be seething. So I can see why you’d prefer Grain Sales but not by the margin you suggest.
This is a bizarrely powerful card for the USSR. Like way, way, way too powerful. It is one of a small handful of cards that desperately needs a nerf.
This is because:
1) It is easy to hold onto. The USSR does not have any ‘must hold onto’ cards in the Early War like the US does. There is no decol or destal. If they get it turn 1 they can easily hold onto it until turn 3.
2) It allows the USSR to dump a bad scoring during a time when they already can runaway with the game.
3) There are two US cards that allow the US to dump a bad scoring: AA and Kennedy. Both are not early war cards, AA is insanely good for the USSR (much better than FYP is for the Americans), and Kennedy, if it is drawn by the USSR, is a one-shot that might not benefit the USA at all.
4) The final point is the most egregious. Allowing the USSR to have both OPs and a discarded card to play with is absurd for this stage in the game. And a three op at that! It allows them to get rid of a card and to make moves at the same time.
I’d nerf the hell out of the card. I’d make it a red card, three ops, that gives the USSR an option to discard one card, at random. Whatever card picked does not come into play, regardless of colour, but the USSR does not get to play ops afterwards. This would help the USSR with defcon issues, which is a nice buff, but it allows the USA to gain something after losing the VP. Heck, this would also indirectly nerf Destal and Decol, which is very desirable because those cards are also too powerful, by allowing the USA to make the Columbia walk or the march to Nigeria without interference if they know/guess the USSR is going to FYP away a scoring card.
To balance things out, I’d nerf Grain Sales as well. It is also a bit too powerful.