This is Part III of a three-part series. Part I, the Early War, can be found here; Part II, the Mid War, can be found here.
** The Late War cards are added to the deck ** ************************************************************ ** The deck is being shuffled. ** ************************************************************ DEFCON Level raised to 5 ** Turn 8 Headline Phase **
The board at the start of Turn 8 (click to enlarge)
My hand:
I see no reason not to proceed with my ABM Treaty headline as planned. There is no possible headline that can interfere with me, because 4Ops cards go first and the US headline always takes priority over the USSR. Not always a good thing, but definitely a good thing here.
The rest of my hand is not terribly tricky to play. I plan to space one of Quagmire / South African Unrest, maybe use Iran-Iraq War on Iraq for the potential VPs and battleground flip. Central America Scoring is the main threat: I need to figure out a way to cut my losses from that so I don’t lose to Wargames.
Soviet Headline Card: #49 Ops 2: Missile Envy
American Headline Card: #57 Ops 4: ABM Treaty
USA Headline Event: #57 Ops 4: ABM Treaty
DEFCON Level raised to 5
The Americans play the following card for realignment rolls:
#57 Ops 4: ABM Treaty
Realignment roll in France: USA modifier = +4, USSR modifier = +2
** USA die roll = 2 (+4) = 6
** USSR die roll = 2 (+2) = 4
Soviet influence in France reduced by 2, now at 3
Realignment roll in France: USA modifier = +4, USSR modifier = +2
** USA die roll = 3 (+4) = 7
** USSR die roll = 6 (+2) = 8
Realignment roll in France: USA modifier = +4, USSR modifier = +2
** USA die roll = 2 (+4) = 6
** USSR die roll = 5 (+2) = 7
Realignment roll in France: USA modifier = +4, USSR modifier = +2
** USA die roll = 1 (+4) = 5
** USSR die roll = 4 (+2) = 6
Well, that was unlucky. I had planned to use 3 rolls to knock out France and one more on Spain/Portugal.
USSR Headline Event: #49 Ops 2: Missile Envy
The Soviets play the following card as an Event:
#49 Ops 2: Missile Envy
The American exchanges the following card for the Missile Envy:
#50 Ops 4: 'We Will Bury You' * (USSR)
The Soviets play the following card as an Event:
#50 Ops 4: 'We Will Bury You' * (USSR)
** The 'We Will Bury You' card is permanently removed. **
Unless UN Intervention is played as an Event on the US player's next round, USSR gains 3 VP.
DEFCON Level lowered to 4
This is bad, since now it’s even more likely I can succumb to Wargames.
** Turn 8 Action Phase ** Turn 8, USSR action round 1 The Soviets play the following card as an Event: #111 Ops 2: Yuri and Samantha * (USSR) ** The Yuri and Samantha card is permanently removed. **
Because DEFCON is at 4, I can either coup an Asian battleground or save my coup to respond to his. I choose the latter, since the 2 Ops from my Missile Envy coup is not very convincing.
Turn 8, USA action round 1
The Americans play the following card to place influence:
#49 Ops 2: Missile Envy
1 USA influence added to Egypt, now at 2
1 USA influence added to Libya, now at 1
The USA did not play UN Intervention
VPs down 3, now at -4
Turn 8, USSR action round 2
The Soviets play the following card for a coup attempt:
#46 Ops 2: How I Learned to Stop Worrying *
Coup attempt in Zaire (stability 1):
** USSR die roll = 6 (+2) = 8
The modified roll exceeds the doubled stability by 6.
American influence in Zaire reduced by 2, now at 0
Soviet influence in Zaire increased by 4, now at 4
DEFCON Level lowered to 3
Soviet Military Operations for this turn increased to 2
Given a choice between couping Zaire back and couping Mexico, I decide that Zaire is more likely to succeed.
Turn 8, USA action round 2
The Americans play the following card for a coup attempt:
#4 Ops 3: Duck and Cover (USA)
Coup attempt in Zaire (stability 1):
** USA die roll = 2 (+3) = 5
The modified roll exceeds the doubled stability by 3.
Soviet influence in Zaire reduced by 3, now at 1
DEFCON Level lowered to 2
*** Yuri and Samantha -- VPs down 1, now at -5
American Military Operations for this turn increased to 3
*** NORAD -- the US may place 1 influence anywhere they already have influence ***
American influence in Pakistan increased by 1, now at 2
Turn 8, USSR action round 3
The Soviets play the following card for Ops
#73 Ops 3: Shuttle Diplomacy (USA)
They elect to have the American event occur first.
Play in front of US player. During the next scoring of the Middle East or Asia
(whichever comes first), subtract one Battleground country from USSR total,
then put this card in the discard pile.
The Soviets use the Shuttle Diplomacy card to place influence:
1 USSR influence added to Pakistan, now at 5
2 USSR influence added to Libya, now at 3
Time to make a play for Central America. Let’s go for Nicaragua, which would allow me to realign Cuba at +1. I need only one Op and luckily have a harmless 1Op USSR event to use.
Turn 8, USA action round 3
The Americans play the following card for Ops
#12 Ops 1: Romanian Abdication * (USSR)
They elect to have the Soviet event occur first.
** The Romanian Abdication card is permanently removed. **
Soviet influence in Romania now at 3
The Americans use the Romanian Abdication card to place influence:
1 USA influence added to Nicaragua, now at 1
Turn 8, USSR action round 4
The Soviets play the following card for a coup attempt:
#93 Ops 2: Iran-Contra Scandal * (USSR)
Coup attempt in Nicaragua (stability 1):
** USSR die roll = 1 (+2) = 3
The modified roll exceeds the doubled stability by 1.
American influence in Nicaragua reduced by 1, now at 0
Soviet Military Operations for this turn increased to 4
He’s not going to let me keep Nicaragua, and this couping back-and-forth takes time that I do not have because I have the scoring card. So I will gamble on the Iran-Iraq War instead.
Turn 8, USA action round 4
The Americans play the following card as an Event:
#101 Ops 2: Iran-Iraq War *
** The Iran-Iraq War card is permanently removed. **
Iran invades Iraq...
USA success on a modified die roll of 4-6; USSR modifer is -0
** Die roll: 6 -- USA victory!
VPs up 2, now at -3
Soviet influence in Iraq reduced by 3, now at 0
American influence in Iraq increased by 3, now at 3
American Military Operations for this turn increased to 5
This was quite fortunate. This means that absent any other VP shenanigans, Central America Scoring at -3 will take me to -6, so I can’t lose on Wargames.
Turn 8, USSR action round 5
The Soviets play the following card for an attempt on the Space Race track:
#105 Ops 2: Special Relationship (USA)
** Space Race Die Roll (1-3 needed): = 6 **
No effect.
My hand is: Central America Scoring, Defectors, Quagmire, and South African Unrest. I decide I want to flip Zaire with the China Card at some point, so I will hold Defectors and one more card to next turn. I will play Central America Scoring as late as possible since he won’t be improving his position and I don’t want to give away how close he is to Wargames. I will therefore space South African Unrest (or Quagmire, not much difference, though I suppose Quagmire is more unplayable).
Turn 8, USA action round 5
The Americans play the following card for an attempt on the Space Race track:
#53 Ops 2: South African Unrest (USSR)
** Space Race Die Roll (1-4 needed): = 4 **
USA progress on the Space Race Track is now at Animal in Space
The Americans may now make two space race attempts per turn
Turn 8, USSR action round 6
The Soviets play the following card for Ops:
#85 Ops 2: Star Wars * (USA)
They also play UN Intervention to cancel the American event
The Soviets play the following card to place influence:
#85 Ops 2: Star Wars * (USA)
2 USSR influence added to Botswana, now at 2
The Soviets play the following card as an Event:
#32 Ops 1: UN Intervention
Time to flip Zaire. Just like Thailand can be flipped with the China Card, 1-stability countries can be flipped with a 3 Ops. I use all 4 Ops to overcontrol the country and make sure he can’t do the same to me.
Turn 8, USA action round 6
The Americans play the following card to place influence:
#6 Ops 4: The China Card
3 USA influence added to Zaire, now at 3
Turn 8, USSR action round 7
The Soviets play the following card to place influence:
#45 Ops 1: Summit
1 USSR influence added to Zimbabwe, now at 1
And of course I must play the Scoring Card.
Turn 8, USA action round 7 The Americans play the following card as an Event: #37: Central America Scoring *** Scoring in Central America *** USSR: 1(presence) +2(battlegrounds) +2(adj. to USA) = 5 USA: 1(presence) +1(battlegrounds) = 2 VPs down 3, now at -6 Events Played: Warsaw Pact Formed, NATO, US/Japan Mutual Defense Pact, Marshall Plan, De Gaulle Leads France, NORAD, Camp David Accords, Willy Brandt USSR battleground countries controlled = 8 USA battleground countries controlled = 19 DEFCON Level raised to 3 ** Turn 9 Headline Phase **
The board at the start of Turn 9 (click to enlarge)
My hand:
I’m thrilled that I drew Wargames. I won’t be able to use it this turn, so I will hold it until next turn in hopes of using it then.
Everything is getting played for Operations here, especially The Iron Lady aka Thatcher the Betrayer. Iranian Hostage Crisis and Quagmire are both problematic, Quagmire more so. Since I’m holding Wargames, I’ll just have to swallow Iranian Hostage Crisis. Flower Power could be problematic, but I doubt that it will make much difference. Although I could use Formosan Revolution to squeeze an extra VP out of Asia Scoring, I’d probably rather play it for Ops. I don’t want him to catch on that I have Asia Scoring and use the China Card to start a fight with me for Asia.
Since I have no other compelling candidates, Defectors is the clear Headline choice.
Soviet Headline Card: #36 Ops 3: Brush War
American Headline Card: #102 Ops 2: Defectors (USA)
The Defectors card cancels out the Soviet-played Headline Event.
** Turn 9 Action Phase **
Turn 9, USSR action round 1
The Soviets play the following card for a coup attempt:
#90 Ops 4: Glasnost * (USSR)
Coup attempt in Brazil (stability 2):
** USSR die roll = 2 (+4) = 6
The modified roll exceeds the doubled stability by 2.
American influence in Brazil reduced by 2, now at 0
DEFCON Level lowered to 2
Soviet Military Operations for this turn increased to 4
*** NORAD -- the US may place 1 influence anywhere they already have influence ***
American influence in Libya increased by 1, now at 2
Repair the damage, and try to flip Libya, as Middle East Scoring has yet to come out.
Turn 9, USA action round 1
The Americans play the following card to place influence:
#83 Ops 3: The Iron Lady * (USA)
2 USA influence added to Brazil, now at 2
1 USA influence added to Libya, now at 3
Turn 9, USSR action round 2
The Soviets play the following card as an Event:
#80 Ops 2: 'One Small Step...'
USSR progress on the Space Race Track is now at Animal in Space
The Americans may no longer make two space race attempts per turn
I get the sense he is chasing some Space Race VPs, as the next box is 2/0. So I’ll space Quagmire now.
Turn 9, USA action round 2
The Americans play the following card for an attempt on the Space Race track:
#42 Ops 3: Quagmire * (USSR)
** Space Race Die Roll (1-3 needed): = 6 **
No effect.
Turn 9, USSR action round 3
The Soviets play the following card as an Event:
#18 Ops 1: Captured Nazi Scientists *
** The Captured Nazi Scientists card is permanently removed. **
USSR progress on the Space Race Track is now at Lunar Probe
VPs down 2, now at -8
If I were not holding Wargames, then right here I would immediately cash in Asia Scoring. But since I know he can’t play Wargames on me, I take Libya first.
Turn 9, USA action round 3
The Americans play the following card to place influence:
#20 Ops 2: Olympic Games
2 USA influence added to Libya, now at 5
Turn 9, USSR action round 4
The Soviets play the following card to place influence:
#40 Ops 3: Cuban Missile Crisis *
3 USSR influence added to Jordan, now at 3
Perhaps suspecting I had Middle East Scoring. In fact I have …
Turn 9, USA action round 4
The Americans play the following card as an Event:
#1: Asia Scoring
*** Scoring in Asia ***
(-1 to Russian battleground total due to Shuttle Diplomacy)
USSR: 3(presence) +1(battlegrounds) = 4
USA: 7(domination) +4(battlegrounds) +1(adj. to USSR) = 12
VPs up 8, now at 0
Turn 9, USSR action round 5
The Soviets play the following card to place influence:
#6 Ops 4: The China Card
3 USSR influence added to Saudi Arabia, now at 3
1 USSR influence added to Uruguay, now at 2
I need a non-battleground to get Domination. I choose Lebanon, since I can flip it with a 3Ops. I lose Iran, but I was going to lose it no matter what if I’m holding Wargames to next turn.
Turn 9, USA action round 5
The Americans play the following card to place influence:
#82 Ops 3: Iranian Hostage Crisis * (USSR)
2 USA influence added to Lebanon, now at 2
The Soviets use the USSR event played by the USA
** The Iranian Hostage Crisis card is permanently removed. **
American influence in Iran now at 0
Soviet influence in Iran increased by 2, now at 3
Turn 9, USSR action round 6
The Soviets play the following card as an Event:
#87 Ops 3: The Reformer * (USSR)
** The The Reformer card is permanently removed. **
2 USSR influence added to West Germany, now at 3
2 USSR influence added to Canada, now at 2
I think he misplayed this hand, possibly out of fatigue, possibly out of frustration. Clearly The Reformer should have been played first, and while the score is still negative. Then Glasnost becomes even better. As it stands, The Reformer is like Ussuri River Skirmish: reparable with a 4Ops, but you don’t have the equivalent of the China Card to help.
Turn 9, USA action round 6
The Americans play the following card for Ops
#59 Ops 4: Flower Power * (USSR)
They elect to have the Soviet event occur first.
** The Flower Power card is permanently removed. **
USSR gains 2 VP for every subsequently US played 'War' Event Card
(Arab-Israeli War, Korean War, Brush War, Indo- Pakistani War or Iran- Iraq War), unless
the card is played on the Space Race, or the war made unplayable by a subsequent card.
This event cancelled by 'An Evil Empire'.
The Americans use the Flower Power card to place influence:
2 USA influence added to West Germany, now at 7
2 USA influence added to Canada, now at 6
Turn 9, USSR action round 7
The Soviets play the following card to place influence:
#94 Ops 3: Chernobyl * (USA)
2 USSR influence added to Bolivia, now at 2
1 USSR influence added to Malaysia, now at 3
The Americans use the USA event played by the USSR
** The Chernobyl card is permanently removed. **
USSR may not add Influence to Europe with Ops points for the remainder of the turn.
My next move is a mistake. I should have instead used Formosan Revolution to coup somewhere and gain 2 Mil Ops. Instead I needlessly lose 2 VP by playing into France.
Turn 9, USA action round 7
The Americans play the following card to place influence:
#100 Ops 2: Formosan Resolution * (USA)
1 USA influence added to France, now at 1
The Americans are 2 military operations short of the DEFCON requirement of 2
VPs down 2, now at -2
Events Played: Warsaw Pact Formed, NATO, US/Japan Mutual Defense Pact, Marshall Plan, De Gaulle Leads France, NORAD, Camp David Accords, Willy Brandt, Iranian Hostage Crisis, The Reformer, Flower Power
USSR battleground countries controlled = 8
USA battleground countries controlled = 19
DEFCON Level raised to 3
** Turn 10 Headline Phase **
The board at the start of Turn 10 (click to enlarge)
My hand:
The rest of the game is a formality. So long as I cash in Africa Scoring for +10VP and drop DEFCON to 2, I will win handily with Wargames. Given the US Late War advantage, this is not all that unusual; the later Wargames comes out, the more likely it is to benefit the US instead of the USSR.
Soviet Headline Card: #98 Ops 3: Pershing II Deployed * (USSR)
American Headline Card: #5 Ops 3: Five Year Plan (USA)
USA Headline Event: #5 Ops 3: Five Year Plan (USA)
The Americans play the following card as an Event:
#5 Ops 3: Five Year Plan (USA)
The Soviet player discards the following card:
#68 Ops 2: John Paul II Elected Pope * (USA)
The Americans play the following card as an Event:
#68 Ops 2: John Paul II Elected Pope * (USA)
** The John Paul II Elected Pope card is permanently removed. **
Soviet influence in Poland reduced by 2, now at 1
American influence in Poland increased by 1, now at 1
USSR Headline Event: #98 Ops 3: Pershing II Deployed * (USSR)
The Soviets play the following card as an Event:
#98 Ops 3: Pershing II Deployed * (USSR)
** The Pershing II Deployed card is permanently removed. **
American influence in France reduced by 1, now at 0
American influence in West Germany reduced by 1, now at 6
American influence in Italy reduced by 1, now at 3
VPs down 1, now at -3
** Turn 10 Action Phase **
Turn 10, USSR action round 1
The Soviets play the following card to place influence:
#78 Ops 3: Alliance for Progress * (USA)
3 USSR influence added to Poland, now at 4
The Americans use the USA event played by the USSR
** The Alliance for Progress card is permanently removed. **
VPs up 5, now at 2
Turn 10, USA action round 1
The Americans play the following card as an Event:
#79: Africa Scoring
*** Scoring in Africa ***
USSR: 1(presence) = 1
USA: 6(control) +5(battlegrounds) = 11
VPs up 10, now at 12
Turn 10, USSR action round 2
The Soviets play the following card as an Event:
#3: Middle East Scoring
*** Scoring in Middle East ***
USSR: 3(presence) +2(battlegrounds) = 5
USA: 3(presence) +3(battlegrounds) = 6
VPs up 1, now at 13
Turn 10, USA action round 2
The Americans play the following card for a coup attempt:
#34 Ops 4: Nuclear Test Ban
Coup attempt in Iran (stability 2):
** USA die roll = 5 (+4) = 9
The modified roll exceeds the doubled stability by 5.
Soviet influence in Iran reduced by 3, now at 0
American influence in Iran increased by 2, now at 2
DEFCON Level lowered to 2
American Military Operations for this turn increased to 4
*** NORAD -- the US may place 1 influence anywhere they already have influence ***
American influence in West Germany increased by 1, now at 7
Turn 10, USSR action round 3
The Soviets play the following card as an Event:
#47 Ops 2: Junta
Soviet influence in Venezuela increased by 2, now at 2
The Soviets play the following card for a coup attempt:
#47 Ops 2: Junta
Coup attempt in Colombia (stability 1):
** USSR die roll = 6 (+2) = 8
The modified roll exceeds the doubled stability by 6.
American influence in Colombia reduced by 2, now at 0
Soviet influence in Colombia increased by 4, now at 4
Turn 10, USA action round 3
The Americans play the following card as an Event:
#99 Ops 4: Wargames *
** The Wargames card is permanently removed. **
VPs down 6, now at 7
********************************************************
The USA player wins the game!!!
********************************************************
The board at the end of the game (click to enlarge)
Five concluding thoughts:
- Although Europe and Asia are technically the most valuable regions, in practice it is often South America and Africa that are the highest-scoring and decides the game.
- In a tight game, Wargames can often swing from one side to the other. With a better draw, the USSR could have won with it on Turn 8. Instead, by Turn 10, it is a US card.
- At the start of each turn, you should have a plan for each of your cards: which to play for the event, which to play for Ops, which to hold, and whether you’re playing any cards in a particular order or time in the turn. As the turn progresses, you then adapt your plan to the changing board situation.
- Pressure is everything! The game is about crisis management, and you must create crises for your opponent to deal with. Parrying your opponent’s threats is important, but no one ever won a game just by putting out fires.
- Controlling reshuffles is critically important. Being able to discard De-Stalinization after the Turn 3 reshuffle dramatically changed the power alignments in South America.
To return to Part I, the Early War, click here.
To return to Part II, the Mid War, click here.
Twilight Strategy 
Bravo! A fascinating read. I will use it to prepare for our game 😉
Excellent report, thank you
Great job! I think you noted the principles of sound TS play, both on the strategic and tactical levels, quite well. I find annotated games are quite helpful for those looking to gain insight from more experienced players. I’m sure a couple of my regular TS opponents will particularly enjoy this one, so thanks!
Minor correction — the images of your T9 hand include a picture of the Cuban Missile Crisis card but the text makes reference to Iranian Hostage Crisis. In fact your opponent plays Cuban Missile Crisis during that turn, so it definitely was not in your hand.
Thanks. The right picture is inserted now.
Very insightful and a great way to learn some of the finer points to TS. Reading your reports is almost as fun as actually playing!
Agree, great report. Not too long but still insightful.
Did you read the whole thing? I’m not sure how I could have made it any longer 😉
I read it all! Perhaps the whole thing was long but the comments to the action round were just right 🙂
Just checking. Thanks 🙂
Hi, great AAR. I read the whole thing while following along on the Wargameroom program. Just one note: in your last concluding thought you said that “Being able to discard De-Stalinization on Turn 3 dramatically changed the power alignments in South America.” Well, you didn’t really discard it in turn 3–you held onto it. The same effect was had, though, in that it still went into a larger reshuffle later on. Just wanted to point it out. Thanks!
Thanks 🙂 I changed the word “on” to “after” and clarified that it had to do with the reshuffle.
Fantastic report – you clearly have a good handle on the game, and yet it’s very easy to follow for someone new to TS. I note that you call it Annotated Game #1 – I hope more will follow.
Minor point – your hand for Turn 8 shows ‘Missile Envy’ instead of ‘We Will Bury You’.
Corrected. Thanks for pointing it out.
This has been super helpful in learning the nuance of the game, but I have one question about turn 10 AR2:
In the previous AR VPs shot up to 13 because of Africa and ME scoring; you then play Nuclear Test Ban for a coup attempt and wait until AR3 to lay down Wargames. Why?
The Wargames event can only be triggered at DEFCON 2.
Should I assume that you would have HL’d Africa Scoring if it wasn’t for the possibility of a Soviet Decol HL? I was curious as to why you didn’t, since Portuguese Empire was already out of the deck and you ditched South African Unrest after the Turn 7 reshuffle, until I looked back and saw that it had not made an appearance since Kennedy’s inauguration in Turn 5.
In general, in situations like that I don’t bother headlining the scoring card because too many things can go wrong in the headline. It wasn’t out of concern of any particular card, but just generally playing it safe.
With no non-battlegrounds, any card that allowed the USSR to conduct 2 ops in the headline could have been used to knock out control in either Zaire or South Africa, and he would have plummeted from control to presence (albeit with +4 from the battlegrounds). Responding to such an incursion would have been possible in AR1, but the risk in the headline was too great.
I think the USSR made a major mistake on Turn 1, AR3 in the placement of his Decol influence. He needed to place an influence into Angola, instead of Burma, Almost all of his future problems in Africa stem from this error. Perhaps Nigeria as well instead of Indonesia, although that’s more debatable.
I see two major mistakes on Turn 1. One was playing the one influence in Pakistan, at the moment when USSR did not really need it and at the same time when it was so vulnerable to indo-pakistani war (USSR not in control of neighbouring countries). The second one was indeed the placing decolonization influence in SE Asia, which in the course of the game cost the USSR player at least 30victory points…(by allowing US to score controle twice, plus by loosing the opportunity to score at least one domination of his own). This was indeed a decisive moment of the game.
A question to Theory, if I may, why didn’t you use your SALT ABM trick to try to realign USSR out of Cuba and Mexico? Notably when you had CA scoring on your hand and, at that stage of the game, you were worried about the possibility of loosing to Wargames?
Wow, great read indeed! I think the complete carelessness of the USSR player about Africa is a mistake that goes beyond the use of Decol. I did often times use that influence in south east asia too, to get Tahiland and to save myself from CIA created without giving up my coup advantage…