This is a continuation of the "series replay" (if I can borrow the term) started at this link: [url ] http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/718115/a-demonstration-g...[/url].
** Turn 4 Action Phase **
Turn 4:
Democrat Strategy Hand
#90 Ops 2: Green Police *
#38 Ops 3: Roundtable Talks
#5 Ops 3: General Strike
#61 Ops 4: The Monday Demonstrations *
#54 Ops 3: The Crowd Turns Against Ceausescu * (red)
#17: Germany Scoring
#62 Ops 4: Prudence
#105 Ops 1: Samizdat *
Democrat Commentary:
Now THAT is a hand for turn 4. I plan to place influence with my first move, taking the German student space and setting up a better support check against Berlin for when I play Monday Demonstrations. At worst I can anticipate winning the power struggle in Germany with domination... at best, I might be able to blow out the communists completely. I will try and get Germany scoring played by halfway through the hand so that I can spend influence in Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia.
Quote:
Turn 4, Communist action round 1
The Communists play the following card as an Event:
#18: Czechoslovakia Scoring
Spoiler (mouseover to reveal):
************************************************************
** The Battle deck is being shuffled. **
************************************************************
Communist: 6(1st city) +4(2 each additional city) = 10 cards
Democrat: 6(1st city) = 6 cards
** The Communist discards 3 Battle Cards to Raise the Stakes **
Card discarded: Strike 3
Card discarded: Petition 5
Card discarded: Intellectual leader 3
The winner of the Power Struggle will receive a +1 drm to his VP and Support Removal die rolls
The Communist attacks with a Strike 5
The Democrat matches with a Strike 4.
** Democrat counterattack die roll: 1 -- (needs a 5): counterattack fails.
The Communist attacks with a Petition 6
The Democrat matches with a Petition 6.
** Democrat counterattack die roll: 3 -- (needs a 6): counterattack fails.
The Communist attacks with a March 4
The Democrat matches with a March 5.
** Democrat counterattack die roll: 3 -- (needs a 4): counterattack fails.
The Communist plays a Wild Card to draw 2 cards from the Battle Deck
The Democrat automatically gains the initiative after the Wild Card: Draw 2 Battle Cards, lose initiative card
The Democrat plays a Wild Card to remove a Communist SP from Plzen
Communist support in Plzen reduced by 1, now at 3
The Communist automatically gains the initiative after the Wild Card: Remove 1 opponent SP in country of Power Struggle card
The Communist attacks with a March 6
The Democrat does not match the March 6:
** The Communist wins the Power Struggle in Czechoslovakia!!! **
** Power Struggle Support Loss die roll: 2 +1(raised stakes) = 3 -- 1 support to be removed
Democratic support in
Czech Catholic Church reduced by 1, now at 4
** Power Struggle VP die roll: 5 +1(raised stakes) = 6 -- 3 VPs awarded
VPs down 3, now at 6
*** Scoring in Czechoslovakia ***
Communist: 2(presence) +2(battlegrounds) = 4
Democrat: No score.
VPs down 4, now at 2
The Communist scores power in Czechoslovakia for the 1st time:
VPs down 2, now at 0
Turn 4, Democrat action round 1
The Democrats play the following card to place support:
#5
Ops 3: General Strike 1 Democrat support added to
Ulbricht Academy, now at 1
1 Democrat support added to
Bulgarian Writers, now at 2
1 Democrat support added to
Sofia University, now at 1
Czechoslovakia prior to scoring.
Democrat commentary:
This is the sort of situation the communists like to see at the start of the mid-year. The only way it could be more favorable is if I had no controlled cities at all and they could auto-win the power struggle, but in this case the odds are in the Communist's favor. I can only draw six cards, and all leaders excepting the Church leader are useless to me. Besides that, if I lose the power struggle there's a good chance I'll lose at least one influence and be knocked down from scoring presence to scoring nothing. I am fortunate enough to gain the initiative once and play the wild card to remove a support point from the one none-battleground he controls to prevent communist domination in Czechoslovakia.
My plan continues in spite of the scoring setback, and I seize the cheap spaces in Germany and Bulgaria. Hopefully doing both with one card will confuse the communists as to where I may be worried about scoring.
Quote:
Turn 4, Communist action round 2
The Communists play the following card to place support:
#6 Ops 3: Brought in for Questioning
1 Communist support added to Sofia, now at 3
1 Communist support added toPlzen, now at 4
1 Communist support added to Magdeburg, now at 1
Turn 4, Democrat action round 2
The Democrats play the following card as an Event:
#61 Ops 4: The Monday Demonstrations *
3 Democrat SPs added to Leipzig, now 5
Support Check attempt in Berlin (stability 3):
** Berlin die roll = 5 (+4 ops, +2 mod) = 11
The modified roll exceeds the doubled stability by 5.
Communist support in Berlin reduced by 3, now at 0
Democratic support in Berlin increased by 2, now at 2
Support Check attempt in K-Marx-Stadt (stability 3):
** K-Marx-Stadt die roll = 1 (+4 ops) = 5
The modified roll does not exceed the doubled stability -- no effect.
Support Check attempt in K-Marx-Stadt (stability 3):
** K-Marx-Stadt die roll = 4 (+4 ops) = 8
The modified roll exceeds the doubled stability by 2.
Communist support in K-Marx-Stadt reduced by 2, now at 1
Support Check attempt in K-Marx-Stadt (stability 3):
** K-Marx-Stadt die roll = 4 (+4 ops) = 8
The modified roll exceeds the doubled stability by 2.
Communist support in K-Marx-Stadt reduced by 1, now at 0
Democratic support in K-Marx-Stadt increased by 1, now at 1
Support Check attempt in Magdeburg (stability 3):
** Magdeburg die roll = 5 (+4 ops) = 9
The modified roll exceeds the doubled stability by 3.
Communist support in Magdeburg reduced by 1, now at 0
Democratic support in Magdeburg increased by 2, now at 2
Democrat Commentary:
The communist move is not particularly bold, simply repairing the damage in Czechoslovakia and attempting to match me in Bulgaria and expand in Germany. Placing only 1 influence in Magdeburg is an invitation to a support check, so it is a perfect setup for my play of Monday Demonstrations. I go for Berlin first due to the +2 modifier and the fact that a win there will knock the communists out of northern Germany and guarantee me parity at a minimum. My rolls are decent enough and I remove the communists from everywhere but the elite space. To seal the deal, I plan on playing influence in Germany with my next card -- followed by scoring.
Quote:
Turn 4, Communist action round 3
The Communists play the following card for Ops
Card: #33 Ops 4: Legacy of 1968 *
They elect to have the Democratic event occur first.
Democratic support in Bratislava increased by 1, now at 1
Democratic support in Ceske Budejovice increased by 1, now at 1
Democratic support in Charles University increased by 1, now at 1
Democratic support in Czech Catholic Church increased by 1, now at 5
Democratic support in Czech Writers increased by 1, now at 1
Democratic support in Kosice increased by 1, now at 1
Democratic support in Ostrava increased by 1, now at 1
Democratic support in Presov increased by 1, now at 1
The Communists use the Legacy of 1968 card for 2 support checks:
Support Check attempt in Ceske Budejovice (stability 3):
** Ceske Budejovice die roll = 5 (+4 ops, +2 mod) = 11
The modified roll exceeds the doubled stability by 5.
Democratic support in Ceske Budejovice reduced by 1, now at 0
Communist support in Ceske Budejovice increased by 4, now at 4
Support Check attempt in K-Marx-Stadt (stability 3):
** K-Marx-Stadt die roll = 1 (+4 ops) = 5
The modified roll does not exceed the doubled stability -- no effect.
Turn 4, Democrat action round 3
The Democrats play the following card to place support:
#38 Ops 3: Roundtable Talks
1 Democrat support added to Magdeburg, now at 3
2 Democrat support added to K-Marx-Stadt, now at 3
Democrat Commentary:
The communists choose to use a powerful Czech democrat card -- although wisely after they have played Czech scoring. Their support check in Ceske Budejovice is at +2 due to their control of Prague and Plzen and is a reasonable use of a 4-ops card, as is their attempt to get back into the running in Germany with a support check there -- they just don't get the dice for it. I reduce the risk of the communists support-checking their way back into Germany by increasing the support on KMS to +1 taking Magdeburg, and prevent the communists from simply placing influence back into KMS.
Quote:
Turn 4, Communist action round 4
The Communists play the following card as an Event:
#32 Ops 2: Peasant Parties *
Place 4 Communist SPs in Farmer spaces, no more than 2 per space.
** The Peasant Parties card is permanently removed. **
2 Communist support added to Plevna, now at 2
2 Communist support added to Eastern Rumelia, now at 2
Turn 4, Democrat action round 4
The Democrats play the following card to place support:
#62 Ops 4: Prudence
3 Democrat support added to Burgas, now at 3
1 Democrat support added to Berlin, now at 3
Democrat commentary:
I don't like using 4 ops cards for influence-only -- I prefer to use them for support checks with +1 or better modifiers, but in this case I felt I needed to match the communist influence in the Bulgarian farmer spaces. I move to take Burgas before Varna to keep the communists from simply expanding into the eastern worker battlegrounds.
Quote:
Turn 4, Communist action round 5
The Communists play the following card for Ops
Card: #100
Ops 2: Yakovlev Counsels Gorbachev * They elect to have the Democratic event occur first.
The Communists use the Yakovlev Counsels Gorbachev card to place support:
2 Communist support added to
Plevna, now at 4
Turn 4, Democrat action round 5
The Democrats play the following card as an Event:
#17: Germany Scoring
Spoiler (mouseover to reveal):
************************************************************
** The Battle deck is being shuffled. **
************************************************************
Democrat: 6(1st city) +12(2 each additional city) = 18 cards
Communist: 6(1st city) = 6 cards
** The Democrat discards 3 Battle Cards to Raise the Stakes **
Card discarded: Strike 3
Card discarded: Intellectual leader 3
Card discarded: Elite leader 3
The winner of the Power Struggle will receive a +1 drm to his VP and Support Removal die rolls
The Democrat attacks with a Rally in the Square - auto CA
The Communist matches with a Rally in the Square - auto CA.
Counterattack is automatically successful!
The Communist plays a Wild Card to draw 2 cards from the Battle Deck
The Democrat automatically gains the initiative after the Wild Card: Draw 2 Battle Cards, lose initiative card
The Democrat plays a Wild Card to force the Communist to discard 2 random battle cards
The Communist automatically gains the initiative after the Wild Card: Opponent discards 2 random Battle Cards, lose initiative card
The Communist attacks with a Strike 6
The Democrat matches with a Strike 4.
** Democrat counterattack die roll: 3 -- (needs a 6): counterattack fails.
The Communist attacks with a Petition 6
The Democrat matches with a Petition 5.
** Democrat counterattack die roll: 6 -- (needs a 6): counterattack is successful!
The Democrat attacks with a Rally in the Square - auto CA
The Communist matches with a Rally in the Square - auto CA.
Counterattack is automatically successful!
The Communist attacks with a Elite leader 3 played as a Petition
The Democrat matches with a Petition 5.
** Democrat counterattack die roll: 4 -- (needs a 3): counterattack is successful!
The Democrat attacks with a Intellectual leader 3 played as a Rally in the Square
The Communist does not match the Intellectual leader 3:
** The Democrat wins the Power Struggle in Germany!!! **
** Power Struggle Support Loss die roll: 4 +2(Rally) +1(Yakovlev) +1(raised stakes) = 7 -- 4 support to be removed
Communist support in
Dresden reduced by 4, now at 1
** Power Struggle VP die roll: 3 +2(Rally) +1(Yakovlev) +1(raised stakes) = 7 -- 4 VPs awarded, plus Power
VPs up 4, now at 4
*** Scoring in Germany ***
Communist: No score.
Democrat: 6(domination) +5(battlegrounds) = 11
VPs up 11, now at 15
** The Germany Scoring card is permanently removed. **
Germany prior to scoring
Democrat commentary: Total blow-out in Germany thanks to Monday Demonstrations setting it up for me. This is even worse for the communists than the situation in Czechoslovakia was for the democrats. In this case, besides a twelve card advantage in my hand of power struggle cards, I am able to use all but the elite leaders -- lending a potentially huge amount of flexibility to my hand.
As a more general rule, I would say that the democrat player really needs to shoot for large enough card advantages (especially in the high power countries Poland and Germany) that they can afford to discard to raise the stakes and still have a large enough card margin to win handily. Nothing is more frustrating than winning a power struggle only to roll low on the victory point table and see the communists retain power. Conversely, I think the communist player mostly cares about winning -- regardless of by what margin -- and should only raise the stakes if they are already behind (in the overall game score -- not in the power struggle itself) and desperately need the possibility of a few extra victory points.
Quote:
Turn 4, Communist action round 6
The Communists play the following card for an attempt on the Tiananmen Square track:
#45 Ops 4: Soviet Troop Withdrawals *
** Tiananmen Square (7 needed) die roll: 6 +4(card) +1(already attempted) = 11
Communist progress on the Tiananmen Square Track is now at People's Daily Denounces Protestors
The Communists draw an extra card.
Turn 4, Democrat action round 6
The Democrats play the following card for Ops
Card: #90 Ops 2: Green Police *
They elect to have the Communist event occur first.
The Democrats use the Green Police card to place support:
2 Democrat support added to Dresden, now at 2
Democrat commentary:
Green Police is now essentially irrelevant, and I take advantage of the communist Tiananmen discard to try and guarantee control of Germany for end-game scoring. Note that advancing to the 3rd space on the Tiananmen track late in the turn can sometimes be dangerous because of the free draw. Definitely don't do it on your 7th action round unless you're certain that all scoring cards are in the discard pile.
Quote:
Turn 4, Communist action round 7
The Communists play the following card as an Event:
#20 Ops 2: Workers Revolt
Choose any Worker space in a country where your opponent has Power. Roll a die.
Revolt is successful 4-6. If successful replace your opponent's SPs with your
own. -1 drm for every space your opponent controls adjacent to the target
space.
The target space is Miskolc
Communist success on a modified die roll of 4-6; Democrat is -1
** Die roll: 3 (-1) = 2
Turn 4, Democrat action round 7
The Democrats play the following card for an attempt on the Tiananmen Square track:
#54 Ops 3: The Crowd Turns Against Ceausescu * (red)
** Tiananmen Square (6 needed) die roll: 5 +3(card) +1(own event) = 9
Democrat progress on the Tiananmen Square Track is now at Foreign News Coverage
Democrat commentary:
I'm not a huge fan of the communist move... Hungary won't score again till the end of the game, and he only had a one in three shot anyhow. Why not put those extra influence in Eastern Rumelia for instance and gain an advantage in Bulgaria... or better yet at least make an attempt to maintain presence in Germany for end game scoring if you're that interested in the long game. I'm able to safely discard to Tiananmen since the communists have already taken the free draw. I really like the event, but I like not falling behind on the Tiananmen track more.
Turn 5:
Democrat Strategy Hand
#105 Ops 1: Samizdat *
#53 Ops 1: Li Peng *
#47 Ops 3: Bulgarian Turks Expelled *
#14 Ops 3: Ceausescu *
#35 Ops 3: Systematization *
#71 Ops 3: Kiss of Death *
#72 Ops 3: Peasant Parties Revolt *
#46 Ops 3: Goodbye Lenin! *
Democrat Commentary:
A decent hand. The only communist event that is particularly troubling to me is Bulgarian Turks, since Bulgaria scoring hasn't come up yet. I'd like to Tiananmen Li Peng so that the communists don't get the long term benefits. I anticipate seizing the last battleground in eastern Bulgaria and then perhaps working on Czechoslovakia for the reshuffle... or playing Ceausescu and then moving into Romania.
** Turn 5 Action Phase **
Quote:
Turn 5, Communist action round 1
The Communists play the following card as an Event:
#7 Ops 2: State Run Media *
Democratic support in Sofia University reduced by 1, now at 0
Democratic support in Bulgarian Writers reduced by 2, now at 0
Democratic support in Burgas reduced by 1, now at 2
Turn 5, Democrat action round 1
The Democrats play the following card for Ops
Card: #35 Ops 3: Systematization *
They elect to have the Communist event occur first.
** The Harghita Covasna space is eliminated from the game! **
The Democrats use the Systematization card to place support:
3 Democrat support added to Varna, now at 3
Democrat commentary:
A text use of State Run Media by the communists, as they eliminate my access to Sofia and the student/intellectual spaces of Bulgaria -- turning what might have been a dominant position for me into at best a wash. I desperately counter by taking another battleground in Bulgaria. The communist choice of / is the "default" for Systemization, since it eliminates one of the routes of democrat access to Romania via the Saudjis-Baltic Way-Breakaway Baltic Republics series of cards.
Quote:
Turn 5, Communist action round 2
The Communists play the following card to place support:
#52 Ops 3: Normalization *
3 Communist support added to Plovdiv, now at 3
Turn 5, Democrat action round 2
The Democrats play the following card for Ops
Card: #14 Ops 3: Ceausescu *
They elect to have the Communist event occur first.
The Democrats use the Ceausescu card to place support:
1 Democrat support added to Burgas, now at 3
2 Democrat support added to Dresden, now at 4
Democrat commentary:
We both know that Bulgaria is the only country still to score prior to turn 7, so naturally we concentrate our efforts their. I get rid of Ceausescu for no ill effect (since I have no influence in Romania to either remove or support check), and threaten to take control in Germany since there is little chance of expansion for me in Bulgaria outside of the eastern workers triangle. The church space would be a possibility, but I am (perhaps unjustifiably) loathe to take control prior to seeing Betrayal in the discard pile.
Quote:
Turn 5, Communist action round 3
The Communists play the following card to place support:
#57 Ops 2: Central Committee Reshuffle *
2 Communist support added to Eastern Rumelia, now at 4
Turn 5, Democrat action round 3
The Democrats play the following card to place support:
#72 Ops 3: Peasant Parties Revolt *
1 Democrat support added to Dresden, now at 5
2 Democrat support added to Ostrava, now at 3
Democrat Commentary:
Again, since I see no place to expand in Bulgaria without paying double influence, I instead take control of Germany and gain another battleground in Czechoslovakia, preparing for turn 7.
Quote:
Turn 5, Communist action round 4
The Communists play the following card for an attempt on the Tiananmen Square track:
#3 Ops 3: Walesa *
** Tiananmen Square (7 needed) die roll: 4 +3(card)
Communist progress on the Tiananmen Square Track is now at Students Arrested
The Communists may remove 2 Democrat support from the board.
Democratic support in Charles University reduced by 1, now at 0
Democratic support in Czech Writers reduced by 1, now at 0
Turn 5, Democrat action round 4
The Democrats play the following card for 2 support checks:
#46 Ops 3: Goodbye Lenin! *
Support Check attempt in Bratislava (stability 3):
** Bratislava die roll = 6 (+3 ops, +1 mod) = 10
The modified roll exceeds the doubled stability by 4.
Communist support in Bratislava reduced by 2, now at 0
Democratic support in Bratislava increased by 2, now at 3
Support Check attempt in Brno (stability 3):
** Brno die roll = 5 (+3 ops, +1 mod) = 9
The modified roll exceeds the doubled stability by 3.
Communist support in Brno reduced by 3, now at 0
Democrat Commentary:
Having reached the limit of his natural expansion abilities in Bulgaria, the communists discard, and once again execute a nasty removal of democrat influence -- once again knocking me out the key student and intellectual battlegrounds in Czechoslovakia -- and without even giving up victory points for Helsinki. I counter with incredibly good dice rolling to win back the advantage in the Czech worker triangle. I will need Brno in my hands to ensure dominance in Czechoslovakia the next time it scores.
Quote:
Turn 5, Communist action round 5
The Communists play the following card for Ops
Card: #8 Ops 2: Free Press *
They elect to have the Democratic event occur first.
The target city is Krakow
Democrat success on a modified die roll of 4-6; Communist is -0
** Die roll: 6 -- Democrat success! **
VPs up 1, now at 16
Communist support in Krakow reduced by 1, now at 0
Democratic support in Krakow increased by 1, now at 3
The Communists use the Free Press card to place support:
1 Communist support added to Cluj, now at 4
1 Communist support added to Bucharest, now at 3
Turn 5, Democrat action round 5
The Democrats play the following card for an attempt on the Tiananmen Square track:
#53 Ops 1: Li Peng *
** Tiananmen Square (6 needed) die roll: 2 +1(card)
No effect.
Democrat Commentary:
The communists prepare for the late game in Romania. I choose the better chance of a victory point in Krakow than the lower chance of taking three influence in Warsaw with Free Press. Since the moves in Romania aren't particularly threatening, I take the chance to discard to Tiananmen.
Incidentally, the communist card play (Free Press) is the one that could not happen in the game as it is to be released. This card was removed from the deck and replaced with a late year card (Malta Summit) that is potentially much more powerful -- of course, it's only available for the last three turns of the game.
Quote:
Turn 5, Communist action round 6
The Communists play the following card as an Event:
#51 Ops 2: 40th Anniversary Celebration *
2 Communist support added to Dresden, now at 3
VPs down 1, now at 15
Turn 5, Democrat action round 6
The Democrats play the following card to place support:
#71 Ops 3: Kiss of Death *
2 Democrat support added to Dresden, now at 7
1 Democrat support added to Varna, now at 4
Democrat Commentary:
Now (somewhat late in my opinion), the communists try for a foothold in Germany. Thanks to my relatively ops-rich hand I can counter them while over-controlling in Bulgaria in preparation for what looks like a probable democrat loss in the inevitable power-struggle.
Quote:
Turn 5, Communist action round 7
The Communists play the following card for Ops
Card: #58 Ops 2: Austria-Hungary Border Re-opened *
They elect to have the Democratic event occur first.
The Communists use the Austria-Hungary Border Re-opened card to place support:
2 Communist support added to Brasov, now at 2
Turn 5, Democrat action round 7
The Democrats play the following card to place support:
#105 Ops 1: Samizdat *
1 Democrat support added to Burgas, now at 4
Democrat Commentary: Not much to say, I over-control a bit more, and the communists spread in Romania. Playing Austria-Hungary Border at the end of the turn is standard operating procedure, but if the communists weren't going to contest Germany this turn, they could have afforded to play it earlier had they felt the need for 2-ops.
Turn 6:
Democrat Strategy Hand
#47 Ops 3: Bulgarian Turks Expelled *
#26 Ops 2: Securitate *
#67 Ops 2: Reformer Rehabilitated *
#93 Ops 1: New Forum *
#76 Ops 2: Warsaw Pact Summit *
#39 Ops 2: Toxic Waste *
#77 Ops 3: Social Democratic Platform Adopted
#92 Ops 4: Deutsche Marks *
Democrat Commentary:
Quote:
** Turn 6 Action Phase **
Turn 6, Communist action round 1
The Communists play the following card as an Event:
#19: Bulgaria Scoring
Spoiler (mouseover to reveal):
************************************************************
** The Battle deck is being shuffled. **
************************************************************
Communist: 6(1st city) +8(2 each additional city) = 14 cards
Democrat: 6(1st city) +6(2 each additional city) = 12 cards
** The Communist discards 3 Battle Cards to Raise the Stakes **
Card discarded: March 3
Card discarded: Intellectual leader 3
Card discarded: Intellectual leader 3
The winner of the Power Struggle will receive a +1 drm to his VP and Support Removal die rolls
The Communist attacks with a March 6
The Democrat matches with a March 3.
** Democrat counterattack die roll: 2 -- (needs a 6): counterattack fails.
The Communist attacks with a March 5
The Democrat matches with a March 5.
** Democrat counterattack die roll: 2 -- (needs a 5): counterattack fails.
The Communist attacks with a March 4
The Democrat matches with a March 5.
** Democrat counterattack die roll: 5 -- (needs a 4): counterattack is successful!
The Democrat plays a Wild Card to draw 2 cards from the Battle Deck
The Communist automatically gains the initiative after the Wild Card: Draw 2 Battle Cards, lose initiative card
The Communist attacks with a Strike 6
The Democrat matches with a Strike 3.
** Democrat counterattack die roll: 2 -- (needs a 6): counterattack fails.
The Communist attacks with a Strike 5
The Democrat matches with a Strike 4.
** Democrat counterattack die roll: 4 -- (needs a 5): counterattack fails.
The Communist attacks with a Petition 6
The Democrat matches with a Petition 6.
** Democrat counterattack die roll: 1 -- (needs a 6): counterattack fails.
The Communist attacks with a March 4
The Democrat does not match the March 4:
** The Communist wins the Power Struggle in Bulgaria!!! **
** Power Struggle Support Loss die roll: 4 +1(raised stakes) = 5 -- 2 support to be removed
Democratic support in
Varna reduced by 1, now at 3
Democratic support in Ruse reduced by 1, now at 3
** Power Struggle VP die roll: 2 +1(raised stakes) = 3 -- 1 VP awarded
VPs down 1, now at 14
*** Scoring in Bulgaria ***
Communist: 2(presence) +2(battlegrounds) = 4
Democrat: 2(presence) +3(battlegrounds) = 5
VPs up 1, now at 15
The Communist scores power in Bulgaria for the 1st time:
VPs down 1, now at 14
Turn 6, Democrat action round 1
The Democrats play the following card for an attempt on the Tiananmen Square track:
#77
Ops 3: Social Democratic Platform Adopted ** Tiananmen Square (6 needed) die roll: 2 +3(card) +1(already attempted) = 6
Democrat progress on the Tiananmen Square Track is now at Student Hunger Strike
Bulgaria prior to scoring.
Democrat Commentary:
Looking at the map, one sees what is likely to be a relatively stable situation in Bulgaria. With the eastern worker cities all controlled and supporting one another, it is difficult for the communists to make any headway in that direction. Likewise, Stara Zagora is a rock that is difficult or impossible for the democrats to penetrate, and even if they manage to get through it and place influence in Sofia, it would be subject to a devastating support check. This shows how important guaranteeing or denying access to the student and intellectual spaces can be... if I controlled them, the democrats might have won this power struggle. As it is, Bulgaria is a defeat as I anticipated, but with the over-control it is far from a disaster. Since there are no scoring cards left in the deck until next turn, I take advantage of the lull and discard for Tiananmen. Since Bulgaria scoring is gone, I will potentially play Bulgarian Turks Expelled as an event, so I discard the non-starred communist event.
Quote:
Turn 6, Communist action round 2
The Communists play the following card as an Event:
#79 Ops 2: The Third Way *
-2 VP. Place 3 Communist SPs in the German writers space
** The Third Way card is permanently removed. **
VPs down 2, now at 12
Communist support in German Writers increased by 3, now at 3
Turn 6, Democrat action round 2
The Democrats play the following card for 2 support checks:
#93 Ops 1: New Forum *
Support Check attempt in German Writers (stability 2):
** German Writers die roll = 5 (+1 ops, +1 mod) = 7
The modified roll exceeds the doubled stability by 3.
Communist support in German Writers reduced by 3, now at 0
Support Check attempt in Tatabayna (stability 3):
** Tatabayna die roll = 1 (+1 ops, +1 mod) = 3
The modified roll does not exceed the doubled stability -- no effect.
Democrat Commentary:
Another desultory attempt by the communists to break back into Germany that is promptly dealt with using minimum resources. This move was probably done mostly for the victory points so as to try and move the democrats a bit further away from an auto-win.
Quote:
Turn 6, Communist action round 3
The Communists play the following card as an Event:
#15 Ops 3: Honecker *
The Communist player reclaims the following card from the discard pile:
#53 Ops 1: Li Peng *
Turn 6, Democrat action round 3
The Democrats play the following card for Ops
Card: #47 Ops 3: Bulgarian Turks Expelled *
They elect to have the Communist event occur first.
VPs down 2, now at 10
Democratic support in Razgrad now at 0
The Democrats use the Bulgarian Turks Expelled card to place support:
3 Democrat support added to Timisoara, now at 3
Democrat Commentary:
While typically Honecker might be used to retrieve a 4-ops card like Gorbachev Charms the West, with five potential Tiananmen discards left, Li Peng could pay off here for the communists. Rather than reinforcing Bulgaria I hope for Baltic Way to be played in the future, and instead make my first foray into Romania. It is later than I would like, but at least Ceausescu is out of the deck already.
Quote:
Turn 6, Communist action round 4
The Communists play the following card for Ops
Card: #98 Ops 2: Laszlo Tokes * (red)
They elect to have the Democratic event occur first.
Democratic support in Timisoara increased by 1, now at 4
1 Democrat support added to Constanta, now at 1
1 Democrat support added to Bukovina, now at 1
The Communists use the Laszlo Tokes card to place support:
1 Communist support added to Brasov, now at 3
1 Communist support added to Craiova, now at 1
Turn 6, Democrat action round 4
The Democrats play the following card for Ops
Card: #26 Ops 2: Securitate *
They elect to have the Communist event occur first.
The Democrats use the Securitate card to place support:
2 Democrat support added to Constanta, now at 3
Democrat Commentary:
Laszlo Tokes is one of those strange events that the communists actually want to activate, since it serves as a pre-requisite for one of their own late-game cards. In this case the influence in Timisoara is only over-control, and I don't have any good support check targets, so I place the extra influence to gain access in the east. The race for Romania continues on both sides despite Romania not scoring until turn 8 at the earliest. Since all scoring cards are in the discard pile at the moment though, this makes some sense.
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Turn 6, Communist action round 5
The Communists play the following card to place support:
#11 Ops 2: Dissident Arrested
2 Communist support added to Ploesti, now at 2
Turn 6, Democrat action round 5
The Democrats play the following card to place support:
#39 Ops 2: Toxic Waste *
2 Democrat support added to Galati, now at 2
Democrat Commentary: See commentary for action round 4. An argument could easily be made that at this point in the game playing Toxic Waste as the event to seize Galati outright would be a better move on my part, but I'm hoping that the event will come back one more time.
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Turn 6, Communist action round 6
The Communists play the following card for Ops
Card: #75 Ops 3: Exit Visas *
They elect to have the Democratic event occur first.
The Democrat player does not choose to discard any cards.
The Communists use the Exit Visas card to place support:
3 Communist support added to Craiova, now at 4
Turn 6, Democrat action round 6
The Democrats play the following card to place support:
#67 Ops 2: Reformer Rehabilitated *
1 Democrat support added to Galati, now at 3
1 Democrat support added to Bukovina, now at 2
Democrat Commentary:
More solidification of the situation in Romania. Romania has some interesting geography -- it is a generally a case of "interior lines" for the communists, with the democrats having to nibble at the edges. I'll be doing well if I can control Galati and Bukovina and thereby have the support advantage against Iasi. Bucharest is a dead zone for the democrats if the communists control Cluj, Ploesti, and Brasov as they do here. The worst situation for the democrats is if they can only manage to control the cities with foreign connections (Timisoara and Constanta), since both are vulnerable to +1 support checks by the communists in that case.
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Turn 6, Communist action round 7
The Communists play the following card as an Event:
#53 Ops 1: Li Peng *
Turn 6, Democrat action round 7
The Democrats play the following card for Ops
Card: #92 Ops 4: Deutsche Marks *
They elect to have the Communist event occur first.
The Democrat gives the Communist the following card due to Deutsche Marks:
#76 Ops 2: Warsaw Pact Summit *
1 Communist support added to Ploesti, now at 3
3 Communist support added to Romanian Orthodox Church, now at 3
The Democrats use the Deutsche Marks card to place support:
2 Democrat support added to Bukovina, now at 4
2 Democrat support added to Brno, now at 2
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Turn 6, Communist action round 8
The Communists play the following card for an attempt on the Tiananmen Square track:
#68 Ops 3: Klaus and Komarek *
** Tiananmen Square (8 needed) die roll: 5 +3(card) +1(Li Peng) = 9
Communist progress on the Tiananmen Square Track is now at Structure Removed
The Communists may now discard and draw one card at the start of their turn.
Democrat Commentary:
The communists fail to press the issue in Romania with their action, which allows me to comfortably give them Warsaw Pact Summit with Deutsche Marks. Rather than moving into Iasi, I move towards another city in Czechoslovakia given that it may come up for scoring on the next hand.
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************************************************************
** The deck is being shuffled. **
************************************************************
The Communist discards the following card and draws a replacement:
#56 Ops 2: Foreign Television *
Typically there will be a reshuffle of the discard pile prior to turn 7. This is potentially significant for scoring purposes for two reasons. First, if a mid-year scoring card hasn't been played prior to the reshuffle, then you can be certain that you or your opponent are holding that scoring card. Perhaps even more importantly, you once again have to be concerned about potentially scoring any countries that do not yet have democrats in power, since they will be reshuffled and potentially dealt out at this point.
Additionally, this reshuffle is important from a deck management perspective. It is the last time that discarded cards may be reshuffled and dealt back into someone's hand. Therefore there's no longer any reason to avoid playing your own side's suited events if they benefit you immediately more than the operations -- you won't be changing the composition of the deck after this point.
Of course, all the deck composition work you've done over the first six turns finally pays off when you hit the reshuffle. In this game, there were 17 democrat suited cards worth 38 ops, and 22 communist suited cards worth 50 ops in the permanent discard pile at the reshuffle. A small advantage to the democrats.
Turn 7:
Democrat Strategy Hand
#50 Ops 3: The Sinatra Doctrine *
#107 Ops 1: Foreign Currency Debt Burden *
#103 Ops 3: Nepotism *
#104 Ops 3: Presidential Visit *
#28 Ops 3: Factory Party Cells
#95 Ops 3: The July Concept *
#78 Ops 4: Gorbachev Charms the West
#19: Bulgaria Scoring
Democrat Commentary: We begin to see the power of some of the more advanced Tiananmen abilities here as the communists ditch the powerful Foreign Television. My hand is fairly generous on ops, but holds three communist events that might essentially negate my ops. Sinatra Doctrine would be a tempting first play, but since Gorbachev and Bulgaria are mandatory plays that aren't helped by Sinatra, I would gain at most 4 ops for the cost of 3 ops and tempo. That decision will likely rest on what the communists do with their first card. I will probably have to soak another loss in Bulgaria, so I will try and slough it off whenever I can.
** Turn 7 Action Phase **
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Turn 7, Communist action round 1
The Communists play the following card for Ops
Card: #106 Ops 3: 'We are the People!' *
They elect to have the Democratic event occur first.
0 Democratic support removed from Lutheran Church, now at 5
The Communists use the 'We are the People!' card to place support:
1 Communist support added to Prague, now at 4
1 Communist support added toPlzen, now at 5
1 Communist support added to Cluj, now at 5
Turn 7, Democrat action round 1
The Democrats play the following card to place support:
#104 Ops 3: Presidential Visit *
1 Democrat support added to Brno, now at 3
2 Democrat support added to Bulgarian Orthodox Church, now at 2
Democrat Commentary:
Without any pressing need to expand anywhere -- since he currently leads the city race in those countries that can still score -- the communist decides to begin over-controlling spaces. He's helped by the fact that my event on his card is useless at the moment -- I already have all the areas I need in Germany. Meanwhile, since I know Bulgaria will score this turn, but Betrayal will not enter the deck until next turn, I move into the Bulgarian church to increase my odds there somewhat, while making sure of an additional city in Czechoslovakia.
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Turn 7, Communist action round 2
The Communists play the following card for an attempt on the Tiananmen Square track:
#83 Ops 3: The Baltic Way * (red)
** Tiananmen Square (7 needed) die roll: 3 +3(card) +1(Li Peng) = 7
Communist progress on the Tiananmen Square Track is now at Rural Divisions Summoned to Beijing
The Communists may now make a free 2 Ops support at end of turn.
Turn 7, Democrat action round 2
The Democrats play the following card as an Event:
#78 Ops 4: Gorbachev Charms the West
Communist support inPlzen reduced by 2, now at 3
Support Check attempt in Prague (stability 3):
** Prague die roll = 2 (+4 ops) = 6
The modified roll does not exceed the doubled stability -- no effect.
Democrat Commentary: For some reason I get the idea in my head that because he over-controlled in Czechoslovakia at the start of his turn that he must be holding Czech scoring... that combined with the fact that there is no particularly good support check target in Bulgaria lead me to use the card against Prague in an attempt to gain access to the adjacent student space. In hindsight, probably not the best use or timing of this card play.
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Turn 7, Communist action round 3
The Communists play the following card for Ops
Card: #72 Ops 3: Peasant Parties Revolt *
They elect to have the Democratic event occur first.
The Communists use the Peasant Parties Revolt card to place support:
2 Communist support added to Plzen, now at 5
1 Communist support added to Miskolc, now at 4
Turn 7, Democrat action round 3
The Democrats play the following card as an Event:
#107 Ops 1: Foreign Currency Debt Burden *
No Communist Support Checks in Bulgaria for the rest of this turn
Democrat Commentary: I hit on the great idea of using the Debt Crisis in Bulgaria to protect a move into Sofia long enough for me to get influence into the adjacent student and intellectual spaces and swing the Bulgaria power struggle in my direction. Communist move is fairly sensible but benign damage repair and over-control.
Quote:
Turn 7, Communist action round 4
The Communists play the following card as an Event:
#6 Ops 3: Brought in for Questioning
The Democratic Player must randomly discard a card. If it is a Communist event
it takes place immediately
The Democrat player discards the following card:
#19: Bulgaria Scoring
Turn 7, Democrat action round 4
The Democrats play the following card for an attempt on the Tiananmen Square track:
#103 Ops 3: Nepotism *
** Tiananmen Square (7 needed) die roll: 2 +3(card)
No effect.
Democrat Commentary: I really don't like using Brought in for Questioning as an event as the communists -- on the other hand, I find it a very useful card to hold over as the democrats in order to ditch an unpleasant scoring card at the end of a turn. In this case Bulgaria is done until final scoring, so there's no further need for me to occupy spaces there, and I take the breather as a chance for a discard.
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Turn 7, Communist action round 5
The Communists play the following card as an Event:
#44 Ops 3: Inflationary Currency *
Democratic support in Miskolc reduced by 2, now at 1
The Democrat player discards the following card to cancel the Support Check:
#95 Ops 3: The July Concept *
Turn 7, Democrat action round 5
The Democrats play the following card for Ops
Card: #28 Ops 3: Factory Party Cells
They elect to have the Communist event occur first.
Democratic support in Bratislava reduced by 1, now at 2
Democratic support in Brno reduced by 1, now at 2
Democratic support in Ostrava reduced by 1, now at 2
The Democrats use the Factory Party Cells card to place support:
1 Democrat support added to Brno, now at 3
1 Democrat support added to Bratislava, now at 3
1 Democrat support added to Ostrava, now at 3
Democrat Commentary:
Now the earlier communist play of Brought in for Questioning seems a much better move. By playing a card that forced a discard earlier, I now have the unenviable choice of either allowing a communist support check in Hungary or discarding a second card for the turn and then being one action round short for the turn. In this case, since I have an extra communist 3-op card that would be a net break even for me, I decide to discard it to at least avoid the communist support check. The play of Factory Party Cells demonstrates how sometimes you need to play enemy events as effectively a "no event". I'd willingly discard Factory Party Cells to Tiananmen if I had no other communist events, but here I'll take the hit to tempo (since there isn't much pressure at the moment anyhow).
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Turn 7, Communist action round 6
The Communists play the following card as an Event:
#9 Ops 1: The Wall *
** The The Wall card is permanently removed. **
Turn 7, Democrat action round 6
The Democrats play the following card to place support:
#50 Ops 3: The Sinatra Doctrine *
3 Democrat support added to Iasi, now at 3
Democrat Commentary:
The Wall can be quite a powerful card for the communists, but at this point in the game with the situation as it is in Germany, it seems unlikely to result in a big support check win. Romania has solidified this turn -- my position is not a winning one, but given my position in Poland and Germany I probably don't have to win in Romania to win the game.
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Turn 7, Communist action round 7
The Communists play the following card for Ops
Card: #74 Ops 3: FRG Embassies *
They elect to have the Democratic event occur first.
The Communists use the FRG Embassies card for 2 support checks:
Support Check attempt in Timisoara (stability 3):
** Timisoara die roll = 1 (+3 ops, +1 mod) = 5
The modified roll does not exceed the doubled stability -- no effect.
Support Check attempt in Timisoara (stability 3):
** Timisoara die roll = 1 (+3 ops, +1 mod) = 5
The modified roll does not exceed the doubled stability -- no effect.
Turn 7, Democrat action round 7
No cards left for the Democrat player--no action taken
The Communists get a free support check due to Tiananmen Square progress
Support Check attempt in Timisoara (stability 3):
** Timisoara die roll = 2 (+2 ops, +1 mod) = 5
The modified roll does not exceed the doubled stability -- no effect.
Democrat Commentary:
The communist move is a nice one to try and gain another battleground in Romania in case its scoring card comes up early in turn 8. Since he had a double move however (due to the two democrat discards earlier in the turn) the communist might have been even better served by placing influence and following it with a support check -- of course, rolling snakes makes any decision look like a poorer decision than it might otherwise.
Situation at the start of the late year:
(Remaining countries with scoring cards in the deck)
Czechoslovakia at the start of turn 8.
Czechoslovakia has been turned around by the democrats after their early defeat there. The democrat control of the "worker triangle" is assured at this point, but barring a card play that allows the democrats to place influence in the Czech Writers space there is little more the democrats can do to ensure a win -- other than the rather expense proposition of spending six influence for control of two more farmer spaces in Slovakia. The communists would probably like to see this score again as soon as possible, or not at all -- just to decrease the chance of any adjustment in the democrat player's favor.
Romania at the start of turn 8.
Romania is the big new prize of the late year. In some games no one has managed to place much if any influence in Romania even by this point. In our case this game, most of the country is occupied. The communists have a potentially nice support check target in the west in Timisoara, which would give them domination with control of four battleground cities should they take it. The eastern part of the country looks relatively stable, with neither side being able to support check the other at better than a minus one modifier due to adjacent supporting cities. As a general rule, being merely even in Romania at the start of turn 8 is a good thing for the democrats.
The score at the start of turn 8 is +12 for the democrats. Interestingly, this is precisely the number of points the communists would score for communist controlled governments (three -- Czech, Bulgaria, Romania) were the game to end right now. However, the end game scoring situation is not very favorable to the communists in Poland and Germany, so they need to fight for good power struggle results in Romania and Czechoslovakia -- a big payday for them in Romania in particular would help them immensely.
Since Romania is so full of influence already, much play from this point on may be directed towards end game scoring -- this may mean overcontrol of battlegrounds, and attempts to ensure presence or dominance as the case may be throughout all six countries.
Stay tuned for the conclusion in the late year!
At least that bulldozer looks pretty cool.
