Ted Torgerson
United States
Chicago
Illinois
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here is a link to download a pfd of the strategy cards for 1989 (low resolution):
http://tedtorgersonlaw.com/1989CardProofs1.pdf
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Judit Szepessy
Canada
London
Canada
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Wonderful looking cards! Very nice work.
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no way! Eduard Khil aka Trololo Man on State Run Media card!
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Wendell
United States
Arlington
Virginia
All the little chicks with crimson lips, go...
Hey, get your stinking cursor off my face! I got nukes, you know.
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Love the photos!
Some comments:
Card 28 - "worker" should be capitalized "Worker"
Card 32 - photo caption, should be "Compliant with" not "compliant to"
Card 34 - caption - maybe "withdraw" is better than "withdrawn"? Most of the captions are present tense, not past. (Yes, could be an implied "are" in front of "withdrawn" but "withdraw" just sounds better, YMMV!)
Card 44 - again "Inflationary Currency" is IMHO a bit odd, why not "Hyperinflation"?
Card 48 - in first sentence, "can" should be "may"
Card 56 - suggest "TV" not "T.V." in caption
Card 71 - for second sentence, suggest "If its event is neutral or Democratic, the event takes place immediately."
Card 75 - presume you draw the same number of cards as discarded?
Card 87 - so, successful play of "The Wall Must Go" is a pre-requisite to playing this event?
Card 90 - is it "Czech Writers space" or should it be "Czechoslovakian Writers space"?
Card 107 - it is included twice????
Card 109 - included twice???
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Ted Torgerson
United States
Chicago
Illinois
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Quote: Love the photos!
Quote: Card 28 - "worker" should be capitalized "Worker"
K.
Quote: Card 32 - photo caption, should be "Compliant with" not "compliant to"
K.
Quote: Card 34 - caption - maybe "withdraw" is better than "withdrawn"? Most of the captions are present tense, not past. (Yes, could be an implied "are" in front of "withdrawn" but "withdraw" just sounds better, YMMV!)
I think the are is implied. Some of the flavor text is active voice and some is passive voice. Not too consistent on that. In this case I think I will keep it as the card is more about the decision by Gorbachev to bail out of the Afghan quagmire, rather than the actual act of withdrawing, if that makes any sense.
Quote: Card 44 - again "Inflationary Currency" is IMHO a bit odd, why not "Hyperinflation"?
I think Hyperinflation sounds good. The term infationary currency sounds good to me too, but I am not an economist. Hyperinflation to me brings to mind Germany in 1923 where people are using wheel barrows to pay for a potato. Although I looked up the definition at hyperinfation is defined as consumer price inflation of 50%/month, which would apply in Poland in the Middle Year as August and September infation rates were over 100%/month. I will talk to Bruce about it.
Quote: Card 48 - in first sentence, "can" should be "may"
K.
Quote: Card 56 - suggest "TV" not "T.V." in caption
K.
Quote: Card 71 - for second sentence, suggest "If its event is neutral or Democratic, the event takes place immediately."
I'll ask Bruce what he thinks.
Quote: Card 75 - presume you draw the same number of cards as discarded?
This I will change. Replace with an equal number of new cards from the deck.
Quote: Card 87 - so, successful play of "The Wall Must Go" is a pre-requisite to playing this event?
No you get the 2 VPs regardless. You get the Ops also if The Wall Must Go! has been played successfully.
Quote: Card 90 - is it "Czech Writers space" or should it be "Czechoslovakian Writers space"?
Well that is the name of the space. It is connected to Prague. It represents Havel principally.
Quote: Card 107 - it is included twice????
Card 109 - included twice???
No we were just considering using yellow numbers for the Ops values and wanted to see how they looked. We are sticking with the white numbers.
Thanks for these comments.
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Patrick Martin
United States
Wisconsin
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wifwendell wrote: Love the photos!
Card 87 - so, successful play of "The Wall Must Go" is a pre-requisite to playing this event?
This one probably does need some clarification. I believe the "+2 VP" takes place whenever the event happens, while the influence placement or support checks only take place if the pre-requisite is met, but it is easy to see how it could be interpreted as the pre-requisite is needed for any event to happen at all.
Perhaps "+2 VP automatically. If The Wall Must Go event has been played successfully, then additionally the Democratic Player may add influence or make support checks with the Ops value of this card."
EDIT: Ninja'd.... did it really take me 35 minutes to compose this reply???
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Thomas Büttner
Germany
München
Bavaria
http://www.caaats.com
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Great!
I will definitely buy this game! 
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Mike Owens
United States
Georgetown
Texas
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Card #46 -- I laughed at the Spreewald Pickles quote. Goodbye Lenin! is such a great movie.
Thanks Ted!
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Joe Thompson
England
Winchester
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I'm not too keen on the filter that's been used to highlight the edges of some of these cards (eg, 9, 15, 56). Is this to give it a more hand drawn appearance, or just something that needs to be done to ensure things look good when printed?
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Great cards indeed! I would like to ask about card N.31: Intelligentsia.
Was it meant to be pronounced as in Russian, Czech or Slovak language?
I only thinking because it is a Democrat card and with Václav Havel on it it should be read as in Czech or Slovak (rather in Czech as Havel is Czech). But our languages are different (a bit) and this is how Slovak would say it (considering that G is pronounced as in word Gordon).
Czechs would pronounce it in the same way only instead of "ia" they say "e" as in word "bed".
I apologize for this rather cumbersome explanation, but my English is not very good. Maybe if there is Slovak or Czech with better English he could explain it better.
Or just use english word Intelligence instead.
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Wendell
United States
Arlington
Virginia
All the little chicks with crimson lips, go...
Hey, get your stinking cursor off my face! I got nukes, you know.
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stosedem wrote: Great cards indeed! I would like to ask about card N.31: Intelligentsia. Was it meant to be pronounced as in Russian, Czech or Slovak language? I only thinking because it is a Democrat card and with Václav Havel on it it should be read as in Czech or Slovak (rather in Czech as Havel is Czech). But our languages are different (a bit) and this is how Slovak would say it (considering that G is pronounced as in word Gordon). Czechs would pronounce it in the same way only instead of "ia" they say "e" as in word "bed". I apologize for this rather cumbersome explanation, but my English is not very good. Maybe if there is Slovak or Czech with better English he could explain it better. Or just use english word Intelligence instead.
Interesting comments - but "intelligentsia" in English has quite a different meaning from "intelligence". I just looked it up, it apparently entered English from the Russian, who in turn got it from the Latin.
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Ted Torgerson
United States
Chicago
Illinois
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Quote: Great cards indeed! I would like to ask about card N.31: Intelligentsia.
Was it meant to be pronounced as in Russian, Czech or Slovak language?
I think it should be pronounced in the player's own language. In English this word is pronounced with a "g" like George or gentlemen. The game has 3 Event cards using Russian words for social classes that were borrowed by English, "Nomenklatura," "Apparatchiks," and "Intelligentsia." On the map and in the rules we use more common English classifications elites, bureaucrats and intellectuals, but for the event title we used the words that were commonly used in discussing Eastern European society during the Cold War.
Dúfam, že vám hra!
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Wendell and Ted, thank you both for the explanation! I didn't know that it has its own meaning in English.
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Anders Olin
Finland
Vasa
Aaaaah, geekgold
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I so badly want this game. I remember this year when I was growing up, albeit too young to understand it, so I want to relive it through this game!
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Love it! Can't wait to play this!
Even though the pictures are depressing.
We did the run out of Poland in the mid 80s, going on "vacation" to Germany after my father publicly challenged some high level apparatchik at a conference and was on the dissident arrest list. We came back for a visit in 92 and everything was just as grey and drab, although the first signs of renewal were all around, inflation was very high though, at that time 100000 zloty was about equivalent to $2.50 if I remember correctly.
Anyway, my core group of gamers includes a few offspring of refugees from the "people's paradise", we're all pretty excited to play 1989.
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Gordon J
Minnesota
Print and Play Gamer
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I was hoping to see a Polish card that had something to do with Father Popieluszko and the Masses for the Homeland. Or how he got brutally murdered by the Polish SB. But I understand cards are limited and I'm sure the Masses for the Homeland is played in the power struggle cards. This game is looking really god.
Forget what I said, I forgot this game takes place in 1989 only. Father died in 1984.
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Ted Torgerson
United States
Chicago
Illinois
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Quote: Forget what I said, I forgot this game takes place in 1989 only. Father died in 1984.
We have an event card referring to each of the 3 major cataclysms before 1989: the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 and the imposition of martial law in Poland in 1981. But they are meant to reflect the lasting impact of those events, meaning how much would the legacy of martial law affect the political climate in Poland in 1989?
You may think of the 5 SPs in the Catholic Church space, and its central position in Poland, in the 5 lines connecting it to 4 BG spaces to reflect the central role of Catholicism in Polish life. When the Communist uses the Legacy of Martial Law, and replaces a Dem with a Commie SP, this may be Father Jerzy's murder. Or it may just be general supression of the opposition. The game requires the players' imagination to decide.
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1989Game wrote: the imposition of martial law in Poland in 1981.
That reminds me of something my mother told me, when I was a toddler I became violently ill one night and had to go to the hospital, unfortunately it was 1981 in Poland and Martial Law was in effect, apparently my father pulled off some James Bond maneuvers with the Lada in the streets/alleys/sidewalks of Cracow in order to avoid getting caught by the local cops.
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Gordon J
Minnesota
Print and Play Gamer
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Ted, thanks for the explanation. Again thanks for this game. I think one could probably do a game like this that concentrates on what happened in Poland alone.
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Judit Szepessy
Canada
London
Canada
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Quote: I think one could probably do a game like this that concentrates on what happened in Poland alone.
True, and for for that matter, in each of those countries in the region.
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Ian Wakeham
United Kingdom
Chester
Cheshire
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Late again, but here are a number of corrections/suggestions for the cards (mainly a lot of adding initial capitals).
Rules generally use “Democrat” when referring to the player but use the adjective “Democratic” with things like “SPs”, “control”, etc. The cards (unlike the rules) generally refer to the player as the “Democratic Player”. Perhaps reduce to “Democrat” for consistency.
There are a number of cards which refer to specific spaces for adding or removing SPs. Some are referred to by their name whilst others are referred to by the type of space e.g. “Hungary Elite space”. Perhaps use a consistent method.
As with the rules, names of people and places are missing their diacritical marks.
#3 - amend “as event” to “as an Event”
#13 - amend “action round” to “Action Round”
#15 – should “non-Power Struggle card” be “non-Scoring card”?
#15 - amend “as event” to “as an Event”
#17 – amend card title to “Round Table Talks
#20 – amend “non-scoring card” to “non-Scoring card”
#20 – amend “event” to “Event” (x2)
#21 - amend “event” to “Event” (x2)
#21 – amend “if this card played for Ops” to “if this card is played for Ops”
#26 – insert “for” after “Intellectual spaces”
#33 – amend “Minorities” to “Minority” (to match Legend on map and rules)
#41 – the rules reference (7.4.6) is incorrect, but I’m unsure which part of 7.6 should be used
#44 – amend “Country” to “country” (x2)
#46 – amend “events”/”event” to “Events”/”Event” (x3)
#48 – should you insert “other” between “any” and “spaces”?
#49 – amend “support checks” to “Support Checks”
#50 – insert “for” after “Democratic Player”
#53 – amend “track” to “Track”
#54 – is the rule reference correct, or should it be 7.6 in general?
#57 - amend “Country” to “country”
#59 – amend heading from “GrenzTruppen” to “Grenztruppen”
#59 – insert “for” after “East Germany”
#61 – under illustration text amend “RingStrasse” to “Ringstrasse”
#61 - amend “support checks” to “Support Checks”
#63 - insert “for” after “East Germany”
#65 – does the effect of the Event apply just for the next turn or for the remainder of the game?
#67 - amend “track” to “Track”
#67 - amend “non-scoring card” to “non-Scoring card”
#67 - amend “event” to “Event”
#69 - is the rule reference correct, or should it be 7.6 in general?
#71 – one of my favourite Twilight Struggle cards was Kitchen Debates which instructed the US player to poke their opponent in the chest. Is it possible to incorporate a similar instruction here, whereby the Communist Player must kiss the Democrat (while whispering sweet nothings in their ear, such as “You’re gonna lose”)? If not, perhaps there’s another card that could include some sort of physical gesture.
#73 – amend “player” to “Player”
#74 - insert “for” after “Eastern Europe”
#76 - amend “player” to “Player”
#78 – if there’s room, insert the words “Roll a die.”
#81 - amend “Minorities” to “Minority”
#84 - amend “Minorities” to “Minority”
#85 - amend “track” to “Track”
#87 - amend “event” to “Event”
#88 – amend “Modifier” to “modifier”
#96 - amend “track” to “Track”
#99 - amend “action round” to “Action Round”
#101 is the rule reference correct, or should it be 7.6 in general?
#104 amend “power struggle” to “Power Struggle”
#104 amend “final scoring” to “Final Scoring”
#106 amend “Country” to “country” (x2)
#107 is the rule reference correct, or should it be 7.6 in general?
#108 amend “event” to “Event”
#109 amend “event” to “Event”
#109 amend “support check” to “Support Check”
#109 amend “bureaucratic” to “Bureaucrat”
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Ted Torgerson
United States
Chicago
Illinois
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Quote: #71 – one of my favourite Twilight Struggle cards was Kitchen Debates which instructed the US player to poke their opponent in the chest. Is it possible to incorporate a similar instruction here, whereby the Communist Player must kiss the Democrat (while whispering sweet nothings in their ear, such as “You’re gonna lose”)?
Well we tried this in playtesting and Bruce was just a little too enthusiastic so we had to drop it.
Quote: If not, perhaps there’s another card that could include some sort of physical gesture
Actually on the State Run Media we have the Trololo guy, and when you are removing the Democratic SPs you are supposed to raise your hand then toss the counter aside and say each time "Ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha ha!"
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hi！ ted
i translated all the cards
but i hava a question
the card 37:Nagy Reburied* Remove all Communist SPs from the Hungary Elite space.Place 4 Communist SPs in Hungary,no more than 2 per space.
this card is to communism,but the effect of the card is conducive to democracy?
it`s my fault or the card wrong?
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Ted Torgerson
United States
Chicago
Illinois
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Hey Chen,
You have translated it correctly. The original SP in the Elite space represents the old guard of the Kadar regime including Karoly Grosz, Kadar's replacement as party general secretary. At the start of 1989 there is a power struggle within the party between the Kadar loyalists and a reform movement led by Miklos Nemeth, Rezso Nyers and Imre Poszgay. The reburial of Imre Nagy event represents the reformers winning the power struggle within the party and the old guard being pushed aside, so you must remove the original SP before you begin adding SPs into the Elite space. It has a design for effect purpose of making the Commie in Hungary play the event before he invests SPs to control the Elite space. Basically the Commie must reconcile himself to the people by admitting the lies about the 56 revolution before he can seek popular support.
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 I hate inner-party struggle,but I live within the system
Communism always gives people a feeling of chase foreign.so when i watch this card was very confused.
Why should first to remove all communist SPs,then place 4 communist SPs .I always feel is like carrying coals to newcastle.
but i didn`consider a card with so many stories.
thank you a lot ted. i really like this game,and i hope will soon get game.
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