Our AAR of the new digital Twilight Struggle enters Turn 2 ~

Michael Eckenfels, 30 April 2016

PART 6

TURN 2, ROUND 6, USSR

FINAL ROUND FOR TURN 2

And let’s see what Red-influenced hits keep on a-rollin’…

He plays this card for its Event, giving him Control of Romania.

Not a great Event, but it could have been worse, since ROMANIAN ABDICATION* also removes all US influence there. Since I had none, the loss isn’t as bad as it could have been.

Okay, so that didn’t play out the way I’d hoped. He doesn’t have the AFRICA SCORING card, obviously, since he didn’t play it this Turn. But, I’ve managed to break his solid hold on Africa, and have gained more inroads in the Middle East. These last few ARs haven’t been nearly as bad as the disaster of the first Turn for me…but hey, who knows, I could still end the world.

So what to do?

I have NASSER* and CAPTURED NAZI SCIENTIST*. I don’t like the idea of not being on the Space Race track, and that +1 VP would help reduce his +13 VP lead to +12. NASSER* would just add 2 Influence to Egypt, as mentioned before, and give me 2 Ops to play with.

I need to get a Coup out of the way somewhere, to get my Mil Ops in. I do NOT want to lose another bag of VPs to that mistake. So, I’m going to have to go with NASSER*, since I do not like my luck on the Space Race track. I’ve already blown one roll; the automatic advancement that the Scientist card gives me is very appealing, even if you think it’s a dumb move. (In all fairness, I said there would be several of those, didn’t I?)

Oopsie. Yeah, that’s right, it also removes half of US influence. Though half of 1, rounded up, is a frigging 1, dammit. I guess there’s some managerial accounting going on in the game engine because I just got screwed out of 1 Influence.

Oh well.

I could Coup in Egypt; it’s Stability Number of 2 doubled is 4, so I’d need a 5 or 6 to succeed. The 1 Op card gives me a +1, though the CONTAINMENT* play gives me another +1, so I’d need a 3-6 to win.

Well…you gotta take chances. I go for it.

I close my eyes as I click the die-roll button…

Well…wow. Boy, howdy, in fact. I rolled a 6, which is the best result possible! Not only is that emo-fueled, eyeliner-wearing Nasser interloper removed, he’s shot out of a 16” gun on the Iowa. Or something. That’s pretty awesome.

Hmm. DEFCON 2. One step away from nuclear glory and an ABC Miniseries of the Week!

Both of us got the Mil Ops we needed, so neither of us lose VPs.

That’s the end of Turn 2. I managed to hold on, though I only moved the VP track a net 1 VP in my favor; it’s still heavily in his favor. However, I’ve already had a look at my cards for Turn 3, and it looks like I’ve finally possibly maybe caught a break by not having a whole slew of USSR cards in my hands! Stay tuned for the next article, which will start Turn 3…which is the last turn of the Early War. Turn 4, if I manage to live through Turn 3, will hopefully start to shift things in my favor.

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