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Geopolitical Forum Game Playtest #1


vcczar

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Here's the official thread of this playtest. Once again, here are the players:

USA : @ConservativeElector2

EU: @Hestia

China: @OrangeP47

Russia: @10centjimmy

India: @Arkansas Progressive

Iran: @Largo833

Japan: @Rezi

Turkey: @The Blood

Here are the beginning stats:

  US China India Russia EU Iran Turkey Japan
Stats Stats Stats Stats Stats Stats Stats Stats Stats
Military Power 70 30 10 30 10 5 5 1
Military Power Potential Max 100 300 300 100 100 50 50 50
Icebreakers 0 0 0 7 0 0 0 0
Consumption Requirement 1st 1st 1st 4th 2nd 6th 6th 4th
Foreign Military Bases 6 4 1 2 2 2 0 0
Land Controlled 9 (5 tied) 9 (2 tied) 6 (1 tied) 23 (4 tied) 18 (4 tied) 3 3 1
Seas Controlled 24 0 0 1 (tied in 2 others) (1 tie) 0 (1 tie) 0
Influence Influence Influence Influence Influence Influence Influence Influence Influence
Base Influence 10 5 5 5 5 5 5 5

Some further info:

1. Military Power is how much Military Influence pts you can expend on conflicts worldwide

2. Max potential is the largest you can grow #1. China and India have the highest potential here.

3. Icebreakers are used in 2030 for the Arctic Gold Rush, which is sort of a bonus end game event for points. 

4. Consumption Requirement is how many resources the nation needs. This # is where they expect to rank at end game to meet their population. 

5. # of foreign bases, which boosts military in conflicts in the area

6. # of nations in which this player has lead influence

7 # of seas/oceans in which this player has lead influence

8 # of influence pts the player can expend each turn, the base number. This number is modified by active cards and other things. 

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GAME SET UP

We are in the year 1985. The world is very different from our relatively much freer 2023. Seemingly half the world is authoritarian Communist and many more are authoritarian of another type. The world is closed off between the Eastern Bloc an the Western World. The powerful Soviet Union is facing two major issues -- 1) is bogged down in the Soviet-Afghan War, and has been for about six years, and this is inflaming a new phenomenon--Islamist groups capable of wrecking damage to the Western World. 2) Russia is dealing with growing pro-Democratic movements in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The Solidarity Movement in Poland, which had been active since the late 1970s, with much help from both Pope John Paul II and Jimmy Carter's Polish-born National Security Adv Zbigniew Brzezinski. In fact, the latter name also played a role in arming Islamist groups against the USSR (The so-called "Brzezinski Afghan Trap Theory"), so one could credit Zbig with being a major player in both destabilizing the USSR and setting the groundwork for Islamic terrorist groups. However, some argue the US siding with Israel in the late 1960s was the true trigger for Islamist groups. 

This game was originally created in a different form by me in 2012 based on several books by Zbigniew Brzezinski. I would say it's about 50% different in this updated form. It's much, much more user friendly and much more simple. It has been reduced from overly-complicated board game that would only work on a computer, to something that could be an actual board game. 

USA : @ConservativeElector2

EU: @Hestia

China: @OrangeP47

Russia: @10centjimmy

India: @Arkansas Progressive

Iran: @Largo833

Japan: @Rezi

Turkey: @The Blood

Placement of On-Going Conflicts and Modifiers (*See ActiveCards in the spreadsheet for details for each event. I've applied the modifying influence from these)

  • On-going conflicts (see active conflicts for details of these conflicts:
    • Lebanese Civil War
    • Soviet-Afghan War  *Russia required here*
    • Iran-Iraq War *Iran required here*
    • Eritrean War of Independence 
    • Somaliland War of Independence
    • Western Sahara War
    • 2nd Sudan Civil War
    • Maoist Insurgency in East India *India required here*
    • Khymer Rouge Insurgency
    • Insurgency in Laos
  • Leaders:
    • Ronald Reagan - USA
    • Mikhail Gorbachev - Russia
    • Rajiv Gandhi - India
    • Deng Xiaoping - China
    • Jacques Delors - EU (European Commission at this time)
    • Turgut Ozal - Turkey
    • Ayatollah Khomeini - Iran
    • Yasuhiro Nakasone - Japan
  • Lingering Modifiers:
    • Hezbollah in Lebanon *Iran*
    • Cold War *US and Russia*
    • Lebanese Hostage Crisis *US*
    • Solidarity Movement in Poland *US and EU*
    • US NATO Membership
    • EU-player NATO Membership
    • Turkey NATO Membership
    • Warsaw Pact *Russia*
    • US-Japan Security Treaty
    • USSR *Russia*
    • Eastern Bloc *Russia and China*
    • Withhold recognizing Armenian Genocide *Turkey*
    • Withhold recognizing Taiwan *US*

1980s (technically 1985) Turn 1 - ROUND 1 - RESPONDING TO ONGOING CONFLICTS

You will be responding to the on-going conflicts with your military power first:

  • See conflict rules in the rules tab. 
  • See lingering modifiers above. The details may prohibit or allow you to enter in to wars even if you haven't influence connected to lands where it is happening. 
  • See your leaders as they may allow some sort of bonus in military affairs. 
  • See active conflicts tab for details of each side of the conflict and the chance of resolving those crises. 
  • Regularly check your checklist to see if it is in your interest to proxy a war 
  • You have to spread your military power around to all the wars you want to be involved in, you can't use all of it in each war. 
  • You'll likely want to save some military power in case a conflict appears when I draw 5 new event cards. For instance, if the US is using all of its military power, and then a new even involves China vs the US, the US can't apply any because it's engaged completely in other war. Thus, China might be able to win the war in one round if it isn't engaged in war, and then pushes all their military power into this war. 

Overall, let me know if you are confused. I'm leaving it up to you to keep track of your modifiers, restrictions, allowanced based on leader cards, lingering modifiers, and etc. I don't have these memorized. For instance, the Iran player will have to remember and let me know if his Hezbollah modifier is applicable for a conflict. You lose the bonus if you don't remind me. 

Lastly, since this game is a communal game, sort of like the game Diplomacy, you are allowed to talk with other players at any time, openly or covertly, to discuss mutually beneficial strategies. 

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  • vcczar changed the title to Geopolitical Forum Game Playtest #1
4 minutes ago, OrangeP47 said:

I have a general idea of what I want to do, but some diplomacy is pending before I put forth drafts, of course.

Yeah, that's fine as long as people move forward at some point. There's no rules as to who goes first. The only rule is that everyone move at some point. If anything I might just apply a 24 hour rule. So they'll be a window of sorts. 

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1 minute ago, vcczar said:

Yeah, that's fine as long as people move forward at some point. There's no rules as to who goes first. The only rule is that everyone move at some point. If anything I might just apply a 24 hour rule. So they'll be a window of sorts. 

I think 48 hours might be more appropriate since we might "miss each other" when trying to strike a deal, like sending our message when the other person is away and won't be back.

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Just now, OrangeP47 said:

I think 48 hours might be more appropriate since we might "miss each other" when trying to strike a deal, like sending our message when the other person is away and won't be back.

Ok that's fine.

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@OrangeP47 @10centjimmy @Largo833 @Rezi @Hestia @The Blood @Arkansas Progressive @ConservativeElector2

So you all have 48 hours from now to tell me where you are applying your Military Power. Make sure you look at the rules, lingering modifiers, and etc before you do so. You are free to discuss with one another, but you need to move within 48 hours. 

If I get no response, I'll assume you are applying no military power. 

You'll also want to consider that one of the 5 events that pop up may result in a confict you are part of, so keeping some mil power in research might be a good idea, unless you feel comfortable you won't be pulled into a conflict in the 1980s. 

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42 minutes ago, vcczar said:

@OrangeP47 @10centjimmy @Largo833 @Rezi @Hestia @The Blood @Arkansas Progressive @ConservativeElector2

So you all have 48 hours from now to tell me where you are applying your Military Power. Make sure you look at the rules, lingering modifiers, and etc before you do so. You are free to discuss with one another, but you need to move within 48 hours. 

If I get no response, I'll assume you are applying no military power. 

You'll also want to consider that one of the 5 events that pop up may result in a confict you are part of, so keeping some mil power in research might be a good idea, unless you feel comfortable you won't be pulled into a conflict in the 1980s. 

I also wanted to quickly ask - the EU can't put influence outside of Europe until the European Union is played, but does that mean military power? I assumed not, but I wanted to double check.

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38 minutes ago, OrangeP47 said:

Is each turn a year btw?

No. It's undetermined at the moment. It may or may not equal a span of time. If I make it time based, I'll have to have the elections line up for all nations and add a bunch of other rules. I would probably to add the AMPU rule of % chance of an event appearing. And I don't want this game to really approach that kind of complexity. Except for updates to AMPU, I never want to make a game that complex again. I want it to be as simple as it can be while maintaining an aura of the historical time. Similar to how Twilight Struggle does with the Cold War. 

Basically, we just have 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, 2020s, etc. and that may be enough for this game. 

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1 minute ago, Hestia said:

I also wanted to quickly ask - the EU can't put influence outside of Europe until the European Union is played, but does that mean military power? I assumed not, but I wanted to double check.

The EU/Belgium can place military power to proxy in wars if it can connect to them via land or sea influence. 

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4 minutes ago, vcczar said:

No. It's undetermined at the moment. It may or may not equal a span of time. If I make it time based, I'll have to have the elections line up for all nations and add a bunch of other rules. I would probably to add the AMPU rule of % chance of an event appearing. And I don't want this game to really approach that kind of complexity. Except for updates to AMPU, I never want to make a game that complex again. I want it to be as simple as it can be while maintaining an aura of the historical time. Similar to how Twilight Struggle does with the Cold War. 

Basically, we just have 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, 2020s, etc. and that may be enough for this game. 

The operative point of my question was how many turns are there?

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3 minutes ago, OrangeP47 said:

The operative point of my question was how many turns are there?

For the each decade, the cards go through twice. Those that can fire because requirements are met are taken out the first go through, and any that don't get another chance to fire. If they don't the second time, then they won't ever fire. Cards also have a resource mentioned on them, so whoever leads in that resource gains points, so the cards are never a total loss. Also, players can still place influence even when there aren't a full 5 events to respond to. 

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2 minutes ago, vcczar said:

For the each decade, the cards go through twice. Those that can fire because requirements are met are taken out the first go through, and any that don't get another chance to fire. If they don't the second time, then they won't ever fire. Cards also have a resource mentioned on them, so whoever leads in that resource gains points, so the cards are never a total loss. Also, players can still place influence even when there aren't a full 5 events to respond to. 

Gotcha, just wanted to know what kind of timeframe for long term planning I should get rolling in my head.

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Just now, OrangeP47 said:

I think we should post our moves here, though with the ability to change before the deadline.

The deadline will be 48 hours or after every person goes. For instance, if everyone gets their moves in within 24 hours, I'm now going to wait 24 hours from then, unless I'm busy. 

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3 minutes ago, vcczar said:

The deadline will be 48 hours or after every person goes. For instance, if everyone gets their moves in within 24 hours, I'm now going to wait 24 hours from then, unless I'm busy. 

Yeah, I simply meant that more as if posting our order provokes diplomacy we should be allowed to reconsider.

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The Wolf Arises - Turkey to Commit Military Advisors and Arms to Support Iraq, Licenses Volunteer Brigade to Combat Iran (2 Mil. Points)

In an address in Ankara, Turgut Özal declared Turkey to be the "bastion of civilization in the Middle East," declaring that the Republic of Turkey is "a bulwark against fanatical entities, safeguarding the civilized and democratic world." In line with this pronouncement, Özal declared that Turkey would be devoting substantial aid to the Ba'athist regime in Iraq in the form of weapons and advisors, as well as announcing the formation of a volunteer corps to enter the conflict. This is all in opposition to Turkey's rival, Iran, who Turgut declared to be a "force of oppression, bloodshed, and doom." 

Edited by The Blood
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Japanese President Yasuhiro Nakasone announces that modernized Japanese military equipment will be lent to the Laotian Royalist Insurgency (1 mil point).

President Nakasone declares "We as the most powerful democracy in the pacific have a duty to aid every and all anti-communist insurgents across this world. We are gonna send them so much money you have no idea!"

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6 minutes ago, Rezi said:

Japanese President Yasuhiro Nakasone announces that modernized Japanese military equipment will be lent to the Laotian Royalist Insurgency (1 mil point).

President Nakasone declares "We as the most powerful democracy in the pacific have a duty to aid every and all anti-communist insurgents across this world. We are gonna send them so much money you have no idea!"

I don't think you can, because you don't have influence that touches it? (You'd need South China Sea not Pacific Ocean)

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2 minutes ago, OrangeP47 said:

I don't think you can, because you don't have influence that touches it? (You'd need South China Sea not Pacific Ocean)

Actually, Laos is landlocked, so not even that would help, so I'm going to assume you can't touch it at all right now.

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