by HeyJoe
I'm bored so I will answer too even though I think you have your answers already. :)1. Correct! You will receive as many VP for each US controlled battleground country in Central and South America and then the card is removed.
2. No, you certainly can play your opponents events during headlines. In this case of U2 Incident it makes no sense (it's a 3op card, the event only gives a VP and is rather harmless, and it gives more opportunity for the USSR to use UN Intervention if he has it), but there are other circumstances you would do it. For example, as the US, you suspect the USSR has Independent Reds in his hand, but he has no influence in Romania, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, or Bulgaria. You headline Romanian Abdication and give him influence in Romania, which, if he plays Indep. Reds, he will now be forced to give you equal influence in that country rather than simply discard the card and obtain Romania via event later. Or for another straightforward example, if you are the USSR, you can submit Defectors as your headline and remove the card from your hand without losing a VP. An event must be playable to be used in the headline, however.
3. Yes.
4. Yes.
5. Wrong. The USSR will get to do the event text. Though possibly you might want to do this if at the moment you had no influence in any non-bg countries in those areas.
6. Yes.
7. Yes, the card is not removed from the game.
8. Yes!
9. No, if you play an opponent's card and the event is playable and the card has an asterisk, it takes effect and is then removed from the game as if the USSR had played it for the event.
10. You can, but the way you phrased it makes it sound like you think you can just play your opponent's card for the event with no ops. I don't think you can choose not to spend the ops. You must spend them.
11. Yes.
12. Yes, SALT Negotiations has an asterisk so it is removed from the game.
13. Yes.
14. Yes.
15. Yes, and you can choose if you want the event to happen first or if you would prefer to spend the ops first.
16. No, the event must happen when you play the card for ops, because it is a USSR event and you are playing as the US.
17. Yes. You must desperately need the ops someplace else to do this, though. It's a good event.
18. Yes.
19. Yes! Good idea.
20. Yes! It's rare for this to activate more than once, but it happens.
21. Yes, and this is not a bad idea at all. At the very least, it guarantees you will get the initiative in playing a card at the start of next turn. Let's say you play Bear Trap as the last Action Round event, then you headline Red Scare/Purge next turn. Now the USSR can only discard cards with a normal op value of 3 or 4 instead of only 2. :) He will, however, be able to play a headline card.
22. Yes. It is simply whichever comes first.
23. Formosa Resolution isn't discarded when the US plays the China Card, the card is already removed from the game, just the event is cancelled. I think this includes playing the China Card on the Space Race as well, but not if you play Nixon Plays the China Card or Ussuri River Skirmish for the events, nor if you play Cultural Revolution or the USSR plays it.
24. The coups are not free. The USSR will gain appropriate Military Ops for use of the coups. So, a maximum of five if he does both coups, or four if he is under the effect of Red Scare/Purge at the time. (Note also that a 'free' coup just means it does not grant Military Ops. If done on a battleground country, it still lowers the defcon.)
Hope this helps you. Enjoy Twilight Struggle.