by AnimalMother
FIFTY FIVE VARIANT CARDSJust in case you think I'm not playing with a full deck, here are fifty-five variant cards. Some would radically change the game, some would not. They include some of the best Cold War events not memorialized in the original cards. One day I'll print them down on note cards and try them out along with fifty-five selected original cards. Criticism is welcome and expected. Special thanks to Prowler and others who have critiqued my previous posts.
EARLY WAR:
6 USSR CARDS (4* + 4* + 3* + 2 + 1* + 1* = 15 OPS);
7 USA CARDS (4 + 4* + 3* + 2* + 2 + 2* + 1* = 18 OPS);
7 DUAL CARDS (2* + 2* + 2* + 2 + 2 + 1* + 1 =12 OPS).
USSR 4 OPS SINO-SOVIET ALLIANCE (SSA)* USSR plays SSA with China Card (CC) to hold the CC after play, for repeat use each turn. With SSA, USSR may spend CC's OPS only in Asia, and USSR may not score SE Asia VP. Cultural Revolution (MID-WAR) becomes a non-Event. To cancel/discard SSA, pass the unused CC to US. Any coup with CC's OPS resulting in no US Influence loss cancels SSA. "Ussuri River Skirmish," "Nixon Plays the China Card," successful US exit from "Quagmire," and "Communist Fratricide" all cancel SSA. (Play of these events doesn't prevent later play of SSA.) When event or failed coup cancels SSA, USSR passes CC (played or not) to US. In US AR, if US triggers SSA and has CC, US must pass CC (played or unplayed) to USSR. Place SSA marker on China when SSA in effect.
Historical Comment: Mao was interested in an alliance benefiting Chicom interests in Asia, not benefiting USSR interests in Asia. Game Play: SSA deprives the US of the CC, and USSR could use SSA to drive US out of Asia, if SSA lasts long enough. But before rejecting the SSA as too strong, consider: 1) There's a less than 1/2 chance USSR can play SSA on Turn 1. 2) USSR may not use SSA's CC OPS outside Asia, and may not score SE ASIA VP while using SSA, making the CC less useful to USSR than usual. 3) USA could play SSA to prevent USSR VP in SE Asia, or to prevent USSR's use of CC outside of Asia, knowing USA has Ussuri River Skirmish or some other SSA-killing card in hand. 4) There's a 1/6 risk of losing the SSA with failed CC coups in India or S. Korea, and a 3/6 risk of losing SSA in coups against Japan and Australia. Three MID WAR events, and one new LATE WAR variant event Communist Fratricide also end the SSA.
Mao thought the Soviets were wimping out with de-Stalinization. The "Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution" was about recapturing that good old bloodthirsty Marxist-Leninist spirit which he thought the Soviets had lost.
The original CC rules almost rate as goofy. One can rationalize them as the ebb and flow of superpower influence. In USSR hands, it represents Chicom power working with USSR. In USA hands, it represents alarm and opposition to the USSR and Red China, and also, Red Chinese alarm and opposition to USSR. IMHO, the SSA card is a more realistic way of representing the China problem in the game.
USSR 4 OPS RED ARMY OCCUPATION* In Euro scoring, prevents US Domination unless US has a +2 Battleground lead; tied BGs count as USSR Domination if USSR controls one non-BG country. RAO adds +1 OPS to all future USSR Influence placements if used exclusively in Eastern Europe; 1 Influence max per country using this bonus. USSR may remove RAO from play after playing another card on a USSR AR. RAO makes NATO playable, and affects both Eastern European Coup (EARLY WAR) and Sino-Soviet War (MID WAR). Place RAO marker in Eastern Europe.
Comment: USSR garrisoned about 40 divisions in Eastern Europe during the Cold War. If those divisions weren't there, USSR position in E. Europe would have been weaker, but their world political and economic position would have been somewhat stronger. USSR does not want RAO in play if he plays Sino-Soviet War: then he needs those divisions in the east.
USSR 3 OPS. IMPLOSION CONSPIRACY*. Satisfies all required USSR Military Operations. US must discard its highest OPS US Event card. Improve DEFCON by 1 if played in Early War.
Comment: the Rosenberg spy ring advanced the Soviet A-bomb effort by steering it away from less fruitful paths, toward plutonium-implosion bombs. "Nuclear Weapons are weapons of peace"--John Mearsheimer of U. Chicago. Commie sneaks who spied on the Manhattan Project did so because they believed a Red Bomb was necessary to deter a US attack on USSR. A-Bombs discourage conventional war, if both sides have them.
USSR 2 OPS EASTERN EUROPEAN COUP USSR makes one coup in Eastern Europe as if playing a 4 OPS card. If Red Army Occupation is in play, play the coup is as if it were a 5 OPS card. This coup is not restricted by the DEFCON track. If the coup is in East Germany or Poland it degrades DEFCON by 1 as usual.
USSR 1 OPS SUKARNO* Add 2 USSR Influence in Indonesia and 1 USSR Influence anywhere in Africa or Asia.
Comment: the great "Non-Aligned Nations" summit of 1955 greatly enhanced the prestige of its host, Indonesia's Sukarno. His influence harmed the West more than the USSR. The West had more to lose due to the non-aligned movement. Sukarno was a big hero of leftists such as Obama's mama. Sukarno was too cozy for his own good with PKI (Communist Party of Indonesia). He did have a nice art collection.
USSR 1 OPS STASI* If East Germany is USSR controlled. add 1 USSR Influence to East Germany and place STASI USSR SN +1 / R -1 marker in East Germany. Stasi permanent effects: If East Germany is USSR controlled, the Stability Number is adjusted +1 during US coups there, and 1 is subtracted from Realignment rolls against E. Germany. SN of East Germany is still 3 if USSR attempts coup against East Germany. Permanently remove the marker if East Germany is ever USA controlled.
Comment: What can one say about the incomparable East German secret police? See the movie "Die Leben Des Anders" for a dramatic look: it's a first rate movies, available in English subtitles.
USA 4 OPS VENONA DECRYPTS Cancels USSR play of Red Scare/Purge this turn. USSR reveals all these in hand: scoring cards, Lone Gunman, We Will Bury You, Soviets Shoot Down KAL 007. If USSR has none, USSR shows its entire hand. USSR may not play Venona OPS for a coup. Played in US Action Round immediately after USSR coup, Venona also cancels the coup and its effects: USSR gets no Influence, nor Military Operations; DEFCON degrade is cancelled & any lost US Influence is restored.
Comment: Woodrow Wilson said gentlemen don't read other men's mail, but we weren't dealing with gentlemen. Venona was the NSA's top secret decryption of Soviet cables. When declassified, they revealed that Alger Hiss was after all a GRU (Red Army intel) spy, and that Moscow's agents were very busy in the US.
USA 4 OPS TURKISH RUSSOPHOBIA* Turkey's Stability Number is 3 when it is US controlled and USSR attempts a Coup there. Place US Influence in Turkey sufficient for control. Turkey now counts as a country for scoring in both Western Europe and the Middle East. Place Russophobia SN 3 WE/ME marker on Turkey.
Comment: Turkey is a far more important country in reality than it is in the game. Letting it count as both a European and a ME country isn't giving it too much weight. Russia & Turkey are have been foes for centuries. Russia and Turkey's rebranding of their regimes as secular rather than religious, their common misery as World War I losers, and their autocracies (Ataturk, Lenin, Stalin) improved Russo-Turkish relations in the 1920s-1940s. But Russian power post-WWII on Turkey's European and Armenian borders was intimidating. They wanted a strong ally.
USA 3 OPS D-MARK* Add 3 US Influence in W. Germany. Add 1 USSR Influence in each of Poland and Czechoslovakia. Permanent Effects: If W. Germany is US controlled, add extra +1 to US Realignment rolls in/adjacent to US controlled W. Germany; also add +2 if Realigning E. Germany and West Berlin is in play. Add 1 OPS to US Influence placed exclusively in Western Europe countries. No more than 1 Influence may be placed per country if this bonus is enjoyed. Enhances Early War's West Berlin and Mid-War's Wirtschaftswunder.
Comment: The late Gore Vidal opined that our decision economically to unite the western occupation zones of Germany (1948) was the beginning of the Cold War, as it showed our determination to make W. Germany an American satellite, rather than a neutralize it as we did Austria. The Soviet response was the Berlin Blockade and our response to that was the Berlin Airlift. The independent West German state (Bundesrepublik Deutschland) followed in 1949. The Commies frightened Poles and Czechs with the specter of a BRD war of revenge for the postwar ethnic cleansing of Germans from those countries. With a revived, tame, US controlled West German Bundeswehr to shelter behind, Western European countries were readier to find comfort as American satellites.
USA 2 OPS SEATO.* Place 1 US Influence in Australia and 1 US Influence in each of any three Southeast Asian countries which already have more US than USSR Influence.
USA 2 OPS CENTO.* Place 1 US Influence in four of these which do not have more USSR than USA Influence: Turkey, Iran, Syria, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan.
USA 2 OPS JIHAD. Roll one die for each USSR Influence in Middle East (excepting Israel), Turkey, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Eliminate the Influence point on a roll of "5" or "6."
Comment: official commie atheism severely handicapped them in the Muslim world. This card punishes them to the extent they have a really big presence in the region. It's a counterbalance to the MID WAR's Muslim Revolution, which only affects US Influence.
USA 1 OPS CHIANG KAI SHEK* Place enough US Influence in Taiwan for control.
DUAL 2 OPS STATE OF ISRAEL RECOGNIZED* Add 1 Influence to any two countries adjacent to Israel. Permanent Effects: For Influence spread or Realignment, Israel is no longer adjacent to its Arab neighbors, but is adjacent to USA, USSR, W. Germany, & France. Use this new Arab-Israeli War card text): If USSR controls Israel (but not Egypt) it can attack Egypt; if it controls Egypt (but not Israel) it can attack Israel. Victory on a 4 or higher. Modify die by +1 each for USSR control of France & West Germany. Win or lose, USSR adds 2 Military Operations. Victory: gain 2 VP and 1 Influence in country (Egypt or Israel) controlled, then subtracts 2 US Influence from the other country. Defeat: USSR loses 2 Influence from the country it controls.
Comment: the original game does a fair job of modelling ME politics if Israel never declared independence. There was a good chance in 1945-50 that Israel would not be recognized, and would become a turbulent UN Trust Territory. The US State Department, Kim Roosevelt & others saw endless trouble for the US in Israel's creation. Israel unrecognized by either superpower, there would have been more jaw jaw, less war war, but still lots of chaos. An Arab-Israeli War card event would be a sort of bush war, with both sides sniping at each other and at unhappy foreign troops (same as during the British Palestine Mandate, but with new peacekeepers). Arab collaborators (e.g., King Abdullah I of Jordan) with an enlarged, reigning over a de facto but not de jure autonomous Jewish colony in Palestine would be in the crosshairs of their more radical fellows, and of Jewish nationalists. Once Israel declared independence and was recognized, there was no more talking and a permanent psychological wall went up between Israel and all the Arabs. Only Egypt could on its own militarily challenge a recognized Israeli state--thus no play of war card without it. The links between Israel and USA, USSR, W. Germany and France are due to politics, not propinquity. Note that "Recognized" Israel is connected to US, USSR, France, West Germany for both Realignment and Influence purposes.
DUAL 2 OPS WEST BERLIN* Place a West Berlin marker in the US Box of East Germany. Add +1 VP if D-Mark is already in play. If at the end of all Action Rounds of any turn, East Germany is USSR controlled and there is more USSR than US Influence in West Germany, then the West Berlin marker is removed from play and the USSR gains 3 VP. The US gains 1 VP if the West Berlin marker is on the map and the US controls West Germany when Euro scoring is played. The marker does not count as a Battleground country for scoring purposes. It is not a country so Influence can't be added to it and it can't be couped or Realigned.
Comment: this event represents either side of the Cold War electing to confront the other over West Berlin. Both sides have incentive to play it if conditions are right.
DUAL 2 OPS COLD WAR INTENSIFIES* All future War Card events which target a Battleground country which either player controls lower the DEFCON by 1.
DUAL 2 OPS NATIONALISM Roll a die for each Influence point in one Region other than Europe and eliminate the Influence point on a roll of 5 or 6.
DUAL 2 OPS COUNTERCOUP If your opponent made a coup in his preceding Action Round of the same turn, you may countercoup in the same country as if with 4 OPS.
DUAL 1 OPS PERONISM* Add 3 USSR and 3 USA Influence in Argentina.
Comment: Juan Peron admired and politically resembled Benito Mussolini. He was a populist, a demagogue, and a nationalist. During his exile in Franco's Spain his movement split into leftist and nationalist elements. His legacy was chaos, a dirty civil war, and Evita. Also Isabella.
DUAL 1 OPS SPY SWAP Give your opponent a card of a certain color (Red, White, Red/White.) If he fails to give you a card of the same color of equal or greater value, you may randomly select a card from his hand.
MID WAR:
8 USSR CARDS (4 + 3* + 2* + 2* + 2 + 1* + 1* + 1*) = 16 OPS;
8 USA CARDS (4* + 3 + 3 + 3* + 2 +2 + 1* + 1*) = 19 OPS;
8 DUAL CARDS (4* + 3 + 2* + 2* + 2* + 2 + 1* + 0 (Scoring Card) = 16 OPS
USSR 4 OPS USA RACIAL UNREST Remove 1 US Influence from each of these: Canada, Britain, France, Asia, Central America, and Africa. Also remove 1 US Influence from either Norway, Denmark, or Sweden.
Comment: the mayhem of the Civil Rights era was a propaganda windfall for the USSR. Even in 1993, I heard ex-Soviet ex-Reds yapping about it to divert conversation from Soviet failure. The Scandinavians were also fascinated & judgmental about it (e.g., Gunnar Myrdal's An American Dilemma.)
USSR 3 OPS CARTER MALAISE* No US Coups or Realignment rolls in Africa, Central America, South America, or Southeast Asia for the remainder of the turn.
Comment: If I remember right, Carter/Brzezinski were most interested in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, but let other regions slide left.
USSR 2 OPS TOTALITARIAN POLICE*. Increase by +2 the Stability Numbers of any three USSR-controlled countries whenever the USA attempts a coup against them. Maximum Stability Number of 4. Place up to three TP +2 USSR SN markers. Remove marker if/when US takes control of its country. Marker has no effect on SN when USSR coups the country.
Comment: the Soviets and East Germans were kind enough to help their friends retain their power.
USSR 2 OPS USS PUEBLO INCIDENT* If North Korea is USSR controlled, add a USSR Influence in North Korea and remove 1 US Influence from both South Korea and Japan. Double the effect if the QUAGMIRE Event is in play.
USSR 2 OPS SOVIET ARMS SALES Place 3 Influence in any countries already containing USSR Influence.
USSR 1 OPS FARC y los MONTONEROS* Place 1 USSR Influence each in Colombia and Argentina.
USSR 1 OPS PATRICE LUMUMBA* Place 2 USSR Influence in Congo.
USSR 1 OPS TURKEY INVADES CYPRUS* Remove 2 USA Influence from either Greece or Turkey, or, remove 1 USA Influence from both.
USA 4 OPS WIRTSCHAFTSWUNDER* If the US controls West Germany and Britain in the Headline Events Phase, add 1 US Influence anywhere in Europe each Turn before the Headline Event cards are played. If "D-MARK" is in play, add 1 Influence W. Germany at the same time.
Comment: East Europeans pined for the luxuries of the more prosperous West. The West German "economic miracle" was just across the border. The W. German economy also improved satisfaction with capitalism in Western Europe.
USA 3 OPS MULTINATIONAL CORPORATIONS US adds +1 to all realignment rolls for the remainder of the turn. Have a Coke and smile.
Comment: In commie folklore, American motives are purely selfish and mercenary. But as a Chinese woman told me, "Before the American corporations came, we didn't know how to make anything!" Local elites often resent American business for bringing real hope and change, and use leftist rhetoric to mask reactionary motives.
USA 3 OPS IRON CURTAIN USSR chooses either to remove all its Influence from Western European countries it does not control, or, USSR must allow US to place 4 Influence anywhere in Eastern Europe, no more than 2 Influence per country.
Comment: If USSR Influence in W. Europe is removed, it means they built their German border wall running the length of the East/West German border and have increased the isolation of their subjects in Eastern Europe. If they don't build their border wall, they allow US influence to spread to the east. In the 50s & 60s they shot people fleeing West. Later, the East German commie regime constructed a formidable border barrier, and almost none could find a way to cross it to the West. Not a good advertisement for life in the East.
USA 3 OPS NEDELIN CATASTROPHE* Move USSR backward one space on the Space Race Track. USSR loses all VP and capabilities it earned from entering the space. USSR loses two Military Operations.
Comment: this October 1960 launchpad accident wiped out seventy-four Soviet scientists, engineers, and technicians, putting an end to USSR's hope of winning the moon race and setting back its ICBM program.
USA 2 OPS YEAR OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY* USA has 5 OPS for a coup in Southeast Asia, not including Vietnam.
Comment: In December 1965 the Chinese-dominated Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI), which surrounded President Sukarno, attempted to murder in a single night the Moslem generals who stood in their way. The plot misfired. The generals (including Suharto, who would lead Indonesia for the next thirty-five years) countercouped the PKI, killing tens of thousands of PKI members and ethnic Chinese. From this point forward, the domino theory, that Communism would continue to spread from Vietnam in SE Asia, was obviously wrong, but America plunged forward into the Vietnam War.
USA 2 OPS CUBAN BOAT LIFT Playable only if Cuba is USSR controlled. USSR must immediately discard a 3 or 4 OPS Red or Dual Event card, adding Influence in Cuba equal to the card's OPS, or US removes 3 USSR Influence from Central America (including Cuba) and 1 USSR Influence from South America.
Comment: there were two big Cuban boatlifts in the Mid War, the first in the early 1960s (Fidel seized power early in 1959), the second in May, 1980. Cuba was a constant drain on Soviet resources.
USA 1 OPS REFUSENIKS* USSR must give USA a US Event card for the US immediately freely to play; then place 1 USSR Influence in Israel. OR, (if USSR cannot or will not comply) the US gets 2 OPS.
USA 1 OPS SCHOOL OF THE AMERICAS* USA increases the Stability Numbers of three Central American or South American countries it controls.
DUAL 4 OPS SINO-SOVIET WAR (SSW)* SSW is playable only if DEFCON is 5 or 4. SSW reduces DEFCON by 2. SSW is playable only if Ussuri River Skirmish was played this turn, and only if Sino-Soviet Alliance is not in effect. USSR rolls 4 dice, subtracting 1 die if Red Army Occupation is in effect. If USSR plays SSW, China rolls 2 dice. If USA plays SSW China rolls 1 die. In either case, add 1 Chinese die if China has the A-Bomb. Add 1 Chinese die is US has the China Card and flips it to its "used" side. Adjust the VP marker by USSR dice roll minus Chinese (US) dice roll. Maximum VP adjustment is seven. Permanent effects: USA holds China Card for the remainder of the game, but it is reduced by 1 OPS if China wins, and by 3 OPS if the war dice were tied or if the USSR won.
Comment: a rather grim gamble, but if everything lines up for the USSR just right it could pay off big time.
DUAL 3 OPS HOTLINE If you blunder into DEFCON 1 in your Action Round, discard Hotline to reset it to DEFCON 2.
DUAL 2 OPS CHINESE ATOMIC BOMB* Permanent Effect: No Coup against North Korea is permitted at DEFCON 4 or less if USSR holds the China Card. Modifies Sino-Soviet War Event. Place CHI A-Bomb marker in North Korea.
DUAL 2 OPS AGE OF AQUARIUS* Increase DEFCON by 2 rather than 1 at the end of each turn.
People on both sides of the Iron Curtain were getting softer by the 1960s.
DUAL 2 OPS AFRICAN ANARCHY* Permanent Effects: Algeria, Nigeria, Zaire, and Angola now count as only 1/2 Battleground country each for Africa VP scoring (round fractions down). Also, coups in them do not degrade DEFCON.
DUAL 2 OPS THE INTELLECTUALS {Pictures of Sartre and Solzhenitsyn} 2 VP for your side if you have ten or more VPs. 1 VP for your side if you have 9 or fewer VP.
DUAL 0 OPS NAVAL SCORING CARD You get 1 VP for control of each of these: Turkey, Egypt, Panama, Malaysia, South Africa, Spain, Denmark, Gulf States, Argentina.
Comment: There was a big Soviet naval build-up in the 1960s and 1970s. If the USSR had not imploded, and if USSR had passage of the choke points, Soviet power projection and prestige would have been greatly enhanced. Gives USSR reason to go places it might otherwise ignore. Becomes more powerful as Soviet navy learns its job in LATE WAR.
DUAL 1 OPS INDIAN ATOMIC BOMB* India may not be the target of an Indo-Pakistani War card. If Pakistan is the target of the card, add +1 to the die roll.
LATE WAR
5 USSR CARDS: (4* + 3 + 3 + 3+ 2) = 15 OPS.
7 USA CARDS: (4* + 4* + 3* + 2* + 2 + 1 + 1*) = 17 OPS.
1 DUAL CARD: = 4 OPS
USSR 4 OPS PERESTROIKA* USSR either discards its entire hand, including this card and draws replacements for them,OR, if USSR is behind in VP, it may roll two dice and add that many VP, but resulting USSR VP total may not exceed +1. If USSR VP are not at +1 after the roll, USA immediately rolls three dice, subtracting that number of USSR VP.
Comment: Restructuring the USSR economy was a big gamble most likely to be made if the USSR was losing the Cold War. The gamble failed.
USSR 3 OPS THIS SCUD'S FOR YOU: SOVIET HIGH-TECH WEAPONS SALES. Place 5 Influence in any non-African countries already containing USSR Influence, no more than 2 Influence per country.
Comment: hat tips T.T. and Prowler for suggestions. Represents cash-only sales to countries.
USSR 3 OPS SIBERIAN OIL and GAS USSR gets 2 OPS each for WEST GERMANY and FRANCE if they are not US controlled. USSR gets 1 OPS each for ITALY, EAST GERMANY, and POLAND if they are not US controlled. 5 OPS maximum.
Comment: Speculative. The premise is the USSR's natural gas offers are best and USA does not have the political pull in the big Western European consumer economies to block them. The MID WAR's OPEC Card handles the benefit to USSR of the 1974-1984 oil spike. (OPEC card almost qualified as goofy: USSR benefited from OPEC actions without controlling any OPEC countries. Also, Egypt was/is not a major producer.) I conceive the game turns as 5 years each, 1945-1995, making LATE WAR the Reagan/GHW Bush years, so, there's time for another energy spike.
USSR 3 OPS SOVIET AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION 1 VP and 2 OPS for each of these USSR controls: EAST GERMANY, WEST GERMANY, FRANCE, BENELUX. Maximum of 5 OPS.
Comment: Speculative. Who knows? With enough help from Western agronomists, the Soviets might have straightened out their agriculture. The potential, with ideology less important in LATE WAR, is always there.
USSR 2 OPS CAMPAIGN FOR NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT remove three US Influence from Great Britain.
USA 4 OPS SOVIET NATIONALITIES PROBLEM* Divide current US Victory Points (if any) by 4, dropping remainders. USSR must hand USA a card of OPS equal to or greater than the resulting number, and plays one less Action Round this turn. Alternately, USSR may give USA 4 Victory Points.
USA 4 OPS REAGAN ARMS BUILD-UP* Set USA required Military Operations to 5. USSR must discard a 4 OPS event card (red, white, or dual as US chooses) or USA gains 3 VP. USA takes the first action in every Action Round until the end of the game.
USA 3 OPS JAPAN, INC.* Japan, if USA controlled, is now worth two Battleground countries when scoring Asia. It counts as one Battleground for all other purposes.
USA 2 OPS SOVIET ALCOHOLISM* Played in USSR's Action Round, USSR must discard a card or lose 2 VP. Played in USA's Action Round, USSR must discard two cards or lose 2 VP.
USA 2 OPS COMMUNIST FRATRICIDE. Playable if USSR does not hold the China Card. China attacks Vietnam, Laos/Cambodia, Burma, or Formosa (US's choice). Roll one die. Success on 4-6. Subtract 1 for each USSR controlled country adjacent to the target. VICTORY: 2 VP for US and replace all USSR Influence in target with USA Influence. In any case, 2 Military OPS for US.
USA 1 OPS MATHIAS RUST* Reset required USSR Military Operations to zero and give USA two required Military Operations. +1 VP for USA.
Comment: 18 year old German aviator landed his small plane in Red Square after an unauthorized flight from Helsinki. Rust humiliated the Soviet air force, giving Gorbachev the leverage to dismiss Soviet military hardliners opposed to his arms cutbacks.
USA 1 OPS ABLE ARCHER 83* Play 1 OPS and reduce DEFCON by 1. Counts as two required Military Operations.
Comment: this deadly Defcon Death card represents Soviet paranoia that the big NATO wargames of 1983 were a ruse to mask a nuclear first strike.
DUAL 4 OPS DEALIGNMENT Pick a Region. Country by country, each side rolls a die for each Influence point it has in the country and removes it on a roll of 6.
Comment: as Solzhenitsyn told Harvard, the people of the world do not think of themselves in Western (or Soviet) terms. They have their own agendas. Ultimately, the idea of either USA or USSR controlling or even dominating the world is just a fantasy.