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UKRAINIAN CRISIS

(c) 2014 Brian Train

v. 1.1, 30 March 2014

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Ukrainian Crisis is a politico-military game for two players exploring some possible resolutions of the situation in the spring of 2014 between the governments of Ukraine and the Russian Federation. Players represent the political and military leaders of these respective governments. The action begins in late February as elected President Yanukovytch departs from the capital of Kyiv and a new government is formed. The time covered by an entire game may represent several weeks to several months.

1.1 General Course of Play

The play of the game is divided into six Strategic Rounds (SR), divided into two phases – pre-Invasion and Invasion. During the pre-Invasion Strategic Rounds, players play cards on a matrix divided into Military, Diplomatic and Information areas. After either player has started the Invasion phase of the game the sequence of SRs continues except that each SR is followed by a variable number of Operational Turns (OTs) during which each player’s military units move on the map and engage in combat. It is possible to play a game without an Invasion ever being declared.

The game must end if at the beginning of the Final Segment of any SR that a player’s Prestige is zero, or the Final Segment of the sixth SR. In either case, play stops and players judge victory as in 10.0.

2.0 GAME COMPONENTS AND CONCEPTS

Each game comes with a sheet of 70 counters, an area-movement map of the general region of Ukraine, a Player Aid Card, and these rules. The game also uses a deck of 48 cards; either use these, or a more deterministic form of the game can be played by using an ordinary deck of playing cards as directed in 11.1. Players will also need several polyhedral dice – at least one each of four-sided (d4), six-sided (d6) and twelve-sided (d12), or a larger number of standard six-sided dice can be used to substitute as directed below.

2.1 Cards

• Resource Cards. (36) This group of cards is divided into two identical sets of 18, further divided into Minor (9), Moderate (6) and Maximum (3) Efforts. Each card is marked with “d4”, “d6” and “d12”, denoting the amount of Resource Points (RP) a card provides to whatever activity it is being applied. The effects of a given card depend on what area it is played on (Military, Diplomatic or Information) and whether it is the pre-Invasion or Invasion phase of the game. Resource cards are laid aside and not used again during the game.

• Event Cards. (12 or 14) At the beginning of each SR, each player draws one Event Card. Its effects can be good or bad for one or both players, depending on the general situation and which phase the game is in. See the Event Cards chart. There are two extra blank cards so you can substitute your own events, or throw them in a “no Event” fakes.

• Substituting dice. If you don’t happen to have any of those-there fancy polyhedral dice, substitute with standard six-sided dice as follows:

o d4 = roll a six-sided die and reroll any 5s or 6s

o d6 = you’re squared away (and cubed, heh heh)

o d12 = throw a six-sided die; if the number rolled is odd, throw it again and use that number; if the number rolled is even, throw it again and add six (6) to that number.

2.2 Counters

There are 70 counters in the game. Some of them are informational markers used to keep track of the status of different record tracks, and mostly their use is obvious. Most of them represent military formations that could be used in the event of armed conflict between Ukraine and Russia, and so are used on the map. These are called “units” and each one has the following information on it:

• Type symbol. This will tell you what type of formation the counter represents, and its troop type (Irregular, Regular or Special Forces). See the Identification Chart.

• Combat Values. Each unit has a Combat Value (CV) printed underneath its troop type symbol. This is the number of d6 it will roll during combat. Note that Special Forces units have no Combat Value: this means they may not be engaged in combat of any type. See 7.32. Also, the reverse side of each unit has its Combat Value marked in parentheses, to denote that it has been neutralized in combat and cannot attack (however, it can defend itself).

• Nationality. Russian units are red; Ukrainian units are yellow.

A note on assembling the counters: the counter sheet is printed in such a way that the upper half of the frame of 140 counter images forms the “front” side. The lower half is a mirror image of the upper half, and forms the “back” side. Start by gluing the front side to a piece of thick cardboard or art board, and the back side to the other side of the cardboard so that the counter frame edges match up (cut the edges flush or mark the corners with a through pinhole). Cut out the individual counters with scissors or a rotary/box cutter, and this will make a set of 70 double-sided counters. If you're not handy with this sort of thing, just glue the entire counter sheet to one piece of cardboard to make 140 single-sided counters, and make substitutions during play, or just flip the counters over when neutralized and look at their Combat Values when they are involved in combat.

2.3 Maps and Displays and Playing Aids

2.31 Map. The map is an area movement map of the eastern two-thirds of Ukraine and the immediate region. Each area in Ukraine is equal to an oblast (an administrative division). During Operational Turns units move from one area to another.

• Some areas are marked with airfield (triangle) or port (anchor) symbols; these are used to determine whether units can use Airborne or Amphibious movement from there (7.2, 7.3).

• Each area in Ukraine is marked with a Victory Point value that is awarded to the player in sole possession of it at the end of the game (that is, only that player has Regular or Irregular units in it – Special Forces units do not count either way).

• Note that the city of Kyiv is a special area, located entirely inside the Kyivs’ka area.

• “Sevastopol” is a special enclave of Russian territory within the Crimea area, representing the pre-existing Russian military bases there. It is treated as part of Russia and belongs to no Ethnic Zone.

2.32 Displays. Also located on the map sheet are the Foreign Relations Display, the All-purpose Record Track and a Unit Box (with Reserve and Mobilized areas) for each player to group his units.

2.33 Player Aids. Finally, there is a player aid card that contains the Card Matrix and a reminder chart.

2.4 Game Concepts

• Countries and International relations. Seven foreign countries appear in the game as potential allies of Ukraine. Each country has a marker with a two-letter code to identify it, and a number denoting its Rank (a quantification of its relative power and ability to influence the situation). The attitudes of their respective governments towards Ukraine are portrayed on the Foreign Relations Display. During the game, especially during the pre-Invasion phase, the Ukrainian player will be trying through diplomacy to build a coalition of countries willing to support his government against perceived Russian aggression, through various means. Due to the general political and diplomatic situation, Russia does not have any allied countries (at least none in any position to affect this crisis) and so is more concerned with manoeuvring potential Ukrainian allies towards neutrality.

• Ethnic Zones: With a certain degree of simplification (to put it mildly), the political divisions and cultural aspirations of Ukrainian citizens, and their ethnicities, are congruent geographically. That is, pro-Russian sentiment seems to be concentrated, along with many ethnic Russians, in the eastern zone of the country while Ukrainian nationalism is concentrated in the western zone. Consequently certain areas on the map are colored reddish (for pro-Russian) or yellowish (for pro-Ukrainian). The city of Kyiv is considered to be in both Ethnic Zones (and so is coloured orange).

• Prestige: During play, a player will have a greater or lesser amount of Prestige, recorded on the All-Purpose Record Track. In the game, the term “Prestige” does not have quite the positive connotation of respect or high esteem it normally does – in effect, it is a quantification and combination of several things, including:

o the amount of intimidation or dominance a player can exert on, or the compliance they can exact from, the other player or the Countries portrayed in the game - sort of like having “hand” in a relationship, as it was explained in that Seinfeld episode;

o the general stability or resolve of the Ukrainian or Russian government and leaders to pursue the crisis, particularly with respect to using military force to resolve it;

o the country’s international standing, occupation of the “moral high ground” (in a very relative sense), and ability to control or shape information on events;

o the country’s overall economic health and future prospects; etc..

There are occasions during the game when the player may voluntarily expend Prestige to get something he wants. This can represent making deals for future concessions, political or diplomatic negotiations, threats that are or are not delivered, and so on. The game will end if one player’s Prestige score is zero at the end of a Strategic Round (this signifies a collapse of will to continue, or resignation to the situation), at which time victory is judged. In cases where a player’s Prestige is zero, he may not voluntarily expend Prestige, and any Prestige points he may be required to lose are instead added to the other player’s Prestige.

• Scale: The game has an abstract scale in all respects. There is no fixed ratio of Resources to any physical commodity, numbers of people or equipment to any military unit, or interval of time to any turn.

• Victory: at the end of the game players total up their Victory Points, which they have collected for various activities during the game, depending on whether the game entered the Invasion Phase or not. See 9.0.

3.0 SETTING UP THE GAME

• Separate the Resource and Event Cards. Divide the Resource cards into two piles, one for each player. Shuffle the Event Cards and put them in a mutually convenient place on the table.

• Sort the unit counters out by nationality and group them in the “Reserve” section of the Unit Box on each player’s Player Aid Card.

• Take the seven Country counters and place them on the Foreign Relations Display as follows (If players wish to alter the starting positions of Countries to make things harder or easier for either player, or if they have a different view of the relative attitude of each country, or if history has proven my guesses wrong, then feel free to do so.):

o BY, DE, FR, GB, RO: Neutral

o US, PL: Support

• Place markers on the All-Purpose Record Track to show a starting Prestige of 20 for the Ukrainian player and 25 for the Russian.

4.0 SEQUENCE OF PLAY

Each Strategic Round is organized into the following Segments, performed in order. The body of the rules explain what to do in each Segment.

• Event Card Segment

• Card Play and Resolution Segment

• (Invasion Phase only) Operational Turns Segment

• Final Segment

• (start next Strategic Round with the Event Card Segment)

5.0 EVENT CARD SEGMENT

Each player will draw one Event Card at random. If a Card says “Must Play”, the event is immediately resolved. Otherwise the player has a choice of whether or how to implement the event during the Strategic Round. Event Cards are discarded in the Final Segment of the current Strategic Round: use ‘em or lose ‘em.

6.0 CARD PLAY AND RESOLUTION SEGMENT

Each player will select THREE Resource Cards of their choice from their as yet unplayed stock and place one card in each of the three areas of the Card Matrix (Military, Diplomatic and Information), face down. Either player may, at this moment only, declare the start of the Invasion phase of the game.

The player who has the higher Prestige at the moment (Russian wins ties) may choose which area of the Card Matrix will be resolved first. Both players turn up their cards and roll dice as demanded by the type of Resource Card played (Minor, Moderate or Maximum Effort), which will give them a number of Resource Points to apply or use in some fashion. At this point, either or both players may implement an Event card if its effect is somehow applicable to what is being resolved.

Area by area, the player with more Prestige at the moment (Russian wins ties) either goes first to expend the RP he has received or tells the other player to go first. A player’s options of how to expend the RP depend on what area the card was played in, and whether the game is in the pre-Invasion or Invasion phase. Refer to the following table. A player may choose only one of the options presented. Any leftover RP are lost, lost, lost.

|Area |Pre-Invasion |Invasion |

|Military |mobilize/ deploy units |mobilize/ deploy units OR |

| | |determine number of Operational Turns this Round, and the number |

| | |of units that can move or recover in each Operational Turn |

|Diplomatic |attempt to move one or more countries on Foreign |attempt to move one or more countries on Foreign Relations Display|

| |Relations Display |OR |

| | |attempt to get a Truce |

|Information |reduce enemy’s Prestige score (and their own, see 6.2) |reduce enemy’s Prestige score (and their own, see 6.2) OR |

| |OR |add to Prestige |

| |add to Prestige | |

6.1 Mobilizing and Deploying Units

6.11 Mobilizing units. A unit is mobilized by moving it from the Reserve section to Mobilized section of the Unit box. It costs one RP to mobilize a unit of any type.

6.12 Deploying units. It costs one RP to deploy a unit of any type. A unit may be mobilized and deployed in the same Strategic Round. When a unit is deployed, it is taken from the Mobilized section of the player’s Unit Box and placed in an area on the map, within the following guidelines depending on its type:

• Regular: any area within the player’s country that is either empty or contains friendly units (Special Forces units do not count as friendly or enemy units). Depending on the resolution of the “Lukashenko Hop” event, the Russian player may become able to deploy Regular units to Belarus. Depending on the outcome of the “Moldava Mash” Event Card, he may deploy one Regular combat unit in Moldova (but may not deploy any other units there).

• Special Forces: any area on the map (including Belarus or Moldova, regardless of whether the Event Cards involving these countries have been played)

• Irregular:

o Ukrainian: any area within Ukraine.

o Russian: any area in the pro-Russian Ethnic Zone that contains a non-neutralized Russian Regular or Special Forces unit.

6.2 Moving Countries on the Foreign Relations Display

A player may expend RP and Prestige to attempt to move the counter representing a foreign country on the Foreign Relations Display. The Ukrainian player will want to move them up towards the Support or Intervention Zones on the display, while the Russian player will want to move them down towards the Neutral Zone.

The cost in RP for an attempt to move a country’s counter “up” or “down” one Zone on the Display is equal to the Multiplier for the desired Zone to move to (1, 2 or 3 RP). Players may try to move a country only one Zone in a given attempt. A player may divide their RP as they wish in order to influence more than one country, and may make multiple attempts to influence the same country, paying the appropriate cost each time.

To make the attempt, a player will expend the required number of RP and roll 1d4 if they are trying to influence a country of Rank 1, 1d6 if Rank 2, 1d12 if Rank 3. They may at this time voluntarily expend Prestige points to affect the die roll: one is subtracted from the die roll for each multiple of Prestige points expended that is equal to the Multiplier for the desired Zone to move to (1, 2 or 3 Prestige). If the adjusted die roll is equal to or less than the Multiplier for the desired Zone, the country’s counter is moved to the new Zone; otherwise, nothing happens and the points are expended.

Example: To attempt to move Poland, a Rank 1 country, from Support to Intervention the player spends 3 RP (since the Multiplier for the Intervention Zone is 3). He rolls 1d4 (because Poland is a Rank 1 country) and gets a “2”so the country will move to Intervention. If he had rolled a “4” the country would not have moved; to safeguard against this he could have expended 3 Prestige points to reduce the die roll by 1, and make it automatic.

6.22 Positive effects of Allies. It’s good to have friends:

• In the beginning of the Card Play and Resolution Segment of each Strategic Round, the Ukrainian player receives a total of “at large” RP equal to the Rank of each country whose marker is currently in the Intervention Zone. These RP may be added to the resolution of card play in any one area of their choice.

• At the end of the Final Segment of each Strategic Round (except the sixth one), the Ukrainian player will gain total Prestige equal to the Rank of each country that is in the Support or Intervention Zones.

6.23 Belarus. When the “Lukashenko Hop” Event Card is played, its marker is removed from the Foreign Relations Display regardless of the outcome: the country has either decisively declared for Russia, or is determined not to take any further part in the crisis while continuing to declare verbal support for Ukraine.

6.3 Reducing the enemy’s Prestige

If a player chooses to reduce the enemy’s Prestige through exercising that option in the Information area, he must roll the die twice: first to reduce the enemy’s Prestige, then again to reduce his own Prestige. (so you can win big, or lose big – this represents a range of activity not limited to economic threats, trade sanctions or boycotts and can backfire).

6.4 Truces

One or both players may choose this option. If both players want a truce, then it happens – they skip any Operational Turns and go straight to the Final Segment of the Round. If only one player wants a truce, after determining the RP from playing his card in the Diplomatic area and adding any number of Prestige points he wants to expend (the Ukrainian player at this point may also add “at large” RP due to alliances, see 6.22), he throws 1d12. If the die roll is equal to or less than this total number, then players skip the Operational Turns Segment and go straight to the Final Segment of the Round.

Example: The Ukrainian player wants to get a Truce to get some breathing room. He plays a Moderate Effort in the Diplomatic area, rolls 1d6 and gets a 4, and adds one “at large” RP and 4 Prestige (he really wants this). That’s a total of 9 so if the Ukrainian rolls 9 or less on 1d12 he gets his Truce.

6.5 Starting the Invasion Phase

After the players have placed their cards face down in the three areas of the Card Matrix, but before they are turned up and resolved, either player may at this moment declare the start of the Invasion Phase. The game is in the Invasion phase from that moment onward. Remember that an Invasion does not have to be declared!

7.0 OPERATIONAL TURNS SEGMENT

If the game has moved into the Invasion phase, the card a player plays in the Military area of the Card Matrix in the Strategic Round may be used either to mobilize and deploy units as in 6.1, or to determine how many Operational Turns he will get during that Round, and how many of his units may move or recover from Neutralization in each Operational Turn during that Round.

• The two variables must add up to the number of RP derived from play of the card (the Ukrainian player may also add any of his “at large” RP gained from alliances, see 6.32).

• There must be at least one, but no more than six, Operational Turns.

• the number of units to move or recover in each Operational Turn may be zero (in this case no units would move or recover, but would only conduct Combat in each Turn).

• If a player uses his Resource Card for mobilizing/deploying units instead, he gets one Operational Turn during which he may move one unit.

Example: the Ukrainian player plays a Moderate Effort card in the Military area of the Card Matrix. He rolls 1d6, gets a “4”, and adds one “at large” RP from his alliances. That is a total of five, so he may choose to have two Operational Turns during each of which three of his units may move or recover from neutralization, or four and one, or anything that adds up to five (though there must be at least one Operational Turn).

7.1 Operational Turns

During the Operational Turn Segment, players will take a given number of Operational Turns, during each of which a given number of units may move or recover from neutralization. Opposing units in the same area may then conduct combat. The Russian player takes an Operational Turn first, then the Ukrainian player, alternating until one side runs out, then the other player runs his remaining Operational Turns in succession. After the Operational Turns are done, go to the Final Segment of the Strategic Round.

Example: the Russian player has decided for 3 Operational Turns. The Ukrainian used his card for mobilizing/ deploying units, so he gets a minimum of 1. The sequence will run Russian – Ukrainian – Russian – Russian.

7.2 Movement and Recovery

During each Operational Turn, a given number of friendly units may move from area to area on the map or, instead of moving, recover from neutralization.

7.21 Movement. Normally, a player may move one unit from one area to an adjacent area (that is, the two areas share a land border). Any number of units may be present in an area, and enemy units do not block a unit’s passage through it.

• Irregular units do not move.

• The Ukrainian player’s units may never enter another country.

• The Russian player may be able to deploy his Regular units in or move through Belarus, depending on the outcome of the “Lukashenko Hop” Event Card; otherwise he may not use this country. He may never enter Romania.

• Russian Special Forces units may move into or through any area or country at all times.

• Airborne movement: a Parachute or Special Forces unit may move from an area in its own country that contains an airfield (triangle symbol) to any other area on the map.

• Amphibious movement: any Regular unit may move from an area in its own country that contains a port (anchor symbol) to any coastal area on the map (that is, any area touched by the Black Sea).

7.22 Recovery from neutralization. Instead of moving, a neutralized unit may recover from its neutralized state. Simply flip the unit back over to the side that doesn’t have its Combat Value in parentheses. A unit may not both move and recover in the same Operational Turn.

7.3 Combat

When a player has completed all movement, they may engage enemy units in the same area in combat. There are three types of combat, but each type of combat is resolved simultaneously in the same way, with all combat results being applied at the end of resolution. The player whose Turn it is is called the Attacker, and the other player is the Defender, no matter what the overall strategic situation. Combat is voluntary on the part of the Attacker, but if attacked the Defender must defend himself.

7.31 Combat procedure

• Pre-Combat Grouping Step. The Attacker examines his Regular and Irregular units in the area and declares which unit or units will attack which defending units. He may group the attacking and defending units how he likes; he does not have to attack every defending unit, nor does he have to use all of his units to attack.

• Combat Type Determination Step. The attacker chooses the type of combat, but his choice is determined by the troop type of units present in the attacking and defending groups. If half or more of the units in a given group are Regular, the whole group is considered Regular. A group that is attacking a group of the same troop type may choose Symbolic or Kinetic combat. A group that is attacking a group of the opposite troop type may choose Symbolic or Asymmetric combat.

• Combat Resolution Step. Each player simultaneously throws a number of d6 equal to the total Combat Value of the troops in the group, then applies the result to the enemy group. A “5” or “6” scores one Hit. The effect of a Hit depends on the type of combat:

o Symbolic combat: each Hit reduces the enemy’s Prestige by one.

o Kinetic combat: each Hit neutralizes one enemy unit (inflicting player’s choice; flip the unit over to show its Combat Value in parentheses). A second Hit on an already neutralized unit eliminates it, and reduces both players’ Prestige by one. Eliminated units are placed in the Reserve section of the owning player’s Unit Box in a non-neutralized state, where they may be mobilized later.

o Asymmetric combat: each Hit by a group of Irregular units will reduce the enemy’s Prestige by one. Each Hit by a group of Regular units will neutralize one enemy unit; however, units may not be eliminated.

o Excess neutralizations: If, through Kinetic or Asymmetric combat, a player has inflicted more neutralizations on the enemy group than are able to be absorbed by the group, then the player reduces his Prestige by one for each excess neutralization (this represents collateral damage to the civilian population and infrastructure).

7.32 Special Forces. Special Forces units cannot be engaged in combat. They do not form part of attacking or defending groups.

7.33 Neutralized units. Neutralized units may move but may not initiate attacks. They may defend themselves, of course. They are eliminated if neutralized again in Kinetic combat. A neutralized unit may recover in an Operational Turn if the owning player desires it to; just flip it back over. This counts against the total of units that that player can move or have recover during the Operational Turn.

Example: a Russian group of two Regular units (each of CV=4) is attacking a Ukrainian group of two Irregular units (each of CV=1) and one Regular unit (CV=2). One of the Irregular units is neutralized from a previous combat. Because the two groups are different types, the Russian can choose Symbolic or Asymmetric Combat. He chooses Asymmetric and rolls 8d6, getting two “5”s and a”6” for a total of 3 Hits. The Ukrainian rolls 4d6 and gets one “5”. Both players apply results simultaneously: the Russian neutralizes the remaining Irregular and the Regular units, but there is one Hit left over (because in Asymmetric combat units cannot be eliminated) so his Prestige is reduced by one. The Ukrainian reduces the Russian Prestige by one.

8.0 FINAL SEGMENT

At the end of the Card Play and Resolution Segment (pre-Invasion phase of the game) or the end of the final Operational Turn (Invasion phase of the game), players check to see if the game ends.

• If either player’s Prestige is zero, or the sixth Strategic Round is about to be completed, the game ends. Both players judge victory according to section 10.0.

• Otherwise, both players discard any Resource and Event Cards played, the Ukrainian player may receive some Prestige points depending on the state of his alliances (6.32), and players begin the next Strategic Round with the Event Card Segment.

9.0 GAME END, VICTORY POINTS AND HOW TO WIN

At the end of the game, each player totals his Victory Points as follows:

• One-half of his Prestige (round up) PLUS

• If and only if the game entered the Invasion phase, the Victory Point value of each area where he is the sole player with non-neutralized units (that is, the only one with at least one non-neutralized Regular or Irregular unit there; Special Forces units do not count either way).

If the Russian player has more points than the Ukrainian player, but less than 1.99 times as many, the game is a Draw. If 2.0 - 2.99 times as many points, he wins a Tactical Victory. If 3.0 or more times as many points, he wins a Smashing Victory. If the Ukrainian player ends the game with the same or more points than the Russian, he wins a Moral Victory.

10.0 OPTIONAL RULES

10.1 Using Playing Cards

If you don’t want to make up a set of special cards, or to treat this as a more deterministic exercise, you may play this game with a deck of ordinary playing cards. Remove the face cards from the deck; these become Event Cards – refer to the Event Card chart to see which are which. Discard the four 10s. The remaining red cards (two sets of A-9 each) become the Russian player’s Resource Cards; the black ones are the Ukrainian player’s. In situations where the card is played in the Information area of the Card Matrix and is being used to reduce the enemy’s Prestige (6.4), the player will roll a die to determine randomly the amount of Prestige he will lose: 1d4 if he played a card with a value of A-3, 1d6 if he played 4-6, 1d12 if he played 7-9.

You saved yourself a lot of time otherwise spent crafting, but have subtracted some of the randomness. This will also give a somewhat more high-powered game, as the 18 cards give a total of 90 Resources to allocate during the game, versus the average expected total of 73 with the randomized cards.

10.2 Altering Play Balance

This game is simple and free-form enough that players should be able to alter such game parameters as the opposing orders of battle, opening Prestige scores, VP scores for areas, or arrangements on the Foreign Relations Display to make the game more or less difficult for either player, or to better reflect their view of how the crisis played out in real life, or could have done. So feel free.

11.0 DESIGNER’S NOTES

This game was designed in the middle of the crisis itself, over a weekend in March, with little indication as to its ultimate outcome though a Russian invasion of Ukraine seemed very likely at the time. Think of it as the result of a one-man “game jam”, or an attempt to conduct journalism in the form of a wargame. Which is why you’re reading it now, shaking your head and chuckling about what a bad fortune-teller I am.

Either player, not just the Russian, may declare the start of the Invasion phase of the game. The thinking behind this is that the Ukrainian player may want to do this in order to carry out a violent crackdown on a large presence of pro-Russian Irregular units created by Russian SF units (the SF counters do not always literally mean the presence of detachments of Spetsnaz troops, but also represent autonomous pro-Russian groups taking up arms in response to local provocations, Russian propaganda and encouragement, or covert supply of weapons and trainers). This would provoke an automatic Russian military response, so beginning an invasion of Ukraine itself.

The Victory Point values for the map areas were assigned in rough proportion to the number of people in each oblast, about one per million, adjusted upward for each area in the pro-Russian Ethnic Zone (each area of which has 40-80+% ethnic Russian population, a large enough pool of people to create ad hoc ethnic militias of either ethnicity). The thinking here is that the avowed casus belli for a Russian incursion is to protect these people, and not to conquer Ukraine completely – which is why one-third of Ukraine, containing about eleven million people but only a small minority of Russians, was left off the map. Similarly, the Ukrainian player is motivated not to accept a partition of his country and to fight for its eastern areas.

Meanwhile, it is possible to play the game to a conclusion without going to the Invasion phase. Both players have an ability to reduce the other’s Prestige to zero, through adroit card play on the Diplomatic and Information fronts while the other’s main effort is spent on mobilizing for war; however, as in the military arena most of the advantages lie with the Russian player, who may also be reverse-provoked into an invasion if he sees the Prestige clock winding down too fast on him.

“Hey, no NATO units!” Yes, that’s right; no military formations from NATO member countries appear in the game. In the designer’s opinion, it is highly unlikely that troops from any country that is a full member of NATO would be placed in a position where they would potentially be shooting at Russian soldiers. The governments of NATO’s member countries seem to be firmly of the opinion that while Ukraine should be supported against Russian aggression, it is not worth starting World War III over.

Brian Train

March 30, 2014

CREDITS

Design: Brian Train

Development: Brian Train

Graphics and Production: Brian Train (using graphic elements found on the Internet, freeware dingbat fonts (thanks !) and clip art)

Playtesting and suggestions: Akito Train, Neal Durando, K. Roust

CHARTS AND TABLES

STRATEGIC ROUND SEQUENCE OF PLAY

|Event Card Draw Segment |

|Both draw one Event Card |

|Card Play and Resolution Segment |

|Ukrainian gains RP = Rank of each country at Intervention (6.22) |

|Each puts 1 card in each of the 3 areas of the Card Matrix (Military, Diplomatic and Information), face down. (either player may, at this |

|moment only, declare start of the Invasion phase (6.5).) |

|Player with higher Prestige (Russian wins ties) chooses which area of the Card Matrix to resolve. Both turn up cards and roll d4/d6/d12 per |

|Resource Card played; may add RP from applicable Event Card and/or Ukrainian may add RP from alliances (6.22). Area by area, player with more |

|Prestige (Russian wins ties) either goes first to choose and implement option, or tells the other player to go first. |

|Operational Turns Segment (Invasion phase of game only; skip if Truce) |

|RP = (#Operational Turns + #units moved/recovered each Turn). 1 Turn and 1 unit if no card played. Russian first, then alternating until lower|

|# of Operational Turns reached; Movement, then Combat |

|Movement: Irregulars don’t move; all others to adjacent area except Airborne (from airfield to anywhere, Parachute/ SF only) or Amphibious |

|(from port to any coastal area) |

|Combat: |

|Pre-Combat Grouping Step. Attacker arranges attacking and defending units. |

|Combat Type Determination Step. Attacking group of same troop type: Symbolic or Kinetic, else Symbolic or Asymmetric. Half or more units |

|Regular = Regular group, don’t count SF. |

|Combat Resolution Step. Simultaneously throw #d6 = total CV: “5” or “6” = 1 Hit. Apply Hits simultaneously. Hit effect depends on the type of |

|combat: |

|Symbolic: enemy Prestige -1 |

|Kinetic: neutralize one enemy unit. Second Hit on neutralized unit eliminates it (move to Reserve section), both players’ Prestige -1. |

|Asymmetric: each Hit by Irregular group = enemy Prestige -1. Each Hit by Regular group = neutralize one enemy unit, units may not be |

|eliminated. |

|Excess neutralizations: (Kinetic or Asymmetric) -1 Prestige of inflicting player for each neutralization enemy group cannot absorb . |

|Final Segment |

|Check for game end (Prestige = 0 or ending 6th Strategic Round) |

|Discard Resource and Event Cards |

|Ukrainian player receives Prestige from alliances (6.22) |

|Area |Pre-Invasion Phase |Invasion Phase |

|Military |Mobilize/ deploy units @ 1 RP each |Mobilize/ deploy units @1 RP each OR |

| | |determine # of Operational Turns this Round, and # of units to|

| | |move/ recover each Turn |

|Diplomatic |attempt to move countries on Foreign Relations Display |attempt to move countries on Foreign Relations Display (may |

| |(may expend Prestige = desired Zone Multiplier for each -1|expend Prestige for DRM) OR |

| |DRM) |attempt to get a Truce (1d12 vs. total of RP and Prestige) |

|Information |reduce enemy’s Prestige score (roll die twice) OR |reduce enemy’s Prestige score (roll die twice) OR |

| |add to Prestige |add to Prestige |

EVENT CARDS CHART

|Card |Title |Effects |

|J spades |Svoboda Shakeup |Must play. Ukrainian government becomes unstable; -1d6 Prestige |

|J clubs |Paid Demonstrators |-1d4 Prestige to enemy; -1 Prestige to you |

|J hearts |Moldova Mash |Must play. Roll 1d6: |

| | |1-3 = Moldovan Army moves against Russian detachment in Transnistria; -3 Russian Prestige |

| | |4-6 = Moldova declares neutrality; deploy one Russian Regular unit in Moldova from the Reserve |

| | |section of his Unit Box, immediately and for free (but may not deploy more units to Moldova |

| | |later) |

|J diamonds |Lukashenko Hop |Must play. Roll 1d6, + 1 if BY is at Support, + 2 if BY is at Intervention: |

| | |1-3 = Russian may deploy and move units in Belarus |

| | |4+ = nothing |

| | |regardless of result, remove BY marker from the Display |

|Q spades |Economic Sanctions |All countries in Support or Intervention zones deduct Russian Prestige = their Rank |

|Q clubs |Screwed Thumbs |Any one EU country (DE, FR, GB, PL, RO – player’s choice) in the Support or Intervention Zones |

| | |moves one Zone towards Neutral; deduct Russian Prestige = country’s Rank |

|Q hearts |“Fuck the EU” |Each EU country in the Support or Intervention Zones moves one Zone towards Neutral; add |

| | |Ukrainian Prestige = USA’s Rank multiplied by the Multiplier of the Zone the USA counter is in. |

|Q diamonds |A Terrible Resolve |Player holding this card cannot attempt to get a Truce this SR, and must play it to cancel a |

| | |Truce if the other player gets one. |

|K spades |Spontaneous Mobilization |Player deploys 1 Irregular unit anywhere in his ethnic Zone from the Reserve section of his Unit|

| | |Box, for free. |

|K clubs |Spontaneous Mobilization |Player deploys 1 Irregular unit anywhere in his ethnic Zone from the Reserve section of his Unit|

| | |Box, for free. |

|K hearts |Rally to the Motherland! |Player receives 1d4 Resource Points for mobilizing, deploying or recovering units. |

|K diamonds |Unit Not Ready/ Disloyal |1d4 enemy units of player’s choice move from Mobilized to Reserve section of his Unit Box. |

| |Conscripts | |

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