In an effort to get better I’ve been watching some high level games on the AR Zero YouTube channel. I’ve also watched some explanatory content regarding alternatives to the standard 442 setup, and yet I am still completely baffled as to why the very best are playing 3322 (3WG, 3FR, 2ITL, 2 IRN) as the new normal (with and without Marshall Plan as a headline).

Why give your opponent a 50% shot at Italy? Why leave yourself vulnerable to Degaulle and Suez?

I wanted to add a card that was a buff to the US in Asia and represented the military governments that were backed by the US in the Cold War, as I felt Puppet Governments didn't represent the Asian aspect of Military involvement enough.

Cards that relate to Military Ops

Hi,

I've made a Game in TS style on the war (I need to do a couple of edits)

Give me your suggestions. You can download the deck here

Thanks! 🙃

Though these aren't Remove if Played cards, they might still only come up as events twice a game, or three times max, not the end of the the world, but annoying. The USSR event is strong but will come back to bite them Late War. The US event I toyed with a lot, considered allowing the USSR to cancel the event by paying VP equal to the OPs value of the card the US selects, which would add some serious brinksmanship to the card. But in the end limited it to just a few US options such as Containment, Independent Reds, Truman Doctrine, NORAD if it got canceled, or Formosan Resolution if it got canceled to, so some interesting possibilities there.

All Space Race themed, some stronger than others

Very exciting package arrived today!

The board is double sided (has the old version on one side and the new version on the other)

Components are pretty much the same (punch board influence markers, trackers and reminders) but they have some new art as well.

2 expansions included

The whole set of Promotional cards

Alternative space race overlay

New rule books and player aids!

All and all a nice step up all around!
The new card art will take some getting used to, but everything is nice and fresh and new!

Yes I know Yugoslavia didn't collapse until after 1991, but if any country in Europe was going to collapse it would have been them. This makes an early war Independent Reds there pay off in Late War. This also makes USSR maybe want to clean it out with Warsaw Pact.

This will spice up some of the math late war in places like Asia where sometimes you can spoil a Domination by controlling more total non-battlegrounds. (it could change the ratio of battlegrounds to non-battlegrounds in some places) Similar to Non-Aligned movement, but instead of deck churn, its a lockout. Since it's late war, it can only effect the game for the last 3 turns.

What is the rationalize behind it? The 1950s American Dream and the jealousy of the Soviets concerning it. The card does get the USSR 3 influence total if they play it, but the US gets to snipe under some controlled countries and get some early influence in locations they might not usually get. A strategic USSR player might select North Korea or Finland to fizzle one of the US influence (no 2nd country to place in). So not really a detrimental event, but thematic.

Hand filtration US card.
The idea is that it is an expression of market efficiency.
I like it(!)
Thoughts?

EDIT: Thanks for all the feedback guys!
1) Yes this is a powerful card that allows the US to avoid DefCon suicide. This is intentional.
2) I like the idea generally of the US having hand filtration / management cards - I think it fits gameplay style and theme more (Ie Ask Not)
3) Thematically I thought it fit as towards the end of the War the larger and more powerful economy of the US began to be a real problem for the USSR, and this illustrates that by being an 'efficiency' card, however I take on board a lot of the criticism which I think is fair

The card editor doesn't have the capability of doing new Scoring cards. Here is an idea for one. And to go with it, a bit of a twist on Wargames. Since it's Late War this is kind of just a "can we pack the game up now" card if someone is miles ahead. They have to announce what scoring cards they have, so it becomes a total bumrush for those areas, but then they have to maintain a 10VP advantage into and after Final Scoring

A buff to the USSR for the Late War.

I know letting the US discard is usually powerful (but hey, discarding for the USSR is pretty powerful too) This event doesn't seem like something the USSR is going to want to do at DEFCON 2 if they know We Will Bury You is still in the deck.

I guess I didn't add a caveat to this if the US hand is empty (guess I could change the verbiage a bit) but my gut ruling would be the US still draws even if their hand is empty.

More of an alternate history "what if" an early reunification of Germany happened, or a reunification of the Koreas.

Considered making it a flat 3VP and letting opponent set DEFCON to a number of their choice. Also considered a 6 passing it back and forth sort of like the China card.

The card is sort of an 'extra life', but not guaranteed because you can still roll a 1 if you try to do something intentionally suicidal as far as DEFCON goes.

A General 'Good stuff' card for the US in the Late War, but one that can also give the Soviet player a late Coup while America is distracted by having a new President.

Hello,

It's turn 7, I have to select a headline card. I play USA, currently at -3 VPs. I'm pretty sure USSR has "CIA created" in their hand. Defcon is at 3. I think USSR might consider playing "CIA" during headline, to get rid of it.

I have "Missile envy".

If I use it for headline, provided USSR picked "CIA", my event will occur first, right? And if I get a USSR event, I could use the card ops for a coup, then take advantage of the "CIA" event to end the game.

Question is: would I win in this case?

I'm asking because I have several interesting events (Nuclear subs, Voice of America, Beartrap, 5 year plans while having the China card)… I have the upper hand on several regions except Asia and South America. So I'm not sure where to go. Having too many options confuses me. 😅

Maybe someone has already talked about this, but I haven’t found it, and just don’t have a good enough sense of it for myself because my sample size and player exposure is too small, but has anyone settled on a “standard” handicap in Red Sea along the lines of the US +2 in the original game? It feels like with the game being so much shorter and swingier that I really don’t have a clear sense of one side or the other having a significant advantage. Is the consensus that the sides are relatively equal with no handicapping needed? Or is there a “standard” that has developed due to one side having a clear advantage?

Hello guys, what do you think about these custom made cards? The Operation Danube works only for non-battleground states (I forgot to write that), also sorry for any spelling/grammar mistakes as English is not my native language.

My version of a 'Watergate' card. Defcon suicide is definitely possible for the US player here as Watergate was such a huge scandal.
EDIT: Following comments new version with no defcon suicide here: https://postimg.cc/QHDkqVRR

So I've seen the recent release statement from GMT games, and I'm a bit confused about what is going on.

-There is special edition being released.

-The gameplay / board is NOT altered, but we are getting a map with new graphics

-The Optional rules for Turn Zero and the alternate Space Race are included, as well as a new optional set up called 'Red Sun Rising'.

-The 8 original Promo cards are included as well as some others. WHAT ARE THESE OTHERS?

-TS also has had another smaller game released called TS: Red Sea

-AND Two more games are being worked on, TS: South Asia Monsoon, and TS: Liberation

Is this everything?

In General what optional rules do the community play with, if any? Has TS: Red Sea been a success do people think?

What rules, if any, will be coming to th eplaydeck online app?

Ty

Highlights:

• The Playdek app is getting an update, updating it to the 20th Anniversary Edition standards. Maybe this also includes the regional promos and the new scenario?
• New starting setup, Red Sun Rising
• 20th Anniversary Edition is shipping very soon from P500
• South Asian Monsoon is still under development
• A new game is in early design phase, Twilight Struggle: Liberation, about Latin America

In the 36-year history of GMT Games, Twilight Struggle is the most significant, influential, and best-selling game that we have published. There it is. No other game among the pantheon of excellent GMT games that we are super proud of even comes close. At least at GMT, Twilight Struggle has set the bar.

Kudos to designers Jason Matthews and Ananda Gupta for creating this gem and for continuing to support the game over these twenty-one years. I LOVE working with the two of you and am honored to be able to do it. And big thanks to Jason Carr, Kai Jensen, Terry Leeds, and a huge team of testers and proofers who helped us get the newest and best version of this game ready to ship out to you. Also, TS would never have come to GMT if Andy Lewis hadn't made me aware of it—so thank you, Andy! And finally, special thanks to industry icon Alan Moon, who wrote publicly on BGG that Twilight Struggle was "the best game he'd ever played," which allowed us to sell out the up-to-then-struggling first printing shortly thereafter. Alan, you'll never have to buy your own dinner or drinks when we're at the same event. Thank you!

All that said, I'm going to leave most of the news and updates to Jason Matthews, Ananda Gupta, and Jason Carr below, with one exception. I want you all to know that Playdek is in the midst of updating their digital version of TS to the 20th Anniversary HOF standard, and that they will be adding new localizations as well so that many more of you will be able to play the game in your own language. I will be meeting with the Playdek team at the Weekend at the Warehouse next month, and we'll have a better sense of timing for that launch after the meeting. But it's in the works—and I am excited!

OK, let's hear now from the key players in our growing Twilight Struggle series.

Jason Matthews:

This 20th Anniversary Hall of Fame Edition of Twilight Struggle is the culmination of a lot of effort by the whole GMT team. But it also exemplifies an evolution in the wargaming hobby. We’ve taken in a lot of lessons about art and design from other parts of gaming, and now we’re applying them to historical games, creating a renaissance of our own. GMT is at the heart of that movement. It’s exciting to see how designers, developers, and artists are using these new tools to recreate human history and tell its stories in exciting new ways.
 

As for what comes next, we’re always working to make Twilight Struggle a more complete retelling of the Cold War. And for that reason, Jason Carr and I are working on South Asian Monsoon. Just like our experience designing around the Horn of Africa, nearly every event card in that game has echoes in today’s headlines. So I think it will be a new and exciting challenge for fans while also illuminating some of the challenges the world faces today. - Jason M.

Ananda Gupta: 

The release of Twilight Struggle: 20th Anniversary Hall of Fame Edition is upon us. As a designer, I have always felt compelled to do new games rather than add to existing work—a sentiment perhaps exacerbated by my day job, in which I work on an online live game that reboots all of its content three times each year. But when it came time earlier this summer to put the finishing touches on this new edition, I was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of new gameplay in it. And while Jason and I did our fair share of creating that novelty, such as the Turn Zero expansion and Red Sun Rising, much of it originates from Twilight Struggle’s players around the world and across the years. The international editions brought in cards that focus on their own countries’ Cold War experiences, and periodic contests or design jams yielded some true gems for all of Twilight Struggle’s players to enjoy.
 

So, although I look forward to upcoming games in the series, such as Jason and Jason’s South Asian Monsoon, and grind through my own project focused on Latin America (tentatively titled ***Twilight Struggle: Liberation—***and if you can’t wait to play in that space, I strongly recommend Stephen Rangazas’ The Guerrilla Generation), it seems slightly wrong to call Twilight Struggle and its offspring and follow-ons a “series.” It has really been more of a **stream—**a continuous construction driven by players who have fallen in love with the game. And I’ve also been pleased and gratified to see Imperial Struggle find a new and wider audience, assisted by Brian Reynolds’ masterful implementation on Rally the Troops. I know that when Imperial Struggle first came out, it wasn’t quite what players were expecting from us, but in the years since, I’ve talked to so many players who’ve come to appreciate its unique strengths and perspective, and I see it on the table at conventions much more often than I used to. So, if the arrival of the Hall of Fame Edition on your doorstep impels you to play a few more rounds of Twilight Struggle, that’s excellent. But if it stirs you to wade more widely in the stream, all the better. And if this is your first dip in that stream, welcome! - Ananda

Jason Carr:

I could not be more excited for players to get their hands on this new edition of Twilight Struggle. For a long time I've struggled (hah) to get some of my less wargame-adjacent friends to try the game, and this is the version I always wish I had to get them hooked. We didn't change the gameplay because it didn't need to be changed, but now it looks as good as it plays, and the barrier to entry has never been lower. It was a wonderful experience to revisit the game with Jason and Ananda and see just how well the game has aged: it was truly far ahead of its time. 
 

Twilight Struggle: South Asian Monsoon is back on my design table after taking a break over the summer. I find the challenge of adapting the Twilight Struggle system to the periphery fascinating: while India was the second most populous country in the world during the Cold War (behind only China), the framing of Twilight Struggle largely portrayed India just like any other country. But when you zoom in, India, Pakistan, and China take on regional importance, and their relationships with each other and the two superpowers give South Asian Monsoon a texture that makes it a very different kind of game. While a few development challenges remain, I fully expect to move the game into art and production in 2027. - Jason C.