GMT Games GMT0510 Twilight Struggle the Cold War 1945-1989
GMT Games GMT0510 Twilight Struggle the Cold War 1945-1989 Deluxe Edition Board Game
Components
- Heavy duty 9 x 12 x 2 inch box
- Mounted map with revised graphics
- Two double-thick counter sheets with 228 counters
- Deck of 110 event cards (increased from 104)
- Revised rules and player aid cards
- Two six-sided dice
On November 9th of 2009, the world marked the 20th Anniversary of the conclusion of the Cold War. That was the day that the Cold War’s most tangible symbol — the Berlin Wall — was relegated to the ash heap of history. Unlike the 20th Century’s other great conflict, the Cold War did not end in an explosion of neutrons, but rather, an explosion of human freedom and optimism. We had avoided what many thought inevitable — the destruction of mankind through armed conflict between the Soviet Union and the United States. Overnight, the face of Europe had changed. Suddenly, all things were possible.
That was now 23 years ago. Sadly, we all learned that the end of the Cold War was not “the end of history.” Mankind would find new ways to divide itself. While the threat of nuclear holocaust disappeared, newer and more sinister forms of conflict would take its place. Where once superpowers bestrode the globe, decentralized networks and even individuals now command the world’s attention.
This Deluxe Edition of Twilight Struggle seeks to capture the feeling of that earlier era. Twilight Struggle is a two-player game simulating the forty-five year dance of intrigue, prestige, and occasional flares of warfare between the Soviet Union and the United States. Using the card-driven game mechanics pioneered in such award winning games as We the People and Hannibal: Rome vs. Carthage, Twilight Struggle recreates the conflict between the most powerful nation states the world has ever known. The scope of the game covers the entire world as it was found in 1945. Players move units and exert influence in attempts to gain allies and control for their superpower. As with GMT’s other card-driven games, decision-making is a challenge; how to best use one’s cards and units given consistently limited resources? Twilight Struggle’s Event cards add cover a vast array of historical happenings, from the Berlin Airlift, to the Vietnam War and the U.S. peace movement, to the Cuban Missile Crisis.
This Deluxe Edition of Twilight Struggle marries world-class components, with the sort of world-class game play for which GMT is already known. We cannot think of a better way to commemorate this vital piece of world history. We invite you to relieve an era with the words uttered by one of its most iconic statesmen:
“Now the trumpet summons us again, not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need; not as a call to battle, though embattled we are – but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle” – John F. Kennedy
| Dimensions: | 30.48 x 23.18 x 5.4 cm; 1.6 Kilograms |
| Model: | 0510-14 |
| Material: | Cardstock |
| Colour: | Multicolor |
| Batteries Required: | No |
| Batteries Included: | No |
| Age: | 13 – 13 months |
| Assembly: | No |
| Dimensions: | 30.48 x 23.18 x 5.4 cm; 1.6 Kilograms |
| Material: | Cardstock |
Mum and I are keen players of board games and think we have a reasonable grasp of history (!) but we found this game very hard to play so gave up and haven’t played since. The instructions were hard to follow! I hope to play with someone who knows what they are doing and perhaps learn in that way. I haven’t given up…
(Though I will say it’s a good quality product)
Don’t be put off by the big rule book, this game is surprising easy to learn and pick up. Your first couple of games will be tentative as you won’t be aware of all of the various cards in the decks and how they can affect the game. However, as you progress you’ll quickly develop some strategy and be able to apply different tactics to each new situation as it arrises.
Be aware, this is NOT a quick game. Our games have taken anywhere from 2 – 3.5 hours but if you’re a gaming couple or if you have a commited gaming buddy who’s willing to commit to a seriously tense evening then there is a level of depth here that is hard to rival.
Great game.
What can I say about this game that had not already been said… Play it a turn at a time over the course of a week with lots of time to stratergise in between.
A great game which represents the Cold War quite convincingly without needing excessively complicated rules for logistics and resources. Play is relatively straightforward, a bit like a more sophisticated version of Hasbro Risk Board Game , but with the added complication of events such as the Cuban Revolution or the Berlin Blockade, on top of which there’s the threat of global nuclear war if events get out of control… The price tag on this game might seem on the high side but the quality of the components such as cards, counters, and the board itself is very good, so will stand up to many plays. Highly recommended.
A great game for two players. You can play the USA or USSR. Not a traditional war game (with tanks and air forces) but still has an element of warfare. I can see why it is so popular, and tactics seem to be constantly evolving. Once you pick up the rules it is a good, enjoyable game. It can last for two-three hours if it goes to the end, but usually its all over for someone before then!
I hold this game responsible for making the Cold War period so damn interesting. The mechanics of the game are so perfectly crafted that you can’t help but be impressed as the games progress, it is immersive, deep and utterly enjoyable.
The game is fairly easy to learn and it won’t take long to get the hang of it, but learning how to win and form your own tactics can take a long time – and that’s the enjoyment of it. For newcomers it can be off-putting, but I urge everyone to play at least one full game before settling on an opinion as the more you develop your own play style the more involved you become.
A fantastic game for two. Set aside a whole afternoon or evening though, as it’s not a quick game by any means. However, it’s easy to see why it’s been #1 on boardgamegeek’s list of recommended games for several years.
[Edit: 07/01/2016: Twilight Struggle now positioned #2 on boardgamegeek.com — overtaken by “Pandemic Legacy: Season 1” — if that is as it sounds a mix of Risk: Legacy and Pandemic, it should be a corker of a game…]
It is a two-player game, and it should take roughly 3 hours to get through *once you’ve got the hang of it*. The first play-through, I recall, took me about 6 hours. The couple of beers we had probably didn’t help too much, and our “discussions” were slightly less than constructive at times, but irrespective, the point is the game doesn’t play very much like other games, and it might take a bit of time to get into the swing of things. I’ve played the game about 7-8 times now, 6 of them with the same opponent, and in the last session we played two games in 5 hours. The theme is the Cold War, one player playing communist Russia, the other, capitalist USA. The conceit of the game is to spread your political influence about the globe, “controlling” countries by assigning the requisite number of influence points (red influence points for commies, blue influence points for the yanks). Certain countries are absolutely critical to winning the game (I’m thinking of Italy, or Iran, here 😉 and the build-up of influence, the race to control a given country, can get pretty intense.
The game plays over 10 turns, and these 10 turns are divided into 3 phases: Early War, for 3 turns; Mid War, for 4 turns; and Late War, for the final 3 turns. Each phase uses different playing cards which feature different events of the cold war to move the game forward (examples of events, for example, are “The Cuban Missile Crisis” which is a boon for the communists, or “US/Japan Pact” which is good for the US – both of these are Early War events). Playing events will more or less let you do the following: place your influence in some countries, remove your opponent’s influence, improve or degrade the defcon level, or affect the space race (*more or less* : it’s a touch more complicated than that). There are also scoring cards, which are the main VP generating devices. The idea with the scoring cards, is that when they are played, you analyse the territory which is printed on the card (Asia, Europe, Middle-East, Central America, South America, Africa, or East-Pacific Asia) and whoever controls more countries wins more points. There is obviously a great deal of strategy concerning how to play a scoring card. The last thing you want is for your opponent to deduce you have one in your hand based on too obvious play. Naturally, they have to be on the look-out for your bluffing as well. At the end of the game, the player with the most VP wins. If any player reaches 20 VP before 10 turns are over, they win immediately. If anyone moves the Defcon status to 1 (on a downward scale of 5 to 1) all-out nuclear war occurs, the game ends, and the player who triggered the move is the loser. The Defcon level is adjusted acccording to how aggressively you play (i.e. if you use a card to incite a coup, this will degrade Defcon).
The most interesting aspect of the game, I think, is that whichever cards (“events”) you have in your hand, whether they are a positive event for yourself or a negative, you will most certainly face a situation where you have to play the negative event (there are not many occasions for getting rid of cards – apart from the space race, but this is rarely done in practice). The whole point of the game comes down, essentially, to how well you can mitigate the effects of the negative event. Having a hand full of positive events for yourself is often (naively) thought to be a good hand. In reality though, it is much better to have your opponents killer cards (the ones that are good for them) and for you to reduce these cards’ effectiveness as much as possible. It is this kind of subtle game play which contributes to this game’s excellent strategic complexity.
One issue with the game is that Russia tends to be stronger than the US. In our last aforementioned match, we played two games, and both times Russia won. The US wins occasionally of course, but there is a bias for Russia to win. This is confirmed online in various forums. Actually, in Twilight Struggle tournaments, they use a bidding systems to determine who plays as Russia. The winner of the bid must pay the US player in Influence points to play as Russia. This means, usually, the US should start the game with 2 or 3 more influence to make an even match. Interestingly, if the US took 4 or 5 more influence, the whole game would be skewed in favour of the US. It is a very tightly balanced game in this sense. One or two points of influence can make a huge difference in both the short and long term.
Well, I think I’ve rambled on enough. This is an inordinately enjoyable game for two players. Do give it a go!
I love this game, it’s very historically accurate and very difficult. Play with a friend who is going to persevere with the rules, as this is not one for the casual gamer.
DONT try it as a first board game though,do play some other ones to get a feel about how to play board games(on top of my head are ticket to ride,lords of waterdeep,game of thrones in THAT order 🙂 )
1) You need someone to play against. Obvious, but if you do not have relatively easy access to someone you can play this with it is quite an expensive item.
2) You need to be prepared to put some time aside to learn the rules/how to play and also, then, to play it. This will take at least a whole evening.
So far and it was great. Mind you it took about 3 evenings to play it through but we did that to get the gist of how it really works. I would recommend this to anyone who likes to use their brain and strategise. Its a proper adult board game and one where certain parts of history come flooding back
Some of the cards could be better explained, but check out the boardgamegeek website for FAQs etc.
I would have given it 5 stars except my usual two victims (ahem… ‘opponents’) and I can’t seem to keep track of the action rounds and sometimes have trouble working out which round we are on… I only wish that this was easier and natural. I feel sure we can’t be alone in this.
The game contains:
– A large cardboard map of the world
– Around 100 or so counters with which to keep track of various board elements
– 100 cards split into three decks representing events from the Early, Middle and Late stages of the war
– Two dice, coloured for each player
The aim of the game is to play a selection of the cards from your hand in each turn, using either the event written on the card to affect your opponent, or the value on the card to affect your own influence. The twist is that each card is associated with a particular player, and if you are forced to play a card associated with your opponent the event is played automatically – which can be very bad for you!
Victory points are won and lost according to regions controlled (Africa, Europe, Middle East, etc.) by each player at the time a scoring card is played for that region. Therefore each turn is a battle of strategy to fight for control of any regions that you think might be “scored” in a particular turn. The ebb and flow of the influence and victory points is recorded using a clever points system, which displays points as a kind of “swing-ometer”. Points initially start in the middle at 0, with the Russians attempting to reach -20 and the Americans attempting to reach 20. Therefore the closer one player gets to winning, the further the other player is. When one side reaches 20 victory points, or when 10 turns have elapsed, the game is over.
Pros:
– A very tactical, very involving game for 2 players
– Great board design makes it easy to remember the setup without having to refer to the rulebook
– The strategic decisions you make outweigh any elements of luck that the dice rolling and card dealing introduce. You never feel like any loss or victory was “cheap”.
– The design of the pieces and cards is very thematic. Very clear designs on the counters makes it easy to track them.
– For such a deep game it’s surprisingly easy to teach and to pick up.
– The instructions give a great history of all the events on the cards, so you can learn more about the history of the war whilst you play.
Cons:
– The game can be loooong. A game between seasoned players that goes the full 10 turns can last upwards of three hours.
– The game can seem unbalanaced. In an effort to be more realistic, the game setup favours the USSR whilst the end game cards favour the Americans. This can lead to many initial games ending early with big USSR victories. It’s not easy to figure out a good American strategy.
– Some mixtures of cards and the order they are resolved in can lead to scenarios not explicitly defined in the rules. Fortunately there is a large online community who have encountered most situations before, so the answer is a quick search away.
– The board, whilst well designed, is folded in a way that the backing (which is quite heavy) can, if folded the wrong way by accident, rip the hinges. It’s really not too big a deal – just be careful!
Overall, the main complaint is that the game can stretch on for a long time. However, if you’ve got some time on a rainy day and you want to experience probably the best two player game since chess, I thoroughly recommend this product.
Long time to play, 2-3 hours. Educative.