INTRODUCTION Card game for 2-5 players. Theme: Post-Invasion Insurgency Phase of the Iraqi Reconstruction FACTIONS There are 5 Factions: 1. US Backed Government (USBG or US) 2. Sunnis 3. Shiites (Shia) 4. Kurds 5. Insurgents Each player picks 1 Faction to represent. The Sunnis, Shia, and Kurds are collectively known as the Ethnic Groups. The Ethnic Groups and the Insurgents are collectively called the Minorities. TWO PLAYER GAME Insurgency Only Scenario: One player is the USBG. The other player is the Insurgents Special Card Use Rules: Remove all Ethnic cards from the deck. THREE PLAYER GAME Civil War Only Scenario: Each player is one of the 3 Ethnic Groups. Special Card Use Rules: During a given turn, you can use US cards or Insurgent cards but not both. FOUR PLAYER GAME Isolated North Scenario: All factions except the Kurds. Special Card Use Rules: Remove the Kurd Specific cards from the deck. FIVE PLAYER GAME Full Scale Conflict Scenario: All Five Factions are represented. THE CONFLICTS There are 2 main simultaneous parallel conflicts: The Insurgency and the Civil War. The Insurgency is between the US and the Insurgents. The Civil War is between the 3 Ethnic Factions. GAME LENGTH The game lasts 10 Turns (= 10 Hands). Each turn is equivalent to 1 year. VICTORY Separate Victories are determined for the Insurgency and the Civil War. Players score Victory Points (VP) at the End of each turn. Players keep a running total of their accumulated VP. (Use coins to keep track of VP) The Ethnic group with the highest total VP at the End of the game wins the Civil War. The victor in the Insurgency is either the US or the Insurgent player, whichever has the highest VP total. THE DECK Players share a common deck. Every card has a Force Value (FV). FV’s are used to determine the winner of a Hand. Certain cards can only be used by certain Factions. The deck contains 1 copy of each card in the card list. TURN SEQUENCE Each turn has 5 Phases: Situation Phase Commitment Phase Negotiations Phase Ground Phase Score Phase SITUATION PHASE Each player is dealt a random hand of 10 cards. If the deck ever runs out, shuffle the discard and draw from it. COMMITMENT PHASE Players may discard up to 5 cards and draw replacements. NEGOTIATIONS PHASE Players may trade cards with each other and make and break secret deals. Players may want to put a time limit on this phase. GROUND PHASE Players reveal their hands. Each player adds up the total FV from all cards in his hand he can use. SCORE PHASE The player with the highest total FV gets 5 Victory Points The second highest total FV gets 4 VP Third highest total FV gets 3 VP Fourth highest total FV gets 2 VP Lowest total VP gets 0 VP In case of a Tie, all tied get the indicated VP: For example both players tied for first place get 5 VP. All players tied for last place get 0 VP. CARD NOTATION FV = Force Value Use = Which players can use this card. U = US Backed Government K = Kurd H = Shiite N = Sunni I = Insurgents E = Ethnic Groups (Sunni, Shia, and Kurds) M = Minorities (Ethnic Groups & Insurgents) A = All (Any player may use this card) CARD LIST Card Name: Use FV Terrorist Attacks I 4 Iraqi Resistance I 2 Jihadists I 2 Criminal Insurgents I 1 Foreign Fighters I 1 Infiltration I 5 Suicide Bombings I 3 Roadside Bombs I 4 Sabotage Oil Industry I 1 Hostages & Beheadings I 5 Attack Police Stations I 4 Anti-Occupation Sentiment I 5 Ratlines I 3 Mujaheddin I 2 Al Queda I 3 Air Supremacy U 2 Coalition Troops U 1 Interim Government U 1 Control Oil Supply U 2 Iraqi Government U 1 US Occupation U 2 Iraqi Police U 1 Iraqi Defense Forces U 3 UN Support U 3 Reconstruction U 3 Moderate Iraqi Politicians U 4 Counter Terrorism U 5 Halliburton U 3 Patrols & Sweeps U 4 Security Contractors U 1 Blackwater U 2 Private Contractors U 4 Government Controlled Media U 3 Counter Insurgency Operations U 5 US Special Forces U 5 Intelligence Operations U 5 Pacification U 3 Open Elections U 2 Negotiations U 2 Join Political Process U 5 Cease Fire U 4 Reconciliation U 5 Economic Aid U 4 Nation Building U 1 Cordon & Search Operations U 4 Assassinations M 5 Death Squads M 4 Religious Extremists M 5 Militant Attacks M 3 Guerrilla Groups M 3 Hard Line Clerics M 3 Executions M 2 Kidnappings M 2 Ambushes M 2 Mines & IUD’s M 1 Sniper Tactics M 1 Mortar & Rocket Strikes M 1 Civilian Targets M 4 Political Strife M 4 Anarchy M 5 Sectarian Violence E 3 Gain Parliament Seats E 1 Religious Schism E 4 Civil War E 5 Vigilante Justice E 1 Massacre E 4 Attack Mosque E 2 Reprisal Attacks E 3 Refugees E 2 Ethnic Cleansing E 5 Old Regime Supporters N 2 Iraqi Nationalists N 4 Ba’athists N 1 Islamists N 3 Sunni Triangle N 5 Militant Shia H 3 Shiite Militias H 4 Mahdi Army H 2 Iranian Support H 1 Large Population H 5 Autonomous Region K 4 No Fly Zones K 1 Self Determination K 2 Control Kirkuk K 5 Independence K 3 Civilian Deaths A 1 Ethnic Minorities A 1 Checkpoints A 2 Battle for Baghdad A 5 Trial of Saddam A 4 Pakistani Influence A 2 Propaganda A 5 Allegations of Torture A 4 Alienated Citizens A 3 Asymmetric Warfare A 1 Divide & Conquer A 4 Islamic Media Coverage A 5 Iraqi Politics A 3 American Politics A 3 World Politics A 2 LINKS Iraq Wikipedia GAME DESIGNERS NOTES The Negotiations Phase should be the core of this game. There is plenty of room for backstabbing and the like. The Deck has 100 cards. Each Faction has exactly 45 cards in the deck it can use. I am considering giving cards special abilities. One easy variant is to alter the number of turns in a game.