Democracy under Siege Rulebook

Table of Contents

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Game Setup
3.0 Sequence of Play
4.0 Extended Example of play
5.0 Designer's Notes
6.0 Cards clarifications
Bibliography

1.0 Introduction

Democracy under Siege is a card-driven strategy game that reproduces the geopolitical conflicts and political struggles that led to the Second World War. The game covers the period spanning from 1933 to 1940 and is designed for two or three players. Each player takes the role of one of the three Ideologies that led the major struggle for power during the time-line covered by the game: Democracy, Nazism and Communism.

Democracy under Siege offers an accurate and detailed historical context, supported by 110 Strategy Cards: players deal with historical events and political actions in an effort to achieve the political supremacy. Wars are simulated by an abstract combat system that allows players to intervene and influence the outcome of conflicts.

The main concepts reproduced in the game are the ideological struggle among the major powers, the race for armaments to prepare for WW2 and the building up of a network of diplomatic links with minor nations. These elements concur to the determination of the victory conditions.

At the end of each round, players check the outcome of coup attempts and proceed with a new game round. At the end of each turn, an Interphase takes place. During the Interphase, players perform some end-turn checks and calculate the production of Military Resources (MR) by the exploitation of economic resources claimed on the map. MR are put in the force pool of Ideologies and are expended to maintain the political allegiance of minor nations. The remaining MR provide additional VP and can be employed during the following turns to intervene local conflicts and civil wars.

Parts Inventory

1 full colour map A1
1 counter-sheets A4
3 Power Cards
110 Strategy Cards divided into three decks (Democracy, Nazism, Communism)
153 coloured wooden cubes
1 Playing Aid Sheet
1 six-sided die
1 Rules Book

The following abbreviations are used in these rules:

VP: Victory Point
PP: Political Point
MR: Military Resource
CC: Coup Cell
LOC: Line of Communication

1.1 Game Overview

In Democracy under Siege players take the role of Ideologies. The game is designed to be played by two or three players. The three Ideologies in play are Democracy, Nazism and Communism. When played by two players, the two Ideologies under exclusive player's control are Democracy and Nazism, and the control of Communism is switched by the two players during game turns according to specific rules. When played by three players, each player takes the control of one of the three Ideologies in play.

The game is played in turns, each turn representing one year and divided into 3 or 4 rounds of play. Players choose one Political Action and one Event per game round and attempt to perform the Political Action by rolling a die and applying some modifiers. They can affect the outcome of their attempt by expending the political prestige of their Ideology. Events are activated immediately before the Political Actions are attempted, no die roll is required.

If the Political Action is successful, the effects of the card are applied accordingly. In any case, even when the attempt is unsuccessful, the played Political Action Cards provide a varying number of Political Points (PP) that can be later expended by the players to perform activities.

After Political Actions, players perform their action round with the PP provided by Political Action Cards. Players can influence the political allegiance of minor countries, exploit the economic resources on the map either belonging to minor nations or their controlled powers, recruit and activate cells to attempt a Coup d'Etat in order to overthrow the regime of a minor country, send military forces to fight in local conflicts or to intervene a civil war in a minor nation. All these activities as well as the effects of successful Political Actions can bring Victory Points (VP) after the political allegiance of minor countries falls under the influence or the control of Ideologies, or when territories or entire nations are conquered.

1.2 Definitions

Political Action – the endeavour performed by players when playing a Political Action Card (see § 1.8 and 1.8.1) and attempting to apply its effects.

Game Action – any activity performed by players during the Game Actions step (see § 3.3.2), these actions require the expenditure of PP provided by Political Action Cards play.

Powers – all nations that act in the game under the control of players (Ideologies). Two kinds of Powers act in the game: Major Powers and Influenceable Powers. Every time a game element (rules, cards, player aids, etc.) refers to Powers, both Major Powers and Influenceable Powers are targeted.

Major Powers – those Powers whose control can never be lost by players, they cannot be influenced in any manner. These Powers are the core of the Ideologies: Germany for Nazism, Great Britain and USA for Democracy, USSR for Communism.

Influenceable Powers – those Powers that can be influenced by enemy Ideologies. These Powers are: Italy and Japan for Nazism, France for Democracy.

China is a special case: China is an Influenceable Power, it starts the game under the control of no player, and it can be influenced by other Ideologies. When China falls in the Control Area of Communism, the control of China is formally passed to Communism player. Then, Democracy cannot produce MR for China (see § 3.4.2). The opposite is valid when China enters the Control Area of Democracy. See details in § 3.6.

Designer's Note: rules for China have been designed to simulate the state of civil war that spread throughout the Chinese Empire from 1931 to late '40s between the Communist forces led by Mao Tze-Tung and the Nationalist forces led by Chiang Kai-Shek.

Minor Nations – all other nations for whose political allegiance players struggle in the game. Minor Nations never act in the game, they are simply the target of the ideological struggle for world domination.

Territories – separate areas (see § 1.3) that belong to Powers (example: territories of French North Africa and Tunisia belong to France) or Minor Nations (example: Sudeten and Teschen belong to Czechoslovakia) or no nation politically represented in the game (example: Venezuela and Ethiopia).

1.3 Game Map

The mapboard of Democracy under Siege depicts the political make-up of Europe, Asia and North America in 1933, and is divided into three boxes. Europe, North Africa and Anatolia are displayed in the main large central box, hereafter called Europe Map in game cards and rules, or more simply Europe. The America Map (or more simply America) is the box on the left. The Asia Map (or more simply Asia) is on the bottom-right.

All maps are divided into round shaped Areas, each identified by the name of a Power, Minor Nation or Territory. The types of Areas are displayed below: Power (identified by the national flag, plain circle), Minor Nation (identified by the national flag, plain circle), and Territory (identified by the flag of the owning nation with a "TERRITORY" banner across it).

The numbers displayed within the round or square dotted shapes printed below the Area flag indicate the VP earned by players after:

[for round and square shapes] the concerned Influenceable Power or Minor Nation enters the Control Area of their own controlled Ideology, or
[for square shapes only] the concerned Minor Nation is conquered after the outcome of a War Card (see § 1.8.1, in some cases the VP credited by the War Card are doubled as compared to the VP value printed on the map), or finally
[for square shapes only] the concerned Territory is conquered after the outcome of a War Card.

Example: France is a Power controlled by Democracy, worth 10 VP for Control (Conquer not allowed). Bulgaria is a Minor Nation worth 3 VP for Control or Conquer (round shape). A Territory is worth 3 VP for Control or Conquer (square, dashed shape).

Areas are connected by solid black lines, called Land Connections. These connections represent a geopolitical link rather than a physical boundary (for example, Bulgaria is connected to Poland even though physically not bordering that country). Two Areas linked by a Land Connection are regarded as land connected areas.

Areas can be linked also by Naval Connections. When the icon of a cargo ship is printed nearby the Area, that means the Area contains harbour facilities that grant the Naval Connection to any other Area that is supported by a Naval Connection too. Two Areas both containing a Naval Connection, are regarded as naval connected areas.

Resources present in the Areas can be of three types: Raw materials, Factories, and Oil.

Resources are used by Powers to produce Military Resources (MR). For this purpose, Raw Materials are always used in conjunction with Factories, while Oil is employed separately. Minor Nation or Territory Areas usually contain the Resource Exploitation Boxes, composed by the symbol of a Resource and a dotted line box printed immediately below the Resource symbol. Players place Tokens (see § 1.6) over these boxes to mark the exploitation of the Resource.

Power Areas usually contain no Resource Exploitation Boxes, but only a remark of the starting amount of available Resources for the concerned Power: the symbol of a Resource and a number printed immediately below the Resource symbol, marking the available amount of that Resource.

Special cases: for some Powers, an asterisk is printed nearby the number that measures the amount of available Resources. Also, the Resource Exploitation Boxes are marked by asterisks. These Resources are not available for exploitation to the concerned Power, instead they are used as War Indemnities (see § 3.3.13) or for other purposes (see example below), and always to be ceded to other Powers, so decreasing the number of available Resources to the owning Power.

Example: USSR has a starting Resources availability worth of 6 Raw Materials, 4 Factories and 1 Oil. An asterisk is printed nearby the 6 Raw Materials. That means these Resources can be partly ceded as described in labels printed on the map: 1 Raw Material to Germany through Pact (Molotov - Ribbentrop Treaty, see Card C9) and 1 Raw Material to Japan in case of war lost (see Cards N25/C25).

The America Map Box and the Asia Map Box contain two rectangular shapes marked by a dotted rectangle. These two shapes are used by the Democracy player as placement areas for Event Cards D16 and D20, entering the game respectively in turn 4 and turn 6. These two cards introduce additional Resource Exploitation Boxes for Great Britain and France.

The mapboard displays also a track layered over Europe and Asia: the Coup Cells Track. Players use this track, composed by green coloured round areas connected by thick line paths, to deploy and move the Coup Cells (CC) that are used in the game to attempt to overthrow regimes of Minor Nations through a Coup d'Etat.

Example: the Coup Cells Track area labelled "Iberian Peninsula" contains Portugal (Activation Cost of Trained Coup Cells for Coup Attempt / Coup Reaction: 2/1) and Spain (4/3), plus the Anarchy Activation Cost Modifier (Coup Attempt / Coup Reaction: -1/0).

Each area of the Coup Cells Track indicates the Minor Nations that can be targeted by the CC actually deployed in the area, the corresponding PP cost for activating the CC for Coup Attempt / Coup Reaction, and any cost modifiers applied when the target nation is in Anarchy (see § 1.4.4).

1.4 Map Tracks

Many Tracks are printed over the game map.

1.4.1 International Prestige Track

It's printed on the top right corner of the game map and is composed by ten boxes, numbered from 0 to 9. Players place and move on this track the Prestige Markers of the Ideologies to mark their Prestige Level that fluctuate during the game as consequence of political actions, achievements and failures of Ideologies in play.

In Democracy under Siege, Prestige of Ideologies is employed for several purposes:

as a die roll bonus modifier to Political Action Resolution,
to claim for additional PP during the Game Actions step,
alter the Initiative Order (see below).

The track prints several die roll modifiers along its boxes: +/-1 [2] when a Minor Nation (or Power) enters/exits the Control Area; -1 each time an Alliance or Pact is broken; -1 for each re-roll; -1 for Prestige Level exploitation; +/-? for events, political actions and war effects.

1.4.2 Political Initiative Order Track

It's printed on the top right corner of the game map, immediately below the International Prestige Track, and is composed by three boxes containing Roman numbers I, II and III. Each box represents a ranking position in the Initiative Order. The Initiative is the order that players must respect when resolving most game activities during play. Initiative Markers are placed over these boxes.

Three large spaces are printed below the Political Initiative Order Track. They are used for cards placement during the Strategy Cards Play step (see § 3.3.1).

A rounded rectangle with a dotted border and a die printed inside is displayed nearby each Initiative Order box. This is the Re-Roll Box. A label is printed over each die: "2x". It measures the number of re-rolls currently allowed to player: during each turn, players are allowed to re-roll two times when attempting to perform a Political Action (see § 3.3.1). Every time a player re-rolls, he must place the Re-Roll Marker on the proper side over the Re-Roll Box, so marking the residual number of re-rolls he can do.

The Initiative Exhaustion Resolution Order chart is displayed on top of the Political Initiative Order Track: it informs players on how to perform the Initiative Exhaustion procedure (see § 3.1.2), in which order and which ranking positions on Initiative Order are to be swapped.

1.4.3 Political Regimes Track

It's printed nearby the top left corner of the game map and is composed by a chart of rounded boxes, connected each other by a grid of white large lines, forming a network of paths.

The boxes on the edges of the chart are larger: proceeding clock-wisely from the top left corner, these larger boxes represent the Control Area of Democracy, Nazism, Communism and Anarchy. The box of the Control Area of Anarchy is a little smaller than the other Control Area boxes, because Anarchy is not a player controlled Ideology.

Players move the Regime Markers on this track, thus monitoring the ideological and political allegiance of nations. The rear side of Regime Markers indicates the number of VP credited to players after the regime of countries falls within the Control Area of their Ideology.

The area in the centre of the track is composed by 4 boxes, this is the Neutral Area. All other boxes are grouped into Influence Areas and are marked by the same matching colour. Each Influence Area generates VP and grants benefits to any two Ideologies each (for example: Social-Democracy grants VP upon entry to Communism and Democracy, and allows them to exploit Resources in Social-Democrat countries as well). Some boxes contain the name of one or more Influenceable Powers and/or Minor Nations. These are the starting positions for game setup in Turn 1 (1933).

1.4.4 Political Points Track

It's composed by eight rounded boxes, numbered from 0 to 7. Players use these boxes to track the current amount of Political Points (PP) received and expended during Game Rounds, by placing the Political Points Markers.

Example: Nazism plays Political Action Card N15 'Pact with Czechoslovakia' and Event Card N2 'Political Support/Struggle' on Germany, so providing Germany with 6+1 PP. The PP marker of Nazism is placed over the "7" box of Political Points Track.

1.4.5 Victory Points Track

It's composed by 41 boxes, numbered from 0 to 40. Each player must place on this chart the Victory Points Marker to mark the amount of VP calculated at the end of each Game Turn and one coloured wooden cube (VP Token, see § 1.6) to mark the amount of VP cumulated by special Events and MR production during previous turns.

The 40 VP Score Box is marked by the label "Automatic Victory". When an Ideology reaches 40+ VP during Game Turns 1 or 2, or 80 VP during later Game Turns, that Ideology automatically wins the game (see § 3.4.3).

When the amount of VP cumulated during previous is greater than 40 points, always use two VP Tokens of the same colour.

1.4.6 Game Turn and Round Track

It's printed on the bottom edge of the mapboard. The eight boxes of the Game Turn Track are used to record the current Game Turn using the Game Turn Marker. The four boxes of the Game Round Track are used instead to record the current Game Round using the Game Round Marker.

For reference, each turn box reports the matching year. The number of new Strategy Cards for Democracy, Nazism and Communism entering the game at the beginning of each turn are also reported in every Game Turn Track box as a reminder to players. Each Game Turn Track box may contain also two important warnings:

the conditions for Total War (see § 3.3.15) break out (impossible break out or break out when a given number of Powers are at War);
how many VP are required for the Automatic Victory Check (see § 3.4.3) procedure is to be performed or not.

1.5 Map Tables

Many Tables are printed over the game map as quick reference. All Tables are reproduced also on Player Aids sheet.

PP Costs Table: this table displays a compendium of all actions and relative PP costs that can be performed during Game Actions step (see § 3.3.2), when spending the Political Points.

Civil War Resolution Table: this table displays all informations (die roll results and modifiers) used when rolling for Civil War Test (see § 3.3.12).

War Resolution Table: this table displays all informations (die roll results and modifiers) used when rolling for War Test (see § 3.3.13).

Coups Table: this table displays all informations (die roll results and modifiers) used when rolling for Coup Test (see § 3.3.9).

Political Actions Resolution die roll modifiers: this table displays all die roll modifiers (mandatory and optional) used when rolling for Political Action Attempt Resolution (see § 3.3.1).

1.6 Tokens

Many Markers are used in Democracy under Siege to track and record game parameters, conditions, and any kind of situations. This chapter contains only a short description on how Tokens are used in the game. All other game markers and counters are explained in the appropriate chapters of this Rule Book.

In Democracy under Siege each Ideology is provided by a set of 51 coloured Tokens (wooden cubes). Tokens of Democracy are blue coloured, Tokens of Nazism are red, Tokens of Communism are green.

During the Game Setup procedure (see § 2.0), players take all Tokens matching their colour and put them nearby the Power Card of their own Ideology, thus forming the Token Reserve. Every time a Token is to be employed for any task (see below), players must take a cube from the Token Reserve. As opposite, every time a Token is removed because not more needed for the task it was used for, the cube is returned to the Token Reserve.

Tokens are used in several ways, mainly to mark the control of:

Territory and Minor Nation Areas that can be conquered or annexed by Powers,
Resource Exploitation Boxes that can be claimed by Powers for exploitation during the Production step (see § 3.4.2).

but also to represent:

Military Resources (MR), that can be uncommitted (when placed over the appropriate box of the Power Card) or can be committed to War Cards and Civil Wars (see § 1.8.1, 3.3.10 and 3.3.11).
or Coup Cells (CC), that can be either training (when placed over the appropriate box of the Power Card) or can be deployed on the map (when placed over the Coup Cells Track of the mapboard) or committed to Coup Attempts (placed over target nation's Area on the map).

Finally, each player uses:

a Token on the Victory Points Track to mark the Victory Points (VP) that have been cumulated during previous Game Turns by Wars (see § 1.8.1), Events (see § 1.8.2) and MR production (see § 3.4.2) and are to be always added to VP calculation during the Interphase (see § 3.4.3). When used to mark such VP, these cubes are called VP Tokens. When the amount of VP cumulated during previous Game Turns is greater than 40 points, two VP Tokens of the same colour are used.
one Token per each controlled Power to mark the current MR production level over the Armaments Tracks (see § 1.7).

The number of tokens provided in the game is to be regarded as an absolute limit. For example, a player with no unused tokens cannot claim control of new Areas or Resource Exploitation Boxes, as well as he can't recruit a new MR or Coup Cell.

In two players mode, the Resource Track is used also to mark how many turns Democracy and Nazism controlled Communism play. This is done using the Communism Control Turns Markers.

1.7 The Power Cards

In Democracy under Siege there are eight Powers: Great Britain, USA, France, USSR, China, Germany, Italy and Japan. A Power Card is provided with the game for each Ideology.

Several boxes and tracks are displayed in Power Cards:

the Resource Track, where players use the Resource Markers to track the current number of Resources currently available for exploitation to their own controlled Ideology. The rear side of Resource Markers (+10) is used when the amount of Resources grows below 10 points.

Designer's Note: the pool of Resources is shared among all Powers controlled by the Ideology to ease up calculations during the Interphase, provided the costs printed in the Armaments Tracks (see below) have been tweaked for this purpose.

the Force Pool, where players place the Tokens representing the uncommitted MR (every time a MR is produced or deployed after a Strategy Card effect, a Token is placed over Force Pool box).
the Coup Cells Pool, where players place the Tokens representing the training CC (every time a CC is trained, a Token is placed over Coup Cells Pool box).

Each Power Card contains the boxes of Powers controlled by the Ideology. Box of China is present on both the Power Cards of Democracy and Communism, being a Power that can be directly played by both Ideologies. Each Power box contains:

the map-symbol of the Power, filled by the national flag,
a summary of Power Resources available at start,
a dotted round area where players can put the Power Status Markers (War! and Enemy Control), and
an Armaments Track used by players to track the current MR production level.

Each Armaments Track is composed by three boxes. Each box indicates how many MR are produced. Such informations always refer to the production of 1 MR for a couple of sets of Raw Materials and Factories, and 1 MR for a set of Oils.

Example: Germany, at Rearming Level 1, displays 6 Raw Materials plus 4 Factories and 4 Oils. That means Germany produces 1 MR for each couple of 6 Raw Materials and 4 Factories, and 1 MR for each 4 Oils.

Players use Tokens to track the current production level. An arrow and a numbered cube are printed between the first and the second box and between the second and the third box of each Armaments Track. These informations represent the Armaments Upgrade Cost, always measured in MR, that players must expend and return to the Token Reserve.

Finally, a Reserve Box is displayed in the bottom-right edge of each Power Cards. Players can use the Reserve Box to save one card of particular importance to be played in the most appropriate moment.

Designer's Note: Democracy has two Major Powers (Great Britain and USA), while Communism and Nazism are provided each by one Major Power only (respectively USSR and Germany). For this reason Democracy can store up to two Reserve Cards, the double as compared to each one enemy Ideology. This advantage has been introduced to allow Democracy to better counter-act to the aggressive attitude of enemy Ideologies.

1.8 The Strategy Cards

The Strategy Cards are the engine of Democracy under Siege: they provide Political Actions, Events and Political Points (PP) to pay costs for Game Actions.

Strategy Cards are organized into and belong to three decks, one for each Ideology. Strategy Cards can be of two types: Political Action Cards and Event Cards.

Each Strategy Card is identified by a unique Code (also known as the Card Code) composed of a Capital Letter and some Digits. The Code is printed in the middle of the top border of each card. The Capital Letter identifies the specific deck the card belongs to: C for Communism deck, D for Democracy deck, N for Nazism deck. In addition, each deck has a different card cover and explicitly contains the name of the Ideology it belongs to. Card code Digits allows for a unique identification of the cards within a progressive numbering system. The Card Code is used to quickly identify cards.

All cards are marked by a Card Name, printed in large, bold type characters in the middle of the card.

The effects of card play, hereafter called Card Effects or Card Rules, are printed immediately below the Card Name. Card Effects are applied:

for Political Action Cards, when the Political Action is successfully performed;
for Event Cards, when the Event enters play.

The Card Effects sometimes contain conditions (printed in bold italic):

for Political Action Cards to attempt the Political Action;
for Event Cards to make the Event enters play.

Many cards have an Entry Turn, printed on the top right corner of the card, as "Turn ##".

Example: the Card Name of D35 is "Defend Poland!". The Entry Turn of Card D35 is Turn 6.

If the Card Name is underlined, the corresponding Event Marker is to placed over the box of the current turn within the Game Turn Track (see § 1.4.6) as soon the Political Action Card (see § 1.8.1) is successfully performed (see § 3.3.1) or the Event Card is played (see § 1.8.2).

Effects of some cards may last through part of the turn and even through many game turns. As a result, Active Cards should be placed on the table beside the map, face up and visible to all players as a reminder of their lasting effects over the game.

Important: every time Card Rules provide a VB Bonus to a player, the VP Token (see § 1.4.5 and § 1.6) of his controlled Ideology is to be moved accordingly on the Victory Points Track, never the VP Marker.

Some Cards (either Political Actions and Events) are marked as Mandatory. Such cards must always be played as soon as possible (i.e. in the first Game Round of the Game Turn during which they were dealt into a hand, provided the conditions are met).

Card Rules are always to be treated as Game Rules even when they have a transitory effect over the game. When Game Rules and Card Rules contradict each other, Card Rules take precedent over Game Rules.

1.8.1 Political Action Cards

All Political Action Cards contain a Yellow Shield, looking like an arrow, printed on the top left corner of the card. A value is printed inside the shield: this value is the number of Political Points (PP) provided by the card. A Brown Circle Sector is printed immediately below the Yellow Shield. A value is printed inside the circle sector: this value is the Political Action Difficulty. Sometimes an icon is printed nearby the Political Action Difficulty, representing the additional Modifier applied to Political Action Resolution die roll.

Political Action Cards, when played, are not automatically activated. These cards always provide Political Points (PP), but their Effects are applied only on a successful Political Action Resolution test.

Players can always use the Card's PP even if Political Actions are not carried out (either if the listed conditions are not fulfilled or when failing the attempt).

As explained in § 1.8, remember that MANDATORY POLITICAL ACTION CARDS must be always played as soon as possible when dealt into a hand. When not dealt into a hand or when saved in Reserves, players are no more forced to play such Cards.

Designer's Note: Mandatory Political Action Cards have no conditions, because prerequisites tell when the Political Action can be performed, not when it can be played.

War Cards – Many Political Actions allow Powers to declare War on other Powers or Minor Nations. These are the War Cards. These Cards are special Political Actions. The war is declared when the Political Action is successfully performed, the Effects (if any) are applied normally, but the Card contain an additional type of Effects: the War end effects.

All War Cards contain a table composed by three boxes: this is the War Level Track, printed on the middle of the card. This track is used in the game to mark the current war status, by placing a War Marker on one of the boxes that compose the track.

The war is always fought by two Factions (A & B). The identity of each Faction is usually written inside the War end text, between brackets. Also, fighting Factions are displayed on each War Card by round-shaped flags printed on Cards. The War Level Track indicates the starting position for the War Marker, to be used when the war is declared. A die roll modifier is usually printed over each box of the War Level Track, nearby the Faction that actually benefits the die roll modifier. Every time a War Test is performed, the die roll is altered by the modifier printed on the box currently marked by the War Marker (plus some other modifiers, see § 3.3.13). The result of the War Test indicates if the War Marker is to be moved leftwards or rightwards over the Card. The leftmost and rightmost boxes so indicate which is the Faction that wins the war if the marker is moved respectively leftwards or rightwards, in which case the War end effects are applied.

A coloured cube is printed nearby the War Level Track. The text printed inside the cube symbol indicates the War Commitment Cost: the cost in PP for committing MR to war.

Every time the Effects of a successfully performed Political Action Card dictate MR are to be placed over a War Card, players must take the MR Tokens from the Token Reserve (see § 1.6), never from the Force Pool. Instead, when the Effects dictate a Power must expend MR, the player must remove MR Tokens from the Force Pool and put them into the Token Reserve.

Important: every time a War is declared, players must check if any Power is listed in the War end effects box as Faction A or B. Powers thus involved in a conflict must be marked on Power Cards with the War! Marker. Also, players must check if any war escalation is generated (see § 3.3.15).

1.8.2 Event Cards

Event Cards are always marked by a yellow rounded rectangle containing the label "EVENT" or "MANDATORY EVENT".

Like Political Action Cards, the Event Cards contain the following elements: Card Name, Entry Turn (if any), Effects. Event Effects are always immediate. In addition, Event Cards can have conditions for play, that dictate when the Event Card can be played exactly, so telling when its Effects are effectively applied.

As explained in § 1.8, remember that MANDATORY EVENTS must be always played as soon as possible when the conditions for play are fulfilled. If not played within the end of the current Game Turn, if the conditions are met during the Markers Adjustment step of the Interphase, they are to be revealed and played in the appropriate step. MANDATORY EVENTS only become mandatory when dealt into a hand; they never appear during a game, they never occur.

Finally, a red coloured text in bold italics is always printed in the bottom edge of the card, telling if the card is to be removed after play, or reshuffled. If nothing is dictated, the Event Card is to be discarded after play.

Special Events – Nazism deck contain a special Event Card N12 'Spanish Civil War'. This is a War Card, but not a Political Action. That means it's activated automatically, with no Political Action Resolution test. Democracy deck contains two Map Cards. They are played as Event Cards (conditions printed on the cards dictate when and how to play them) and placed on the Game Map in the appropriate boxes (see § 1.3).

1.8.3 Handling Card Decks

When in a player's hand, Strategy Cards are mixed and kept hidden to opponents. During the game, played cards (not cards to be eliminated after their activation) are discarded (placed face up on a discard pile).

Effects of some events last a long time. These Active Cards are placed on the table near the map face up and visible to all players as a reminder of their lasting effect(s) in the game. When their effect over the game ends, they are permanently removed.

When the last card from any of the two decks is given to a player, the corresponding deck is rebuilt. All discards are shuffled to rebuild the deck. Active Cards, placed on the game table and eliminated cards are not shuffled back into the decks.

1.9 Play Modes

Democracy under Siege can be played in two modes:

Short Play Mode: each Game Turn is composed by 3 Game Rounds, player hand is composed by 5 cards per turn. Also, in two players mode, the control of Communism is switched between players in a rigid way (one turn each), and if the game ends with Communism totalling most VP, game ends with a draw. No VP are awarded when Nations are located in the Influence Areas, Prestige Level cannot be exploited to alter the Initiative Order and add PP for Game Actions. Finally, Initiative Order Exhaustion procedure is never performed.
Advanced Play Mode: each Game Turn is composed by 4 Game Rounds, player hand is composed by 6 cards per turn. Also, in two players mode, the control of Communism is switched between players in a more balanced way, and if the game ends with Communism totalling most VP, the game can be won by the player who controlled Communism for more turns. VP are awarded when Nations is located in the Influence Areas, Prestige Level can be exploited to alter the Initiative Order and add PP for Game Actions. Finally, the Initiative Order Exhaustion procedure is to be performed.

Designer's Note: the Advanced Play Mode is strongly suggested for experienced players only, because of the higher amount of choices and density of events that players are asked to face with. Also, the Advanced Play Mode is suggested only in three players mode and never for tournaments.

From now on, every time a Game Rule is to applied only when playing in Advanced Play Mode, the Advanced Play Mode symbol is printed nearby the rule and the text is printed within a black line bordered box (this symbol can be present also on the mapboard and the game components).

2.0 Game Setup

When setting up Democracy under Siege, the game map is placed at the centre of the table.

Each player builds and shuffles his Strategy Cards deck by taking all cards that are not marked by any Entry Turn and places his Power Card in front of him.

When playing in two players mode, Nazism player performs the setup of Communism, provided the Communism starts under the control of Nazism.

Players now must perform the Game Setup procedure as follows:

Regime Ideology Markers are placed over the starting positions over the Political Regimes Track (see § 1.4.3).

Designer's Note: in Democracy under Siege the setup position of Poland has been placed within the Influence Area of Autocracy instead of Military Dictatorship (Pilsudski's regime) for game balancing reasons.

Initiative Markers are placed on the starting positions over the Political Initiative Order Track (see § 1.4.2) according to the Natural Order of Play: Nazism, Democracy, Communism.
Prestige Markers are placed on the starting positions over the International Prestige Track (see § 1.4.1) as follows: Nazism at Prestige Level 6; Democracy and Germany at Prestige Level 5; Communism at Prestige Level 4.
If playing in two players mode, the Prestige Marker of Nazism is flipped to its rear side, because the control of Communism is assigned to Nazism at start. Also, the Communism Control Turns Marker of Nazism is placed over box 1 of the Resource Track of Nazism Power Card, and the Communism Control Turns Marker of Democracy is placed over the box 0 of the Resource Track of Democracy Power Card.
Powers now receive their Force Pool at start as printed on Power Cards (see § 1.7): 3 MR for each Ideology.
VP Markers and VP Tokens of Ideologies are placed over the box 0 of the Victory Points Track (see § 1.4.5).
The Game Turn Marker is placed on the box of Turn 1 of the Game Turn Track and the Game Round Marker on the top box (1st Round) of the Game Round Track (see § 1.4.6).
All other markers are placed nearby the Game Map for usage during play. Unused Tokens are placed nearby the Power Cards so forming the Token Reserve of players.

Players now have to choose the Play Mode (see § 1.9).

3.0 Sequence of Play

Democracy under Siege game-play is performed in Game Turns according to the turn sequence indicated on the Game Turn Track. Every Game Turn is divided into Game Phases. Game Phases must be played according to a specific sequence. Some phases are divided into sub-phases or steps and resolved in a strict order. Other phases or even steps are resolved through a sequence of Game Rounds.

Players can perform different activities during the game depending on the phase, steps or rounds currently played and the specific game situation. Depending on the game phase or step being resolved, players may perform their activities simultaneously or act according to a strict sequence.

The Initiative Order determines the order of activation of all players for the current game turn. The Active Player can accomplish any game activity and action permitted by rules during the current phase, step or round. When permitted by the rules, non-phasing players can respond to the active player's actions with reactions. When the Active Player completes his activities and actions he must publicly state he has completed his active phase, step or impulse: then, the next player, according to the Initiative Order for the current turn, becomes the Active Player.

Democracy under Siege - Sequence of Play

Initiative Order Phase, § 3.1
1. Initiative Order Determination step, § 3.1.1
2. Initiative Exhaustion Resolution step, § 3.1.2
3. Communism Control Check step (two players mode only), § 3.1.3
Cards Phase, § 3.2
1. Card Decks Preparation step, § 3.2.1
2. Cards Draw step, § 3.2.2
Political Phase, § 3.3
1. Game Rounds:
  - Strategy Cards Play step, § 3.3.1
  - Game Actions step, § 3.3.2
Interphase, § 3.4
1. Markers Adjustment step
2. Production step
3. Victory Points Calculation step

3.1 Initiative Order Phase

The players must determine the Initiative Order for the current turn.

The Initiative Order is the order in which players are activated for the current Game Turn. In the turn, the player that has the initiative is indicated as the Active Player.

3.1.1 Initiative Order Determination step

Players must compare the Prestige Level of their respective Ideologies. The Initiative Order is assigned to players in sequence from the highest to lowest Prestige Level. Ties are resolved in favour of the player with the highest ranking position in the Natural Order of Play (see § 2.0): Nazism, Democracy, Communism. The Initiative Order for the turn is registered over the Political Initiative Order Track (see § 1.4.2).

3.1.2 Initiative Exhaustion Resolution step

When playing in Advanced Play Mode, during the Initiative Order Determination step, for each Ideology that is remained in her ranking position in the Initiative Order Track as compared to the Interphase of the previous turn, the Initiative Marker must be flipped to its rear side so marking the Initiative is "EXHAUST".

Then, during the Initiative Exhaustion Resolution step, all "exhausted" Initiatives must be resolved to adjust the Initiative Order as follows.

If ranking position II is exhaust, swap Ideologies positions II and III and flip the markers to front side (not exhaust);

Then, if ranking position III is exhaust, swap Ideologies positions III and I and flip the markers to front side (not exhaust);

Finally, if ranking positions I is exhaust, swap Ideologies positions I and II and flip the markers to front side (not exhaust).

To ease up this procedure, the Initiative Exhaustion Resolution Order chart is displayed on top of the Political Initiative Order Track.

Example: the Initiative Order is Communism (exhaust), Democracy, Nazism. Ranking position II is not exhaust, so no resolution is to be done. Similarly, ranking position III is not exhaust, so no resolution takes place. Finally, ranking position I is exhaust, so resolution takes place generating the new Initiative Order: Democracy, Communism, Nazism.

3.1.3 Communism Control Check step

This step is performed only when playing in two players mode. When the Initiative Exhaustion has been fully resolved, players must determine which Ideology controls Communism.

Democracy and Nazism players check the positions of respective Communism Turns Markers. The player whose marker is in the lowest position of the Resource Track gets the control of Communism. Ties are always resolved in favour of Nazism.

When playing in Advanced Play Mode, the control of Communism is assigned instead according to the following procedure. If the ranking of Communism within the Political Initiative Order Track is position II, control of Communism remains under the Ideology that did get such control during the previous Game Turn (it cannot happen in the very first turn of play, because at game start the Initiative Order is the Natural Order of Play, see § 2.0). Otherwise, the control of Communism is assigned to that Ideology whose ranking position is not immediately before or after that one of Communism within the Political Initiative Order Track.

Example: the Political Initiative Order is Democracy, Nazism, Communism, so the control of Communism is assigned to Democracy.

The Prestige Markers of Democracy and Nazism are now flipped accordingly to mark which is the Ideology that controls Communism and the Communism Control Turn Marker of that Ideology is moved one space to the right on the Resource Track of her Power Card.

That Ideology will be requested to perform every play activities for Communism until the next Communism Control Check step takes place.

3.2 Cards Phase

During the Cards Phase, players set up some activities and do some basic maintenance for the turn. These are done according to the listed sequence of steps:

Card Decks Preparation step
Cards Draw step (plus Mulligan and Reserves)

3.2.1 Card Decks Preparation step

The Cards Decks are prepared for the current turn. Cards with an Entry Turn matching the current game turn are introduced to the game. Players that saved Cards from the previous turn may now discard as many Cards as they wish. Players may discard also any Reserve Cards (see § 1.7). They may keep as many Cards in their hand as they wish.

Important: when playing in two players mode, the hand of cards of Communism must be fully discarded, prior to reshuffle the decks (see below). Any Reserve Card (see § 1.7) of Communism can be saved.

Game Cards are shuffled with discards from Card Discard Piles to reconstitute the Game Card Decks.

3.2.2 Cards Draw step

Players are given their cards for the current turn. Players receive cards in a strict sequence, according to the Initiative Order.

Players receive as many Cards as required to replenish their hand. The hand is composed by a variable number of Cards, depending on the Play Mode selected by players during the Game Setup procedure (see § 1.9):

5 Cards per player if playing in Short Play Mode, or
6 Cards per player if playing in Advanced Play Mode.

Mulligan – Players are now allowed to discard the whole hand of Cards received by the Cards Draw. They may discard and draw a new hand of Cards, but only once per turn. In addition, when doing the Mulligan, they must discard also the Cards saved from previous turns. Reserve Cards are never discarded as a consequence of Mulligan.

Reserves – After the Mulligan sub-step, when the hand of cards cannot be altered any more, players may decide to move Cards from their hand to the Reserves (see § 1.7). Each player may place one Card on one empty Reserve for future use during the Political Phase (remember that Democracy has space for up to two cards). Event Cards cannot be saved in Reserves.

3.3 Political Phase

The Political Phase is divided into Game Rounds. During each Game Round, players choose and play one Political Action Card (see § 3.3.1) and then expend the PP Value of the Cards to accomplish Game Actions (see § 3.3.2). Non-Active Players can respond to the active player's actions carrying out Reactions (see § 3.3.4).

Each Game Round must be resolved according to a sequence of steps with all players fulfilling a segment before advancing to the next one, as follows:

Strategy Cards Play step
Game Actions step

3.3.1 Strategy Cards Play step

The Strategy Cards Play step is played respecting a rigid procedure (each sequence must be fulfilled before passing to the next one), as follows:

Choice of Cards – players choose secretly the Political Action Cards and Event Cards to play.
Reveal Cards – players reveal the Political Action Cards and activate Event Cards.
Political Action Resolution – players roll and apply the Effects of successful Political Actions; played Cards are then discarded, saved as Reserve or removed from play.

[1] Choice of Cards – Players now simultaneously choose secretly the Cards to play. Players must play one Political Action Card, if available. Political Action Cards saved in the Reserve slots are not subject to the above mandatory play restriction, but they may be used nevertheless as Cards to play. Players may play up to one Event Card per Game Round, not more.

Important Note: even though the conditions of the Political Action Cards are not fulfilled, the Card can be nevertheless played, provided that conditions are to be considered as requirements for Political Action attempt (see § 1.8). Similarly, Card can be played and no Political Action Resolution takes place when the Card conditions are met, but the Card requires a target and no eligible one can be designated (for example no target Minor Nation or Civil War can be designated when Democracy plays Card D7).

MANDATORY Political Actions marked by the "MANDATORY" rounded yellow rectangle are played, attempted and performed normally, but they must be played as soon as possible as indicated in § 1.8, provided the conditions are satisfied (i.e. in the first Game Round of the Game Turn during which they were dealt into a hand). If more than one Mandatory Political Action Card is in hand, the player may choose which Card to play. In the event the Total War breaks out, an anticipated end of the game takes place as per § 3.3.15. In such a case any Mandatory Political Action Card left in hand is no more forced to be played. Also, such limitation is not applied to Cards in player's Reserves. Player are never forced to play any Mandatory Cards saved in Reserves!

Played Political Action Cards are placed over the appropriate boxes of the Game Map, located below the Political Initiative Order Track. Played Event Cards are placed instead nearby the Game Map. All played cards are placed face down, secret to all players.

When no Political Action Card is available in his hand, the player may play secretly an Event Card in lieu of a Political Action Card. In such a case, he can play an additional Event Card. Note: this is the only case when players can use two Event Cards per Game Round.

[2] Reveal Cards – Players reveal now the identity of all played Cards, by flipping them face up. The effect of Event Cards are applied now, in Initiative Order.

Political Actions marked by the "CAN REPLACE" rounded yellow rectangle, if in player's hand, can now be used to replace a card formerly played just after the identity of all cards played by players has been revealed. These cards can be played, attempted and performed normally, of course.

Example: during the last Game Round of Turn 5, the Democracy player has Cards D15 and D36 left in his hand and the Initiative Order is: Nazism, Communism, Democracy. Players reveal their Political Actions Cards played: Nazism has played Card N33 'Occupation of Sudeten', Communism has played Card C15 'Alliance with Czechoslovakia', Democracy has played Card D15 'Alliance with Czechoslovakia'. Provided the last Game Round is being played, the effects of Card N33 will be performed at the end of the Game Actions step of the current Game Round, and Democracy has no further round to react. In fact, N33 is a STAND-BY Card (see step 4) and its Card Effect says that "During the stand-by time, Democracy player may react with Political Action D36 to nullify this effect." So Democracy player decides to replace his Card D15 just played with the Card D36 from his hand, because D36 is a "CAN REPLACE" Card!

When playing in Advanced Play Mode, each player is now called in Initiative Order to alter the Political Initiative Order by exploiting the Prestige Level of his Ideology.

The first player who declares he wants to alter the Initiative Order, stops the call and the Political Initiative Order is altered as follows. A new Initiative Order is determined by switching the position of the acting Ideology with any other one Ideology, at player's choice. In order to alter the Initiative Order, the Prestige Marker of the Ideology must be moved one space to the left.

Players cannot exploit the Prestige Level of the Ideology if the level is zero. If a player cannot exploit the Prestige of his Ideology, he cannot call to alter the Initiative Order.

[3] Political Action Resolution – Players now must attempt the Political Action, in strict Initiative Order. To perform a Political Action Resolution test, the conditions printed on the Card must be fulfilled. When the conditions are not fulfilled, the Political Action Resolution test does not take place for the Card, that gives only PP.

The Political Action is tested by rolling a die. If the modified die roll result is equal to or greater than the Political Action Difficulty (see § 1.8.1), the test is successful and the Political Action is performed.

When attempting a Political Action Resolution test, player must / may apply the following modifiers:

+/- 1 for the Prestige Level modifier of the Ideology (see § 1.4.1) [mandatory, cumulative with the modifier listed below];
+1 if the Prestige Level of the Ideology is exploited (*) for the test [optional, cumulative with the modifier listed below];
+1 if the Political Action Card requires a Despotic Policy and the requirement is fulfilled for a Power of the acting Ideology (cumulative with any Despotic Policy Marker, so for example Communism adds +2 when both USSR and China are Despotic, and Democracy adds +3 when France, Great Britain and China are Despotic) [mandatory];
+1 if the Political Action Card requires no Despotic Policy and the requirement is fulfilled for all Powers of the acting Ideology (not cumulative for Despotic Policy Markers, so for example Communism adds only +1 when both USSR and China are not Despotic and Democracy adds only +1 when France and Great Britain and China are not Despotic) [mandatory];
+/- ? for events in play.

Important: the above listed modifiers for Despotic or non-Despotic Policy are calculated always counting the Powers currently not under Enemy Control. Exception: China must be currently in the Control Area of the rolling Ideology, otherwise it's never counted.

Important: above listed modifiers marked (on the left) by an icon are to be applied only if a matching icon is printed on the Political Action Card (see § 1.8.1). Optional modifiers must be declared before rolling the die.

*: players may exploit the Prestige Level of their Ideology:

a +1 bonus modifier is added to the die roll, then
the Prestige Level of the Ideology is decreased by 1 point, so moving the Prestige Marker accordingly.

Players can exploit the Prestige Level of the Ideology as many times as possible until the Prestige Level of the Ideology is greater than 0.

Re-Roll: in case of failed test, if the Prestige Level of the Ideology is greater than 0 (zero), players are allowed to re-roll (up to two times per turn, see also § 3.3.14).

Each time a re-roll is done, the die roll modifiers applied to the first test are applied to the new die roll and no new modifier is determined nor applied to the new die roll. Then players must:

place a Re-Roll Marker on the appropriate side over the Re-Roll Box (or flip it to the rear side if already in place), and
the Prestige Level of the Ideology is decreased by 1 point, so moving the Prestige Marker accordingly.

Whenever a Political Action Resolution test is successful, concerned player must always apply the Effects of the card.

Most cards contain Political Effect(s), depicted by a Target Ideology and Effect Number followed by one or more Target Nations. The Effect Number indicates how many boxes the player must move the Regime Markers of the target Nations over the Political Regimes Track (see § 1.4.3) towards the Control Area of the target Ideology. Important: no Exit Cost is applied now.

Each player must apply the Political Effects of any card(s) successfully played by him. When moving the Regime Markers, players may choose any path within the network grid of connections printed inside the Political Regimes Track, provided the path moves towards* the target Ideology. Players have only one restriction: they are not allowed to enter the Control Area of an enemy Ideology (Anarchy excluded).

*: that means every time the Regime Marker can be moved to any two or more spaces, the player must designate the space from which he can trace the shortest path to the target Ideology; when spaces are tied, he is allowed to choose one space.

Every time a Regime Marker enters / exits from the Control Area of an Ideology, that Ideology receives a +/-1 Prestige Level bonus / penalty [+/-2 if an Influenceable Power]. When the Regime Marker of France or China enters the Control Area of Anarchy, Communism or Nazism, the Democracy player must place the Enemy Control Marker over the appropriate box of his Power Card. Similarly, when the Regime Marker of Italy or Japan enters the Control Area of Anarchy, Communism or Democracy, the Nazism player must place the Enemy Control Marker over the appropriate box of his Power Card. And when the Regime Marker of China enters the Control Area of Anarchy, Democracy or Nazism, the Communism player must place the Enemy Control Marker over the China box of his Power Card.

Enemy Control Markers are always removed as soon the concerned Influenceable Power exits the enemy Control Area.

Powers under Enemy Control suffer two consequences:

no LOC can be traced from or throughout Enemy Controlled Powers (see § 3.3.3). Players can use the NO LOC Markers on the map as NO LOC reminder (two markers are available for China, one blue coloured for Democracy and one green coloured for Communism);
no MR can be produced by the Enemy Controlled Powers (see § 3.4.2).

Important: positions of Regime Markers within the Political Regimes Track will generate VP during the Victory step of the Interphase (see § 3.4.3).

Examples: the Initiative Order is Nazism, Communism, Democracy; all Political Action have been successfully performed. Effect of Card #1 (Nazism) is "[2 Democracy] for Austria": both paths A and B move the Marker towards Democracy, but path A does not respect the rule of the shortest path, so Nazism must designate path B. Effect of Card #2 (Communism) "[2 Democracy] for Portugal", only path D is allowed, because path C is across the Control Area of Nazism. Effect of Card #3 (Democracy) is "[2 Anarchy] for Persia": both paths E and F are allowed.

After a Political Action is fully resolved (and its Effects are applied when successfully tested), player must discard or remove the Card from play. All Political Action Cards, when unsuccessfully attempted during the Political Action Resolution test, are discarded at the end of the Strategy Cards Play step. All Political Action Cards, when successfully activated (performed) following a Political Action Resolution test, are removed from play unless the Card dictate differently:

Political Actions marked by the "MULTIPLE PLAY" rounded yellow rectangle can be attempted and performed an unlimited number of times, they are never removed from play when successfully performed. These Cards are never discarded or saved in Reserves (see below).
Political Actions marked by the "PLAYABLE TWICE" rounded yellow rectangle can be attempted and performed only two times, they are removed from play only at the end of the Game Round when they have been successfully performed on the second time (not simply played). Otherwise these cards are discarded or saved in Reserves (see below).
Political Actions marked by the "STAND-BY" rounded yellow rectangle are attempted and performed normally, but their Stand-by effects are applied only at the end of the Political Phase (see § 3.3.2) of the current turn, after the resolution of Coup Attempts. So these cards are placed aside nearby the mapboard as a reminder of the effects that are to be applied at the end of the Political Phase, then these cards can be removed from play.

Important: War Cards (see § 1.8) are not removed from play now, they are instead to be placed aside, nearby the mapboard, and kept there until the War ends. War Cards are removed from play after the War End effects are fully applied, only when the War is ended (see § 3.3.13).

In lieu of discarding Political Action Cards, players may decide to move Cards from their hand to the Reserves (see § 1.4). Each player may place one Card on any one empty Reserve for future use during the Political Phase. Cards to be removed from play cannot be placed in Reserve. Remember also that Event Cards can never be saved in Reserves.

Player now must place the PP Markers in the appropriate box of the Political Points Track (see § 1.4.4) as stated by the PP value of the played Political Action Card. Each player that has played no Political Action Card (because no Political Action Card is available in his hand) or an Event Card in lieu of a Political Action Card (because his hand of cards is empty), receives 1 PP.

Important Optional Rule: in 2-players mode (only) the player who does not control Communism, receives a +1 PP bonus each Game Round, up to a maximum of 7 PP.

3.3.2 Game Actions step

The Game Actions step is divided into a sequence of Game Impulses. The first player in the Initiative Order becomes the Active Player at the start of the Game Action step. The Active Player carries out his Game Impulse expending all his PP to pay costs for his Game Actions. When the Active Player has no more PP, he must pass, the current Impulse ends. The next player according to the Initiative Order becomes the Active Player and he expends all his PP to pay costs for his Game Actions. Then a new Game Impulse can start. The sequence of Game Impulses is repeated in the Game Actions step until all players have expended their PP.

When a player begins his Game Impulse, he must declare which Game Action he's going to perform and pay the corresponding PP cost. When the Game Action is performed and the PP cost is paid, the player can perform a new Game Action until PP are available.

When playing in Advanced Play Mode, players may increase the amount of PP available for their Ideology by exploiting the Prestige Level of their Ideology, as follows. Players can increase their PP allowance only once per Game Impulse.

The Political Points Marker is moved (or flipped) to mark a +1 PP. Then the Prestige Level of the Active Player's Ideology is decreased by 1 point, so moving the marker accordingly.

Players cannot exploit the Prestige Level of their Ideology and therefore cannot increase PP if the level is zero. Players must announce they are going to exploit the Prestige Level before starting to perform Game Actions. That's to say they are not allowed to perform any Game Action (i.e. that would increase the Prestige Level above zero) and then exploit the (so increased) Prestige Level in order to gain one additional PP!

The current Game Impulse ends immediately when the Active Player has no PP to expend. Otherwise, the Active Player may declare his Game Impulse is ended even before the PP are all expended.

The end of a Game Impulse must be declared aloud by the Active Player. The Active Player may not declare the end of the current Game Impulse before non-active players are allowed to react/respond. After the end of a player's Game Impulse, any PP not expended by that player is saved till the end of the current Game Actions step and they can be used for Reactions (see below). Unexpended PP are lost when the Game Actions step is finished.

Reactions are allowed only when triggered by an action. When more than one non-active player has a reaction chance, they must declare a reaction or pass according to the Initiative Order for the active turn.

Coups – Players must declare where they're going to attempt Coups (see § 3.3.9) before the Game Actions step begins, that's to say before the first player starts his Game Impulse. To do so, players (proceeding in Initiative Order) place their Coup Markers in any area of the Coup Cells Track (not over Nations) where at least one own CC is currently located and at least one eligible nation can be target of a Coup Attempt according to the actual PP allowance of players (do not include any discount due to Anarchy). Players are not required to place their Coup Marker, but if they haven't declared the target position, then they are not allowed to perform any Coup Attempts as per § 3.3.9. If players place the Coup Markers, then during the Game Actions step they are required to attempt the Coup in one eligible target nation: declared Coups are always mandatory.

Then, as soon all players have conducted their Game Impulse, players must resolve the Coup Attempts (if any) before proceeding to the next Game Round or Game Phase (Interphase). The Game Round Marker is flipped to the rear side thus marking the Coup Resolution is going to be performed. See § 3.3.14 for rule concerning the resolution of Coup Attempts.

After Coup resolutions, flip the Game Turn marker back to the front side and, if the Political Phase is going to be closed because the last Game Round was played, resolve and apply the Stand-by Effects (see § 3.3.1) of Political Action Cards, if any.

Game Actions – the full list of Game Actions is reported below. During his Game Impulse, the Active Player can perform Game Actions, provided he can pay for the action cost with the amount of remaining PP marked on the Political Points Track.

The list of Game Actions available in Democracy under Siege is organized according to the order each action is described in the rules:

Influence Regime Ideology, § 3.3.6
Claim Control of Resources, § 3.3.7
Form or Move a Coup Cell, § 3.3.8
Activate a Coup Cell, § 3.3.9
Commit a Military Resource to Civil War, § 3.3.10
Commit a Military Resource to War, § 3.3.11
Fight a Civil War, § 3.3.12
Fight a War, § 3.3.13

In two players mode, when performing Game Actions of Communism, both Democracy and Nazism players can only spend PP on things that directly affect the Communism Ideology. Therefore:

influencing regime ideology of nations (see § 3.3.6) must only be towards Communism,
committing MR to Wars and Civil Wars (see § 3.3.10 and 3.3.11) that have beneficial consequences for Communism ideology, and
claiming control of Resources (see § 3.3.7) and forming Coup Cells (see § 3.3.8) is done to generate beneficial consequences for Communism.

3.3.3 Logistic

In Democracy under Siege the logistic aspects of warfare have been widely abstracted and are summarized by the rules for Line of Communication (LOC).

A Line of Communication (LOC) is traced every time a player has to check if he can commit (send) a MR to another nation to fight a War (see § 3.3.11) or a Civil War (see § 3.3.10).

A LOC can be traced as follows:

player must trace a path composed by Land Connections (see § 1.3) linking any one of his own Powers (not under Enemy Control) to the target Area through an unlimited number of Areas, where
each crossed Area belongs to a Minor Nation whose Regime Marker is currently located over the Control Area (see § 1.4.3) of the acting Ideology or over an Influence Area friendly to that Ideology or that belongs to another Power Allied (see § 3.3.5) with the designated Power.
Otherwise, if the Area of the selected Power and the target Area both contain a Naval Connection, the player can use such direct connection.

Examples: a Civil War has broken out in Austria, Great Britain is Allied with France.

A: Great Britain can trace a LOC (to commit a MR to Civil War) to Austria by passing through France (that is Allied with Great Britain).

B: France can trace a LOC (to commit a MR to Civil War) to Austria thanks to the direct connection.

C: Germany can trace a LOC (to commit a MR to Civil War) to Austria thanks to the direct connection.

D: Italy can trace a LOC (to commit a MR to Civil War) to Austria thanks to the direct connection.

USSR cannot trace any LOC to Austria because no nation along the path is in any Influence Area or Control Area of Communism and Austria has no direct Naval Connection to USSR.

If France was under Enemy Control, both Great Britain and France could not trace any LOC to Austria.

3.3.4 Non-Phasing Players

Non-Phasing Players have in some occurrences a chance to respond to actions and activities carried out by the Active Player. Their responses are collectively indicated as Reactions.

Reactions are always PP costs free, but the activity performed by Non-Phasing Players after a Reaction can usually have a PP cost (for example when activating CC to react to an enemy Coup).

Reactions are sometimes allowed by Political Action Cards, when cards explicitly list the terms and conditions for Reaction.

Example: effects of Communism Political Action C23 can be nullified by Democracy player by paying a 1 Prestige Level loss for USA, as stated on Card C23. This can be regarded as a Reaction performed by Democracy player against Communism during enemy Game Round execution.

3.3.5 Pacts and Alliances

Pacts and Alliances are signed by successfully performing Political Actions. Every time a Pact or Alliance is signed, the Political Action Card dictates which nations sign the treaty and where to place the Pact or Ally Marker.

The purpose of Pacts is to the maintain the peace in Europe as long as possible by making Powers less interested in declaring war (see below) and by limiting the escalation of war declarations for Total War break out checks (see § 3.3.15).

The purpose of Alliances is to defend Powers and Minor Nations from enemy aggressions by entailing an escalation of war declarations that can bring to the break out of Total War (see § 3.3.15). Also, when signed between a Power and a Minor Nations, Alliances always work as Pacts (see above).

Every time a player makes a Power declares war (through a Political Action) on a Power or Minor Nation bound by Pact or Alliance with the aggressor Power (a Pact/Alliance Marker is placed over the Area of the target Minor Nation or over the Area of the Major Power that declares war), the aggressor Ideology suffers a -1 Prestige Level loss, the Pact is broken and the Pact Marker is removed accordingly.

3.3.6 Influence Regime Ideology action

Influence Regime Ideology is a Game Action. The purpose of this Game Action is to move the Regime Marker of one Minor Nation or Influenceable Power by one space (box) over the Political Regimes Track (see § 1.4.3).

This Game Action has a base cost of 2 PP, increased by the Exit Cost of any Control Area where the Regime Marker is located (+1 PP if Anarchy, +2 PP if Control Area of an Ideology).

When moving the Regime Marker, players may choose any target box within the network grid of connections printed inside the Political Regimes Track, provided the target space (box) is connected to the actual position of the marker. Players have no other restriction.

Exception: in two players mode, the player who acts on behalf of Communism must move the Regime Marker towards the Control Area of Communism.

Every time a Regime Marker enters / exits from the Control Area of an Ideology, that Ideology receives a +/-1 Prestige Level bonus / penalty [+/-2 if an Influenceable Power].

When the Regime Marker of France or China enters the Control Area of Anarchy, Communism or Nazism, the Democracy player must place the Enemy Control Marker over the appropriate box of his Power Card. Similarly, when the Regime Marker of Italy or Japan enters the Control Area of Anarchy, Communism or Democracy, the Nazism player must place the Enemy Control Marker over the appropriate box of his Power Card. And when the Regime Marker of China enters the Control Area of Anarchy, Democracy or Nazism, the Communism player must place the Enemy Control Marker over the China box of his Power Card.

Enemy Control Markers are always removed as soon the concerned Influenceable Power exits the enemy Control Area.

Important: remember that the positions of Regime Markers within the Political Regimes Track will generate VP during the Victory step of the Interphase (see § 3.4.3).

3.3.7 Claim Control of Resource action

Claim Control of Resource is a Game Action. The purpose of this Game Action is to place a Control Token (see § 1.6) over one empty Resource Exploitation Box (see § 1.3) on the Game Map. The Control Token is taken from the Token Reserve.

This Game Action has a cost of 1 PP.

The Resource Exploitation Box must be located inside an Area that belongs to:

a Power of the acting player's Ideology (provided the box is not marked by an asterisk, see special cases in § 1.3), or
a Territory or a Minor Nation that has been conquered by the acting player's Ideology by Event or War Card, or
a Minor Nation whose Regime Marker is currently within the Control Area of the acting player's Ideology or within an Influence Area friendly to the acting player's Ideology (see § 1.4.3).

The so placed Control Token will grant the Resource Exploitation during the Production Step of the Interphase (see § 3.4.2). Also, as soon a Resource is claimed, the player must adjust accordingly the position of the matching Resource Marker over the Resource Track of his Power Card.

Important: remember always to update the Resource Tracks every time a claimed Resource is lost per Event, Coup Test, Civil War outcome or conquers.

3.3.8 Form or Move a Coup Cell action

Form or Move a Coup Cell is a Game Action. The purpose of this Game Action is to:

place one CC Token (taken from the Token Reserve, see § 1.6) over the Coup Cells Pool of the Power Card (see § 1.7), or
move an own CC Token from the Coup Cells Pool to any area of the Coup Cells Track of the mapboard, or finally
move an own CC Token from any area of the Coup Cells Track to any other bordering area of the Coup Cells Track of the mapboard.

This Game Action has a cost of 1 PP. Players are allowed to perform multiple times this Game Action during the same Game Impulse. For example, players can first place a CC Token in the Coup Cells Pool and then immediately move it to the mapboard, thus expending 2 PP.

3.3.9 Activate a Coup Cell action

Activate a Coup Cell is a Game Action. The purpose of this Game Action is to employ one own CC Token (see § 1.6) actually placed on any area of the Coup Cells Track (see § 1.3) to:

cause a Coup d'Etat in order to overthrow the regime of a Minor Nation or
react to an enemy Coup Attempt

This Game Action has a variable cost, printed in the area of the Coup Cells Track for each target able Minor Nation (see § 1.3).

When performed to cause a Coup d'Etat, the Active Player is required to have placed the Coup Marker over the area of the Coup Cell Track that actually contains the Minor Nation as eligible target. Also, this Game Action is always mandatory, provided a Coup has been declared before the beginning of the Game Actions step by placing the Coup Marker in the Coup Cell Track.

As soon the cost is paid to attempt a Coup, the Active Player moves his Coup Marker from the Coup Cell Track to the Area of the target Nation and places the CC Token on top of the Coup Marker. If a Coup Marker is already placed on the target Nation, the Active Player cannot perform the Coup Attempt.

Also, no Coup Attempt can be performed if a Civil War is currently being fought in the target Minor Nation.

All players can now react to the Coup Attempt, including the Active Player. Those players who have still to carry out their Game Impulse can react later, during their own Game Impulse. When reacting to the Coup Attempt, each player pays the reaction cost (see § 1.3) to move a CC Token from the matching area of the Coup Cells Track to the Area of the target nation, placing the CC Token over the Coup Marker.

The Coup Attempt is resolved at the end of the Game Round, just before a new Game Round starts or the Interphase begins because the last Game Round has been carried out. The Coup Test Resolution procedure is described in § 3.3.14.

3.3.10 Commit a Military Resource to Civil War action

Commit a Military Resource (MR) to Civil War is a Game Action. The purpose of this Game Action is to move a MR Token (see § 1.6) from the Force Pool (see § 1.7) of the Active Player to the Area where a Civil War Marker is currently located.

This Game Action has a variable cost:

2 PP if the Civil War status is "ERUPTING", or
1 PP if the Civil War status is "CALMING".

Any player can commit MR to Civil Wars, provided a LOC can be traced to the target Area (see § 3.3.3). The LOC can be traced from any Power of the player, provided the designated Power is not under Enemy Control. The presence of a friendly MR in the target area is then a prerequisite for the Active Player for testing the Civil War outcome (see § 3.3.12).

MR can be committed either to support the Rebels or the Government. When committed to support the Government, the MR is placed over the Civil War Marker. When committed to support the Rebels, the MR is placed nearby the Civil War Marker.

Special Cases: Spanish Civil War (see Card N12) is a special Civil War that is played as a War both for committing MR (see § 3.3.11) and for the fight procedure (see § 3.3.13). Chinese Civil War (see Card C19 'The Long March') is a special Civil War that is played as a Civil War for sake of committing MR (no Government faction, any player can commit MR provided it can trace a LOC to China) and as a War for the fight procedure (any player can fight the war if at least 1 MR of his Ideology is currently committed to the War).

3.3.11 Commit a Military Resource to War action

Commit a Military Resource (MR) to War is a Game Action. The purpose of this Game Action is to move a MR Token (see § 1.6) from the Force Pool (see § 1.7) of the acting player to a War Card (see § 1.8.1).

This Game Action has a base cost (in PP) printed on the War Card. This base cost can be increased by +1 point if the War Marker is currently flipped on the rear side.

The acting player can commit MR to the War Card if it matches with one of the two factions listed on the War Card (see War end section, faction A or B) and provided a LOC (see § 3.3.3) can be traced to the Area that belongs to the other faction.

When committed to support faction A, the MR Token is placed over the top half of the War Card, above the War Track. When committed to support faction B, the MR is placed over the bottom half of the War Card, below the War Track.

Special Cases: Political Action Card C3 'Comintern Army' tells that up to 2 MR can be placed from the force pool of USSR to a Civil War or War Card to support a Minor Nation at war with a Power, that means no LOC must be traced and the factions restrictions listed above are not to be applied. Similar behaviour is to be performed for Cards C33 'Red Army' (that allows to increase Soviet MR fighting a Minor Nation at war with USSR), D7 'Fight for Freedom' (that works exactly like C3) and many other cards (mostly for intervention on Spanish Civil War).

Examples: France has declared war on Italy by performing the Political Action D25, so Democracy and Nazism can commit MR to the War Card, each Ideology to support its forces fighting the enemy. Communism cannot intervene with Card C3 because D25 is a War Card (not a Civil War) and because both Italy and France are Powers (not Minor Nations). Also, Communism cannot intervene with Card C33, because D25 is not a war between USSR and a Minor Nation. So, in the end only Democracy and Nazism can send MR from their force pools to the War Card.

Italy has declared war on Ethiopia (not a Minor Nation) by performing the Political Action N19, so Nazism only can commit MR to fight the War. Communism cannot intervene with Card C3 because D25 is a War Card (not a Civil War) and because Ethiopia is not a Minor Nation. The same applies also for Democracy, for instance, with Card D7. Also, Communism cannot intervene with Card C33, because D25 is not a war between USSR and a Minor Nation. So, in the end only Nazism can send MR from their force pools to the War Card.

3.3.12 Fight a Civil War action

Fight a Civil War is a Game Action. The purpose of this Game Action is to test the outcome of a Civil War.

This Game Action has a cost of 1 PP.

This action can be performed also during the Markers Adjustment Step of the Interphase (see § 3.4.1) to resolve all pending Civil Wars.

When performed during the Political Phase, the Active Player can perform this action only if at least 1 MR of his Ideology is currently committed to the target Civil War. In addition, each player may perform this action only once per Civil War and per Game Impulse: it's not allowed to perform several Civil War Tests on the same Civil War during the same Game Impulse.

The Active Player rolls one die and adds all eligible modifiers enlisted below:

+/- ? net difference between the MR committed by the opposing factions (pro-Rebels minus pro-Government);
+/-1 if the target nation is in the Control Area of Anarchy or in the Instability Area (+/-: applied after die is rolled to shift the die roll 1 point towards the 3-4 result, see below).

The Civil War Test may result in different effects.

On a modified die roll result equal to or lower than 2: the Civil War Marker is flipped to the "ERUPTING" side or the Civil War ends with the Victory of Government if the marker is already on the "ERUPTING" side.
On a modified die roll result equal to 3 or 4: no effect.
On a modified die roll result equal to or greater than 5: the Civil War Marker is flipped to the "CALMING" side or the Civil War ends with the Victory of Rebels if the marker is already on the "CALMING" side.

If the Civil War is not ended and the war status is ERUPTING, the Regime Marker of the target nation is moved 2 boxes on the Political Regimes Track (see § 1.4.3) towards Anarchy.

If the Civil War is not ended and the war status is CALMING, the Regime Marker of the target nation is moved 1 box on the Political Regimes Track (see § 1.4.3) towards Anarchy.

If the Civil War is ended with a Victory of Government, all committed MR Tokens are removed and returned to the respective Token Reserve, the Civil War Marker is removed.

If the Civil War is ended with a Victory of Rebels, all committed MR Tokens are removed and returned to the respective Token Reserve, the Civil War Marker is removed. The Regime Marker of the target nation is moved 3 boxes on the Political Regimes Track (see § 1.4.3) towards the winning Ideology*.

Important: every time a Regime Marker is to be moved over the Political Regimes Track as a consequence of a Civil War Test outcome, the movement path is always determined by the Active Player (if the test is performed during the Game Actions step) or by the first player in Initiative Order (if the test is performed during the Interphase).

In addition, all Control Tokens (see § 1.6) actually placed over the Resource Exploitation Boxes (see § 1.3) of the target nation are removed from the map (even those belonging to the winning Ideology!) and returned to the respective Token Reserve.

*: winning Ideology is the Ideology that owns the greatest number of MR Tokens committed to the Civil War to support the Rebel side. If no MR is committed or in case of ties, the winning Ideology is Anarchy!

3.3.13 Fight a War action

Fight a War is a Game Action. The purpose of this Game Action is to test the outcome of a War.

This Game Action has a cost of 1 PP.

This action can be performed also during the Markers Adjustment Step of the Interphase (see § 3.4.1) to resolve all pending Wars.

When performed during the Political Phase, the Active Player can perform this action only if at least 1 MR of his Ideology is currently committed to the target War. In addition, each player may perform this action only once per War Card and per Game Impulse: it's not allowed to perform several War Tests on the same War Card during the same Game Impulse.

The active player rolls one die and adds all eligible modifiers enlisted below:

+/- ? for the die roll modifier indicated (if any) by the current position of War Marker over the War Track;
+/- ? net difference between the opposing forces (faction A minus faction B, including any MR committed to any faction);
+/-1 if any faction nation* is in the Control Area of Anarchy or in the Instability Area or the War Marker is flipped on the rear 'STALLING' side (+/-: applied after die is rolled to shift the die roll 1 point towards the 3-4 result, see below).

*: any Minor Nation and/or Influenceable Power listed among the factions (see War end section of the Card) are considered as "faction nations".

The War Test may result in different effects.

On a modified die roll result equal to or lower than 2: the War Marker is flipped to the front side (not-STALLING) and is moved one box right over the War Level Track (see § 1.5), War ends with faction B winning when moved outside the War Card.
On a modified die roll result equal to 3 or 4: the War Marker is flipped to the rear side 'STALLING'.
On a modified die roll result equal to or greater than 5: the War Marker is flipped to the front side (not-STALLING) and is moved one box left over the War Level Track (see § 1.5), War ends with faction A winning when moved outside the War Card.

If the War is not ended and the war status is STALLING, the Regime Markers of all faction nations* are moved 1 box on the Political Regimes Track (see § 1.4.3) towards Anarchy.

*: any Minor Nation and/or Influenceable Power listed among the factions (see War end section of the Card) are considered as "faction nations".

If the War is ended, all committed MR Tokens are removed and returned to the respective Token Reserve, the War Marker is removed.

Important: every time a Regime Marker is to be moved over the Political Regimes Track as a consequence of a War Test outcome, the movement path is always determined by the Active Player (if the test is performed during the Game Actions step) or by the first player in Initiative Order (if the test is performed during the Interphase).

Then, the War end effects matching the winning faction are applied accordingly. Any Power listed in factions A or B is returned to peace status by removing the War! Marker, provided the Power is not involved in any other war with another Power. Finally, the War Card is removed from play.

Important: when a Territory or Minor Nation Area is conquered, a Control Token (taken from the Token Reserve, see § 1.6) of the winning Ideology is placed over the VP box of the Area (see § 1.3) and all Control Tokens actually placed over the Resource Exploitation Boxes of the Area are removed from the map (even those belonging to the winning faction!) and returned to the respective Token Reserve. Similarly, any Coup Marker and CC Tokens, Civil War and MR Tokens are removed and returned to the respective pools. The Regime Marker is removed as well.

Exception: Poland can be jointly conquered by Germany and USSR by Cards N35 and C27. That means Poland is entirely conquered (annexed) when both Political Actions N35 and C27 are successfully performed. As a consequence the above listed markers removals are performed only when Poland is totally annexed.

When a Territory or a set of Resource Exploitation Boxes is ceded to a Power as a consequence of War Indemnities, the Control Tokens are placed accordingly as stated on the War Card. Always adjust the positions of Resource Markers over the Resource Tracks every time a Resource claim is lost or gained.

3.3.14 Coup Attempts Resolution

At the end of each Game Round, players must resolve pending Coup Attempts (if any) before a new Game Round or the Interphase begins. For each Coup, one die is rolled and the result is modified as follows:

+/- 1 for each CC Token placed over the Coup Marker (+/- owning player's choice, declared first by reacting players in Initiative Order, then by the player owning the Coup Marker);
-1 if the target nation is in the Control Area of Anarchy or in the Instability Area.

The Coup Test may result in different effects.

On a modified die roll result equal to or lower than 2: the Coup is not successful, a Civil War breaks out.
On a modified die roll result equal to 3 or 4: the Coup is not successful.
On a modified die roll result equal to or greater than 5: the Coup is successful.

Re-Roll: if the Prestige Level of the Ideology of the rolling player (see Coup Marker) is greater than 0 (zero), player is allowed to re-roll (up to two times per turn, see also § 3.3.1).

Each time a re-roll is done, the die roll modifiers applied to the first test are applied to the new die roll and no new modifier is determined nor applied to the new die roll. Then players must:

place a Re-Roll Marker on the appropriate side over the Re-Roll Box (or flip it to the rear side if already in place), and
the Prestige Level of the Ideology is decreased by 1 point, so moving the Prestige Marker accordingly.

When the Coup is successful, the Regime Marker of the target nation is moved 4 boxes on the Political Regimes Track (see § 1.4.3) towards the winning Ideology* (2 boxes only for Anarchy).

*: the winning Ideology is the one who activated the most number of CC over the Coup Marker. In case of tie, the winning Ideology is identified by the Coup Marker placed over the target nation.

When the Coup is not successful and a Civil War breaks out, a Civil War Marker is placed over the Area (front side) of the target nation and its Regime Marker is moved 2 boxes on the Political Regimes Track (see § 1.4.3) towards Anarchy. Powers (not under Enemy Control) can then commit MR (see § 3.3.10) to and fight (see § 3.3.12) the Civil War, provided a LOC is traced (see § 3.3.3).

In all cases, the Coup Marker is removed and placed aside nearby the mapboard for future use.

3.3.15 Total War

When a successfully performed Political Action determines a war declaration, players must perform the war escalation procedure to check if any Power intervenes the conflict.

War escalation procedure – every time a Political Action determines a war declaration, players must proceed as follows:

if the target nation of the war declaration is a Power, War! Markers are placed over the appropriate Power boxes of the Power Cards, then the war escalation is checked (see below);
otherwise if the target nation of the war declaration is a Minor Power, all Powers bound to the target Minor Nation by an Alliance treaty (check the presence of Ally Markers on the Minor Nation Area) must declare war on the aggressor Power (who is declaring war), unless they are bound to that Power by a Pact or Alliance (check the presence of a Pact or Ally Marker); so in case of intervention, place War! Markers accordingly and check for a war escalation (see below).

If a war escalation took place, a further step is to be performed as follows, and a new one again until no new war escalation occurs:

if a war escalation brought to a war declaration to a Power, all Powers bound to the target Power by an Alliance treaty (check the presence of Ally Markers on the Power Area) must declare war on the Power that intervened by declaring war, unless they are bound to that Power by a Pact or Alliance (check the presence of a Pact or Ally Marker on the Power Areas); so in case of counter-intervention, place War! Markers accordingly and check for a new war escalation.

When no new war escalation took place, players must now check the number of Powers actually at War (count how many War! Markers actually placed over the Power Cards). If the requirements are met, the Total War breaks out.

Important: Total War can break out only from Game Turn 5 onwards. That means the war escalation procedure is always performed, but any Total War consequences are applied only after turn 4. Also, at the end of Game Turn 8, the Total War is considered as broken out anyway at the end of the turn.

When the Total War breaks out, the game ends, but players may perform several residual activities to bring some chances to their side in order to win the game.

Example: during the Game Turn 7 (3+ Powers at War required for Total War break out), France is Allied with Poland (Card D13), USSR with Poland (Card C13), USSR with France (Card C14), Great Britain with France (Card D9), USSR is bound with Germany by Pact (Card N9) and Italy is Allied with Germany (Card N14). Germany declares war on Poland with Political Action Card N35. USSR is called for intervention, being Allied with Poland, but the Pact with Germany blocks the war declaration. Then France only must declare war on Germany, being Allied with Poland: a war escalation takes place. Thus Italy is called for intervention, being now Germany the war declaration target to be checked for: Italy declares war on France, a new war escalation takes place. Then USSR and Great Britain are called for intervention, being now France the war declaration target to be checked: Great Britain declares war on Italy, USSR too (the Pact does not block the intervention because it bounds USSR with Germany and not with Italy). The Powers at War are now: Germany, France, Italy, Great Britain and USSR. The Total War breaks out!

Game End procedure – when the Total War breaks out, players must fulfil the following steps:

the Political Action Card that caused the Total War break out is the last one (in Initiative Order) to be performed, only the Effects of that Card are to be applied;
the Political Action Resolution is interrupted and
all played Political Action Cards provide PP to players, who can spend them during the Game Actions step (see § 3.3.2);
when the Game Actions step is finished, the Political Phase ends (the current Game Round is the last one of the turn) and
all steps of the Interphase (see § 3.4) are executed and players proceed to determining the Winner (see § 3.5).

3.4 Interphase

During the Interphase players carry out all game activities to complete the current Game Turn.

Interphase activities must be resolved according to a sequence of steps with all players fulfilling a segment before advancing to the next one.

Interphase steps:

Markers Adjustment step
Production step
Victory step

3.4.1 Markers Adjustment step

The Markers Adjustment step is played respecting a rigid procedure (each sequence must be fulfilled before passing to the next one), as follows:

Reset Re-Roll Markers – all Re-Roll Markers are placed outside the Re-Roll boxes.
Update Training Coup Cells Boxes – all CC Tokens placed over the Power Cards are moved over the areas of Coup Cells Track (owning player's choice).
Roll for pending Civil Wars – a Civil War Test (see § 3.3.12) must be performed for each pending Civil War.
Roll for pending Wars – a War Test (see § 3.3.13) must be performed for each pending War.

When playing in Advanced Play Mode, after the resolution of pending Wars, players must remove one own MR Token per each rolled War Card. Removed MR Tokens are returned to the respective Tokens Reserve. This procedure is performed only during the Interphase and only for War Cards.

Any Mandatory Event Cards in player's hand must be played immediately.

3.4.2 Production step

During the Production step, players perform all calculations to make their Powers produce the MR, in Initiative Order.

Each player check the Resources Track on his Power Card and calculates the MR production for each owned Power, according to the actual Armaments Level of that Power. For details see § 1.7. Powers under Enemy Control (in enemy Control Area) never produce MR.

Exception: China produces MR only for Democracy or Communism, provided its Regime Marker is currently placed on the Control Area of one of the two Ideologies. No MR is produced by China if its Regime Marker is outside the Control Area of either Democracy and Communism. See § 3.6 for details.

Newly built MR are always taken from the Token Reserve and placed in the Force Pool box of Power Cards. If no Token is available in the Token Reserve, no MR is built.

Example: at the end of Game Turn 1, Nazism controls 6 Raw Materials, 5 Factories and 2 Oils. Germany, at Rearming Level 1, displays 6 Raw Materials plus 4 Factories and 4 Oils. That means Germany and Japan produce only 1 MR each (6 Raw Materials and 4 Factories are employed, the remaining 1 Factory is ignored and no MR is produced by Oils, because only 2 of 4 are available). Similarly, Italy produces 1 MR (6 Raw Materials and 4 Factories are employed, the remaining 1 Factory is ignored and no MR is produced by Oils, because only 2 of 5 are available). In the end, Nazism produces 3 MR.

When all players completed the Production step, they must expend MR for controlled nations maintenance (not during turn 1): from turn 2 onward, each player must remove one uncommitted MR for every two Minor Nations currently located in the Control Area of his Ideology (ignore odds). The cost is paid up to the actual MR allowance in the Force Pool, no odd cost is paid if the number of MR in Force Pool (uncommitted) is not sufficient.

Designer's Note: this mechanism is justifiable in game terms as policing / espionage. It has several beneficial effects on game-play, because it recycles MR in the game more efficiently, it makes it harder to attain and retain the maximum VP bonus for uncommitted MR, and finally it acts as a brake on the runaway leader effect.

3.4.3 Victory step

During the Victory step, players update the VP Score of their Ideologies. The factors that concur to such calculation are listed in detail as follows.

Conquests VP: whenever a successfully played card entails the conquest or annexation of territories or nations, the card explicitly informs players about the VP Bonus credited to Ideologies. Normally the VP value is equal to the VP Value printed inside the Flag Box of concerned Area(s), doubled in case of Minor Nation Areas. In such cases, the VP bonus is always recorded moving the VP Token accordingly.

Players resolve the Victory step as follows.

Military Resources VP: players must first count the number of uncommitted MR (stacked in the Force Pools). Each Ideology is awarded a variable amount bonus VP according to the number of uncommitted MR, as follows: 1 VP if 1-3 MR, 2 VP if 4-8 MR, 4 VP if 9-20 MR, 8 VP if 21 or more MR. These VP are recorded moving the VP Token accordingly.

Political VP: then the VP Marker is placed under the VP Token in the Victory Points Track (see § 1.4.5) and players check all Nations whose Regime Markers are currently placed in the Control Area of their Ideology. A VP Bonus equal to the VP Value of the nation (see rear side of the Regime Marker) is credited to the Ideology by moving the VP Marker accordingly. Then, each Nation actually in the Control Area of Anarchy, credits 1 VP Bonus to Nazism, move always the VP Marker accordingly.

When playing in Advanced Play Mode, Minor Nations (not the Influenceable Powers) whose Regime Markers are actually placed in an Influence Area, credit 1 VP Bonus to the friendly Ideologies (see § 1.4.3). Always move the VP Marker accordingly.

Important: the maximum number of VP that can be scored by each Ideology is 80, either by the VP Marker and by the VP Token. Any additional VP is always ignored.

When calculations are done, if one Ideology (only) tallies 40+ VP during Game Turns 1 or 2, or 80 VP during later Game Turns, that Ideology fulfils the conditions for Automatic Victory. The Automatic Victory is allowed only before Game Turn 8. No Automatic Victory occurs during Game Turns 3-7 if two or more Ideologies tally 80 VP each. During Game Turns 1-2, if two or more Ideologies tally 40+ VP, the winner is the Ideology that tallies the most VP score, no Ideology if the highest VP score is tied (and therefore no Automatic Victory).

3.5 Game Conclusion: the Winner

A match with Democracy under Siege can end for different reasons:

because a player fulfils the conditions for Automatic Victory (see § 3.4.3), or
because the Total War breaks out (see § 3.3.15), or finally
at the end of the last Game Turn (8).

When the game ends, a Winner must be determined, according to the principles listed below. The player that tallied the highest VP Score is the winner. Ties are resolved in favour of the player with the highest ranking position in the Natural Order of Play (see § 2.0): Nazism, Democracy, Communism.

When playing in two players mode, if Communism tallied the highest VP Score, the game ends with a draw: neither Democracy or Nazism win.

Otherwise, when playing two players in Advanced Play Mode, if Communism tallied the highest VP Score, Democracy and Nazism players must check how many turns they controlled Communism play (see positions of Communism Control Turns Markers over Resource Tracks).

If the difference of Communism Control is greater than or equal to two turns, the players who controlled Communism for most turns wins the game. Otherwise, the game ends with a draw.

3.6 China

China starts the game under the control of no player. Being an Influenceable Power, Regime Ideology of China can be influenced using the Game Action Influence Regime Ideology (see § 3.3.6) or as a consequence of Political Effects application (see § 3.3.1). Three main events can happen during the course of the game:

A) Whenever China enters the Control Area (see § 1.4.3) of either Democracy or Communism, the control of China is formally passed to that player and the following actions are to be performed:

add the Resources of China to the Resource Track of the Power Card of that Ideology and adjust the position of the Resource Markers accordingly,
place the Enemy Control Marker over the China box in the Power Card of the opponent's Ideology.
place a green (for Communism) or blue (for Democracy) Token (see § 1.6) over the Armaments Track of China on the Power Card of that Ideology*, in the position matching the current** level of production.

*: if no Token is available, the concerned player must remove any MR or CC or Control Token at his choice!

**: Players can determine what is the current production level checking on which side the Event Marker C26/D24 is placed over the Game Turn Track. Place the Token on the leftmost box of the Armaments Track (production level 1) if the Event Marker C26/D24 is yet not in play.

B) Whenever China exits the Control Area of either Democracy or Communism, that Ideology loses the control of China and the following actions are to be performed:

subtract the Resources of China from the Resource Track of the Power Card of that Ideology and adjust the position of the Resource Markers accordingly,
the Enemy Control Marker is removed from the China box in the Power Card of the opponent's Ideology.
remove any green or blue Tokens from the Armaments Tracks of China on the Power Cards of either Communism or Democracy.

C) Whenever China enters the Control Area of Nazism, place the Enemy Control Markers over the China box in the Power Cards of both Democracy and Communism.

4.0 Extended Example of play

The present chapter contains an extended example of play of one full Game Turn, two players in Advanced Play Mode. The Optional Rule in § 3.3.1 is not applied. Any parts of this example that directly refer to the Advanced Play rules are bordered by a black line and marked by the Advanced Play Mode symbol.

Game Setup

Nazi and Democrat players setup the game as per rules (see § 2.0), essentially all Prestige Markers and Regime Markers are placed on starting locations, respectively of the Political Regimes Track and of the International Prestige Track. Then players setup the Initiative Markers according to the Natural Order of Play: Nazism, then Democracy, finally Communism.

The control of Communism is assigned to Nazism at start, so the Prestige Marker of Nazism is flipped to the rear side and the Communism Control Turns Marker of Nazism is placed over the Box 1 of the Resource Track in the Nazi Power Card (that one of Democracy on Box 0). All Tokens and Resource Counters are placed over the starting position as indicated in the Power Cards.

Then all remaining Markers and Tokens (VP, Turn, Round) are placed on starting locations, remaining Tokens are used to form the Token Reserves. Finally the Strategy Decks are shuffled.

Cards Phase

The Initiative Order Phase is skipped because on Turn 1, similarly the Card Decks Preparation step. Thus players proceed immediately with the Cards Draw step, Nazism draws cards also for Communism.

6 Strategy Cards are drawn for each Ideology (if playing in Short Mode, players drew only 5 Cards).

Nazi player draws Cards N26 Japanese Armaments, N18 Italian Armaments, N1 Gestapo, N21 Dollfuss, N30 War with Greece and N31 Economic Agreement with Baltic Countries.

The hand of Nazism is good, so the player decides to keep cards and do no Mulligan. Then he draws Cards for Communism: C26 Chinese Armaments, C21 Balkan Federation, C20 Mao Tze-Tung, C36 Looting, C33 Red Army and C3 Comintern Army.

The Communist hand is fine as well as it contains some powerful cards, such as the Balkan Federation, whose effects can be very dangerous against Democracy if played in the appropriate moment. Also, it's better to keep it now for play, just to avoid the Democrat player could get that Card during his Turn of Communism control. So the Nazi player decides to perform no Mulligan.

In the meanwhile the Democrat player drew Cards D22 Pact with Japan, D24 Chinese Armaments, D7 Fight for Freedom, D8 British Armaments, D28 Alliance with Great Britain and D4 Oil Agreement.

Also the hand of Democracy is an excellent starting point. D7 Fight for Freedom is a powerful mean to help minor countries when attacked by Nazism, D8 and D24 are useful to begin the arms race as soon as possible (preparing for war is one of the key strategies for all players, but mainly for Democracy) and the Oil Agreement is one of the most powerful cards for all players. So Democracy performs no Mulligan.

No player has Reserve Cards (it's the first Game Turn!) so nobody could discard from Reserves.

Political Phase

Players choose the Strategy Cards to be played for the 1st Game Round. Nazi player selects N30 as Political Action and N1 as Event. Democrat player selects D4 as Political Action (no Event in hand for play). Finally, Nazi player selects Communist Cards C26 as Political Action and C21 as Event.

Players must first apply all effects of Event Cards. So Nazi player inspects the hand of his opponent (Democracy) and takes a Token from the Reserve and deploys a CC in East Europe (the round area of the Coup Cells Tracks). Event Card N1 is then discarded.

The Event Marker C21 is placed over the Turn Track and the effects of C21 are applied immediately as well: Bulgaria is moved two spaces towards Anarchy, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia by one space towards Communism. Nazi player designated Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia because the only moves allowed by Rules for such Minors provide an advantage to Nazism!

Nazi player rolls a die to check if Political Action N30 is successfully attempted, the die roll is modified by +1 because Nazi Prestige is exploited (-1 Prestige Level for Nazism). A first roll result is 3, modified to 4, not enough to get a success (5+, difficulty level of N30). So Nazi player decides to re-roll, the Prestige Level of Nazism is decreased again by 1 point, the Re-Roll Marker is placed in the appropriate box and a die is rolled, same modifier as before. This time a 6 is rolled, that becomes 7: Italy declares war on Greece! Nazism suffers a 1 Prestige Level loss as per Card Rules and the Nazi player targets Albania and Turkey for the Political Effects.

Then the Card is placed on the map, near Greece as reminder, and a War Marker is moved onto the Start box of the War Card's track. 4 Nazi PP are recorded on the Political Points Track.

For the resolution of D4, Democrat player does not exploit the Prestige of Democracy, then a 5 is rolled, that entails a success (4+ was required). So the Democrat player applies immediately the Effects: Prestige of Democracy is increased by one level, Oil Resource of Venezuela claimed for exploitation (a blue token is taken from the Reserve and placed on the map over the appropriate Resource Exploitation Box in Venezuela, the Resource Marker of Oil moved on the Resource Track).

Finally, the Democrat player applies all Political Effects: Iraq, Persia, Netherlands and Rumania are moved by one space towards Democracy. Rumania so enters the Control Area of Democracy, whose Prestige Level is thus increased by 1 point, thus making the Prestige Marker of Democracy enter the green sector of the International Prestige Track. Then the Democrat player moves also Czechoslovakia, a Minor Nation bordering Rumania. 4 Democrat PP are recorded on the Political Points Track.

For the resolution of C26 the Nazi player adds no modifier (no Prestige is exploited and the bonus of Despotism is yet not active because Mao Card is yet not in play), 6 is rolled, that means the Level of Chinese Armaments is now two. Communism pays 2 MR for the Armaments increase, thus removing 2 MR Tokens from its Force Pool. The Event Marker C26/D24 is then placed over the Turn Track on the Level 2 side. 4 Communist PP are recorded on the Political Points Track.

Cards D4 and C26 are removed from play.

The Game Actions step now can begin and players declare where Coup Attempts are going to take place. Only Nazism can declare a Coup, provided he's the only player that actually owns a CC deployed on the map, and he declares a Coup in East Europe, the Coup Marker is placed accordingly.

Nazi player expends his 4 PP as follows:

2 PP to deploy a MR Token from the Force Pool to the War Card N30 (a LOC can be traced from either Germany, Italy and Japan to Greece by sea, PP cost is printed in the War Card). The MR Token is placed over the top area of the War Card, above the War Track, to mark the MR is supporting faction A (Italy).
2 PP to attempt a Coup in Hungary, the Coup Marker and the CC Token are moved from East Europe to Hungary.

Democrat player expends his 4 PP as follows:

2 PP to move the Regime Marker of Czechoslovakia into the Control Area of Democracy, 1 Prestige Level is earned by Democracy.
1 PP to claim the Oil Resource of Rumania (whose Regime Marker is in the Control Area of Democracy, so the action is allowed).
1 PP to claim the Oil Resource of Netherlands in Dutch East Indies (the Regime Marker of Netherlands is in Social-Democracy, an Influence Area friendly to Democracy, so the action is allowed).

The Resource Marker of Oil is thus moved two boxes on right over the Resource Track of Democracy's Power Card, thus reaching level 4.

Nazi player expends the 4 PP of Communism as follows:

4 PP to move the Regime Marker of China by two boxes towards Communism, thus entering the Influence Area of Oligarchy.

Before the Game Actions step is closed, the Nazi player must resolve his Coup Attempt in Hungary, no modifier is applied to the die roll and a 2 is rolled, that means a Civil War breaks out in Hungary! The CC Token is returned to Nazi Force Pool and the Coup Marker is immediately removed from Hungary and it's replaced by a Civil War Marker (front side), Nazi player applies the Political Effects moving the Regime Marker of Hungary two spaces towards Anarchy.

A new Game Round can now begin, the Game Round Marker is moved accordingly, PP Markers are reset.

Players choose the Strategy Cards to be played for the 2nd Game Round. Democrat player selects D7 as Political Action. Nazi player selects N31 and N21 (the second as Event). Finally, Nazi player selects Communist Cards C3 as Political Action and C20 as Event.

Players must first apply all effects of Event Cards. So Nazi player performs an immediate Coup Attempt in Austria as per Event N21, no opponent may react. A die is rolled, no modifier because no reaction and Austria isn't in Anarchy, getting a 4, then modified by +2 as per Card Rules, that means the Coup is successful. The Regime Marker of Austria, actually in Autocracy, enters the Control Area of Nazism, that gains one Prestige Level. The Event Marker N21 is placed over the Turn Track.

Now the Nazi player must check the effects of Communist Events, first of Event C21 from previous Game Round. Bulgaria is not affected, two adjacent Minors are designated: Czechoslovakia and Rumania, that both leave the Control Area of Democracy and enter the Social-Democracy. Two Prestige Levels loss for the Democrat player, whose Prestige Marker so exits the green sector of the International Prestige Track.

Finally, Mao Tze-Tung card enters play, Despotic Policy Marker is placed nearby China, and her Regime Marker enters the Control Area of Communism. Therefore, two Prestige Levels are earned by Communism, because China is a Power.

After Communism gets the control of China, a green Token is deployed on the Armaments Track of China in the Power Card of Communism, over the second box as indicated by the current side the Event Marker C26/D24 placed over the Turn Track (Level 2). Similarly, the Enemy Control Marker is placed nearby China box in the Power Card of Democracy and the Democrat player places the blue NO LOC Marker of China on the map, nearby the Area of China.

Also, Communism receives the Resources produced by China (2 Raw Materials and 1 Factory) and adds them to its production allowance by moving accordingly the corresponding Resource Markers.

Nazi player rolls a die to check if Political Action N31 is successfully attempted, modified by +1 because no Nazi Power is currently Despotic (see the icon printed nearby the Difficulty value of the Political Action). Considering the re-roll bonus was exploited during the previous Game Round, the Nazi player decides to exploit the Prestige of Nazism, that is decreased by 1 point, thus providing an additional +1 modifier to the die roll. 1 is rolled with the die, that becomes 3, not enough to obtain a success, so Nazism re-rolls, suffering another one Prestige Level loss and flipping the Re-Roll Marker to the rear side (no more re-rolls allowed till the end of the Turn). Prestige Marker of Nazism has so entered the red sector of the International Prestige Track. This time a 4 is obtained with the die roll, that becomes 6. The Political Action is now successful, so the Nazi player applies its effects: the Prestige of Nazism is increased by one point, thus leaving the red sector of the International Prestige Track, and the Factory in Sweden is designated for exploitation (the Resource Marker moved one space on the right on the Resource Track and a Token placed accordingly on the map, taken from the Tokens Reserve). For the Political Effects, the Nazi player chooses to move the Regime Marker of Finland by two spaces, so entering the Control Area of Nazism (+1 Prestige for the Ideology).

5 Nazi PP are recorded on the Political Points Track.

The purpose of the Democrat player is now to successfully play Card D7 to help Greece in the war against Italy, so he exploits the Prestige of Democracy to get a +1 on die roll, just enough to get a success, because a 4 is rolled (5 is the difficulty value of the Card). So the Democrat player takes two Tokens from his Reserve and deploys them over the bottom half of Card N30, thus marking the MR Tokens are supporting faction B (Greece). The Political Effects say the target Nation (Greece) and an adjacent Minor moves two spaces towards Democracy, so Greece and Turkey enter the Control Area of Democracy (+2 Prestige for the Ideology, Prestige Marker of Democracy so enters again the green sector of the International Prestige Track).

3 Democrat PP are recorded on the Political Points Track. Then, provided the Card D7 allows Democracy to commit MR to the designated War Card N30, the Democrat player places his card nearby N30 over the map as reminder.

The Nazi player decides now to employ the Communist Card C3 to help the rebels in the Civil War in Hungary, even though looking a risky choice. No Prestige is exploited, Soviet roll is not supported by the +1 modifier as printed on the Card because China is Despotic (previous play of Mao). The die roll result is 1, not enough to obtain a success. Nazi player decides to abandon his attempt.

4 Communist PP are recorded on the Political Points Track.

Card N31 is removed from play. Card D7 is temporarily saved over the mapboard as reminder. At the end of the Game Round, the Democrat player will choose if to save the Card in his Reserves or discard it, because D7 is a Multiple Play Card. Similarly, for C3 the Nazi player decides to discard immediately the Multiple Play Card, fearing it could be used against him during following turns, when Communism will be controlled by the opponent player. So he believes it's better to discard it rather than keep it in Communist Reserves.

No CC Token is on the map, so no player declares a Coup Attempt.

Nazi player expends his 5 PP as follows:

2 PP to deploy a MR Token from the Force Pool to the Civil War in Hungary (the cost is printed on the Civil War Marker), the action is performed to help the Rebels, so the MR Token is placed nearby the Civil War Marker, not over it. A LOC can be traced from either Germany and Italy to Hungary by land, passing either through Austria (passage granted because in Control Area) or Poland for Germany only (passage granted because in Autocracy, an Influence Area friendly to Nazism).
2 PP to move the Regime Marker of Portugal into the Control Area of Nazism (it was in Military Dictatorship). The Prestige of Nazism is so increased by one point.
1 PP to claim the Raw Materials Resource of Portugal, the Resource Marker is updated over the Resource Track accordingly.

Democrat player expends his 3 PP as follows:

2 PP to deploy a MR Token from the Force Pool to the War Card N30 as allowed by D7 (a LOC can be traced from either France, Great Britain and USA to Greece by sea, PP cost is printed in the War Card, no LOC from China because under Enemy Control).
1 PP to fight on that War Card, the action is allowed because Democracy has committed MR onto the War Card. A die is rolled, modified by -2, the net difference between the forces supporting faction A (Italy) and faction B (Greece). 5 is rolled, that becomes 3. This is a Stall, the War Marker is flipped to the rear side, Italy and Greece must be moved one space towards Anarchy. Democracy suffers a one Prestige Level loss, but so has managed to avoid a quick Italian victory in Greece.

Nazi player expends the 4 PP of Communism as follows:

1 PP to recruit a new CC (a Token is taken from the Reserve and moved to the Coup Cells Pool.
1 PP to deploy the CC Token onto the map in the Benelux Countries area of the Coup Cells Track.
2 PP to move the Regime Marker of Poland outside the Autocracy. It so enters the Military Dictatorship, very close to the Control Area of Nazism. The move is legal, because the Marker moved towards Communism.

No Coup is to be resolved and a new Game Round can now begin, the Game Round Marker is moved accordingly, PP Markers are reset. Finally, the Democrat player decides to keep the D7 in his Reserves instead of discarding the Card.

Players choose the Strategy Cards to be played for the 3rd Game Round. Democrat player selects D28 as Political Action. Nazi player selects N18. Finally, Nazi player selects Communist Cards C36.

No Event Card is played, but the Event C21 is still in play, so the Nazi player designates this time Czechoslovakia, that moves into the Neutral Area, and Turkey that exits the Control Area of Democracy (-1 Prestige Level for the Ideology).

Nazi player rolls a die to check if Political Action N18 is successfully attempted, adding +1 because the Prestige of Nazism is exploited. The die roll result is 1, that becomes 2, not sufficient to get a success because the Card's difficulty is 5. No re-roll can be done because already performed twice during the current turn. So the Nazi player saves Card N18 in his Reserves. 5 PP are recorded on the Political Points Track.

Now the Democrat player has to roll for Card D28 and declares he wants to exploit the Prestige of Democracy, its Prestige Marker is moved one space to the left. The die roll result is 1, that become 2, a failure. So Democracy re-rolls (the Re-Roll Marker is placed on the Initiative Track and Democracy's Prestige is downgraded by one level again) and obtains a 2, again not sufficient. No further re-roll is made, even if possible, because such a choice would move the Prestige Marker of Democracy into the red sector of the International Prestige Track! The Democrat player saves Card D28 in his Reserves. 3 PP are recorded on the Political Points Track.

Now it's the time to resolve the Communist Card C36, but the conditions in Card Rules to attempt the Political Action are not met, so the Nazi player simply mark the 3 PP and discard C36.

Players declare where Coup Attempts are going to take place. Only Nazism can declare a Coup on behalf of Communism, provided he's the only player that actually owns a CC deployed on the map, and he declares a Coup in Benelux Countries, the Coup Marker of Communism is placed accordingly.

Nazi player expends his 5 PP as follows:

3 PP to deploy a MR Token from the Force Pool to the War Card N30, the PP cost printed on the Card (2) is increased by +1 because the War is stalling (rear War Marker side).
2 PP to move the Regime Marker of Poland into the Control Area of Nazism (it was in Military Dictatorship). The Prestige of Nazism is so increased by one point.

Democrat player expends his 3 PP as follows:

2 PP to move the Regime Marker of France into the Control Area of Democracy (it was in Social-Democracy). The Prestige of Democracy is so increased by two points (because France is a Power).
1 PP to claim the Oil Resource of Netherlands in Dutch East Indies (the Regime Marker of Netherlands is in Social-Democracy, an Influence Area friendly to Democracy, so the action is allowed), the position of the Resource Marker of Oil over the Resource Track of Democracy's Power Card is then updated.

Democrat player could save 3 PP without doing any action if he had one CC in Benelux Countries. Only in such a case he could react to the Coup Attempt in Benelux Countries (the PP reaction cost in both Belgium and Netherlands is 3).

Nazi player expends the 3 PP of Communism as follows:

3 PP to attempt a Coup in Netherlands, the Coup Marker and the CC Token are moved from Benelux Countries to Netherlands.

Before the Game Actions step is closed, the Nazi player must resolve the Communist Coup Attempt in Netherlands. A +1 modifier is applied to the die roll (for the Communist CC Token) and a 3 is rolled, then modified into a 5, that means the Coup is successful! The Coup Marker is immediately removed from Netherlands and its Regime Marker is moved four spaces towards Communism. The CC Token is returned to the Force Pool of Communism.

All Resource Exploitation Boxes of Netherlands are emptied out, so Democracy loses two Oil Resource Points (the Resource Track is updated and removed blue Tokens are returned to the Reserve).

The last Game Round can now begin, the Game Round Marker is moved accordingly, PP Markers are reset.

Players choose the Strategy Cards to be played for the 4th Game Round. Democrat player selects D8 as Political Action. Nazi player selects N18 (taken from his Reserves). Finally, Nazi player selects Communist Cards C33.

No Event Card is played, but the Event C21 is still in play, so the Nazi player designates this time Czechoslovakia and Hungary, that both move away from Democracy.

Nazi player now exploits the Prestige of Nazism (that is decreased by one point) to change the Initiative Order, he declares the positions of Markers of Nazism are exchanged with those of Communism.

Nazi player has adopted this weird strategy for the following reason. The beneficial effects of having conducted Communism during the current turn are quite evident, so it would be an excellent plus to control Communism also during next turn. According to the actual Prestige Levels the Initiative Order during next turn will be: 1st Communism, 2nd Nazism, 3rd Democracy. In such a case, no Initiative Exhaustion will take place because no Ideology will remain in the same ranking position, and the control of Communism will pass to Democracy. So, the Nazi player decides to alter the current Initiative Order into: 1st Communism, 2nd Democracy, 3rd Nazism. This will generate an Initiative Exhaustion Resolution as follows: Democracy will exchange her ranking position with III (Nazism), then Communism with position II (Nazism). So the final Initiative Order will be: 1st Nazism, 2nd Communism, 3rd Democracy. That means the control of Communism will remain in the hands of Nazi player!

Nazi player rolls a die to check if Political Action N18 is successfully attempted. This time the die roll result is 5, sufficient to get a success. The production of Armaments by Italy is raised to Level 2, no MR cost is paid by Nazism because no MR Token is left in its Force Pool. The Nazi player saves Card N18 in his Reserves (because it can be performed twice). 5 PP are recorded on the Political Points Track. Finally, the Event Marker N18 is placed on the Turn Track, thus indicating the Political Action was performed one time.

Now the Democrat player has to roll for Card D8 and declares he does not exploit any Prestige. If China was in the Control Area of Democracy, the player would have added +1 to the die roll, because China is Despotic. However, the die roll result is 6, a success anyway! The production of Armaments by Great Britain is raised to Level 2, the two MR cost is paid by Democracy (just two MR Tokens are left in its Force Pool). Then the Democrat player discards D8 (his Reserves are full). 3 PP are recorded on the Political Points Track. Finally, the Event Marker D8 is placed on the Turn Track, thus indicating the Political Action was performed one time.

Now it's the time to resolve the Communist Card C33, but the conditions in Card Rules to attempt the Political Action are not met, so the Nazi player simply mark the 2 PP and discard C33.

No CC Token is on the map, so no player declares a Coup Attempt.

The Nazi player expends the 2 PP of Communism as follows:

2 PP to move the Regime Marker of Turkey out of the Social-Democracy, it so enters the Neutral Area.

Before starting his Actions, the Democrat player declares he wants to increase his PP by +1 exploiting the Prestige of Democracy. So the Prestige Level is downgraded by 1 point, then he can use up to 4 PP, as follows:

4 PP to move the Regime Markers of both Rumania and Spain into the Control Area of Democracy (they were in Social-Democracy). The Prestige of Democracy is so increased by two points.

Nazi player expends his 5 PP as follows:

2 PP to move the Regime Marker of Yugoslavia into the Control Area of Nazism (it was in Military Dictatorship). The Prestige of Nazism is so increased by one point.
2 PP to claim the two Oil Resource of Netherlands in Dutch East Indies (the Regime Marker of Netherlands is in Military Dictatorship, an Influence Area friendly to Nazism, so the action is allowed).
1 PP to claim the Oil Resource of Netherlands in the home area of Netherlands in Europe.

The position of the Resource Marker of Oil over the Resource Track of Nazism's Power Card is then updated.

No Coup is to be resolved and the Political Phase is thus finished, PP Markers are reset.

Interphase

Players perform all initial activities of the Markers Adjustment step: Re-Roll Markers are removed from the Initiative Track. No CC Token is actually in any Coup Cells Pool, so players don't have to deploy CC on the map.

The first player in Initiative Order (Communism, then the Nazi player) must now resolve pending Civil Wars and War Cards:

Civil War in Hungary – a die is rolled, modified by +1 (net difference between pro-Rebels and pro-Government committed MR). A 6 is rolled, that becomes 7. Such a result makes the Civil War Marker flipped to the rear side: "Calming". Therefore, the Regime Marker of Hungary must be moved one space towards Anarchy, as indicated on the "Calming" side of the Civil War Marker.
War Card N30 (Greece), a die is rolled, modified by -1, the net difference between the forces supporting faction A (Italy) and faction B (Greece). A 2 is rolled, then modified into 1, that means a successful military campaign for faction B (Greece)! The War Marker is flipped to the front side and moved one box down on the War Level Track.

Nazism and Democracy remove one MR Token from War Card N30. Tokens are returned to the respective Reserves. Event Card C21 now can be removed from play (effects expired).

Players have no Mandatory Events in hand, so they can pass to the Production step:

Democracy (no MR left in Force Pool at the end of the turn):

USA produces no MR (none by Raw Materials+Factory, none by Oil)
Great Britain produces 1 MR (1 by Raw Materials+Factory, none by Oil)
France produces 1 MR (1 by Raw Materials+Factory, none by Oil)
China produces no MR (under Enemy Control)

Nazism (no MR left in Force Pool at the end of the turn):

Germany produces 1 MR (1 by Raw Materials+Factory, none by Oil)
Italy produces 1 MR (1 by Raw Materials+Factory, none by Oil)
Japan produces 1 MR (1 by Raw Materials+Factory, none by Oil)

Communism (one MR left in Force Pool at the end of the turn):

USSR produces 1 MR (1 by Raw Materials+Factory, none by Oil)
China produces 1 MR (1 by Raw Materials+Factory, none by Oil)

No MR is removed for Minor Nations in Control Areas because this cost is not paid during the first Game Turn. So players can now proceed to the resolution of the Victory step.

Democracy:

1 VP for the uncommitted MR (3)
10 VP for the political control of Spain and Rumania (France produces no VP to Democracy)
3 VP because the Regime Markers of Greece, Sweden and Norway are currently located in Social-Democracy, an Influence Area friendly to Democracy
1 VP because the Regime Marker of Bulgaria is currently located in Oligarchy, an Influence Area friendly to Democracy

Nazism:

1 VP for the uncommitted MR (3)
25 VP for the political control of Austria, Finland, Portugal, Yugoslavia and Poland
2 VP because the Regime Markers of Baltic States and Netherlands are currently located in Military Dictatorship, an Influence Area friendly to Nazism
3 VP because the Regime Markers of Greece, Sweden and Norway are currently located in Social-Democracy, an Influence Area friendly to Communism
1 VP because the Regime Marker of Bulgaria is currently located in Oligarchy, an Influence Area friendly to Communism

Communism:

1 VP for the uncommitted MR (3)
10 VP for the political control of China
2 VP because the Regime Markers of Baltic States and Netherlands are currently located in Military Dictatorship, an Influence Area friendly to Nazism
3 VP because the Regime Markers of Greece, Sweden and Norway are currently located in Social-Democracy, an Influence Area friendly to Communism
1 VP because the Regime Marker of Bulgaria is currently located in Oligarchy, an Influence Area friendly to Communism

Final VP rankings: Nazism 28 VP, Communism 17 VP, Democracy 15 VP.

Game Turn is so ended, the Game Round Marker is moved to the 1st box and the Game Turn marker is placed over the Turn 2 box.

The 2nd Game Turn begins, the first activities that players must perform are the determination of the new Initiative Order. The new Initiative Order is: 1st Democracy, 2nd Communism, 3rd Nazism. Indeed Democracy and Communism share the same ranking position in the International Prestige Track, so the Natural Order of Play is used to resolve the tie.

Now, provided the Initiative Order during the Interphase of Turn 1 was Communism, Democracy, Nazism, only the Initiative of Nazism is exhausted. So the final Initiative Order for Turn 2 (1934) after the Initiative Exhaustion Resolution step is Nazism, Communism, Democracy. Therefore the control of Communism is assigned to Nazism because the Prestige Marker of Communism is currently located in 2nd position. So Nazi player foresaw the final outcome of Regime Exhaustion Resolution step!

Nazi player moves his Communism Control Turns Marker onto the Box 2 of the Resource Track of his Power Card (that one of Democracy remains on Box 0). Prestige Markers of Democracy and Nazism aren't flipped so marking that Communism is still under the control of Nazism.

Players can now continue playing, right after having discarded as many Cards from their hands and Reserves, and then having reshuffled all decks with all discards and all Cards that enter the game on Turn 2.

5.0 Designer's Notes

The design of Democracy Under Siege has been a challenge from the first moment. The idea was exciting, because I had to work out a game that simulates a historical period for the most part unknown to the world of games, with the exception of a couple of famous titles: Days of Decision by Australian Design Group and Origins of World War II by Avalon Hill. The purpose of this game was to reproduce the geopolitical dynamics that led Nazis to unleash the abyss of World War II. However, in the same time I should never have ventured myself into any dangerous ideological insights. Indeed the task was to achieve a "gamey simulation" that analyzes in a concise and objective way the main events that led to World War 2.

However, I had so many elements to master and reproduce in game terms, that I soon realized how it's difficult to steer such realities into a unique, coherent and accurate design.

First I had to build a set of rules as possible simple and easy to read. Since my idea was from the very beginning to make a card-driven game, the heart of the mechanics was soon adapted and replicated into the Strategy Cards. Rules and Cards would allow me to achieve the goal in a modular and progressive way. The gradual increase of international tensions caused by the aggressive policies of Nazi Germany was translated into a progressive learning curve of game dynamics, where players are projected from a quite simple initial game setup to a relentless escalation of geopolitical conflicts, in the end up to the inevitable conclusion: the outbreak of World War II.

So my next goal was to build a system of Strategy Cards and Game Rules that would introduce a good level of re-playability, forcing players to adopt always different solutions for always different problems and situations. That means, once fixed the trends that have characterized the '30s – such as the arms race, the progressive diffusion of Fascist regimes throughout European nations, the Nazi assault on Poland and Czechoslovakia, and others – my goal was in fact to add a level of interaction between players so as to ensure a high variability both in government policies and in the results obtained.

As far I kept familiar with such purpose and method, the idea of Political Action Cards was the most credited solution: on one side a set of cards depicting Political actions with variable effects and on the other side three decks that are refilled at the beginning of every turn with new entries, thus making the game goes more and more inside into the heart of its complexity. Then, some rules such as the varying control of Communism (in 2-players mode), Mulligan and Reserves have added further variability, with the result that today – with the exception of the main historical trends reproduced by the game – every game with Democracy under Siege is different from others.

As soon I worked out the core architecture of game design, that's to say how to make the game simulates the years that led to World War 2, all the rest came by itself. I had simply to study in depth everything about the '30s and then I "converted" all major events into either Political Action Cards or Event Cards. I just had to "translate" historical facts into game rules and political indicators actually represented in the game, essentially the political / ideological alignment of Minor Nations, all military and economic treaties between Major Powers and Minor Nations, the level of rearmament and all local conflicts.

Once finished, the whole picture was ready as I filled the game of its contents. But when I started the usual process of testing and balancing, I soon realized an interesting aspect, although I had never invested time and resources even to try to fake it. Each Ideology (Nazism, Democracy, Communism) has her own strategy, different from that of the other players. This is due to the fact that the Political Cards of each player, when combined with the other cards of the same player, in the end lead into one direction rather than another. This is obvious because the political choices of each faction were historically different. But this was surprisingly and positively complicated by the variableness and complexity of the game. The combinations of political actions and the interaction among players generates an incredible variability in the geopolitical context. Also, the presence of some cards that reproduce hypothetical situations actually allow players to explore some interesting what-ifs. For example, I discovered that Democrat player could rewrite history with some effective policies to contain Nazi aggressiveness in Europe. Similarly, I saw sometimes Nazi players adopting peaceful politics and gaining a political victory over Democracy, often leaving to Soviet Union the dirty task of causing the outbreak of the War...

This added a lot of flavor to the game and it increased its educational value more than I had hoped. Indeed this was for me a great relief, because I received some criticisms, sometimes justified, from potential publishers, honestly concerned about the subject represented in the game, that can be considered as embarrassing by some people.

So my last task was to deliver Democracy Under Siege as a "simulation platform" rather than only as a game. A simulation whose intent is to explain why the human being did fall into the holocaust of World War and how it could have been avoided, although always leaving alive in our minds the following warning: if the Western powers had not fought the Nazi-Fascism on the battlefield, would the European dictatorships be transformed over the years into a militaristic paternalism intended to make way for the return of Democracy?

6.0 Cards clarifications

This chapter of the Rules Book contains several clarifications for a few key Strategy Cards:

Nazism

Spanish Civil War (N12) – this is an Event Card that works as a special War Card. It can enter play if conditions are met (Communist Event Card C12 in play). Then, once in play, it works as a Civil War. Players can commit MR Tokens to support the Republicans / Government faction (A) or the Nationalists / Rebels faction (B). But, differently than for normal Civil Wars, players can start committing MR Tokens only after the below listed Political Actions have been successfully performed:

Support to Nationalists (N11), when successfully performed one nazi MR Token is immediately committed to support the Rebels faction (B) [remember that the MR Token is taken from the Token Reserve of Nazism, not from the Force Pool!] and thereafter Nazism can send MR Tokens (from the Force Pool) to support faction B only.

Comintern Army (C3), when successfully performed, up to two communist MR Tokens (taken from the Token Reserve) are committed to support either the Government faction (A) or the Rebels faction (B).

Designer's Note: for obvious reasons, Communist player will be interested in supporting the Government faction, because if the Republicans (A) win, Communism will gain 15 VP!

Soviets support Republicans (N11), when successfully performed one communist MR Token is immediately committed to support the Government faction (A) [remember that the MR Token is taken from the Token Reserve of Communism, not from the Force Pool!] and thereafter Communism can send MR Tokens (from the Force Pool) to support faction A only.

Fight for Freedom (D7), when successfully performed, up to two democrat MR Tokens (taken from the Token Reserve) are committed to support either the Government faction (A) or the Rebels faction (B). After D7 is performed, for the entire Game Round Democracy is then allowed to commit MR Tokens (taken from the Force Pool) to support the designated faction. That means, for example, if the two MR Tokens were committed initally to support the Republicans (A), then Democracy cannot send MR Tokens to support the Nationalists (B)!

Britain intervenes the Spanish Civil War (D11), when successfully performed one democrat MR Token is immediately committed to support either the Government faction (A) or the Rebels faction (B) [remember that the MR Token is taken from the Token Reserve of Democracy, not from the Force Pool!] and thereafter Democracy can send MR Tokens (from the Force Pool) to support the designated faction. That means, for example, if the MR Token was committed initally to support the Republicans (A), then Democracy cannot send MR Tokens to support the Nationalists (B)!

Important: being a War Card, players must always roll on the War Table rather than the Civil War Table, as per § 3.3.13.

War Card N12 says nothing for the particular case when the Spanish Civil War (N12) enters play when Spain is already in Civil War state. In such a particular instance, all MR Tokens currently committed for that Civil War are moved to the War Card. The MR Tokens currently supporting the Government (placed on top of the Civil War Marker) are moved onto the top half of the War Card (so marking they're now supporting faction A). The MR Tokens currently supporting the Rebels (placed nearby the Civil War Marker) are moved onto the bottom half of the War Card (so marking they're now supporting faction B). The Civil War Marker is then removed from the mapboard.

Italy leaves League of Nations (N20) – when this Event Card enters play, Nazism no more suffers Prestige losses when Italy declares a War by Cards N19, N29 and N30. In particular, even if the Card Rules of N20 do not include any clear indication, War Cards N29 War with Yugoslavia and N30 War with Greece, entail no Political Effects (as a diplomatic disapproval reaction to the war declaration) if N20 is in play. That's to say no Regime Marker of any Minor Nations land connected to Yugoslavia (N29) or Greece (N30) is moved towards the Control Area of Democracy.

War on China (N27) – the War end effects of this War Card dictate that "if China (B) wins, Nazism loses 2 Prestige Levels and the Ideology that controls China places a Control token on Manchuquo and gains 5 VP". Card N27 says nothing for the (not so) particular case when China is not controlled by any Ideology. In such an instance, Nazi player has two options: give Democracy the control of Manchuquo and 5 VP, or give Communism the control of Manchuquo and 5 VP. In the rare case China is controlled instead by Nazism, Nazi player must perform the same choice as listed above.

Occupation of Sudeten (N33) – when successfully performed, as soon the Stand-by effects are applied, the card dictates to "place [...] the Control Marker N33 on Teschen". In the particular case the Political Action N35 War on Poland was successfully performed before N33 and Poland was defeated, the Teschen Area is ceded instead to Nazism (a nazi Control Token is placed accordingly) but no VP is awarded!

War on Poland (N35) – if Poland is defeated, the Card dictates to "add 10 VP to Nazism (+2 VP for Danzig & Memel)". That means 10 VP are added to Nazism. Then, if Political Action N37 Occupation of Danzig and Memel was not performed yet (so the Area was yet not under Nazi control), 2 additional VP are gained by Nazism. No VP is gained for Teschen Area if ceded by Czechoslovakia to Poland after the Political Action N33 Occupation of Sudeten was successfully performed. So, in such an instance, one nazi Control Token would be on Teschen Area and no VP is awarded to Nazism.

When both Political Actions N35 War on Poland and C27 War on Poland are successfully performed and Poland was defeated in both cases, Poland is entirely (and jointly) conquered by Germany and USSR. A nazi Control Token and a communist Control Token are so placed in the Control Boxes of Poland (that is indeed the only Area provided by two Control boxes). Then the Regime Marker of Poland is removed from play. For any Resource Exploitation Box, see principles listed below for Nazi "Annexation" Cards.

Both Political Actions N35 War on Poland and C27 War on Poland require an additional die roll to determine if Poland is defeated. The die roll can be modified by expending MR Tokens. Even if it's not clearly written in Card Rules, players must always declare how many MR Tokens are expended before the die is rolled.

Annexation of Czechoslovakia (N36) – when successfully performed, as soon the Stand-by effects are applied, the Card dictates to "add 10 VP to Nazism (+2 VP for Teschen and +3 VP for Sudeten)". That means 10 VP are added to Nazism. Then, if Political Action N33 Occupation of Sudeten was not performed yet (so the Areas of Sudeten and Teschen are yet under Czech control), 2 additional VP are gained by Nazism for Teschen and 3 additional VP are gained for Sudeten. In particular, for Teschen Area, player has to check if it's really controlled by Czechoslovakia, because the effects of Political Action N35 War on Poland could have switched the control of Teschen to Nazism.

Occupation of Danzig and Memel (N37) – when successfully performed, as soon the Stand-by effects are applied, the card dictates to "place a Control token on Danzig & Memel and add 2 VP to Nazism". In the particular case the Political Action N35 War on Poland was successfully performed before N37 and Poland was defeated, so that Danzig & Memel was already conquered by nazi forces, no Control Token is to be placed on that Area and no VP is awarded to Nazism!

Cumulative clarifications for Nazi "Annexation" Cards N32 Anschluss, N33 Occupation of Sudeten, N36 Annexation of Czechoslovakia, N37 Occupation of Danzig and Memel: these Cards dictate some Territories or Nations are conquered by Nazi Germany. As a consequence of such annexation, any Resource currently claimed by any player (even Nazism) in those Areas is to be reset as per § 3.3.13. Same principle is applied when Poland is fully conquered after both Political Actions N35 War on Poland and C27 War on Poland are performed and the outcome is the defeat of Poland in both occurrences.

Cumulative clarification for all Nazi Coup Event Cards: Metaxas (N17), Dollfuss (N21), Pats and Ulmanis (N34). For these Cards, no Coup Attempt takes place if the concerned Minor Nation does no more exist.

So, if Greece was conquered by Italy after the end of War Card N30 War with Greece, no Coup can take place in Greece.

Similarly, if the Baltic States were annexed by USSR after the Political Action C24 Baltics Invaded was successfully performed, no Coup can take place in Baltic States.

Finally, provided Austria can be only annexed by Germany with the Political Action N32 Anschluss and the prerequisite for performing N32 is the Event Card N21 Dollfuss, the Coup Attempt of Event N21 is always to be checked.

Democracy

Embargo of Suez & Gibraltar Canals (D19) – the effects of this Card are very powerful as they forbid Nazi Powers to trace any LOC from Europe Map to the Asia box or from the Asia box to the Europe Map. That's to say, for example, Italy is no more allowed to trace a LOC to Ethiopia to commit MR Tokens to the War Card N19 War with Ethiopia. Or that Italy and Germany are no more allowed to trace a LOC to Asia to commit MR Tokens to such War Cards as War on Japan (C25), The Long March (C19), War on Soviet Union (N25), War on China (N27). This can be a very difficult situation for Nazi player if Japan is under Enemy Control. In fact, in such an instance, Japan cannot trace any LOC, making impossible for Nazism to send any MR to such Wars. For sake of this Embargo Card, Turkey is always to be considered in Europe Map Box.

War with Italy (D25) – the War end effects of this War Card dictate that "if Italy (B) wins, Democracy loses 1 Prestige Level, a Control token of Nazism is placed on Tunisia". So the effects of this War Card are somehow different than the corresponding Nazi War Card N22 War with France. In fact, N22 dictates 3 VP are awarded to Nazism for Tunisia if Italy wins the War. Such difference is motivated by game balancing reasons. So in definitive the War Card D25 awards no VP to Nazism for Tunisia, that is nevertheless ceded to Nazism and therefore its Resource Exploitation Box can be then claimed.

Appeasement Policy Abandoned (D30) – this card allows to perform a free Coup Attempt (with no CC) in any one Minor Nation. As clarified for Nazi Event Coup Cards, no Minor Nation can be designated by the Democrat player if no more in existence because conquered after a Political Action or ended War. For example, if Czechoslovakia was entirely annexed by Germany by the Political Action N36 Annexation of Czechoslovakia, Democracy cannot designate that Minor when applying the effects of Card D30.

Communism

The Long March (C19) – this is a Political Action Card that works as a special War Card. When successfully performed, it works as a Civil War. Players can commit MR Tokens to support the pro-Communist faction (A) or the pro-Democratic faction (B). None of the two factions represent the Government, both factions are Rebels each other. Players can commit MR Tokens to the War Card as per rules of Civil Wars, see § 3.3.10.

Important: being a War Card, players must always roll on the War Table rather than the Civil War Table, as per § 3.3.13.

In addition, some Political Action Cards can be used to send MR as follows:

Comintern Army (C3), when successfully performed, up to two communist MR Tokens (taken from the Token Reserve) are committed to support either the pro-Communist faction (A) or the pro-Democracy faction (B).

Designer's Note: for obvious reasons, Communist player will be interested in supporting the pro-Communist faction!

After C3 is performed, for the entire Game Round Communism is then allowed to commit MR Tokens (taken from the Force Pool) to support the designated faction. That means, for example, if the two MR Tokens were committed initally to support the pro-Communist (A), then Communism cannot send MR Tokens to support the pro-Democracy (B). During the following Game Round, if the War Card C19 is still in play, Communism can switch side supporting the other faction. Remember also that in two players mode, such gamey actions are not allowed: Communism must play actions in its own interest.

Fight for Freedom (D7), when successfully performed, up to two democrat MR Tokens (taken from the Token Reserve) are committed to support either the pro-Communist faction (A) or the pro-Democracy faction (B).

Designer's Note: for obvious reasons, Democrat player will be interested in supporting the pro-Democracy faction!

After D7 is performed, for the entire Game Round Democracy is then allowed to commit MR Tokens (taken from the Force Pool) to support the designated faction. That means, for example, if the two MR Tokens were committed initally to support the pro-Democracy (A), then Democracy cannot send MR Tokens to support the pro-Communist (B). During the following Game Round, if the War Card C19 is still in play, Democracy can switch side supporting the other faction.

Red Army (C33) – when successfully performed, up to three communist MR Tokens (taken from the Token Reserve) are committed to support the pro-Soviet faction on any Soviet War Card, as listed below:

War on Japan (C25), the MR Tokens are placed in the top half of the War Card (so marking they're supporting faction A: USSR);
War on Rumania (C29), the MR Tokens are placed in the top half of the War Card (so marking they're supporting faction A: USSR);
Soviet-Finnish War (C30), the MR Tokens are placed in the top half of the War Card (so marking they're supporting faction A: USSR);
War on Soviet Union (N25), the MR Tokens are placed in the bottom half of the War Card (so marking they're supporting faction B: USSR).

C21 Balkan Federation is a lapsing Event Card. When it enters play, an immediate Political Effect is to be applied on Bulgaria. Then, the Communist player has to perform a Political Effect on any two Minor Nations land connected to Bulgaria during every Game Round, so also during the same Round when the Card is played. That means both Political Effects on Bulgaria and any two land connected Minors are to be applied as soon the Event enters play. Same principle is applied for Nazi Event Card N16 Balkan Pact.

Generic principles on Political Effects

Players do always have to pay attention to the & / or logic operators printed in Political Effects boxes of Strategy Cards. The symbol & means "and", that means all listed nations linked by the & symbol must undergo the Political Effect. Instead, when the or operator is printed, the Active Player must choose what nation undergoes the Political Effect among those listed. In some cards both operators are printed and the display layout of nation flags is organized to allow players to understand how the logic operators are to be applied.

Every time a Political Effect is to be applied to a Minor Nation no more in existence because conquered after a Political Action or ended War, that nation cannot be targeted in any way. For example, if Czechoslovakia was entirely annexed by Germany by the Political Action N36 Annexation of Czechoslovakia, no Political Effect can be applied on Czechoslovakia (also because its Regime Marker is out of play).

Every time a player must designate (in a list of candidates) a target nation, he's allowed to target any nation of his choice, even if it's already in the Control Area of the Political Effect's target Ideology. For example, if Nazi player must move the Regime Marker of Italy or Austria towards the Control Area of Democracy and Italy is already in the Control Area of Democracy, Nazism is not forced to designate Austria. Nazi player can nevertheless designate Italy, so voiding any negative effects.

When a player must choose two or more nations within a list of possible targets, he's not allowed to designate a single target nation more than once per political effect. For example, if Communism must choose four Minor Nations and/or Influenceable Powers, Communist player can designate a target country (i.e.: Italy) only one time, no more.

Bibliography

"Atlante Storico – Cronologia della storia universale", Garzanti (2009).
Brendon, Piers (2003) "Gli Anni 30. Un decennio che sconvolse il mondo", Carocci.
Hobsbawm, Eric J. (2006) "Il Secolo breve – 1914-1991", Rizzoli.
Kennedy, Paul (1987) "The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers", italian edition: "Ascesa e Declino delle Grandi Potenze", 1989 Garzanti Ed.
Sabbatucci Giovanni e Vidotto Vittorio (2008) "Storia Contemporanea, il Novecento", Laterza.
Villari, Rosario (1970), "Storia Contemporanea", Roma, Bari, Laterza.
Internet: http://it.wikipedia.org/