Quartermaster General: The Cold War Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
  • Card Layout
  • Card and Piece Breakdown
  • Nationalities
• Setup
  • Player Assignment
  • Drawing Your Opening Hand
  • Pieces on Board at Start
• The Game Board
  • Game board features
  • Straits
  • Map Notes
• Order of Play
  • Turn Sequence
• Team Play
• Pieces
  • Contested Spaces
• Supply
  • Supply Tokens
  • Organic Supply
  • Supply Effects
• Building and Recruiting Pieces
  • Build
  • Recruit
  • Nationalist Pieces
• Cards
  • Running Out of Cards
• Who Can See What?
  • Discard Pile
• Card Types
• Interpreting Cards
• Reactions
• Escalation and WMD Costs
  • WMD Cost
  • Escalation Level
• Air Forces
• Battle and Elimination
  • Supply and Battle
  • Battle vs. Eliminate
  • Air Forces in Battle
• Reallocate Resources
• Bloc Profiles
  • Soviet Bloc
  • Western Bloc
  • Non-Aligned Bloc
  • Non-Aligned Bloc Cooperation
• Scoring & Victory
  • Victory Points (VPs)
  • Scoring Phase
  • Victory
  • Balance of Power Victory Point Transfers
• Extended Example of Play
  • Begin Turn Step
  • Air Step
  • Action Step
  • Supply Step
  • Discard Step
  • Espionage Step
  • Draw Step
• Designer's Notes
• Credits

Components

• 216 cards
• 6 Player Aid cards
• Game board
• 59 Army, Navy, and Air Force pieces
• Cardboard tokens:
  • 1 Turn Track marker
  • 1 Game Round marker
  • 3 Victory Point markers
  • 6 Escalation Level markers
  • 6 Soviet Supply tokens
  • 6 Western Bloc Supply tokens
  • 2 Chinese Supply tokens

Card Layout

Each Bloc has two separate decks with identical card backs. When you are playing both decks of a Bloc, the cards are shuffled together into one deck.

Each card shows: deck color, card type, card title, game text, nationality, escalation symbol(s) if any, and WMD cost (see Escalation and WMD Costs, page 26).

Card and Piece Breakdown

	Soviet	West	Non-Aligned
Total Cards	73	81	62
Red deck	39	Blue deck 41	Gold deck 32
Maroon deck	34	Green deck 40	Orange deck 30

Nationalities

Different colored pieces are considered different nationalities. The Soviet and Western Bloc have one nationality each; the Non-Aligned Bloc has three nationalities, each with its own set of pieces.

Soviet — Army: 13, Navy: 3, Air Force: 3

West — Army: 10, Navy: 6, Air Force: 4

Non-Aligned

• Chinese — Army: 5, Navy: 1, Air Force: 1
• Indian — Army: 3, Navy: 1, Air Force: 1
• Nationalist — Army: 6, Navy: 1, Air Force: 1

Setup

Place each Bloc's Victory Point marker on 0 of the Victory Point track. Place the Game Round marker on Round 1 of the Game Round track.

Player Assignment

3 players	4 players	5 players	6 players
Soviet Bloc	Soviet Bloc	Western Bloc (Blue Deck)	Western Bloc (Blue Deck)
Western Bloc	Western Bloc	Western Bloc (Green Deck)	Western Bloc (Green Deck)
Non-Aligned Bloc	Non-Aligned Bloc (Gold Deck)	Soviet Bloc	Soviet Bloc (Red Deck)
	Non-Aligned Bloc (Orange Deck)	Non-Aligned Bloc (Gold Deck)	Soviet Bloc (Maroon Deck)
		Non-Aligned Bloc (Orange Deck)	Non-Aligned Bloc (Gold Deck)
			Non-Aligned Bloc (Orange Deck)

If there are more than 3 players, some or all of the players will share a Bloc as teammates, as per the Player Assignment chart.

If you are playing an entire Bloc, shuffle together all of that Bloc's cards to make a draw deck. If two people are playing a Bloc, separate that Bloc's cards into two decks based on the background color of the card.

Drawing Your Opening Hand

If playing an entire Bloc:

• Draw 12 cards.
• Choose 7 for your opening hand.
• Place 2 Espionage cards face-down on the table.
• Place the remaining 3 cards on the bottom of your draw deck.

If you do not get at least 2 Espionage cards in your opening draw, reveal your draw to the other players, reshuffle, and draw again. (And repeat if you still don't get 2 Espionage cards!)

If playing with a teammate:

• Draw 10 cards.
• Choose 7 for your opening hand.
• Place 1 Espionage card face-down on the table.
• Place the remaining 2 cards on the bottom of your draw deck.

If you do not get at least 1 Espionage card in your opening draw, reveal your draw to the other players, reshuffle, and draw again. (And repeat if you still don't get 1 Espionage card.)

Pieces on Board at Start

Soviet Bloc

• Army: Siberia
• Army: Moscow
• Army: White Russia
• Army: East Europe
• Air Force: East Europe
• Army: Germany

Western Bloc

• Army: United States
• Navy: North Atlantic
• Army: France
• Air Force: France
• Army: Germany
• Army: Japan
• Navy: North Pacific
• Air Force: North Pacific

Non-Aligned Bloc

• Chinese Army: China
• Chinese Air Force: China
• Indian Army: India
• Non-Aligned Army: Balkans
• Non-Aligned Army: Indonesia
• Non-Aligned Army: South America

Place all of the other pieces and tokens to the side for later use.

The Game Board

The game board is a map of the world divided into land and sea spaces. Adjacent spaces share a common border. The map wraps around east to west, like a cylinder; the East Pacific is adjacent to both the North Pacific and South Pacific.

Game board features

• Printed Supply symbols (gold star icons)
• Straits (connector lines and anchor icons)
• Victory Point track
• Game Round track
• Scoring Phase (marked on the Game Round track after every even-numbered round, from 1950 through 1990, and a final Scoring Phase after round 19 in 1992)
• Escalation Track — one track for each pair of Blocs: Soviet vs. Western, Western vs. Non-Aligned, Soviet vs. Non-Aligned

Straits

An anchor appears on the land space that allows control of a strait, and the arrows indicate which two bodies of water are connected by the strait.

A strait is open to you if no enemy Army occupies the Land space with the anchor icon.

If the strait is open, then the two sea spaces are considered adjacent; otherwise, the spaces are not considered adjacent.

Map Notes

1. Siberia is not adjacent to Korea.
2. Manchuria is not adjacent to the North Pacific.
3. China is not adjacent to Korea.
4. Tibet is not adjacent to Southeast Asia.
5. Szechuan is not adjacent to India.

Order of Play

A game can last up to 19 rounds. Every round, each Bloc takes a turn in the following order:

1. Soviet Bloc
2. Western Bloc
3. Non-Aligned Bloc

There is a Scoring Phase after every even-numbered round, and a final Scoring Phase after round 19, as shown on the Game Round track.

Turn Sequence

When a step is optional, it means the moving Bloc may choose whether to perform any actions during this step.

1. Begin Turn step (optional): First, you may Reallocate Resources (see Reallocate Resources, page 31). Then (in any order you choose), you may use any prepared cards that specify this step.
2. Air step (optional): Your Bloc may play one Air Power card, or discard any card from hand to rebase an Air Force.
3. Action step (optional): Your Bloc may play or prepare one card from hand (except an Espionage or Air Power card).
4. Supply step: Remove your out-of-supply pieces from the board (but see Organic Supply, page 14).
5. Discard step (optional): Your Bloc may discard 1 card from hand; or you may give 1 card to your teammate; or your teammate may give 1 card to you.
6. Espionage step (optional): You (or your teammate) may discard a card from hand to prepare an Espionage card.
7. Draw step: You must draw until your hand has 7 cards, or until your draw deck runs out. If you have more than 7 cards, you do not need to discard.

Team Play

When you are playing a Bloc alone, you do not need to distinguish between the two decks - on your Bloc's turn, you will take all of the steps in the turn.

When you are playing a Bloc with a teammate, the following rules apply:

• Only one teammate may perform the Air step.
• Only one teammate may play or prepare a card during the Action step.
• Only one teammate may prepare a card during the Espionage step.
• Only one teammate may discard a card during the Discard step. However, instead of discarding a card, one teammate may give the other a card from hand. Only 1 card can be given per turn.
• Other steps are taken jointly.
• Teammates cannot use each other's Status, WMD, or Espionage cards.
• When the rules or a card specifies a Bloc must discard cards, you and your teammate may divide up the discards as you see fit. For example, if the START Treaty card is used, either player on a Bloc may discard a WMD to avoid losing Victory Points.
• When the rules or a card specifies "you", or "a player" must discard, then that player must discard the cards.
• Either teammate on a Bloc can discard a card for Organic Supply (see Organic Supply, page 14) for any piece of that Bloc.

Card example — START Treaty (Espionage): Use in your Begin Turn step. Each Bloc must discard a prepared WMD card; if it has none prepared, it must lose 3 VPs.

Pieces

There are a fixed number of pieces for the game (see Components, page 4); if all are in play, no more are available to be built or recruited. Pieces removed from the board for any reason become available to be built or recruited.

At any time during your own Bloc's turn, you may remove your own Bloc's piece from the board (thereby making it available to be built or recruited).

The following restrictions apply to pieces at all times:

• Each Bloc may have at most one Navy per Sea space.
• Each Bloc may have at most one Army per Land space.
• Each Bloc may have at most one Air Force per space. An Air Force must be in the same space as an Army or Navy of the same Bloc and nationality. (See Air Forces, page 28).

These restrictions override card text. For example, if a card instructs you to perform an action that would violate one of these restrictions, such as recruiting an Army in a space where you already have an Army, the new Army is not recruited and that part of the card's text is ignored.

Contested Spaces

• A space with no pieces in it is open.
• A space with pieces from only one Bloc is uncontested.
• A space with pieces from two or three different Blocs is contested.

Unlike other games in the Quartermaster General series, enemy pieces may occupy the same space.

Supply

At any moment, a piece is either supplied or out of supply.

• An Army or Navy is supplied if it can trace a line of uncontested spaces, each occupied by a piece of its own nationality, to an uncontested space with a Supply symbol.
• A piece can itself be in a contested space, as long as the supply line from the Supply symbol up to the contested space is uncontested.
• An Army in a contested space with a Supply symbol must trace supply to a different Supply symbol.
• An Air Force is in supply if it is in the same space as a supplied Army or Navy of the same nationality.
• The three Non-Aligned nationalities cannot trace supply through each other's pieces.

Supply Example: Even though the Soviet Army in Afghanistan is in a contested space, it remains in supply because the rest of the supply line to Moscow is uncontested.

Supply Tokens

Some cards allow a player to place a Supply token in a particular land space.

• A Supply token gives a space a Supply symbol for the nationality of the token (only).
• A piece can never trace supply or earn a bonus Victory Point from a different nationality's Supply token.
• An enemy piece in the same space as your Supply token still has the effect of contesting the space, spoiling the token's supply and Victory Point benefits.
• Spaces with Supply tokens are not considered to have a "printed" Supply symbol.

Organic Supply

At any time during your own Bloc's turn, you may discard a card from hand to put an Army or Navy in supply for the remainder of the turn. Each Army and Navy that is out of supply must be paid for separately.

Supply Effects

• You may not initiate a battle using a piece that is out of supply.
• You may not build a piece in a space where it would be out of supply.
• An out-of-supply Air Force cannot perform an air strike (see Air Forces, page 28) or be used as an interceptor (see Air Forces in Battle, page 30).
• An out-of-supply Air Force may be rebased.
• Your pieces are not penalized for being out of supply on another Bloc's turn. For example, an out-of-supply Air Force may use air defense.
• During your own Supply step, you must remove any out-of-supply pieces for which you haven't paid the organic supply cost, except Nationalist pieces.
• Nationalist pieces are not removed for being out of supply.

Building and Recruiting Pieces

You place pieces on the board by building or recruiting. Pay careful attention to whether a card directs you to build or recruit.

Build

When you build an Army or Navy, you must place it adjacent to another supplied piece of the same nationality (exception, Nationalist Pieces, see Example, page 17). Air Forces must be built in the same space as a supplied Army or Navy of the same nationality.

A piece that is built must be in supply the moment it is placed on the board. Thus, you cannot try to discard a card pre-emptively for Organic Supply to build a piece in a space where it would otherwise be out of supply.

However, if you build into an open space with a Supply symbol, you are immediately in supply.

Example: The Chinese have an out-of-supply Army in Manchuria, and a Non-Aligned player wants to use a Build Chinese Army card to build an Army in China, which is open. First, the Non-Aligned Bloc must discard a card from hand to put the Army in Manchuria in supply. Then it may play a Build Chinese Army card to build an Army in China. Since China has a Supply symbol, the new Army is immediately in supply.

The Non-Aligned player could not build the Army in Korea, since it would not be able to trace a supply line to a Supply symbol.

If China did not have an Army in Manchuria, there would be no way to build an Army. The Non-Aligned player would have to use a card that allowed it to recruit an Army (see next section).

Recruit

When you are directed to recruit a piece, the above build rules are ignored. You may place the piece wherever directed by the card (except of course you can never have two Armies, or Navies, or Air Forces from the same Bloc in the same space, and an Air Force must be recruited in the same space as a supplied Army or Navy of the same nationality). You may recruit a piece in a space where it is out of supply, but this does not protect the piece from being removed in your Supply step.

Nationalist Pieces

Nationalist pieces are somewhat different than the other nationalities. A Nationalist piece:

• Can never be built or recruited in a space with a printed supply symbol;
• Is not required to be adjacent to another Nationalist piece to be built (and cannot trace supply through other Nationalist pieces);
• Must still be in supply when built (which is generally achieved if the right Status card is in play);
• Is not removed during the Supply step if out of supply. However, just because it is not removed during the Supply step does not mean the piece is always in supply.

Example: The Non-Aligned player wants to play a Build Nationalist Army card. The player also has the African National Congress card prepared. The player cannot build in Central America, even by discarding a card to use Organic Supply to put the Army in South America in supply, since the Army in Central America would not be in supply when built. The player can build in Sub-Saharan Africa, since African National Congress ensures it would be in supply there.

Card example — African National Congress (Status): Nationalist pieces in Sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar are always in supply. During each Scoring Phase, gain +1 VP if Sub-Saharan Africa is occupied by a Nationalist Army uncontested.

Cards

During the course of the game, each player will have their own:

• Draw deck*
• Discard pile
• Face-up prepared Status and WMD cards
• Face-down prepared Espionage cards

*When you are directed to discard or inspect "draw deck cards", use the top cards of your draw deck; you do not get to choose from all the cards in the draw deck.

When you play a card, take it from your hand, place it on top of your discard pile face up, and then resolve its game effect. (Status, WMD, and Espionage cards cannot be played, but must be prepared.)

When you prepare a card, take it from your hand and place it on the table in front of you. Prepare Status and WMD cards face up; prepare Espionage cards face down.

A card that is on the table is prepared. The game text on a prepared card will indicate when and how it is used.

Your Bloc may either play or prepare one card during your Action step (except Air Power or Espionage cards.)

When you use a prepared card, resolve the game text on the card. All prepared WMD, Status, and Espionage cards will indicate when they are used.

Prepared WMD and Espionage cards are discarded after one use. Prepared Status cards may be used when specified on the card, and remain prepared the entire game (unless discarded by another card). There is no limit to the number of prepared cards you can have.

Running Out of Cards

If your draw deck is empty, you no longer draw cards but otherwise continue playing. (You do not reuse the cards in your discard pile!)

If an enemy WMD card requires you to discard a card from your draw deck or your hand, and you cannot, your Bloc immediately loses 1 Victory Point for each card you are unable to discard. If you still have cards left (or your teammate does, if the card specifies that your Bloc must discard), you may not voluntarily choose to lose a Victory Point instead of discarding.

The above rule only applies to WMD cards! If another kind of enemy card forces you to discard a card and you cannot, you do not suffer any further consequences unless specified on the card.

You cannot use your own card that forces you to discard cards if you do not have enough cards to discard. You may never take a Victory Point penalty to meet a requirement from your own card. For example, you cannot use the NATO card if you do not have 3 cards in your hand. Likewise, you cannot use McCarthyism and the Red Scare if you have no cards left in your draw deck.

Card example — NATO (Status): Use once per turn in your Begin Turn step. Discard 3 cards from hand to recruit a Western piece in or adjacent to the North Atlantic.

Card example — McCarthyism and the Red Scare (Espionage): Use in your Begin Turn step. Each Bloc must discard 2 draw deck cards.

Who Can See What?

Strictly, you cannot disclose the contents of your hand, discard pile, or face-down Espionage cards to other players, even teammates. (Of course no players can examine the draw decks!) This provides the maximum "fog of war" and ensures both teammates will contribute their skill to the result. However, we know some players would prefer the option to play with a looser standard.

At a minimum, any information you provide to your teammate must also be provided to your opponents.

Other players may always know the number of cards in your hand and the number of Espionage cards on the table.

Face-up Status and WMD cards are of course known to all players.

Discard Pile

When you discard, and the front of the card is not used (for example, when you're discarding in order to prepare an Espionage card or due to an enemy WMD), discard the card face down, or at the bottom of your discard pile, so as not to reveal the card's face to the other players.

Other players cannot look through your discard pile, but you may inspect your own discard pile at any time.

Card Types

Build Army (Build Army card type) — Play in the Action step to build an Army (see Build, page 14).

Build Navy — Play in the Action step to build a Navy (see Build, page 14).

Land Battle — Play in the Action step to conduct a Land Battle (see Battle and Elimination, page 29).

Sea Battle — Play in the Action step to conduct a Sea Battle (see Battle and Elimination, page 29).

Event — Play in the Action step to resolve the game text on the card.

Card example — Conducător Ceaușescu (Event, Non-Aligned/Balkans): Place a Soviet supply token in the Balkans; then build an Army in the Balkans.

Air Power — Play during the Air step, not during the Action step. See Air Forces, page 28, for the uses of an Air Power Card.

WMD — Prepare face up in the Action step. Prepared WMD cards may be used when specified on the card. A WMD card must be prepared to use. WMD cards are discarded after one use. You (might) incur a Victory Point penalty when you use a WMD card, but not when you prepare it (see Escalation and WMD Costs, page 26).

Card example — Minuteman ICBM (WMD): Use in your Begin Turn step. Discard a prepared enemy WMD card or 8 of one enemy player's draw deck cards.

Status — Prepare face up in the Action step. Prepared Status cards may be used when specified on the card. Status cards are NOT discarded after one use.

Card example — SEATO (Status): Use once per turn in your Begin Turn step. Discard 3 cards from hand to recruit a Western piece in or adjacent to the South China Sea.

Espionage — Prepare face down during the Espionage step, not during the Action step. In order to prepare an Espionage card, you must first discard a card from hand (your teammate cannot discard a card on your behalf). Prepared Espionage cards may be used when specified on the card. Espionage cards are discarded after one use.

Card example — The B-59 Submarine Incident (Espionage): Use when an enemy builds a Navy in the same space as a Soviet Navy. Increase both enemies' escalation levels against the Soviets by 2.

Note that cards are sometimes played or prepared at other times than specified in the descriptions above, if allowed by some other card (for example, The Missile Gap).

Card example — The Missile Gap (Status): Use once per turn in your Begin Turn step. Discard 3 cards from hand to prepare a Western WMD card.

Interpreting Cards

• Unless a card specifies an enemy or another Bloc, a card always refers to the pieces and cards of its own Bloc.
• If a card has two or more actions, perform these in the order presented on the card.
• Actions are resolved one at a time (although of course the entire card text is known to all when revealed).
• If there is a "cost" to using a card (such as discarding cards), it must be paid before the benefit is received.
• You do not have to take advantage of every benefit a card provides. For example if you played Indo-Pakistani War, you could recruit an Army and/or an Air Force without initiating a battle.
• One benefit is not (typically) a prerequisite for another. For example, if you played Indo-Pakistani War, you are not required to recruit the Army or Air Force to initiate a battle.
• Pay careful attention to when cards specify "build" or "recruit" (see Building and Recruiting Pieces, page 14), and likewise with "battle" or "eliminate" (see Battle and Elimination, page 29).
• Whenever you are directed to choose a card or examine cards from your draw deck, where you must look at the faces of the cards, shuffle your deck afterwards.
• When an Event or Espionage card directs you to prepare an Espionage card, you do not have to discard a card, as you must do in the Espionage step.

Card example — Indo-Pakistani War (Event, Indian): Recruit an Indian Army and Air Force in or adjacent to India; then battle with an Indian piece in or adjacent to India.

Reactions

• Status, WMD, or Espionage cards are used in reaction to a game trigger. (For example, a trigger could be "your Begin Turn step", or "your Army is removed on an enemy turn").
• Status, WMD, and Espionage cards are used at the discretion of the player of the card. They are generally not mandatory.
• If more than one Bloc can react to a trigger, Blocs take turns reacting. The Bloc that is taking its turn must react after the other 2 Blocs, but decides which enemy reacts first.
• If you have more than one reaction to a trigger, resolve them one at a time in any order you wish. For example, the Soviet Bloc wants to "react" to its Begin Turn step. The Soviet Bloc first uses Category B and V Reserves Called Up to build an Army, and then immediately follows it with Perestroika to remove the Army.
• A reaction cannot be used at a previous moment, to undo something that has already been done (unless that intent is specifically stated on the card).

Card example — Category B and V Reserves Called Up (Espionage): Use in your Begin Turn step. Build an Army.

Card example — Perestroika (Espionage): Use in your Begin Turn step. Gain +2 VP for each of up to 3 Soviet Armies you eliminate.

Reaction Example: The Soviet Bloc has 4 WMD cards prepared: Project 941 Akula, "F" Programs, 2S4 Tyulpan Mortar, and Kondensator Rocket Artillery. The Western Bloc has 2 WMDs prepared: Minuteman ICBM and MX Peacekeeper.

It is the Western Bloc's Begin Turn step. The Western Bloc player announces that it will use the MX Peacekeeper*, and chooses to discard 2S4 Tyulpan Mortar and Kondensator Rocket Artillery.

The Soviet Bloc player wants to protect the "F" Programs card for a coming offensive, so decides to use the Project 941 Akula to take out the Minuteman ICBM.

While it is true that the Project 941 Akula can be launched at any time, the Soviet Bloc cannot use it retroactively to discard the MX Peacekeeper.

* This example does not detail the resolution of the Escalation and WMD costs (see Escalation and WMD Costs, page 26).

Card example — 2S4 Tyulpan Mortar (WMD, cost 2): Use immediately after you build an Army. Battle an enemy in the same space as the Army just built.

Card example — Kondensator Rocket Artillery (WMD, cost 3): Use in your Begin Turn step. Eliminate an enemy Army in the same space as a Soviet Army; then that enemy Bloc must discard 3 cards from hand.

Card example — "F" Chemical & Biological Warfare Programs (WMD, cost 6): Use in your Begin Turn step. To use, you must eliminate a Soviet Army. Eliminate an Army from each enemy Bloc. You must pay the WMD cost for each enemy.

Card example — Project 941 Akula (WMD, cost 0): Use any time. Discard a prepared enemy WMD card or force one enemy to lose 4 VPs.

Card example — Minuteman ICBM (WMD, cost 9): Use in your Begin Turn step. Discard a prepared enemy WMD card or 8 of one enemy player's draw deck cards.

Card example — MX Peacekeeper (WMD, cost 10): Use in your Begin Turn step. Discard 1 or 2 of one enemy's prepared WMD cards or 9 of one enemy player's draw deck cards.

Escalation and WMD Costs

World opinion generally frowns on first use of weapons of mass destruction.

WMD Cost

All WMD cards have a Victory Point cost which you must pay in order to use the card. (You cannot use a card if doing so would reduce your Bloc to negative Victory Points.) This cost is reduced by the escalation level of the target Bloc against your Bloc. A WMD cost can never be reduced below zero.

Escalation Level

• Each Bloc has a separate escalation level against each other Bloc.
• When you use a card that has a radiation symbol on it, advance the appropriate Escalation Level marker as many spaces on the track as the number of symbols on the card.
• All Land Battle and Sea Battle cards, most WMDs, and some Espionage cards have escalation symbols.

There are six Escalation tracks, each numbered 0 through 9: Western vs. Soviet, Western vs. Non-Aligned, Soviet vs. Western, Soviet vs. Non-Aligned, Non-Aligned vs. Western, and Non-Aligned vs. Soviet.

Some cards have a "?" symbol, which means that the escalation depends on how the card is used:

• An Event or Espionage card with this symbol generally has more than one action to resolve, and will add to the escalation level if the action indicated with the "?" symbol is used.
• An Air Power card increases the escalation level if it is used for an Air Strike (see Air Forces, page 28.)

WMD Cost & Escalation Example: The Non-Aligned Bloc's current escalation level against the Western Bloc is 2; the Western Bloc's escalation level against the Non-Aligned Bloc is 1. If the Non-Aligned Bloc uses the East Wind MRBM:

a. it must first deduct 2 Victory Points - the WMD cost of 3 less Western Bloc's escalation level of 1;

b. and then increase its escalation level against the Western Bloc by 1 (up to 3) due to the radiation symbol.

The Western Bloc's escalation level against the Non-Aligned Bloc does not change.

Card example — East Wind MRBM (WMD, cost 3): Use in your Begin Turn step. Eliminate an enemy Bloc's Army or Navy within 2 spaces of the China space; then that enemy Bloc must discard 3 cards from hand.

Air Forces

During your Air step, your Bloc may do one of the following:

• Build Air Force - Play an Air Power card to build an Air Force in the same space as a supplied Army or Navy of the same nationality. The Army or Navy must be in supply at the moment the Air Force is built.
• Air Strike - Play an Air Power card to conduct an Air Strike. An Air Strike eliminates an enemy piece in the same or an adjacent space. You may not use an Air Strike to eliminate an enemy Army or Navy if that Enemy has an Air Force in the same space. In that case, your Air Strike may only target the enemy Air Force. (You may not use Air Defense against Air Strikes, only battles. See Air Forces in Battle, page 30.)
• Rebase - Discard any card from hand to remove one of your Air Forces from the board and build it elsewhere.

A Bloc may only have one Air Force in a space.

If your Air Force ever finds itself in a space without an Army or Navy of the same nationality, you have a choice: either eliminate your Air Force, or discard a card from hand to relocate it to an adjacent space with an Army or Navy of the same nationality. That Army or Navy does not have to be in supply, unlike when you rebase.

During battles, Air Forces can be used to support Armies and Navies in the same or an adjacent space. (See Air Forces in Battle, page 30.)

Battle and Elimination

There are two types of battles: Land Battles and Sea Battles. In order to battle another Bloc's Army or Navy, you must have a supplied Army or Navy in the same space, and play or use a card that allows you to battle in that space. Then, barring some other reaction, the enemy Army or Navy you're battling is removed from the board.

If both enemy Blocs are in a space, you may only battle one with a single battle action.

Supply and Battle

• An Army or Navy must be in supply to initiate a battle.
• You may use Organic Supply to supply a piece initiating battle.
• Defending Armies and Navies do not need to be in supply.

Battle vs. Eliminate

When a card directs you to battle, you must follow all of the rules set out above. For example if you play Indo-Pakistani War, you must have a supplied piece in the same space as the enemy, if you wish to battle.

When a card directs you to eliminate an enemy piece, no battle occurs, so the battle rules do not apply. Simply remove the enemy piece from the board. For example, you can use the Palestine Liberation Organization card without having a friendly army in the Middle East.

Card example — Palestine Liberation Organization (Espionage): Use in your Begin Turn step. Recruit a Nationalist Army in the Middle East or eliminate an enemy Army in the Middle East.

Air Forces in Battle

Air Forces may be used in battles. Either teammate on a Bloc may decide to use an Air Force in a battle. In terms of timing, utilizing an Air Force in a battle is treated as a reaction to the battle.

Air Defense

If you are being battled and are about to lose your Army or Navy, you may instead lose an Air Force in the same or an adjacent space. You may not use Air Defense if an Army or Navy is eliminated!

Interceptors

If a defending enemy uses Air Defense to lose an Air Force instead of an Army or Navy, you may intercept the Air Defense by removing one of your own supplied Air Forces in the same or an adjacent space to the battle. This will allow the original battle to go through, and result in the removal of the enemy Army or Navy — unless of course the defender has another eligible Air Force and decides to use Air Defense again!

The Blocs may use as many Air Forces for Air Defense and Interceptors as they choose, taking turns to commit their Air Forces one at a time, like any other reactions.

A Bloc not involved in a battle cannot use an Air Force to support either of the combatants.

Reallocate Resources

Once per turn, in your Begin Turn step, you may use Reallocate Resources (Both teammates in a Bloc may do this.) Reallocate Resources allows you to discard 3 cards from your hand to search your draw deck for a card and add it to your hand. Only Build Army, Build Navy, Land Battle, Sea Battle, or Air Power cards can be chosen from your draw deck. Non-Aligned Bloc players may choose a card of any nationality in their deck.

Before you search your deck, you should consult the chart on the Player Aid card showing the breakdown of cards per deck. By checking your discard pile and hand, you'll be able to determine if you can get the card you want.

You must reveal the card selected to the other players. Afterwards, shuffle your draw deck.

Bloc Profiles

Soviet Bloc

The Soviet Bloc will win by deploying its Supply tokens in coordination with its Espionage cards that provide bonus Victory Points.

It is tempting to start battling in Europe or China early, but it might be worth waiting until you have enough prepared Espionage and WMD cards to make your attack meaningful.

Western Bloc

The Western Bloc has the most scoring opportunities in easily reached printed supply spaces; however, your scoring potential is limited by the number of armies. The need to constantly prune enemy forces means you have to stay engaged, or your enemies' greater multitudes will end up scoring more! Your strongest cards are your Status cards that allow you extra actions during your turn, but you'll need to be careful not to run out your own deck using these cards too much.

Non-Aligned Bloc

The Non-Aligned Bloc will be most successful if it can quietly place Army after Army, making sure that it gets out as many of its Victory Point-providing Status cards as possible. You need to encourage conflict between the Soviets and the West, as normally the Non-Aligned Bloc will take a bit of steam to catch up to the other two Blocs. In the end, you have the people power capable of the greatest point-earning potential.

Non-Aligned Bloc Cooperation

The Non-Aligned Bloc is nowhere near as cohesive a force as the other two Blocs, and in fact significant tensions have plagued the relations between the two most populous nations (India and China). For this reason, the Non-Aligned Bloc cards differentiate between Chinese, Indian, and other "Nationalist" forces.

The three nationalities have their own color pieces, and when using a Non-Aligned Bloc card, you must adhere to the nationality stated on the card (if any). Thus, a Nationalist Land Battle card only allows a Nationalist Army to battle; an Indian Build Army card may only be used to build an Indian Army, etc.

The Non-Aligned Bloc cannot have pieces from its different nationalities in the same space.

Scoring & Victory

Victory Points (VPs)

Each Bloc keeps track of their score with a Victory Point marker that is moved along the track on the edge of the board. If your score exceeds 99, the marker is flipped over to the +100 side.

Blocs accumulate Victory Points (VPs) throughout the game. Most of your VPs are scored during Scoring Phases, but there are some other cards that provide immediate Victory Points (for example, OPEC.)

Card example — OPEC (Espionage): Use in your Begin Turn step. Gain +2 VP for each Nationalist piece in or adjacent to the Middle East.

Scoring Phase

After every even-numbered round, and after round 19, there is a Scoring Phase as indicated on the Game Round track. During each Scoring Phase, your Bloc receives:

• 1 Victory Point per Army you have on the board
• 1 bonus Victory Point where your Army occupies an uncontested space with a Supply symbol, either printed on the board or on a Supply token of the same nationality as the Army
• You might also receive extra Victory Points from Status cards (for example, Arab League.)

You do not receive bonus Victory Points from contested spaces with Supply symbols. Navies and Air Forces do not provide Victory Points.

Card example — Arab League (Status): Nationalist pieces in the Middle East and North Africa are always in supply. During each Scoring Phase, gain +1 VP if the Middle East is occupied by a Nationalist Army uncontested.

Victory

There are two ways to win:

• At the end of 19 rounds, the Bloc with the most Victory Points wins.
• OR — At the end of any Scoring Phase, if the Bloc in first place has at least 20 more VPs than the Bloc in last place, the game ends and the Bloc in first place wins.

In the event of a tie, the winner is the player with the most undiscarded cards (in hand, draw deck, and on the table).

Balance of Power Victory Point Transfers

Before declaring a winner at the end of a Scoring Phase, the Bloc in second place must give Victory Points to the Bloc in last place until both Blocs are within 19 points of the leader.

If this is not possible because the second place Bloc does not have enough points to bring the last-place Bloc to within 19 points of the leader without itself falling 20 points behind the leader, the game is called and the Bloc in the lead wins.

If two Blocs are tied for first place, and both are 20 or more points ahead of the Bloc in last place, each of the leading Blocs must give Victory Points to the Bloc in last place until that Bloc is within 19 points of the leaders. (Both leading Blocs must give the same number of VPs.)

Example: At the end of a Scoring Phase, the Soviet Bloc has 78 VPs, the Western Bloc has 70 VPs, and the Non-Aligned Bloc has 57 VPs. The Western Bloc must give the Non-Aligned Bloc 2 VPs. The results in the Western Bloc going into the next round with 68 VPs and the Non-Aligned Bloc with 59 VPs.

Extended Example of Play

Midway through the game, the Soviets have decided to attack in Europe. The escalation level of the Western Bloc against the Soviets is 1. The escalation level of the Soviets against the Western Bloc is 0.

The Soviet Bloc has prepared (on the table) the following cards:

• Kondensator Rocket Artillery (face up)
• 2S4 Tyulpan Mortar (face up)
• Project 941 Akula (face up)
• Preemptive Attack (face down)
• Seven Days to the River Rhine (face down)
• Offensive Doctrine (face down)

The Western Bloc has these cards prepared:

• Trident SLBM (face up)
• Berlin Airlift (face down)

Soviet pieces:

• Germany: Army
• East Europe: Army and Air Force

Western pieces:

• Germany: Army
• France: Army and Air Force
• Italy: Army
• North Atlantic: Navy

Non-Aligned pieces:

• Balkans: Army

Begin Turn Step

1. The Soviet player uses Preemptive Attack to initiate a battle in Germany; the Land Battle card played also increases the Soviet vs. Western Bloc escalation level to 1.

Card example — Preemptive Attack (Espionage): Use in your Begin Turn step. You may play a Land Battle card.

2. The Western Bloc player uses Berlin Airlift, and does not remove the Western Bloc Army.

Card example — Berlin Airlift (Espionage): Use when a Western Army in or adjacent to Germany is about to be removed. This Army is not removed.

3. This certainly dampens but does not end the Soviet assault. The Soviets use the Kondensator Rocket Artillery. The Soviet Bloc deducts 2 VPs, as the card's base WMD cost of 3 is reduced by 1 because of the Western Bloc's escalation level. The Soviet vs. Western Bloc escalation level is increased to 3.

Card example — Kondensator Rocket Artillery (WMD, cost 3): Use in your Begin Turn step. Eliminate an enemy Army in the same space as a Soviet Army; then that enemy Bloc must discard 3 cards from hand.

4. The Soviets eliminate the Western Army in Germany. Since the card specifies eliminate, the Air Force in France cannot come to the aid of the Army in Germany. The Western Bloc discards 3 cards from hand.

5. Since it is still the Begin Turn step, the Soviets use Seven Days to the River Rhine to gain +4 VPs.

Card example — Seven Days to the River Rhine (Espionage): Use in your Begin Turn step. Gain +4 VP if a Soviet Army occupies Germany uncontested.

Air Step

The Soviet player discards a card from hand face down to rebase its Air Force from East Europe to Germany.

Action Step

1. The Soviets play a Build Army card and place an Army in Italy.
2. Then the Soviets use the 2S4 Tyulpan Mortar to initiate a battle in Italy, increasing the escalation level to 4.
3. The Western Air Force in France is removed to use Air Defense to try to protect the Army; but the Soviets are willing to trade an Air Force and remove the Air Force in Germany as an Interceptor. The Western Army in Italy is removed.

Card example — 2S4 Tyulpan Mortar (WMD, cost 0): Use immediately after you build an Army. Battle an enemy in the same space as the Army just built.

4. Finally, the Soviets use Offensive Doctrine in reaction to the battle in Italy, building a Soviet Army in France.

Card example — Offensive Doctrine (Espionage): Use immediately after you battle in a land space. Build a Soviet Army in or adjacent to the space just battled.

Supply Step

All of the Soviet pieces are in supply.

Discard Step

The Soviets discard no cards.

Espionage Step

The Soviet player discards a card from hand to prepare an Espionage card from hand face down on the table.

Draw Step

The Soviet player draws 6 cards and adds them to the 1 card left in hand.

Designer's Notes

In approaching Quartermaster General: The Cold War, I decided I needed to not duplicate some of the excellent other titles (e.g. Twilight Struggle) on the subject. From inception this was to be a three-way game, and in fact, much of my decision to pursue the subject matter was dictated by my desire to make a three-sided game.

In general, the Blocs that are behind have a motivation to work together against the leader. It is often smart to hold off on using a card until you figure out which enemy is the bigger threat! There's no point in hammering the team in last place if you're in second place.

The three-team dynamic also provides a perfect mechanism for WMDs. By penalizing both the attacker and defender, the third Bloc then benefits, so players are strongly dissuaded from using their big nukes. But given sufficient provocation, or perhaps just some slight tactical advantage, players will often escalate past the point of polite society (you'll find the game a bit more gruesome than real life, where Victory Points are awarded somewhat differently).

Be careful about managing your deck: if you're moving through it too quickly, skip the Action step or Espionage step. Likewise, don't be afraid to use Reallocate Resources if you're moving through your deck too slowly – alas, not every card will be used every game!

Credits

Designer: Ian Brody

Developer: Karin Weston-Brody

Art Direction: Nicholas Avallone

Project Manager: Dan Mersey

Proofreader: John Velonis

Executive Producer: Will Townshend

Playtesters: Christian A. Nord, Dave Martin, Heikki Laakkonen, Hervé "Graftodt" Sicre, Jeff Owen, John Velonis, Marc Nelson Jr., Samy Elias, Witch Lord, Yuriy Tapilin, Westchester Gaming Group, Spielbany, Schenectady Wargame Association.