Sergeant Juan Newsome hadn’t ever dreamed aboutgrowing up in an America like this, not even in hisworst nightmares. His father had told him aboutvisiting Washington DC when he was a kid, going to seethe Vietnam Monument, touring Congress, wanderingaround the Smithsonian museums on the mall, tossingpennies into the reflecting pool in front of theLincoln Memorial. He wondered if Dad would evenrecognize the place now.

From where he sat in his observer’s seat in the backof his unit’s APC, Newsome glared over the vehicle’sroof, using his hand to shade his eyes from the rainthat had been pissing down on them for the past monthstraight. He stared out from where they stood on theWhite House’s south lawn and peered past the glowingstump of what was left of the Washington Monument, andhe wondered when the next strike would come from acrossthe Potomac. His battalion was all that stood betweenthe enemy and a vital tank factory to the north, and heknew that their foes wouldn’t be able to resist tryingto snatch such a precious resource from them, not whenit was so close.

Of course, his battalion was only one part of the

much larger regiment charged with the defense ofWashington DC, thousands of soldiers who’d dedicatedtheir lives to protecting the munitions and materieltheir side had amassed. It would be one thing for themto lose it, after all, but far worse to see it fallinto the hands of enemies who could use it againstthem.

Friendly helicopters scudded through the sky overthe Mall, ferrying fighters and supplies from one partof the city to another. As they went, the soldiersstaffing the machine guns on the transports’ southernsides let loose with their machine-guns, peppering anysign of enemy forces they even thought they might haveglimpsed.

Word had come down from above that it was time tolaunch another initiative across the Potomac, to makeanother desperate push into enemy territory in aneffort to drive them back farther than before. Newsomehad long since given up on asking how far would be farenough. The answers never came, and he was sure hewouldn’t want to hear them anyhow.

A tank rumbled past them, roses tangled in betweenits tracks, heading south toward the monument. “Good,”

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Newsome said to himself. “Better to let someone else bethe canary in this coalmine.”

Newsome sighted down the tank’s line of attackthrough his rifle’s scope. He hated to use the thingsince he’d lost his left eye, since it meant hecouldn’t see anything outside of the scope’s field ofvision, but there were times that came in handy. Havingonly one eye made it harder for anything to distracthim, and he’d actually become a better shot since he’dreturned to the field.

A jet roared overhead then, and the anti-aircraftbatteries parked on the White House’s roof lit up thesky with tracer bullets and high-tech flak designed tolet off tiny EMPs. With luck, those would at leastdisrupt the enemy jet’s targeting systems, and if thegunners firing them hit the lottery, it might evenbring the damned thing down. Newsome took his eye offthe tank for a moment to see if the boys might hit thejackpot today, but no such luck.

The enemy jet didn’t fire anything of its own, butNewsome knew that didn’t mean a thing. Munitions formachines like that were hard to come by, but they couldstill serve as spotters for artillery units on theground. He spotted a laser beam spearing through thesoaking mist that came with the rains around here, andhe returned his eye to the rifle scope to see if hecould spot where it landed.

To his horror, he saw the laser’s bright redtelltale spot floating atop the tank’s turret. He putdown the rifle and got on the comm system and called itin, knowing he’d be too late.

“Callahan!” he said. “You got a polka dot painted onyour topside. You better move your fat ass out ofthere, or you’re going to wind up at the top of today’scasualty list.”

Newsome winced as he heard an all-too-familiarwhistle fade in, high up in the sky. It grew louder andlower with every second.

“We’re hauling as fast as we can!” Callahan said,his voice rising in terror. “Come on!” he shouted atthe tank’s driver. “We’re out of time. Move it! Move —!”

The roar of an explosion cut Callahan off, and theshockwave from the blast shook Newsome’s APC back onits springs. By reflex, he brought up his arm toprotect his face, and dirt and tiny bits of shrapnelcascaded down on him from the fresh crater before him,in the center of which the tank’s burning carapace nowstood.

Part of Newsome wanted to leap out of his APC and gohelp the soldiers in the tank — or at least put out thedamn fire — but he knew it wouldn’t make anydifference. No one inside the tank could have survivedthat kind of blast, and the fire burning there wouldsoon be the least of anyone’s worries. It was that kindof war — not that he knew any other kind.

“It’s your turn, Newsome,” Captain Ng said over thecomm. “Get out there and hope you can do better thanthe last guy.”

“Yes, sir.” Newsome stared out at the ground before

them, his jaw set with grim determination. This lookedlike death for sure, but he’d survived suchcircumstances a dozen times before. You didn’t climbranks in this army without a generous share of luck byyour side.

He slapped his hand on the roof of the APC, and itlurched forward. He knew the driver already had hisorders over the ad hoc battle network, and his GPSwould paint his destination and his best route towardit on the windshield’s HUD. It wouldn’t show him how tostay alive though. Only instinct, skill, and maybe abit of guidance from Newsome could help with that. Newsome held on tight as the driver snaked the APCthrough the maze of other vehicles arrayed around theWhite House, heading toward the Washington Monument,just like Callahan and his crew had done momentsbefore. This time, though, no jet skimmed over therooftops, no artillery shells arced through the sky —at least not in this direction. The APC remainedunexploded, even as it reached the base of theWashington Monument, the remaining several stories ofwhich still stabbed into the sky like a broken horn oran arm amputated at the wrist.

That frightened Newsome even more. He slapped on theroof of the APC again, and the driver brought it to agentle halt on the far side of the low hill on whichthe monument sat.

“What’s up, Sarge?” Chu said as he stuck his headout of the front passenger’s window. “Orders didn’t sayto stop here.” “Just shut up for a second.” Newsome closed his onegood eye and listened. Out here, in the open stretch ofno-man’s land between his side and their foes, he coulddistinguish between the sounds of warfare behind himand the silence he expected to hear ahead.

Instead, he heard the roar of countless enginescoming forward from the south. He put his eye to hisrifle scope again and trained it across the TidalBasin, aiming it into the open space between theJefferson Memorial and the FDF Memorial.

There he spotted them: tanks and APCs flying thewrong flags and heading north across the Potomac on the14th Street Bridge. He wished to hell the brass hadgone and blown the damn thing long ago, but they’dwanted it in place for their own offensive. Now itwould be used against them instead — unless Newsomecould call in an airstrike and it could get there intime.

“Captain Ng!” he said into his comm. “They’re comingstraight at us! They —”

A sniper’s bullet cut Newsome off before he couldsay another word. The last thing he thought as heslumped over his APC’s roof was that his luck hadfinally run out. He only hoped it hadn’t done the samefor his entire battalion.

Start of the GameUnfold the game board and place it inthe middle of the table.

Divide the tokens by color, and giveeach player one set of colored tokens.

A sk each player to place 1 our theirtokens on Logistical Track on the “4Start” square, as well as one of theirtokens next to the “1” on the VictoryPoint track.

Place a neutral colored token on the“Start” square of the Turn Track.

Randomly determine the First Player byany method approved by all players. Givethe First Player a neutral coloredtoken.

DOMINA TION CA RDSSeperate the 24Domination cards from theother cards.

Give each player 4Domination cards. Placeany unused Dominationcards off to the side.They will not be used

dueing the game.

A CTION CA RDSThere are 24 types of A ction cardsincluded in the game. Randomly determine10 types of A ction cards to use in yourgame. Place the other 14 card types offto the side. You will not use themduring the game.

Seperate the 10 types of A ction cardsyou will be using by type into 10stacks, and place each stack face‐up onthe table next to the game board.

Game Board

1 ‐ Victory Point Track2 ‐ Land Region3 ‐ Sea Region4 ‐ Logistical Track5 ‐ Turn Track6 ‐ Sequence of Play7 ‐ Scoring SummaryT ‐ Technology ResourceC ‐ Communications ResourceO ‐ Ore ResourceP ‐ Petroleum ResourceM ‐ Manufacturing ResourceA ‐ A griculture Resource

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End of the GameA t the end of the game, the player withthe most Victory Points (VPs) wins.

Player DecksYou have your own set of cards that ismade up of your orginal 4 Dominationcards as well as any A ction cards youdraw from the 10 stacks.

The cards you decide to draw into yourset of cards is vital to you winning thegame. Each player will have their ownstrategy based on how the game is going,how the other players are playing, andthe 10 types of A ction cards in thegames.

You also have you own Draw Deck andDiscard pile.

Each player has their own Draw Deck andDiscard Pile.

Draw cards from your Draw Deck into yourhand and play them as previouslydescribed. A fter a card is played,discard it into your Discard Pile.

Whenever you need to draw a card, andnone remain in your Draw Deck, shuffleyou the cards in your Discard Pile andform a new Draw Deck.

If you need to draw a card, and noneremain in your Draw Deck or DiscardPile, do not draw the card.

Start of Each Game TurnA dvance the Turn token one square to theright. If the token enters the “End”square, end the game.

A sk each player to draw cards equal tohis Logistical Support value.

===FLASH MESSAGE TRAFFIC===FLASH MESSAGE TRAFFIC====

“Get me Commander Krilov on the horn! Now!” NigelRedsmith slammed his fist on the warscreen mounted onthe table in front of him to make his point, and thecracks that had formed in the Indian Ocean spidered outuntil they threatened Australia. It made him smile toimagine that the entire submarine shook with his rage,but when the vessel shuddered right then from someunseen attack, he clutched at the edges of thewarscreen until it passed.

“Sorry, sir,” Sun Li said as she steadied herselfagainst the other side of the table. “It’s a long waybetween here and Moscow, and replacement antennas forELF comm systems are hard to come by these days.”

“Then get us closer to the surface!” Redsmith said.“How am I supposed to negotiate the terms of the city’ssurrender if I can’t even reach our forces there? If wedon’t reach them soon, they’ll destroy everything we’vefought so hard to take!”

“But if we get too close to the surface, that bomberwill destroy us for sure.”

Redsmith glared at Sun, his nostrils flaring withrage. He was not a man accustomed to frustration. “Justdo it!”

Sun nodded at Lieutenant Alvarez, who eased thecontrols back to nose the underwater command centerupward. As he did, Corporal Chao tried to reach out totheir forces again. “Commander Krilov,” she said. “Thisis Navy One. Please respond.”

The receiver hissed and popped with white noise, butthrough it all a voice carried over frequenciesbroadcast through rubble and radiation and stormsrasped back at Chao.

“Met heavy … on the river. The … much worse. Have aplan to … Request confirmation immediately! Repeat,

immedi— …” “Commander Krilov, this is Navy One,” Chaosaid. “You are breaking up. Please repeat.”

“Forget it!” Redsmith said as anotherexplosion rocked the ship, this one

louder than the first. The horrifyingsound of water hissing through a

leak sounded from some undoneseam on the room. “Just

approve his plan! Whateverhe wants to do, tell him

to just do it!”

===END===END===

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Example: If a player’s token is in the“4” square of the Logistical SupportTrack, he has a Logistical Support valueof 4 and draws 4 cards.

Each Game TurnEach Game Turn starts with the FirstPlayer playing cards.

You can use one or more of your cards.Each card can be used in one of 5 ways:

• BuildPlay to use its inherent Build value.

Example: You play a Fog of War card togain 6 Builds. You use 3 Builds to placenew Forces, 1 Build to upgrade 1 of themfrom Struggling to Full, and 2 Builds toupgrade 2 of your other StrugglingForces.

• A ttackPlay to use its inherent A ttack value.

Example: You play A Strategic Bomberscard to inflict 6 Reductions on opposingForces.

• Card TextPlay for its printed effect.

Example: You play a Global Distruptionfor its card text. You Remove 1 Forcefrom each of the 6 Regions.

• DISCA RD 1Discard 1 card to draw a card from anycard stack into your discard pile.

Example: You discard a Domination cardto draw a Strategic Bombers card intoyour discard pile.

• DISCA RD 2Discard 2 cards to draw a card from anycard stack into your hand. You mayimmediately play the newly drawn card.

Example: You discard a Fog of War cardand an A ttack Helicopters card to drawan A ttack Submarines card into yourhand.

Once you play all the cards you want to,the player on your left takes theirturn.

Play continues from player to player,returning back to the First Player.

There is no limit to the number of turnsyou can have. Your turns are onlylimited by the cards in your hand. Ifyou do not use a card during your turn,you must pass all future turns duringthe Game Turn.

The Game Turn ends when all players passin succession.

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End of Each Game TurnA ll players score VPs at the end of eachGame Turn.

SCORING VPs:Score 2VPs per Full Land ForceScore 1VP per Struggling Land ForceScore 4VPs per Full Sea ForceScore 2VPs per Struggling Sea ForceScore 6VPs per Land Region Monopoly

RESOURCE MONOPOLIES:There are 6 different Resources on themap: Technology, Communications, Ore,Petroleum, Manufacturing, andA griculture.

Each Land A rea has 1 of the 6 Resourcesymbols. Each Resource appears on themap 3 times.

If you have a Force in all 3 of aResource’s A reas, you control a Monopolywith that Resource.

For each Resource Monopoly you control,advance your Logistical token by 1 tothe right along the Logistical track.

Game TermsBUILDPlace 1 Struggling Force in an emptyLand or Sea A rea. Or, change 1 of yourStruggling Forces to Full.

Limit 1 Force per A rea.

===FLASH MESSAGE TRAFFIC===FLASH MESSAGE TRAFFIC====

Nithik didn't remember which corporation he wasfighting for this week, nor like the other soldierscrammed alongside him in the retrofitted B-2's bomb bay,did he much care. The only thing he gave a damn about wasthe flow of their credits, and right now his bank accounthad never been more flush. War was good for business —especially when your business was war.

As the plane's aging frame creaked with the stress ofsupersonic flight, Nithik hoped that the stealth coatinghe'd seen bubbling and peeling off the tarry blackvessel's hull would hold on well enough for them to evadeenemy radar for at least this one last trip. To take hismind off his worries, he ran through his gear one lasttime. His well-oiled assault rifle might be older thanhim, but it was as rugged and dependable too. Hisgrenades sat bound tight in the nylon webbing that seemedto spring from every angle of his worn jungle fatigues.

He'd inspected his parawing pack before he'd boardedthe plane. It would hold. It had better, or this would bea short trip with a vicious landing. Assuming it wouldwork, he examined his ticket home too. The recall beaconfunctioned fine.

The plane had to be near the drop-off point. Nithikchecked his helmet's HUD. Local weather would be hot inmore ways than one. The high concentration of rads in theregion meant they'd have to get in and out beforepersonal radiation levels built to the point that they'dguarantee a slow and painful death to those who survivedthe impending battle. No time to celebrate a win.

As the bombing bay doors of the transport creaked openand let in the raging tropical winds, Commander Wu'svoice echoed in Nithik's earpiece. "Just remember tofollow the color coding in your HUDs," he said. "Today weare blue. Yellows are personnel assets, noncombatants.Leave them alone. Kill anyone marked red."

Wu let loose a gravedigger's laugh. "Ready to earnyour paychecks?" he asked. The bomb bay doors swung openwide, and the soldiers began to spill out of the third-hand, surplus stealth plane like dominoes toppling off atable. Nithik let himself be swept out of the plane withthe rest of them.

"Don't matter!" Wu shouted over the roaring wind."Away you go!”

===END===END===END===

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If there is already a Force present inan A rea, you cannot Build a Force inthat A rea.

REDUCTIONChange 1 Full Force to Struggling, orRemove 1 Struggling Force and give itstoken back to its owner.

REMOVERemove 1 Full or Struggling Force andgive its token back to its owner.

FULLRefers to a Full strengthForce.

STRUGGLETo reduce a Full strength Force toStruggling.

STRUGGLINGRefers to a reduced strengthForce.

REGIONThere are 6 Regions: North A merica,South A merica, A frica, A sia, Europe, andA ustralia. Each Region has 3 Land A reasof the same color.

RESOURCEThe game has 6 Resource types. Each isnoted on the map with a differentsymbol.

LA ND A REAOne of the 18 colored coded A reas on themap. Each has a name for identificationpurposes.

SEA A REAOne of the 7 Sea A reas on the map. Eachhas a name for identification purposes.

A DJA CENTDirectly bordering.

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A REA CONTROLYou have a Full or Struggling Force inthe A rea.

Card Details1 ‐ TITLEDoes not affectgame play.

2 ‐ BUILD POINTSThe number ofBuild Points thecard can generate.

3 ‐ REDUCTIONPOINTSThe number ofReduction Pointsthe card can

generate.

4 ‐ CA RD TEXTGame affecting card text.

5 ‐ FLA VOR TEXTDoes not affect game play.

The CardsDOMINA TIONThe basic card type ofthe game. Every playerstarts the game with 4 ofthese cards. These cardscan be used to generate 3Build points or perform 3Reductions.

A GRICULTURA L CONTROLYou immediately gain 1 VPfor every A griculturalA rea you control when youplay the card.

A IRBORNE FORCESYou can play these cardsat any time, even duringthe End of Game Turnscoring step. Perform anycombination of up to 6Land Builds and LandReductions.

A MPHIBIOUS A SSA ULTThe Land Builds and LandReductions must be inA reas that are adjacentto Sea A reas that youControl.

PETROLEUM CONTROLYou immediately gain 1 VPfor every Petroleum A reayou control when you playthe card.

A TTA CK HELICOPTERSThe Builds and Reductionsmust be in Land A reasthat are adjacent toA reas Controlled by yourLand Forces.

COMMUNICA TIONS CONTROLYou immediately gain 1 VPfor every CommunicationsA rea you control when youplay the card.

===FLASH MESSAGE TRAFFIC===FLASH MESSAGE TRAFFIC====

“Look,” Astronaut Mike Lee said, “you want the intelon that Mexican invasion near Matamoros, we can providethat, but it’s going to cost you.”

“How much?” the man on the other end of the encryptedvoice line said. Mike didn’t know who the man was, and hedidn’t much care. He could guess what side of theconflict he was on from the type of information hewanted, but thinking about it would only bring up issuesthat might threaten the deal.

“One metric ton of groceries, delivered straight to myfront door. Do you need the address?”

“We know where the International Space Station is.” “I’ll shoot you a list. Soon as the supplies show up,

I’ll trigger your satellite feed.” “We don’t need that information tomorrow. Set it up

now.” Mike allowed himself a wolfish smile. “You’ve been a

good customer. I can extend you a little bit of credit,but nothing comes for free.”

The customer sighed. “What else?” “I need a set of replacement circuit boards so I can

make some repairs around here. This bucket of junk won’tkeep floating up here forever on its own. Think of it asan investment in securing your future intel needs.”

“We don’t have any of those to spare.” “Then I suppose you’ll have to get your intel

elsewhere.” “Where else can we—? We can double your request for

supplies.” Mike paused a moment, just long enough to let the man

sweat. “All right,” he said. “For an old friend likeyou.”

Mike noticed the signal flashing that he had anothercall coming in. He wrapped up the deal with the firstcustomer and opened the line with the other.

“I have the circuit boards you asked for,” the secondcustomer said. “How fast can you get me the intel on

the defenses massing near Matamoros? Our soldiersare ready to move in.”

“Just as soon as the boards arrive,” Mikesaid with a grin. “Unless, of course,

you’re willing to sweeten the pot.”“Why not?” the woman said.“Everything is always

negotiable.”

===END===END===END===

8

9

BA D LEA DERSHIPSelect one player andReduce each of their FullForces.

BIO WEA PONSPerform 2 Reductions whenyou play this card. Theplayer on your left mayeither perform 2Reductions or not. If hedoes not perform 2Reductions, discard thecard. If he does perform

2 Reductions, the player on his leftthen gets the option of Reducing 2Forces. This continues until a playerdoes not Reduce 2 Forces.

MA NUFA CTURING CONTROLYou immediately gain 1 VPfor every ManufacturingA rea you control when youplay the card.

CA RRIER TA SK FORCEPerform all the Buildsand Reductions in SeaA reas.

FOG OF WA RPlay this card during theEnd of Turn Scoring step.The other players do notgain VPs for RegionalMonopolies. Once you haveplayed the card, returnit to its stack next tothe map board.

GLOBA L DISTRUPTIONRemove 1 Land Force fromeach of the 6 Regions.

TECHNOLOGY CONTROLYou immediately gain 1 VPfor every Technology A reayou control when you playthe card.

INSURGENTSRemove any 5 StrugglingLand Forces, and thenplace Full strength Forcesin those A reas.

MEGA STORMCount up the total Forceseach player has on themap, both Full andStruggling. Perform anumber of Reductions oneach player equal to 1/2their total number ofForces. You are also

affected by this card.

MILITA RY BA SEPerform up to 14 Builds. The Builds can be acombination of Land and Sea.

NUCLEA R WINTERRemove all the Struggling Forces on the map,including your own.

OUT OF SUPPLYSelect one player and remove all of theirForces that are not adjacent to at least oneother of their Forces.

PROPA GA NDA WA RWhen you play this card, immediately score 1VP for each Region where you have at least 1Full strength Land Force.

ORE CONTROLYou immediately gain 1 VP for every Ore A reayou control when you play the card.

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SHOW OF FORCEYou must pay 1 LogisticalSupport point when youbuy this card. To do so,move your Logisticalcounter 1 square to theleft. If you cannot moveyour counter, you cannotbuy the card. When you

play this card, perform 2 Reductions foreach of your Full strength Forces.

SUPPLY DEPOTSChange any of yourStruggling Forces toFull.

SURRENDERYou may Remove 1 Force ineach Region where youhave a Full strengthForce.

TA CTICA L NUKESYou must pay 1 LogisticalSupport point when youbuy this card. To do so,move your Logisticalcounter 1 square to theleft. If you cannot moveyour counter, you cannotbuy the card. When you

play this card, Struggle all Forces onthe map, including your own.

CreditsGame Design .................Dan VerssenGame Development ..........Holly VerssenRulebook A rt ................Lorenz UwweCard Frame, Board, Box ....Paul HoefenerStory and Flavor Text ......Matt Forbeck

Testers: Denise Guadagnino, MikeGuadagnino, Michelle Fairbanks, SydneyCarroll, Tori Carroll, Bo S., KevinVerssen

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Sample Game Turntext text

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