The diary continues..
Turn 2:
Note: Wow, I found all of the US cards! Unfortunately, that means that the Jihadist will find all of his. I can get rid of the Israel cell, although why bother. I can also get rid of some other cells and reduce Funding, which will be a priority. My 3 cards are all unplayable, but the one 3 Jihadist card I have is not good, setting up more cells in unmarked countries. FREs is not playable. All in all, I should be able to reduce funding and otherwise stay stable, although I’m concerned about Somalia.
J1: Vieira de Mello Slain (J1). Unplayable. A Major Jihad success is possible, so I activate all cells in Somalia, and roll a 3 for a single success. Somalia goes to Islamist Rule, Besieged Regime marker removed, Alignment to Adversary, Funding +1 to 9, Islamist Resources to 2. Not good.
J2: Leak (J3). Playable. Wiretapping is now blocked. US Posture stays hard, Prestige +5 to 9. Pakistan shifts to Neutral, so I guess I’m glad I got the troops in before that happened. The Prestige shift is nice, though, but not enough to counter Somalia.
US1: Sanctions (US1). Event. Time to start killing the Jihadist Funding, -2 to 7.
US2: Al-Ahar (US2). Event. Egypt tests Poor, Funding -2 to 5. Poor/Islamist to 9.
Note: Went after the funding as promised, but there are a lot of cells on the board. I can start wiping them out now, though, and they shouldn’t come back quite as fast. Somalia was an early blow, though.
J3: UN Nation Building (US2). Unplayable. OPS used for Travel to Yemen, Central Asia, from Somalia and Afghanistan, respectively. No rolls made since adjacent countries. Central Asia tests Poor.
J4: Ethiopia Strikes (US2). Playable. Plot(1) in Gulf States, Israel. Cell already active in GF, successful, marker placed. Cell goes active in Israel, fails.
US3: Sistani (US3). OPS to remove Plot in Gulf States.
US4: Special Forces (US1). Event. I remove the cell in the Gulf States, replace with a Cadre.
Note: This was a tough call between this and Yemen, but I decided Yemen was too close to Somalia to block effectively. I’m now mostly concerned about Yemen going Islamist, but it's early yet.
J5: Predator (US2). Playable. Plot(1) in Israel, Yemen. Israel cell already active, plot fails. Yemen cell goes active, plot fails.
J6: Lebanon War (J3). Playable. US discards Mossad & Shin Bet (US2), Prestige -1 to 8. Sleeper cell to Yemen.
US5: NATO (US3). OPS for WoI in Gulf States. DRM is +1 (Prestige), roll is a 5 so GF goes to Fair Governance. Fair/Good to 2, Poor/Islamist to 8.
US6: FREs (J1). Unplayable. WoI in Canada, Soft. GWOT Relations to 0.
Note: I was thinking I was going to disrupt the cell in Israel, but if I want to play Regional Al-Qaeda then better to test a country and maybe gain a little more Prestige. I will want to use the 3 card for WoI in Gulf States, no question.
J7: Kosovo (1). Playable. +1 Prestige to 9, Serbia goes Soft, GWOT Relations to 1 Soft. Jihad attempt in Yemen, cell is already active there. Attempt fails, active cell to Funding Track.
J8: Iraqi WMD (US3). Playable. Plot(1) in Yemen, Israel, Central Asia. Yemen cell goes active, plot fails. Israel cell already active, plot successful, marker placed. Central Asia cell goes active, plot successful, marker placed.
US7: Regional al-Qaeda (J3). Forced to remove the plot in Israel, which will help Funding. Six possible countries, so randomize Morocco and Turkey (Morocco gets 2 cells, Turkey 1). Both countries test Poor, Poor/Islamist +2 to 12 – I had not counted Somalia and Afghanistan before.
Plot resolution in Central Asia: +1 Funding to 6, no other effect.
J9: Gaza Withdrawal (1). Unplayable as no cells to place on Funding Track. Jihad attempt in Yemen, cell already active. Jihad successful, Yemen to Poor Governance. Poor/Islamist to 13, Fair/Poor to 1.
End of Turn: Funding -1 to 5, Prestige -1 to 8.
Note: I got the funding down, but otherwise a terrible turn. There are two Islamist countries out there, another 11 Poor countries, so I’m thankful my Prestige is good, but that could go seriously south at any time. Every cell is on the board, despite funding. Next turn I need to focus on WoI while I still have a bonus, but the other priority is to get those cells back on the funding track where they can’t do any harm. My other concern is getting the cell out of Central Asia because I haven’t seen the other WMD cards come out yet. This next turn may see me lose the game...
Turn 3:
Note: 8 Cards each, so that’s good. I have some insurance against Plots in hand, but some terrible Jihadist cards that will hamper me if I’m not careful. At least they are 3 cards, which will let me do some things, and the Gaza War will help me get rid of one Jihadist card at a cost.
J1: Hijab (3). Unplayable. Travel to Caucasus which goes Soft, adjust GWOT Relations to Soft 2, Pakistan, Gulf States. Travel from Central Asia, Somalia (successful), Somalia (successful).
J2: GTMO (3). Prestige roll lowers -4 to 4. Card to Lapsing box 1. Minor Jihad (1) in Gulf States, Radicalization (2). Jihad fails, cell to Funding Track. Radicalization sends cell on Funding Track to Russia, which tests Soft, GWOT Track to 3 Soft. Second Rad sends cell from Afghanistan to Gulf States.
US1: Foreign Fighters (J3). Play to Disrupt sleeper cell in Pakistan, +1 Prestige to 5.
US2: Saddam Captured (US2). Play to Disrupt sleeper cell in Gulf States, +1 Prestige to 6.
Note: Prestige is an issue, and WoI is out in the Muslim world while there are so many Soft countries. I can get rid of some of these cells, but only having one per country is a pain. Russia will be next as they have WMD that makes me a little nervous, plus they are soft, so I will try to WoI them as well. I’m actually hoping for a plot, too, but just one!
J3: Safer Now (US3). Unplayable (dang). Jihad(1) in Gulf States, then Radicalization (2). Jihad fails, cell removed and no cadre! Rad(1) places cell in Yemen, Rad(2) travels from Afghanistan to Gulf States.
J4: Tora Bora (2). Unplayable. Minor Jihad in Gulf States, Radicalization(1). Jihad fails, cell placed in Jordan, which tests Poor. Poor/Islamist to 14.
US3: Mass Turnout (US3). Disrupt the last cell in Pakistan, Cadre placed, Prestige +1 to 7.
US4: Former Soviet Union (2). Disrupt cell in Russia to Active.
Note: Not a great round, although I’m starting to make some progress in Prestige and the cell in Russia is going to crack soon. Here’s hoping for a Plot, I could really use the extra card…
J5: Martyrdom Operation (J3). Event. Cell in Israel replaced with two Plot markers. Be careful what you wish for, and my response doesn't work outside the Muslim world.
J6: KSM (3). Playable. Plot placed in Caucasus. Never rains but it pours. OPS used for Travel to Kenya (tests Soft, no change to GWOT), Pakistan, Egypt. From Somalia (auto success), Afghanistan (auto success), and Somalia (last cell, so it goes Sleeper instead of travel to Egypt).
US5: “Let’s Roll!” (US2). Event. Reveal Plot in Israel, draw a card (HEU), and adjust Russia to Hard. GWOT to Soft 2.
US6: Al Jazeera (J3). Playable, Saudi adjust to Neutral. Remove other plot in Israel.
Plot Resolution: Russia – Plot 1 raises Funding +1 to 6. Posture remains Soft.
Note: Be careful what you wish for. I got an extra card, but had to blow a three because so many Plots were out and you don’t want one in Israel or any Good non-Muslim country. Caucasus plot could have gone a little better, but I’ll survive with +1 to Funding. I still need to get that cell out of Russia, and then I will need to start WoIing in non-Muslim countries to get my GWOT up. I may survive this turn yet.
J7: Moro Talks (US1). Playable. Plot in Pakistan, successful.
J8: Adam Gadahn (J1). Unplayable. Travel to Gulf States from Afghanistan, successful.
US7: HEU (J2). Play the OPS before the event – Disrupt active cell in Russia, event now unplayable. Whew.
US8: Gaza War (J2). Discard random card, which is Saddam which would have been very bad for Funding. As it is, Prestige -1 to 6, Funding +1 to 7. I use the ops to Disrupt the sleeper cell in the Gulf States, +1 Prestige to 7.
Plot resolution in Pakistan: Funding +1 to 8. Maybe not that great after all. No other effect.
Note: That turn didn’t go as well as I’d hoped. Jihadists will have nine cards, they have a ton of cells on the board (but no countries threatening Islamist Rule). On the plus side, I am getting the GWOT back to a better division, but it will take some time and luck to do it. At least Serbia is a target so I have something to do with my 1 cards. Also, good to get so many Jihadist cards out of the mix, hopefully I’ll get a good hand this next round.
End of Turn: Funding -1 to 7, Prestige -1 to 6.
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