Labyrinth Diary, Vol 3

Turn 4:

Note: Not a great hand, but at least I can lower the funding level again. On the down side, four Jihadist cards, two of which are not great. I also have to decide if Bhutto isn’t going to show up this game, which she probably won’t seeing as I’m trying to do this without Regime Change if I can. Turkey and Yemen will see minor improvements.

J1: Amerithrax (J2). Event. US discards Benazir Bhutto.

J2: Back Channel (US3). Unplayable. Minor Jihad in Gulf States (1), the rest Radicalize. Cell activates, fails, returns to Funding track. Rad places cell in US, Travels cell to Gulf States from Pakistan, goes sleeper.

US1: Sanctions (US1). Event, Funding -1 to 6.

US2: Bhutto Shot (J2). Unplayable. WoI in Caucasus, stays soft.

Note: Took the chance to drop Bhutto Shot while no cells in Pakistan. Also dropped the funding to try to limit the number of cells coming onto the board, not that this has been working in the past. I have very strong cards left, but want to get rid of the cells in the Caucasus and Turkey before playing Kemalist Republic. Losing a US3 card hurt.

J3: Intel Community (US2). Playable. Plot (1) in US, Gulf States. Plots fail in GF, US, cells removed.

J4: Fatwa (2). Jihadist picks Quagmire, US picks Iran. Event OPS is Travel, to China (tests Hard, GWOT to Soft 1) from Yemen, travel fails. For OPS, cell is available so Recruit in Afghanistan (auto).

US3: Iran (2). A break for me. I use the event to remove the cell from Turkey.

US4: Jihadist Videos (J3).Play event first so I can mitigate it if necessary. Recruit in UK (tests Soft, GWOT to Soft2, fail, cadre), China (fail, cadre), and Iraq (success). I disrupt in the Caucasus, shifting the cell to Active.

Note: Things are going well- to clear the area around Turkey for Kemalist Republic, I will need to disrupt that Caucasus cell again, although I may get lucky and it will move somewhere else. GWOT, however, is going the wrong way again and I need to convert one Soft country before I can start WoI rolls again.

J5: Quagmire (J3). Unplayable. Travel to Gulf States, Thailand (tests Soft, GWOT to Soft 3), Pakistan from Iraq (auto), Caucasus (fail, removed), and Afghanistan (auto), respectively.

J6: Martyrdom Operation (J3). Crap. Two plots in the Gulf States. I will only be able to deal with one.

US5: Saleh (3). Remove one plot from Gulf States.

US6: Kemalist Republic (US2). Event, set Turkey to Fair Ally. Fair/Good to 2, Poor/Islamist to 13.

Plot resolves in Gulf States: +1 Funding to 7, -1 Prestige to 5, no change to Governance (Fair).

Note: Dodged a bit of a bullet there in the Gulf States, although Funding/Prestige is going the wrong way again. Also, I have a terrible card left that I don’t want to play unless I must, and the Jihadists have three left. Ack.

J7: Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (J2). Playable. Cells to Pakistan and India (tests Soft).

J8: Al-Ittihad al-Islami (J1). Playable. Cell to Somalia.

US Passes.

Note: That could have been a lot worse, although my GWOT is going straight down the tubes and fast. That will need to be a focus next turn, especially if I get stuck with a lot of 1 and 2 cards.

J9: Bin Ladin (3). Prestige -4 to 1. Jihadists Recruit three cells in Somalia (auto).

US discards card.

Note: That could have gone much worse, although having my Prestige at 1 just means I need more than ever to get the non-Muslim nations to Hard and quick. That or go back to Soft, which I’m actually kind of hoping for. There are a lot of cards to play in the deck, though, and almost no Remove cards were played, so that could be a while.

End of Turn: -1 Funding to 6, no change to Prestige (already at 1).

Turn 5:

Note: Much better hand. Ex-KGB is a bit on the nasty side, but Madrassas is easy to avoid and a 1 card I can use to boot. Backlash gives me some insurance against plots, and two more cards let me remove some cells if I’m worried about them, such as in India. Only two three cards, but no events there for competition.

J1: Jaysh al-Mahdi (2). Playable, but to no effect. Travel to Gulf States, Philippines (tests Soft, of course) from Somalia (both). Gulf States successful, Philippines fails.

J2: Moqtada al-Sadr (J2). Unplayable. Jihad (1) in Gulf States, Rad (2). Jihad fails, cell to Funding Track. Rad sends cell to Iran, Gulf States from Somalia (auto).

US1: Madrassas (J1). Unplayable. WoI in Canada, fail.

US2: Special Forces (US1). Event, remove cell in Gulf States, place Cadre.

Note: I can’t buy a break with Posture so far. I may need to consider a Reassessment as it would be much cheaper and I’m not anticipating Regime Change anytime soon. Maybe the Jihadists will cut me a break.

J3: Danish Cartoons (1). Playable. I set Scandinavia as Hard, just because. Plot is placed in India. I have not been cut a break, I needed the plot in a Muslim country. OPS travels to Gulf States from Somalia (succeeds).

J4: King Abdullah (US2). Playable. Plots to Kenya (fail) and India (fail).

US3: Pakistani Offensive (US3). Alert to remove India plot.

US4: Predator (US2). Event to remove cell in Gulf States.

Note: The dance continues. Jihadists keep sending cells to Gulf States, I keep removing them. Amazing it’s remained Fair for so long, although I have no prayer of getting it to Good without a card event for now.

J5: Enhanced Measures (US3). Playable. Plot attempts in Iran (success), Kenya (success), and India (fail).

J6: Schengen Visas (J2). Auto travel to Benelux (tests Hard) and Italy (tests Soft). No change to GWOT. Cells both from Morocco.

US5: Libyan Deal (US3). Alert to get rid of plot in Kenya.

US6: Kurdistan (2). Disrupt cell in Kenya (to Funding track).

Plot in Iran: +1 Funding to 7.

Note: Not getting much traction, and too many cells in non-Muslim countries to use Backlash. I will drive out the cell in India if no other options next turn.

J7: “The door of Itjihad was closed” (US3). Playable. Plots in Iran (fail), Benelux (fail), India (fail).

J8: Homegrown (J2). Cell placed in UK.

US7: Backlash (US1). Disrupt to remove cell in Benelux.

US8: Ex-KGB (J2). Disrupt cadre in Gulf States. Central Asia goes Adversary.

Notes: Too many cells popping up in Good countries, I will focus on removing those as I can next turn, also get my Prestige up if possible. Funding remains an issue, perhaps events will help.

End of Turn: Funding -1 to 6. Prestige still at 1.