We have worked with V.P.J. Arponen over the past several years with his fantastic entry into the COIN Series covering the Finnish Civil War called All Bridges Burning: Red Revolt and White Guard in Finland, 1917-18. We posted an interview for that game as well as about a dozen Event Card spoilers from that same title. More recently, his new design called Order & Opportunity: Making of the Post-Cold War World Order was announced by GMT Games and we are again honored to work with him to bring an inside look at the game to the faithful readers of the blog with a series of Event Card Spoilers. Please keep in mind that the artwork and layout of these cards is not yet finalized and is only for playtest purposes at this point. Also, as the game is still in development, card details may still change prior to publication.

If you are interested in Order & Opportunity: Making of the Post-Cold War World Order, you can pre-order a copy for $55.00 from the GMT Games website at the following link: https://www.gmtgames.com/p-1027-order-opportunity.aspx

#12 – War on Terror/Operation Enduring Freedom

Historical Background

One of the quintessential historical events of the post-Cold War period has to be the US-led War on Terror following from the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. The argument can be made that the War on Terror has never ended, even if the central flashpoints such as the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq have drawn down. The War on Terror involved a set of global and local operations against foreign terror groups around the world. Operation Enduring Freedom is an umbrella designation used, on the one hand, specifically for the war in Afghanistan, but on the other hand used also in connection with counter-terrorism operations specifically in the Philippines and elsewhere.

The War on Terror was the focus in Volko Ruhnke’s Labyrinth: The War on Terror (GMT Games, 2011). As a nod to that game and Volko’s contribution to our hobby, my playtest card art riffs with the box cover of Volko’s game.

Note that all card and other art you will see in these card spoilers is provisional playtest art only.

Game Effects and Uses

As any card in Order & Opportunity, this card too can be played and used simply for its suit (see the shield icon on the card) triggering one of the associated actions. The actions associated with this suit are adding US or NATO military influence on the map or contesting opposing influence, that is trying to remove it.

The event option is thematically titled “sustained campaign” denoting the idea that by playing the card sideways as what the game calls a Horizon Event on the map, the US begins sustained counter-terrorism operations in the region of the card. By placing it on the map, the card’s React ability is activated for the card’s region. This particular reaction ability enables the US player to respond to military and political actions by other players in the card’s region (including by the US itself).

By way of the Reaction abilities, Order & Opportunity attempts to weave a strategically engaging web of card interactions and have players make tough decisions as to how to prioritize their card plays.

The use of the military suit has its cost in terms of weakening the “rules based world order” (recorded on the World Order Track) and increasing Tension (placed as markers in spaces and leading to adjustments of the War of Ideas Track with victory points ultimately at stake). This touches upon the central “argument” of Order & Opportunity that, in the post-Cold War period, the “rules based world order” has come under pressure from unilateral military actions from precisely those powers who were “historically tasked” to maintain it, namely the winners of the Cold War”, that is the democratic sides in the game, the US and EU.

Thanks to Vez for his work on designing this very interesting looking Card Driven Game but also for his willingness to prepare and allow us to host this series of Event Card Spoilers. This is the first entry in the series and there will be more in the near future.

You can also check out the interview with VPJ Arponen on the design on the blog at the following link: https://theplayersaid.com/2023/08/21/interview-with-v-p-j-arponen-designer-of-order-opportunity-from-gmt-games/

If you are interested in Order & Opportunity: Making of the Post-Cold War World Order, you can pre-order a copy for $55.00 from the GMT Games website at the following link: https://www.gmtgames.com/p-1027-order-opportunity.aspx

The next card in the series will be #91 Muammar Gaddafi.

-Grant