With this new My Favorite Wargame Cards Series, I hope to take a look at a specific card from the various wargames that I have played and share how it is used in the game. I am not a strategist and frankly I am not that good at games but I do understand how things should work and be used in games. With that being said, here is the next entry in this series.

Card #23: Peace Corps from Twilight Struggle: Red Sea – Conflict in the Horn of Africa from GMT Games

We all love Twilight Struggle….and if you say you don’t, you really do but just want to be different or are a contrarian! The game is phenomenal and has done very well for GMT Games with 8 Printings as well as the Turn Zero Expansion and now a series of smaller geographically focused spin off games starting with Twilight Struggle: Red Sea – Conflict in the Horn of Africa. Twilight Struggle: Red Sea deals with just two regions located in the Horn of Africa including Africa and the Middle East. The game uses the familiar Twilight Struggle formula of Cards with both Events and Operations Points that can be used by players to perform Coups, do Realignment Rolls or place Influence in an effort to gain control of the most Countries in the Regions to score Victory Points and win the game. The game is fast, furious and only lasts 2 hands of cards (unless you choose to play the special 3 Turn variant) so there isn’t a lot of time to mess around and players must be focused on what they are trying to accomplish. The best thing about the game is that it plays in 45 minutes as compared to 3-4 hours for Twilight Struggle.

The next card we will take a look at in this series if Peace Corps, which refers to the organization created by President John F. Kennedy and became somewhat of a tool in the Cold War struggle as it began to influence perceptions in the developing world. The card is a Mid War Card and has a 2 Ops Value. But its real power is that playing it as an Event actually provides the equivalent of 3 Influence as it takes away a Soviet Influence and provides 2 US Influence to place in any 2 US Controlled countries. Think of this card as a defensive measure as it gives extra Influence to bolster your presence in a country you already Control. I also really like the thematic tie in here with the erosion of Soviet Influence due to the good work of the volunteers in the Peace Corps.

Let’s take a look at how this card will work. The card is played and the United States player first removes a Soviet Influence from Sudan, which flips Control from the Soviets to the United States. The player then decides to bolster their presence in 2 Controlled countries in both Egypt (already Controlled but increasing from 2 to 3 Influence) and S. Yemen (already Controlled but increasing from 3 to 4 Influence). This card has taken away Control from the Soviets and also strengthened US Control in Egypt and S. Yemen.

The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an Executive Order (10924) of President John F. Kennedy and authorized by Congress the following September by the Peace Corps Act.

The official goal of the Peace Corps is to assist developing countries by providing skilled workers in fields such as education, health, entrepreneurship, women’s empowerment, and community development. Volunteers are American citizens, typically with a college degree, who are assigned to specific projects in certain countries based on their qualifications and experience. Following three months of technical training, Peace Corps members are expected to serve at least two years in the host country, after which they may request an extension of service. Volunteers are strongly encouraged to respect local customs, learn the prevailing language, and live in comparable conditions.

In its inaugural year in 1961, the Peace Corps had 900 volunteers serving in 16 countries, reaching its peak in 1966 with 15,556 volunteers in 52 countries. Following budget cuts in 1989, the number of volunteers declined to 5,100, though subsequent increases in funding led to renewed growth into the 21st century; by its 50th anniversary in 2011, there were over 8,500 volunteers serving in 77 countries. Since its inception, more than 240,000 Americans have joined the Peace Corps and served in 142 countries.

In the next entry in this series, we will take a look at The Mysterious Graf Scheer from The Hunt from Salt & Pepper Games.

-Grant