New Cold War is a game about geopolitics that takes place from 1989 to 2019. It begins with the disintegration of the Soviet Union and ends with the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic. Players (from 1 to 4) take the role of the great powers fighting for the new world order: Russia, China (forming the Red Bloc), the United States and the European Union (Blue Bloc). The allied powers will have to cooperate with each other (exchange of cards, media marker…), but victory will be individual. There are two victory conditions: a power must declare two of the hidden objectives on its agenda during the game or lead the victory point score at the end of the last turn of the game. The game consists of nine turns divided into three decades with a game duration of 150-180 minutes.

New Cold War is a Card Driven Game (CDG) featuring the 135 most important events of the 30 year period covered by the game. Your power’s cards can be played as an event or as operations, while opponents’ cards and your own negative cards are played as OPS and the event is executed for or against the power to which it belongs. OPS can be played in six different ways: 1) placing or removing influence on countries on the map (based on their stability, geopolitical value and initial alignment), 2) by staging a coup d’état, 3) stabilizing or destabilizing countries to protect or favor access to them, 4) advancing on the prestige marker, 5) advancing on the media marker, either alone or in cooperation with your ally (it is a track that is contested by blocks) or 6) creating a reserve of OPS to play in later rounds or game turns.

In this series of Event Card Spoilers, we will cover several different types of cards included in the game and from the different Decade Decks and give their details so that you can understand how the game works and how it incorporates the historical narrative of the new Cold War struggle between super powers from the end of the first Cold War through 2019.

Card #90: 2nd Decade Deck – Chávez

Nicolás Maduro has recently been proclaimed President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela for his third term until 2031. This fact indicates that Chavismo, a political ideology that emerged around the cult of personality of Hugo Chávez (president from 1999 to 2013) is more valid than ever despite the continuous tensions with the opposition. This event belongs to the 2nd Decade Deck and usually favors the consolidation of Russian control of Venezuela, as well as of the South American region. This last aspect responds to Chávez’s efforts for regional integration through the creation of various organizations such as ALBA or UNASUR or his association in MERCOSUR.

His ultimate goal was to counteract the influence of his main enemy, the United States. Therefore, his foreign policy rests on the establishment of alliances with ideologically related countries: Ecuador, Bolivia, Nicaragua (Populist Governments event), Iran (Ahmadinejad), Cuba, Syria, Belarus or China. In contrast to this anti-Western front, the two Blue Bloc powers have their own response events in South America: Fujimori and Bolsonaro (US); Ibero-American Summit (US) and Pope Francis (EU). Chinese interests during the third decade will turn the region into a constant struggle between several of the New Cold War powers.

The next card up, which will be the concluding entry in the series, will be Card #38: 1st Decade Deck – Battle of Mogadishu.

You can catch up on the series to date by following these links:

Card #7: 1st Decade Deck – The Tibetan Conflict

Card #105: 3rd Decade Deck – Annexation of Crimea

Card #82: 1st Decade Deck – Warsaw Pact Dissolved

Card #134: 3rd Decade Deck – Rise of the Far Right

Card #41: 2nd Decade Deck – Afghanistan and Iraq Wars

Card #25: 3rd Decade Deck – Xi Jinping

Card #61: 1st Decade Deck – UNSC Presidency

Card #30: 1st Decade Deck – Gulf Monarchies

Card #63: 1st Decade Deck – Counter-Insurgency

Card #64: 1st Decade Deck – War Lords

Card #132: 3rd Decade Deck – Trading of Mineral Oil Products

Card #76: 3rd Decade Deck – Erdogan

Card #77: 3rd Decade Deck – Fake News

Card #19: Objective Card – Russia Objective

Card #135: 3rd Decade Deck – Brexit

The game has recently been put up for pre-order and you can secure a copy for $68.00 from the VUCA Simulations website at the following link: https://vucasims.com/products/new-cold-war

-Grant