Europe in Turmoil II: The Interbellum Years 1920-1939
Europe in Turmoil II: The Interbellum Years 1920-1939 Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
1.0 Introduction
The Great War is over. The Versailles treaty has been signed and ratified, and life in Europe is slowly normalizing. While some states encounter economic difficulties, overall prosperity is up. The civilized world enters the Roaring Twenties. The League of Nations, although not joined by the United States, ensures collective security and eventually even admits the losers of the War and the Soviet outcasts. Eternal peace seems within reach. Until the pieces start falling down, and tensions that were only overgrown and not buried pop up again.
The Stock Exchange collapse of 1929 sets off a worldwide Depression, and soon nationalism, protectionism, and anti-Semitism are once again the populist recipes for right-wing extremism. At the other side of the political aisle, Communist Russia is divided between Stalinists trying to protect isolated Russia and Internationalists itching to spread the Revolution throughout the Capitalist world. Europe is, once again, In Turmoil.
In Europe in Turmoil II: The Interbellum Years, players represent the forces of the Left Wing (LW) and Right Wing (RW) political orientations. While vying with each other for domination over the European political landscape, they face not only opposing forces but also the Extremists on their own side. While harnessing the powers of extremisms can be rewarding in the short run, in the long run that collaboration may prove the downfall of moderates.
2.0 Components
Europe in Turmoil II: The Interbellum Years contains the following:
- 4 countersheets
- This rules booklet
- 22" x 34" map
- Event Chart
- Rearmament Chart
- Player Aid
- 110 Strategy cards
- 2 six-sided dice
- 15 Blue Cubes
- 15 Red Cubes
Abbreviations found in the Rulebook:
- LW = Left Wing
- RW = Right Wing
- OP = Operation Point
- SP = Support Point
- LE = Little Entente
- UK = United Kingdom
- USSR = Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
2.1 Game Map
2.1.1 The map is divided into six Scoring Regions (France, United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Italy, and the Little Entente) and several Independent countries which are not part of a Scoring Region (e.g. Belgium, Portugal, Sweden…). Spaces belonging to the same Scoring Region share the same background color and the same border shading, and each have the same national emblem on the top. All spaces that do not belong to a scoring region (i.e. Independent countries) share the same background color.
2.1.2 Each space on the map represents either a country (e.g. Belgium) or a sub-group of people within a country (e.g. the Spanish Catholics, the Sudeten Germans in the Sudetenland space within the Little Entente Scoring Region).
2.1.3 Spaces are connected to one another via lines on the map; a space is considered adjacent to all other spaces to which it is connected.
Note: Not all spaces from the same Scoring Region are necessarily connected. The following is an exhaustive list of such exclaves: French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon (France), Egypt, Gibraltar, and British Mandate for Palestine (United Kingdom), East-Prussia (Germany), and Dodecanese (Italy).
2.1.4 Each space has a Stability number representing that space's overall stability, independence and power. This number determines how much Support is necessary to control the space and also represents the space's resistance to Support Checks. Each space on the map is either uncontrolled or controlled by the side whose Support Points exceed their opponent's Support Points in that space by at least the space's Stability Number.
Example: The East-Prussia space has a Stability number of four. The Left Wing player controls this space if there is four more Left Wing Support in the space than Right Wing Support (e.g. 4 and 0, 5 and 1 etc.).
Each space's banner shows its name, a Stability Number, and (where relevant) an "At Start" notation of how many Support Points and/or Extremists to place there during setup — for example, a notation of 2 RW Support and 1 RW Extremist means 2 RW Support Points should be placed in the RW Support Square and 1 Extremist should be placed in the RW Extremist Holding Box during setup. A space also shows, where applicable: a Scoring Region emblem, a red or blue hue denoting a Battleground space, and a black banner denoting a Colonial and/or Battleground space.
2.1.5 Battleground Spaces have a special, colored background and are marked as a battleground in the bottom banner. All other spaces in Scoring Regions are called non-Battleground spaces.
2.1.6 Colonial Spaces have the word Colonial in the bottom banner. All other spaces are called non-Colonial spaces.
2.2 Strategy Cards
2.2.1 There are 110 Strategy cards used in the game. Each EVENT card contains an Operation Point value, an Event Title and an Event Description. Some cards are labeled SCORING, which must be played at some time during the turn they are drawn.
2.2.2 Each card has a symbol to indicate which side is associated with its Event, as follows:
- Cards with a Black Eagle are associated with the Right-Wing side
- Cards with triple Red Arrows are associated with the Left-Wing side
- All other cards are not associated with either side (and have a symbol that is an amalgamation of the two symbols above)
See 5.2 for the effect of playing cards whose Events are associated with your opponent.
2.2.3 Cards may be played in one of two ways, as Events or Operations.
2.2.4 Many cards have an asterisk following their Event title. When these cards are played as Events, they are permanently removed from the game.
2.2.5 Cards that have their Event title underlined have ongoing effects and are displayed face-up on the side of the game board until their effects are cancelled (or the game ends).
Note: Players may also indicate the play of underlined Events with the card reminder markers. Most card reminder markers have a specific space on the Game Board, Rearmament Chart, or Event Status Chart reserved for their use.
2.2.6 Cards that have their Event title written in red are prerequisite cards for follow-up Cards. They are also always underlined, to clarify their ongoing effect.
Note: Each of these cards has a place on the Event Chart to more easily see which cards they enable.
2.2.7 Cards that are discarded (not permanently removed from the game) are placed in a face up pile adjacent to the draw pile (see also 5.2, second and third bullet points).
Each Strategy Card shows a Faction Symbol (denoting the event is associated with the RW faction, the LW faction, or either faction — see 2.2.2), an Era Banner (the era the card enters the game: Roaring Twenties, Great Depression, or Appeasement), an Operation Point value, an Event Picture with Picture Text, an Event Title (an asterisk indicates the card is removed from the game when the event ends; an underlined title indicates an ongoing event; a title in red indicates the card is a prerequisite for a later card), Event Text, Marker Text (if the event has an associated marker that is used on the Game Map and/or Event Chart, instructions on its placement are shown here), and a Card Number.
2.3 Markers
2.3.1 The struggle for the political center across the board is tracked by Support Point markers. The number on a Support Point marker denotes the number of Support Points (SPs) it represents. If a player controls a space (see 2.1.4), their Support Point marker should be placed darker side face up to denote this. If not, place the lighter side face up.
2.3.2 Extreme factions (and/or military/paramilitary organizations) are represented by Extremist Cubes. LW extremist cubes are red. RW extremist cubes are blue. Extremists are (usually) placed through Strategy Card Event text or as the result of Support Checks. Extremist cubes are to be placed in the appropriate holding box (one per side) as shown in the diagram on page 2.
Extremist cubes are limited by the countermix. If the countermix is exhausted, the owner may relocate an extremist cube already on the board instead of placing one.
Example: All Right Wing extremist cubes are on the board when the Right Wing player plays Mein Kampf. They may place zero, one, two or three extremist cubes, taking any extremists placed from other spaces on the board.
2.3.3 The game includes various other markers to assist play:
- The Power marker is used to track the current Power total.
- The Action Round marker is used to track how many actions each player has taken in the current turn, and the Turn marker is used to track the current turn.
- Sanction markers are used to track each side's current Sanctions.
- The Left Wing and Right Wing Moderation markers are used to track the current Left and Right Wing Moderation (see 8.0).
- The Tension marker is used to track the current Tension (see 9.0).
- The Rearmament Progress markers are used to track each nation's progress on the Rearmament Chart. There are seven Rearmament Progress markers (one per Scoring Region plus USSR): Germany, France, Italy, UK, Spain, USSR, and LE.
Place the Canonization of Joan of Arc, Germany Admitted to League of Nations, Weimar Republic, and Guarantees to Poland markers (each on their blank side) in respectively the French Catholics, Switzerland, Thuringia, and Poland spaces.
3.0 Game Setup
Place the Rhineland Demilitarized marker in the center of the Rhineland space.
3.1 Marker Setup
Place all the Rearmament Progress markers on the leftmost space of their respective Rearmament Tracks in the space containing their national banner (UK, France, USSR, and Little Entente Left Wing side up, Germany, Italy, and Spain Right Wing side up).
Place the Ten Year Rule marker on its space on the UK Rearmament Track, on its +0 side.
Place the Special Emergency Intervention, Dive Bomber Doctrine, Rapid Army Expansion, and the Naval Buildup markers on their spaces on respectively the Spanish, German, and Italian Rearmament Tracks.
Place the Left Wing Rearmament and Right Wing Rearmament markers on their spaces at the right of the Rearmament play aid, on their "Available" sides.
Finally, place the Power marker on the Power Track on the zero space and place the Right Wing and Left Wing Moderation markers on RW12 and LW10 Power respectively (both with the Moderate side facing up).
3.2 RW Mandatory SP Setup
The RW player places Support Points as indicated on the map (Northern Ireland 1, Parliament 2, Belgium 1, Magdeburg 3, East-Prussia 3, Finland 1, Baltic States 1, USSR 1, Poland 1, Sudetenland 1, French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon 1, Blackshirts 4, Victor Emmannuel III 1, Vatican 2, Action Française 2, French Catholics 4, Spanish Catholics 2, Gibraltar 2, Portugal 1).
3.3 LW Mandatory SP Setup
The LW player places Support Points as indicated on the map (Irish Free State 1, Northern Ireland 1, Scotland 1, North England 2, Netherlands 1, USSR 3, Poland 2, Bavaria 1, Berlin 1, Thuringia 1, Romanian Royalty 1, Austria 1, Hungary 2, British Mandate for Palestine 1, Campania 1, Rome 1, Provence 1, Nord/Pas-de-Calais 2, Paris 2, Aquitaine 1, Basque Country 2, Switzerland 1).
3.4 RW Mandatory Extremist Setup
Place the Turn marker on the first space of the Turn Record Track. Place the Action Round marker on the first space of the Action Round track, Right Wing side face up.
The RW player places Extremists in the following spaces: Action Française, Magdeburg, and Blackshirts (as indicated on the map).
3.5 LW Mandatory Extremist Setup
Place the Tension marker on the "1" space of the Tension Track.
The LW player places Extremists in the following spaces: USSR, Hungary, and Berlin (as indicated on the map).
Rhineland and the Rhineland Demilitarized Marker: When the Interbellum began, the Versailles Treaty specified that the Rhineland had to be demilitarized. While the Rhineland Demilitarized marker is on the Rhineland space, no Support Points can be placed in that space by either Discretionary Setup, OPs, or Events, unless they specify the Rhineland space by name. Remove the marker the first time Support is placed in the Rhineland space.
Example: The Rhineland Demilitarized marker is still on the Rhineland space. Neither player can place Support Points (SP) in this space with generic Events or OPs. Subsequently, the Ruhr Occupation Event is played, placing five LW SP in the Rhineland space. In addition to placing the Support markers, players also remove the Rhineland Demilitarized marker, indicating that OPs and generic Events (from either player) can also place SP in the Rhineland now.
3.6 Initial Card Draw
Shuffle the cards from the Roaring Twenties deck and deal each player 8 cards. The players are allowed to examine their cards prior to placing their Discretionary Setup Support Points.
3.7 Discretionary Support Setup
Each player now places additional Support Points in the following order:
- Left Wing player places 3 SP
- Right Wing player places 4 SP
- Left Wing player places 2 SP
These Support Points may be placed in any space(s) that do not have opponent's SPs and/or Extremists at the time of placement (or the Rhineland Demilitarized marker).
Example: During the Discretionary Setup phase, the RW player may not place any of their four SP in the Berlin space, as it contains LW markers.
3.8 Discretionary Extremist Setup
Both players add an additional Extremist, Right Wing player first, but only in spaces not yet containing any Extremist cubes (of either player).
4.0 Game Sequence
4.1 Europe in Turmoil II is played in ten turns. Each turn represents about two years, and will involve seven normal card plays by each player (eight starting from turn 5, as indicated on the turn track). At the beginning of the game, each player receives eight cards from the Roaring Twenties deck. At the beginning of turn 5, the Great Depression deck is shuffled into the draw pile (and players start drawing to nine cards per turn). At the beginning of turn 7, the Appeasement deck is shuffled into the draw pile.
4.2 The Phasing Player is the player whose Action Round is currently being played.
4.3 When there are no cards remaining in the draw deck and a player needs to draw a card, reshuffle all discards to form a new draw deck. Note that cards with an asterisk (*) in the name are removed from the game when their Event occurs (instead of being discarded), and are not shuffled into the new draw deck.
4.3.1 Deal all cards remaining in the draw deck before reshuffling, except in turns 5 and 7 (see 4.4).
4.4 When moving from the Roaring Twenties era to Great Depression, or from Great Depression to Appeasement, do not add in the discards to the deck—instead add the Great Depression or Appeasement cards (as appropriate) to the existing deck and reshuffle. The ignored discards remain in the discard pile for now, but will be reshuffled into the deck in the next reshuffle (see 4.3).
4.5 The Turn Sequence
A turn in Europe in Turmoil II has the following sequence of five phases:
- Deal Strategy Cards
- Play Action Rounds
- Verify Held Cards
- Advance Turn Marker and refresh Rearmament Availability markers
- Calculate Final Scoring (after turn 10 or if War is triggered during Phase 2)
4.5.1 Deal Strategy Cards: The players receive enough Strategy cards to bring their total hand size to eight (nine starting on turn 5). The first card is dealt to the Right Wing player, and then the deal should alternate back and forth between the players until they have received their full hand size.
4.5.2 Action Rounds: Each player receives seven Action Rounds (eight starting turn 5). Players alternate Action Rounds, playing one Strategy card per Round. The Right Wing player always takes their Action Round first, followed by the Left Wing player.
All actions required by each card must be resolved before the next player starts their Action Round by playing a card. The player taking their Action Round is called the "Phasing Player."
- Ordinarily, a player will have one or more cards left over after the completion of all Action Rounds (usually one). These cards are considered "held", and may be played in subsequent turns. Scoring cards may never be held but must be played during the turn they are drawn.
- If for any reason a player has no cards in their hand to play at the start of an Action Round, they must forfeit that Action Round and take no action.
Example: The Left Wing player is under the effect of Maginot Mentality, which means in their next two consecutive Action Rounds they must make free Rearmament attempts. They have only one Action Round remaining in this turn, and are holding a Scoring card. They must play the Scoring card, and both consecutive Rearmament attempts will "carry over" to the first two Action Rounds of the next turn.
Example: The Left Wing player is under the effect of Maginot Mentality, while having two remaining Action Rounds in the turn and holding a Scoring card. They must first make a Rearmament attempt, in their final Action Round of the turn play the Scoring card and take the last mandated Rearmament Attempt during their first Action Round of the next turn.
4.5.3 Verify Held Cards: Scoring cards may never be held from one turn to the next. If a player is holding a Scoring card at this stage in the turn, that player loses the game. Scoring cards have MAY NOT BE HELD written at the bottom so that non-scoring cards can be identified by only revealing the card's lower edge.
4.5.4 Advance Turn Marker: Move the Turn Marker to the next turn (if possible; if it is already the last turn, go to 4.5.5). Flip any Rearmament Availability markers to their "Available" side (if not already there).
4.5.5 Final Scoring: If it is the end of Turn 10 or if war has broken out due to Tension increase in phase 2 (see 9.4), and the game's winner has not yet been determined, perform Final Scoring as described in the Scoring rules (10.0).
5.0 Card Play
Note: This section covers the play of non-Scoring cards. The play of Scoring cards is covered in Section 10.0.
5.1 Cards may be played in one of two ways: as Events or Operations. Ordinarily, players will hold one card in their hand at the end of the turn. All other cards will be used for Events or Operations. Players may not forgo their turn by declining to play a card, or by discarding a card from their hand.
5.2 Events Associated With Your Opponent
If a player plays a card as an Operation, and the card's Event is associated only with their opponent, the Event still occurs (and the card, if it has an asterisk after the Event title, is removed).
Exception: Rearmament attempts (see 6.3).
Two strategy cards (Maginot Mentality and German Generals Object) mandate special use of Action Rounds (respectively consecutive Rearmament attempts and consecutive Operation Rounds, see 6.0). Scoring cards always take precedence on these Strategy card effects.
Note: When playing a card for Operations and it triggers your opponent's Event, your opponent will implement the Event text as if they had played the card themselves, although the OPs Value of the card will always be equal to the amount of Operation Points the Phasing Player received for playing the card.
Example: Left Wing player has played the Dawes/Young Plan (which increases the Operation Points they receive by +1 for the remainder of the turn). In a subsequent Action Round, they play the Admiral Horthy strategy card. They receive 4 Operations Points, but the Support Check the Right Wing player makes in the Hungary space will also be modified by +4.
Example: Left Wing player plays the Trade Imbalance card while RW player dominates no Scoring Regions. The Event is considered to be played and is removed from the game.
Example: Left Wing player plays the Il Duce card while the March on Rome card has not yet been played. The Event is NOT executed and the card is discarded rather than removed from the game.
- The Phasing Player always decides whether the Event is to take place before or after the Operations are conducted.
- If a card play triggers an opponent's Event, but that Event cannot occur because a prerequisite card has not been played, the card is prevented from being played through the ongoing effects of another card, or a condition expressed in the Event has not been met, the Event does not occur. In this instance, cards with an asterisk Event (marked *) are placed in the discard pile, not removed from the game.
- If a card play triggers an opponent's Event (i.e. all prerequisites and/or conditions are satisfied), but the Event results in no effect, the Event is still considered played, and would still be removed if it has an asterisk.
5.3 When an Event forces a player to discard a card, the Event on the discarded card is not implemented. This rule also applies to Scoring cards.
5.4 Card text that contradicts the written rules supersedes the written rules.
6.0 Operations
When a non-Scoring card is played as an Operations card, the player must choose to use all of the Operations points on one of the following three options: Support Point Placement, Support Checks, or a Rearmament Attempt.
6.1 Placing Support Markers
6.1.1 The rules in this section only apply to Support Points (SPs) that are placed with Operations points. Support points placed by Events can be placed anywhere (ignoring adjacency and control).
6.1.2 SPs are placed one at a time. However, all SP markers must be placed with, or adjacent to, friendly SP markers that were in place before the first SP was placed. Alternatively, SP may be placed in spaces containing a friendly Extremist cube.
Design Note: This prevents placing SPs in a chain during the same action.
6.1.3 It costs one Operations point to place an SP in a space that is friendly-controlled or uncontrolled. It costs two Operations points to place an SP in an opponent-controlled space. If a space's control status changes while placing SPs, additional points placed during that Action Round are placed at the lower cost.
6.2 Support Checks
6.2.1 The rules in this section (apart from the exceptions mentioned in 6.2.4) apply to Support Checks initiated via Operation Points, Scoring Cards and Strategy Events.
6.2.2 Support Checks are used to reduce opponent's Support (and/or Extremists) in a country, and possibly to add friendly Support (and/or Extremists) if the Support Check is successful enough.
6.2.3 Each Strategy Card played for Support Checks gives a single Support Check to the Phasing Player, regardless of the card's Operations value.
6.2.4 To attempt a Support Check in a space, the space must contain opponent's SPs and/or Extremists.
Exception: Support Checks initiated via Event text targeting specifically named spaces (e.g. Munich Beer Hall Putsch, Admiral Horthy) are executed even if the space does not contain any opposing markers (and as such can be used to increase friendly Support and/or add a friendly Extremist).
6.2.5 To resolve a Support Check, multiply the Stability Number of the target space by two (x2). Then roll a die, and add the OPs value of the card played to the die roll.
Example: The Right-Wing player plays a 3-Ops value card and announces they will be making a Support Check. They select the Poland space, currently containing 2 LW SP and 1 LW Extremist Cube.
Poland has a stability of 3, which is doubled to a Target Number of 6. They roll a 1 and add 3 to the roll for the OPs value of the card. To determine any further die roll modifiers, they check the five spaces adjacent to Poland (and Poland itself).
- Danzig / Polish Corridor is currently uncontrolled (containing only 1 RW SP) and contains no Extremists, so does not modify the roll.
- East-Prussia is currently RW-controlled (containing 5 RW SP and 1 LW SP) and contains one RW and one LW Extremist, for a total net modifier of +1.
- USSR is LW-controlled (containing 4 LW SP) and contains one LW Extremist, for a total modifier of -2.
- Slovakia is RW controlled and contains a RW Extremist, for a total modifier of +2.
- Silesia is RW controlled, for a modifier of +1.
- Poland itself contains a LW Extremist, modifying the result by -1.
Total net modifier is +1. The modified roll is 5, which is not higher than the target number of 6, so nothing changes. If the modified roll had been 7 (by rolling a 3 on the die), a single LW SP would have been removed from the Poland space. If the modified roll had been 9 (by rolling a 5), all LW SP and the single Extremist would have been removed from the Poland space. Starting from a modified roll of 10+ (i.e. rolling a 6), RW SP would be added. A roll of 13 (impossible from this example, but possible with different DRMs) would result in all Left Wing Support and Extremists removed, 3 Right Wing Support and 1 Right Wing Extremist placed, the maximum possible result.
6.2.6 If the modified die roll is greater than the doubled Stability Number, the Support Check succeeds. For each point achieved in excess of this double Stability number, do the following (in order):
- remove opposing SP from the target space
- if excess points remain after removing opposing SP, also remove opposing Extremist
- if excess points remain after removing opposing Extremists, add friendly SP (but never more than necessary for control, i.e. equal to the Stability Number)
- if excess points remain, place a single friendly Extremist if no friendly Extremist in the space yet.
6.3 Rearmament
6.3.1 There are seven Rearmament tracks in Europe in Turmoil II, one each for Spanish, Italian, UK, French, German, Little Entente and Soviet Rearmament. On each track is a Rearmament Progress marker, either on its Left Wing +1 side or its Right Wing +1 side. Each track has a different length and is composed of Progress boxes containing a game effect. Operations points may be spent to attempt to advance a Rearmament Progress marker.
6.3.2 Each player may (once per turn) play a card to make a Rearmament attempt. To do so, they select a track and flip their Rearmament Availability marker from "Available" to "Unavailable". Any track where the Progress marker is not yet on the Rightmost box may be selected, regardless of which side of the Rearmament Progress marker is face up. Once a track is selected, the player making the attempt makes a roll, adding the Operations value of the card to the total.
Modify this total by:
- +1 if the card is aligned to the player's side (i.e. Left-Wing player uses a card aligned with the Left Wing to make their rearmament attempt)
- +1 if the Rearmament Progress marker is flipped to that player's '+1' side
Further modify the die roll:
- +1 for each adjacent friendly controlled space
- +1 for each friendly Extremist in or adjacent to the target space
- -1 for each adjacent opponent controlled space
- -1 for each opponent Extremist in or adjacent to the target space
- SPs in the target space itself do not modify the die roll in any way
- +X (various modifiers, resulting from Strategy card Events and/or Rearmament Progress boxes)
6.3.3 If the modified total matches or exceeds the number required to advance to the leftmost unreached Progress box (printed in the box) on the selected Rearmament track, advance the chosen Rearmament Progress marker to that box and flip the marker to the '+1' side of the attempting player (if not already there). Otherwise, only flip the Progress Marker to their '+1' side (if not already there) without moving the marker.
Example: The Italian Rearmament Progress marker is still on its starting space, on its Right Wing side. The Left Wing player makes a Rearmament Attempt attempting to reach the Douhetian Theory progress box, discarding a Right Wing Event with 3 OPs. They make a roll of '1', which is modified to 4. The Douhetian Theory box has an advancement number of 5. As the attempt has failed, the marker does not move, but is flipped to its "Left Wing" +1 side. On subsequent attempts on the Italian Rearmament track, the Left Wing player would receive a +1 bonus while the marker remains on this side. If the Left Wing player had rolled a 2 or better, the marker would have moved to the Douhetian Theory box, Tension would have increased by 1 and the marker would also have flipped to the "Left Wing" +1 side.
6.3.4 When reaching a Rearmament progress box, execute all effects of the box prior to continuing play.
Exception: The effects of the Washington Naval Treaty take precedence on 6.3.4 and are executed prior to the Progress box execution.
6.3.5 Attempts attained via Event play and/or effects from Rearmament Boxes are called "free" rearmament attempts and do not count against the "one per turn" limit clause of 6.3.2, and neither do Rearmament advances attained through Strategy Card Events. These attempts may be made regardless of the current state of that player's Rearmament Availability marker and do not affect that marker.
Example: The Left Wing player, under effect of the Maginot Mentality strategy card Event, makes two Rearmament Attempts on the French Rearmament track while their Rearmament Availability marker is on its "Available" side. They can still make another Rearmament Attempt during this turn, on the French Rearmament track or any other.
Unless specified otherwise (i.e. Mechanised Warfare Pioneers), free rearmament attempts still require a card to be played for its Operations Points.
Example: The Left Wing player discards a RW Event with 3 OPs and successfully reaches the Experimental Mechanised Force UK Rearmament Progress box. They may make a free rearmament attempt. To do so, they must discard an additional card and make another roll.
6.3.6 When, according to an Event, a player has to make multiple consecutive Rearmament attempts, this is across turns if not enough Action Rounds are remaining in this turn (see 4.5.2).
6.3.7 Regardless of the text on the card, the Event of a card played as a Rearmament attempt is not implemented. The card is placed in the discard pile.
Exception: Some cards have text in their Strategy Event section that only occurs if played for Rearmament.
6.3.8 When the rightmost box of a Rearmament track is reached by its Progress marker, increase Tension by 1. From now on, while that Progress marker remains in the rightmost box, that track is ineligible for Rearmament attempts (including attempts provided by strategy card Events). If an Event would advance such a track (without making an attempt), instead increase Tension by 1.
6.3.9 The Red Army Purges strategy card Event can retreat the USSR Rearmament Progress marker. If this happens, move the Progress Marker two boxes to the left (or as far as possible, if less than 2 advances have been made) without any further Event resulting from the Progress Marker moving. The effects printed on the uncovered boxes will happen again if reached again by the Progress Marker.
6.3.10 Whenever advancing or retreating a marker due to an Event (and not a Rearmament Attempt), do not flip the marker.
6.3.11 Progress boxes are divided into Air Force, Army and Navy boxes for the purpose of certain strategy Events and markers. There are no inherent rules for these.
7.0 Events
7.1 General Rule
If a card has a playable Event associated with either the Phasing Player or both players, it may be played as an Event instead of Operations. If so, the card's Event takes effect as directed by the card's text.
7.2 Ongoing Events
Some Event cards remain in effect until canceled by a later Event. Some Events last for the duration of the game, or for the duration of a turn. When such cards are played as Events, place them to the side of the map, or place their marker on the Map or Event Status Chart, as a reminder of their ongoing effects. Ongoing Events have their Event title underlined.
7.3 Events that Modify OPs Values
7.3.1 Some Event cards modify the Operations value of cards played later that same turn. These modifiers should be applied in aggregate, first all negative modifiers (including application of lower limits) and then only positive modifiers.
Example: The Dawes/Young Plan is in effect for the Left Wing player, and they also have a -1 OPs reduction (to a minimum of 1) due to low Moderation (see 8.3). When the Left Wing player plays a 2-OPs card, it will first be reduced to 1 and then be increased to 2 again. When the Left Wing player plays a 1-OPs card, it will not be reduced (minimum of 1), but it will subsequently be increased to 2 thanks to the Dawes/Young Plan.
7.3.2 Events modifying the Operations value of a card only apply to one player, and do so for all purposes (but see 5.2).
7.4 Events That Play Like OPs Cards
If an Event specifies that a player may conduct Operations, place Support, or make Support Checks as if they played a card of a certain operations value, those additional Operations are treated as if a card had been played for its Operations Point Value. Therefore, those Operations are subject to all of the restrictions of Rule 6.1 and other Events limiting their value or use (or increasing OPs).
Example: The Right Wing player is under the effect of Dawes/Young Plan and plays the Germany Scoring card. They get to make a 3-OPs Support Check, which is increased to 4-OPs instead thanks to Dawes/Young Plan.
Example: The Left Wing player has low Moderation and has a -1 OPs reduction. When they play the Germany Scoring card, they get to make only a 2-OPs Support Check.
7.5 Unplayable Events
If an Event becomes unplayable due to its cancellation or restriction by another Event card, or if it is unplayable due to requirement Events not having been played yet, the unplayable Event card may still be used for its Operations value.
7.6 For the effects of Moderation on Playing cards, see 8.3.
8.0 Moderation
8.1 Each player's Moderation is tracked on the Power track. Moderation can be increased or reduced.
8.2 Whenever a player's Moderation increases, move their Moderation marker one space closer to 20 on their respective side of the Track. Whenever a player's Moderation is reduced, move the Moderation marker one space closer to the 0. Whenever a player's Moderation reaches 0, increase Tension by 1. If a player's Moderation would be reduced but it is already at 0, they get sanctioned and receive a sanction marker instead.
8.3 Whenever the POWER marker is HIGHER than a player's Moderation, flip that player's Moderation marker (from Moderate to Extremist). While this situation continues, all OPs received by that player are reduced by 1, to a minimum of 1 [exception: Rearmament Attempts do not have their OPs reduced]. When POWER again becomes equal or lower to that player's Moderation, return the marker to its Moderate side and end the penalty.
Note: Remember that Phasing Player decides whether an Event occurs prior to using OPs or after using OPs (see 5.2). The reduction from 8.3 occurs when the OPs are used. If an Event would increase POWER over Phasing Player's Moderation, the OPs of the card are immediately reduced by 1 to a minimum of 1 (and vice versa).
Note: Spaces on the Power Track are referred to as LW# and RW#. Spaces on the left side of the track use LW# and spaces on the right side of the track use RW#. For example, LW10 is the space the LW Moderation marker begins. RW12 is the space the RW moderation marker begins.
Example: LW Moderation is at LW5, and POWER is currently at LW6. All OPs received by the LW player are currently reduced by 1. The LW player plays the Reichstag Fire strategy card, increasing RW POWER by 2. POWER moves to LW4. LW player flips Moderation marker. The LW player subsequently receives 2 OPs. If they had used OPs prior to the Event, they would have received 1 OP instead.
8.4 For the effects of Moderation on Victory, see 10.
9.0 Tension & War Breaking Out
9.1 Various game effects (Events, Rearmament Progress boxes and/or Rules) cause Tension to increase (or -rarely- decrease).
9.2 The Tension marker moves up and down the Tension Track, which contains two types of spaces:
- Spaces numbered 0 to 5
- Spaces numbered 6 to 11, each with a die roll modifier number (+#)
9.3 If Tension is at 0 and should be reduced, instead give +1 POWER to the player whose Tension reduction wasn't executed.
Note: This is not necessarily the Phasing Player!
Example: Tension is at 0 when the RW player plays the Washington Naval Treaty strategy card. The LW Event reduces Tension by 1. As Tension cannot be further reduced, the LW player gains 1 POWER.
9.4 If the Tension marker moves into a space containing a die roll modifier number, the player moving the Tension marker makes a roll, adding the modifier. If the roll is higher than 6, the Second World War breaks out (continue to 9.5).
9.5 Second World War
If war broke out in 9.4, phasing player gets Sanctioned and receives a Sanction marker. End the Strategy phase and end the game (see 10.4.2).
10.0 Scoring
The object of the game is twofold; to score Power in a bid to dominate European politics, but also to keep a high Moderation in order to remain moderate. Regional Power is scored through Support within the six scoring Regions and their colonies and perimeter. Power can also be received through the play of certain Events or through reaching certain boxes on the Rearmament track.
Each region has its own 'scoring card' in the strategy deck. Playing a scoring card causes Power to be scored, based both on how much Support your side has in that region and its periphery and how stable that region is at the time the card is played.
Scoring takes place in a region at the following times:
- During Scoring of a Region (10.1)
- During Final Scoring (9.4 and 10.4) for ALL regions
10.1 SCORING Cards
10.1.1 The following terms are used during Regional Scoring:
Presence: A side has Presence in a Region if it Controls at least one space in that Region.
Domination: A side achieves Domination of a Region if it Controls more spaces in that Region than its opponent, and it Controls more Battleground spaces in that Region than its opponent. A side must Control at least one non-Battleground and one Battleground space in a Region in order to achieve Domination of that Region.
Control: A side has Control of a Region if it Controls more spaces in that Region than its opponent, and Controls all of the Battleground spaces in that Region.
Note that there is no requirement for control over non-battleground spaces to achieve Control over a region.
10.1.2 If a player has achieved Presence, Domination, or Control, they score Power equal to the number shown on the country's Scoring Card for the highest of the three levels they have achieved.
10.1.3 Each player scores 1 additional Power for each Battleground space they control in the region.
10.1.4 Each player scores 1 additional Power for each independent country they control which is adjacent to the Region.
10.1.5 Each player totals up their Power, and the net difference between the two scores is marked on the Power Track.
10.2 Playing certain card Events may result in Power being scored.
10.3 The Power Track
10.3.1 The Power Track shows a range of scoring possibilities from LW20 (Left Wing Automatic Victory) to RW20 (Right Wing automatic victory). At the start of the game, place the Power marker in the center of the chart, on the box marked 0. This box represents zero points, or total equilibrium of the two sides. This box should be counted as a space when players' scores are adjusted.
10.3.2 Wherever a card states that the player 'gains' Power, this means that the Power marker is moved that many spaces in that player's favor, i.e., if the Power marker is on the Left Wing 10 space (Left-Wing player winning) and the Right-Wing player gains 2 Power, the marker is moved to the Left Wing 8 space on the Power track.
10.3.3 If both players earn Power from the same card or Event play, apply only the difference in Power awarded.
Note: Three important scoring rules to remember:
- During French scoring, the French Catholics space may be a battleground and the Poland space may be considered adjacent to the French scoring region.
- During UK scoring, the Poland space may be considered adjacent to the UK scoring region.
- Remove Spanish Scoring card from game after it has been scored.
10.4 VICTORY
10.4.1 Automatic Victory: There are two ways to achieve an automatic victory in Europe in Turmoil II:
- The instant one player reaches a score of 20 Power, the game is over and that player is the winner.
Note: All Power awards (for both players) that are scored during an Event or scoring card must be applied prior to determining automatic victory.
- Illegal Held Card: if a player has a scoring card in their hand in the Verify Held Cards step of a turn, that player loses and their opponent is declared the winner. If both players hold scoring cards, the game is considered a draw.
10.4.2 Second World War Victory: If the Second World War breaks out (see 9.4), execute final scoring to determine the winner.
10.4.3 End Game Victory: If neither side has achieved victory of any kind by the end of turn 10, execute final scoring to determine the winner.
10.4.4 Final Scoring: If the game has ended due to war breaking out (10.4.2) or because the last turn ended (10.4.3), every Region is scored as if its regional scoring card had just been played (this new Power is added to the current score).
Note: Do not make any Support Check during Final Scoring!
Every Region's score must be calculated before final victory is determined. Reaching 20 Power does not result in Automatic Victory during scoring at the end of turn 10.
Subsequently, compare both players' Moderation. Player with lowest Moderation receives sanction markers equal to the difference. Each player now loses 2 VP per sanction marker.
Note: Sanction markers have no effect in the case of Automatic Victory.
Once all regions have been scored and Sanctions have been taken into account, the victor is determined.
- Player on whose side the Power marker is, wins the game.
- If the Power marker is at 0 Power, the player with the highest current Moderation wins the game. In case of ties, the game is a draw.
11.0 Quickstart Notes
11.1 For players of Europe in Turmoil
Europe in Turmoil II: Interbellum is pretty similar in rules (though not in execution!) to Europe in Turmoil. In this section I will give a quick overview of things which are different.
11.1.1 No Stability or Mobilization deck. Scoring cards when played do not trigger a stability check, but only provide the card player with a Support Check in the Scoring Region. Similarly, the Second World War is not resolved (neither via a Dice-rolling mechanic nor via a Mobilization deck) via game mechanics.
11.1.2 No socio-economic icons. Spaces in Europe in Turmoil 2 do not have icons and there are no cards referring to subsets of spaces except by name.
Exception: Colonial spaces
11.1.3 No Crisis Rolls. While there are Tension rolls to indicate when the Second World War breaks out based on increases of the Tension track, there are no separate cards or triggers to make such rolls.
11.1.4 Extremists. A new mechanic is the Extremist, which can be added to a space (usually only one per player per space) and which provides bonuses to Support Checks in the same or adjacent space.
11.1.5 Multiple rearmament tracks. As opposed to the single naval arms race board in Europe in Turmoil (where each player had a marker on that board), Europe in Turmoil 2 has seven Rearmament tracks, in which a single marker tracks the rearmament progress of that nation and this marker can be advanced by each player (gaining rewards for progress boxes reached).
11.2 For all new players
11.2.1 Scoring Card distribution
One of the most important things to know about a game of this family is to which era each scoring card belongs.
- Roaring Twenties: Germany, France and Italy
- Great Depression: United Kingdom
- Appeasement: Little Entente and Spain (note that Spain Scoring* is a removable Event).
11.2.2 Deployment of Extremists
Whenever placing extremist cubes, try to decide what you want from that extremist: are you using it for offense (are you setting up a support check?), for defense (is the opponent setting up support checks via control of spaces or via extremists)? Extremists are a limited resource, try to make the most of them.
The Rearmament Chart: Each nation's Rearmament marker begins on its corresponding space in the first column with its LW/RW side face-up. In order to succeed, a Rearmament attempt must equal or exceed the number in the Rearmament space. When a Rearmament attempt is made, flip the player's Rearmament Attempt marker. Reminder markers (such as the one for Dive Bomber Doctrine) begin on the Rearmament Chart and are moved to the Event Chart when the nation's Rearmament Marker reaches their space. The Ten Year Rule marker remains on the Rearmament Chart; it begins the game on its '+0' side and is later flipped to its '+2' side when its event occurs. The Washington Naval Treaty marker is placed on the Rearmament Chart when the Washington Naval Treaty event occurs, and is removed when Appeasement begins on turn 7.
11.2.3 Moderation
The Handling of Moderation is quite important during the game. While it seems you can get great events at no cost, you still need to define a strategy at the start of the game. Do you try to keep Moderation just above Power? Do you just go way out, and take the OPs penalty whenever it applies? Do you try to give Power to your opponent, to give them the -1 OPs penalty? How are you trying to win? Do you go for the automatic victory (in which case Moderation is not really that important), or for the turn 10 Final Scoring win (in which case you want high Moderation, either to exceed opponent's Moderation, or to at least minimize the amount of Sanctions received).
The Event Chart: Reminder markers are placed on their corresponding space of the Event Chart by instructions from a Strategy card's Event. Blue circles are RW Events and red circles are LW Events. The letter(s) in each circle indicates the Strategy Card period the Event is from. An 'X' in the space indicates that either the Event has ended, or the Event may no longer be played. A Reminder marker placed on its space indicates the Event has occurred or a Rearmament level has been reached. The use of the Event Chart is optional. It is used to show the relationships between on-going Events; when they occur, end, and when they become unplayable.
11.2.4 Reshuffles
Normally there is a reshuffle during the card draw phase of turn 4.
The Great Depression deck is shuffled in the current draw deck in turn 5.
The Appeasement deck is shuffled in the current draw deck in turn 7.
There is usually a reshuffle during the card draw phase of turn 9.
11.2.5 Important Spaces
There are a few Independent spaces that border 3 Scoring Regions (Austria, Switzerland, Belgium) and thus have the potential to give a lot of Power during the game. Switzerland in particular is adjacent to all Scoring Regions from the Roaring Twenties deck.
The following spaces should be controlled for certain Rearmament boxes to improve:
- Lombardy, Rome, Berlin, USSR
The following spaces have SP placed in them via Rearmament Progress boxes:
- Alsace-Lorraine, Spanish Morocco, Empire&Commonwealth
The following spaces should be controlled for certain Strategy cards to become better:
- LW: Switzerland, Bohemia, Slovakia, USSR
- RW: Berlin, French Catholics, Bavaria, Poland
- Both: Vatican
The following spaces have SP placed in them by Strategy cards:
- LW: Berlin, Switzerland, Sudetenland, Bohemia, Slovakia, Moravia, Rhineland, Paris, London, Parliament, Madrid, Valencia, Catalonia, Finland, Baltics, Bessarabia, Poland
- RW: Switzerland, Rome, Empire&Commonwealth, Rhineland, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Danzig/Polish Corridor, Sudetenland, Bavaria
12.0 Great Depression Scenario
The rules in section 12.0 replace the rules in 3.0 Setup. All other rules are in place.
12.1 Place markers on the gameboard
Put the Turn marker on Turn 5 of the Turn Track.
Put the Power marker on "RW 1" of the Power Track.
Put the Tension marker on 1, on its Kellogg-Briand side.
Put the RW Moderation marker on RW9 of the Power Track.
Put the LW Moderation markers on LW9 of the Power Track.
Neither side begins with any sanction markers.
The Rhineland Demilitarized marker is not placed in the Rhineland space.
The marker in the Switzerland space should be on its League of Nations side.
The marker in the French Catholics space is placed on its Canonization of Joan of Arc side.
The marker in the Thuringia space is placed on its Weimar Republic side.
The marker in the Poland space is placed on its blank side (Guarantees to Poland has not been played).
12.2 Prepare Rearmament Chart
Place German marker on the Lipetsk Airbase space RW side-up.
Place France marker on the Maginot Line Conception space LW side-up.
Place UK marker on the Experimental Mechanised Force space RW side-up.
Place USSR marker on the Polikarpov I-16 space LW side up.
Place Italian marker on the Binary Divisions space RW side up.
Place Spanish marker on the Espana Class Dreadnoughts space RW side-up.
Place Little Entente marker on the starting space LW side-up.
Place the following markers in their corresponding space on the chart: use the +0 side of the Ten Year Rule Plan Abandoned marker.
12.3 Prepare Strategy Cards
Remove the following cards from the game, placing any appropriate reminder markers on the reminder sheet: Giacomo Matteotti, Germany Admitted to the League of Nations, Hyperinflation in Germany, Spirit of Locarno, Freikorps, Aristide Briand (placing Reminder Marker), Aventine Secession, Tomas Masaryk, White Terror, Munich Beer Hall Putsch (placing reminder marker), March on Rome (placing reminder marker), Ruhr Occupation, Cartel des Gauches, Gustav Stresemann (placing reminder marker), Canonization of Joan of Arc, Leon Trotsky, Mein Kampf (placing reminder marker), Treaty of Rapallo, Jozef Pilsudski, Washington Naval Treaty (placing reminder marker), Friedrich Ebert, Miguel Primo de Rivera, Wall Street Crash, Rif War, Weimar Republic, Admiral Horthy, Kellogg-Briand Pact.
12.4 Place the following cards in the discard pile
Deuxième Bureau, Clandestine Rearmament, Pope Pius XI, Edvard Benes, League of Nations Intervention, Winston Churchill, Dawes Plan / Young Plan.
12.5 Build Draw Deck
Combine the remaining cards from the Roaring Twenties (not mentioned above) with the Great Depression cards to create the Draw Deck.
Neither player has cards in their hand at the start of the scenario.
12.5 Place SP and Extremists
The table below shows, for each space, the Left Wing (LW) Support Points and Right Wing (RW) Support Points to place. A number followed by an asterisk (*) means a friendly Extremist is also placed in that space. A dash means no Support Points or Extremist are placed there.
French Spaces
| Space | LW SP | RW SP |
|---|---|---|
| Action Française | 0 | 3* |
| Alsace-Lorraine | 2 | 0 |
| Aquitaine | 1 | 0 |
| France-Comté | – | – |
| French Catholics | 0 | 4 |
| Normandy/Brittany | – | – |
| Nord/Pas-de-Calais | 2* | 0 |
| Paris | 2* | 0 |
| Provence | – | – |
French Colonial Spaces
| Space | LW SP | RW SP |
|---|---|---|
| Algeria | 1 | 0 |
| French Morocco | 2* | 0 |
| French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon | 0 | 2 |
| Tunisia | – | – |
Italian Spaces
| Space | LW SP | RW SP |
|---|---|---|
| Apulia | – | – |
| Blackshirts | 0 | 0* |
| Campania | – | – |
| Dodecanese | – | – |
| Fiume | 0 | 3 |
| Lombardy | 3 | 0 |
| Rome | 1 | 4 |
| Sicily | – | – |
| South Tyrol | 2 | 0* |
| Tuscany | 0 | 1 |
| Victor Emmannuel III | 0 | 2 |
Italian Colonial Space
| Space | LW SP | RW SP |
|---|---|---|
| Libya | 0 | 2* |
German Spaces
| Space | LW SP | RW SP |
|---|---|---|
| Bavaria | 0 | 3* |
| Baden-Württemberg | – | – |
| Berlin | 3* | 0 |
| East-Prussia | 0 | 4 |
| Hamburg | 2 | 0* |
| Hanover | – | – |
| Magdeburg | 0 | 5 |
| Pomerania | – | – |
| Rhineland | 2 | 0 |
| Saxony | 1 | 0 |
| Silesia | 0 | 2* |
| Thuringia | 2 | 0 |
UK Spaces
| Space | LW SP | RW SP |
|---|---|---|
| Gibraltar | 0 | 2 |
| House of Windsor | – | – |
| London | 1 | 0 |
| Midlands | – | – |
| Northern England | 2 | 0 |
| Northern Ireland | 1 | 0 |
| Parliament | 0 | 2 |
| Scotland | 2 | 0 |
| Wales | – | – |
UK Colonial Spaces
| Space | LW SP | RW SP |
|---|---|---|
| British Mandate for Palestine | 2 | 0 |
| Egypt | – | – |
| Empire & Commonwealth | 0 | 1 |
Little Entente Spaces
| Space | LW SP | RW SP |
|---|---|---|
| Bessarabia | – | – |
| Bohemia | 3 | 0 |
| Bosnia | – | – |
| Croatia | 0 | 2 |
| Moravia | 1 | 0 |
| Romanian Royalty | 1 | 1 |
| Ruthenia | – | – |
| Serbia | 1 | 0 |
| Slovakia | 1 | 0 |
| Slovenia | – | – |
| Sudetenland | 1 | 1 |
| Transylvania | – | – |
Spanish Spaces
| Space | LW SP | RW SP |
|---|---|---|
| Andalusia | 0 | 1 |
| Balearic Islands | – | – |
| Basque Country | 2 | 0 |
| Catalonia | 1 | 1 |
| Galicia | – | – |
| La Mancha | – | – |
| Madrid | 0 | 1 |
| Monarchists | – | – |
| Spanish Catholics | – | – |
| Valencia | – | – |
Spanish Colonial Spaces
| Space | LW SP | RW SP |
|---|---|---|
| Spanish Morocco | 0* | 2 |
Independent Spaces
| Space | LW SP | RW SP |
|---|---|---|
| Albania | – | – |
| Austria | 0 | 1 |
| Baltic States | 0 | 1 |
| Belgium | 0 | 2 |
| Bulgaria | 0 | 1 |
| Danzig-Polish Corridor | – | – |
| Denmark | – | – |
| Finland | 0 | 2 |
| Greece | 0 | 1 |
| Hungary | 0 | 2* |
| Irish Free State | 2* | 0 |
| Netherlands | 3 | 0 |
| Norway | – | – |
| Poland | 3 | 2 |
| Portugal | 0 | 1 |
| Sweden | 0 | 1 |
| Switzerland | 7 | 1 |
| Turkey | 0 | 1 |
| USSR | 5* | 1 |
| Vatican | 0 | 4 |
13.0 Appeasement Scenario
The rules in section 13.0 replace the rules in 3.0 Setup. All other rules are in place.
13.1 Place markers on the gameboard
Put the Turn marker on Turn 7 of the Turn Track.
Put the Power marker on "RW 3" of the Power Track.
Put the Tension marker on 2 of the Tension Track.
Put the RW Moderation marker on RW7 of the Power Track.
Put the LW Moderation markers on LW8 of the Power Track.
Place two points of Sanctions in the RW Sanction Box and none in the LW Sanction Box.
The Rhineland Demilitarized marker is not placed in the Rhineland space.
The marker in the Switzerland space should be on its League of Nations side.
The marker in the French Catholics space is placed on its Canonization of Joan of Arc side.
The marker in the Thuringia space is placed on its blank side.
The marker in the Poland space is placed on its blank side (Guarantees to Poland has not been played).
13.2 Prepare Rearmament Chart
Place German marker on the Luftwaffe Unveiled space RW side-up.
Place French marker on the Maginot Line Completion LW side-up.
Place UK marker on Imperial Obligations space LW side-up.
Place USSR marker on the Theory of Deep Operation space LW side-up.
Place Italian marker on the Binary Divisions space RW side-up.
Place Spanish marker on the Special Emergency Intervention space RW side-up (with the reminder marker moved to the Reminder Sheet).
Place Little Entente marker on the Foreign Plane Import space LW side-up.
Place the following markers in their corresponding space on the chart: use the +2 side of the Ten Year Rule Abandoned marker.
13.3 Prepare Strategy Cards
Remove the following cards from the game, placing any appropriate reminder markers on the reminder sheet: Giacomo Matteotti, Germany Admitted to the League of Nations, Hyperinflation in Germany, Spirit of Locarno, Freikorps, Aristide Briand (placing Reminder Marker), Aventine Secession, Tomas Masaryk, White Terror, Munich Beer Hall Putsch (placing reminder marker), March on Rome (placing reminder marker), Ruhr Occupation, Cartel des Gauches, Gustav Stresemann (placing reminder marker), Canonization of Joan of Arc, Leon Trotsky, Mein Kampf (placing reminder marker), Treaty of Rapallo, Jozef Pilsudski, Washington Naval Treaty (placing reminder marker), Friedrich Ebert, Miguel Primo de Rivera, Wall Street Crash, Rif War, Weimar Republic, Admiral Horthy, Kellogg-Briand Pact, Stavisky Affair, Vyacheslav Molotov (placing reminder marker), Enabling act (placing reminder marker), Industrialist Enablers, Night of the Long Knives, Croix-de-feu, Comintern, Neville Chamberlain (placing reminder marker), Il Duce (placing reminder marker), Adolf Hitler (placing reminder marker), Election of '33 (placing reminder marker), Self Determination, Ten Year Rule Abandoned, Rhineland Evacuation (placing reminder marker), Manchuria Invasion, Geneva Disarmament Conference (already had its effect), Reichstag Fire, Franco-German Reconciliation (placing reminder marker), Andrej Hlinka, Second Spanish Republic, Mechanised Warfare Pioneers, Edouard Daladier (placing reminder marker), German Generals Object (already had its full effect), Ernst Thälmann, Maginot Mentality (already had its full effect).
13.4 Place the following cards in the discard pile
Deuxième Bureau, Clandestine Rearmament, Pope Pius XI, Edvard Benes, League of Nations Intervention, Winston Churchill, Dawes Plan / Young Plan, War Reparations/War Debts, Clement Atlee, Currency Stabilization, American Expatriates, Joseph Stalin, France Scoring, Italy Scoring, Germany Scoring.
13.5 Build Draw Deck
Combine the remaining cards from the Roaring Twenties and Great Depression (not mentioned above) with the Appeasement cards to create the Draw Deck. Neither player has cards in their hand at the start of the scenario.
13.6 Place SP and Extremists
The table below shows, for each space, the Left Wing (LW) Support Points and Right Wing (RW) Support Points to place. A number followed by an asterisk (*) means a friendly Extremist is also placed in that space. A dash means no Support Points or Extremist are placed there.
French Spaces
| Space | LW SP | RW SP |
|---|---|---|
| Action Française | 0 | 3* |
| Alsace-Lorraine | 6* | 0* |
| Aquitaine | 1 | 0 |
| France-Comté | – | – |
| French Catholics | 0 | 4 |
| Normandy/Brittany | 0 | 1* |
| Nord/Pas-de-Calais | 4* | 0 |
| Paris | 4* | 2 |
| Provence | – | – |
French Colonial Spaces
| Space | LW SP | RW SP |
|---|---|---|
| Algeria | 3 | 2 |
| French Morocco | 2* | 0 |
| French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon | 0 | 2 |
| Tunisia | – | – |
Italian Spaces
| Space | LW SP | RW SP |
|---|---|---|
| Apulia | – | – |
| Blackshirts | 0 | 0* |
| Campania | – | – |
| Dodecanese | – | – |
| Fiume | 0 | 3 |
| Lombardy | 3* | 0 |
| Rome | 1 | 4 |
| Sicily | – | – |
| South Tyrol | 2 | 0* |
| Tuscany | 0 | 2 |
| Victor Emmannuel III | 0 | 2 |
Italian Colonial Space
| Space | LW SP | RW SP |
|---|---|---|
| Libya | 0 | 2* |
German Spaces
| Space | LW SP | RW SP |
|---|---|---|
| Bavaria | 0 | 1 |
| Baden-Württemberg | – | – |
| Berlin | 5 | 2 |
| East-Prussia | 0 | 4 |
| Hamburg | 4* | 2* |
| Hanover | – | – |
| Magdeburg | 0 | 3 |
| Pomerania | – | – |
| Rhineland | 2 | 1 |
| Saxony | – | – |
| Silesia | 0 | 2* |
| Thuringia | 3 | 0 |
UK Spaces
| Space | LW SP | RW SP |
|---|---|---|
| Gibraltar | 0 | 2 |
| House of Windsor | – | – |
| London | 2 | 3 |
| Midlands | – | – |
| Northern England | 2 | 1 |
| Northern Ireland | 1 | 1 |
| Parliament | 0 | 3 |
| Scotland | 2 | 0 |
| Wales | – | – |
UK Colonial Spaces
| Space | LW SP | RW SP |
|---|---|---|
| British Mandate for Palestine | 2 | 0 |
| Egypt | 3 | 0 |
| Empire & Commonwealth | 0 | 1 |
Little Entente Spaces
| Space | LW SP | RW SP |
|---|---|---|
| Bessarabia | – | – |
| Bohemia | 3 | 0 |
| Bosnia | – | – |
| Croatia | 0 | 2 |
| Moravia | 2 | 0 |
| Romanian Royalty | 1 | 1 |
| Ruthenia | 1 | 0 |
| Serbia | 3 | 0 |
| Slovakia | 1 | 2* |
| Slovenia | – | – |
| Sudetenland | 3 | 4 |
| Transylvania | – | – |
Spanish Spaces
| Space | LW SP | RW SP |
|---|---|---|
| Andalusia | 0 | 1 |
| Balearic Islands | – | – |
| Basque Country | 2 | 0 |
| Catalonia | 4 | 1 |
| Galicia | – | – |
| La Mancha | – | – |
| Madrid | 2 | 1 |
| Monarchists | – | – |
| Spanish Catholics | – | – |
| Valencia | 2 | 0 |
Spanish Colonial Spaces
| Space | LW SP | RW SP |
|---|---|---|
| Spanish Morocco | 0* | 2 |
Independent Spaces
| Space | LW SP | RW SP |
|---|---|---|
| Albania | 1 | 0 |
| Austria | 0 | 1 |
| Baltic States | 0 | 1 |
| Belgium | 0 | 2 |
| Bulgaria | 0 | 1 |
| Danzig-Polish Corridor | – | – |
| Denmark | – | – |
| Finland | 0 | 2 |
| Greece | 0 | 2 |
| Hungary | 0 | 2* |
| Irish Free State | 2* | 0 |
| Netherlands | 3 | 0 |
| Norway | – | – |
| Poland | 3 | 2 |
| Portugal | 0 | 1 |
| Sweden | 0 | 1 |
| Switzerland | 4 | 1 |
| Turkey | 0 | 3 |
| USSR | 7* | 3 |
| Vatican | 0 | 2 |
17.0 Example of Play
Below is an example of the opening turn of a game of Europe in Turmoil II: Interbellum played by Kris (the Right Wing player) and Tâm (the Left Wing player).
Opening Hand
After performing the Initial Setup (3.1 through 3.5), Kris and Tâm draw their opening hands of eight cards from the Roaring Twenties deck.
Kris, the Right-Wing player, draws the following eight cards: France Scoring, Admiral Horthy, Kellogg-Briand Pact, Miguel Primo de Rivera, Washington Naval Treaty, Aventine Secession, Spirit of Locarno, War Reparations/War Debt.
Tâm, the Left-Wing player, draws the following eight cards: Friedrich Ebert, March on Rome, Tomas Masaryk, Józef Piłsudski, Wall Street Crash, American Expatriates, Winston Churchill, Croix-de-Feu.
Certainly an interesting hand for the Right-Wing player. Only a few Left Wing aligned cards, and certainly not the toughest to play around. Drawing French Scoring early is useful for the Right-Wing player because it means they can either play it early (prior to the Left-Wing player acquiring a strong position in France), or instead spend (a lot of) OPs in France attempting to gain dominance prior to playing French Scoring. No Italy or Germany scoring, which always raises the question whether either of those cards is in the Left-Wing hand. If the Left Wing plays convincingly in either of those Scoring Regions, Kris will have to react. Early in the game, without Right Wing presence in countries adjacent to Hungary, Admiral Horthy is likely to be played for Operations, just like Miguel Primo de Rivera. Aventine Secession is likely to end up being played for Operations too, unless Tâm would play March on Rome.
Tâm notices with dismay she is holding too many strong Right Wing events to be able to navigate this hand unscathed. No scoring cards either, which means Tâm will have to focus on all three regions at the same time (prior to any clear signaling from Kris). Friedrich Ebert and Tomas Masaryk, while good cards, will likely have to be played for Operations in order to repair the damage of the rest of her hand.
Discretionary SP Placement (See 3.7)
Tâm opens with 1 SP in Lombardy (1/0), 1 SP in Hamburg (1/0) and 1 SP in Algeria (1/0). The Left Wing is relatively weak in Italy at the start of the game, and claiming Lombardy goes a long way to solving that. There is the chance that the Right Wing will play Aventine Secession, but even then there is a road to controlling Lombardy via Provence. Claiming Hamburg gives the Left-Wing player a shot at controlling three of the five battlegrounds in Germany, at least for now. Not counting the French Catholics (prior to Canonization of Joan of Arc) and Alsace-Lorraine (normally easy for the Left Wing to control via the French Rearmament track), there are three battlegrounds in France, with Paris and Action Française respectively pro-LW and pro-RW. Claiming Algeria is a play to dominate France.
Kris replies with placing 1 SP in Action Française (0/3*), 1 in Egypt (0/1), 1 in Fiume (0/1) and finally 1 in East-Prussia (0/4). Some placements in order to control spaces and perform Support Checks, some placements to spread territory.
Tâm finishes by placing 1 SP in Silesia (1/0) and 1 SP in Austria (2/0). Control over Austria defends both Hungary and Bavaria from Support Checks, while Silesia protects/attacks both Berlin and Poland.
Discretionary Extremist Placement (See 3.8)
Kris places his Extremist in Hamburg (1/0*). This Extremist serves double purposes, either allowing placement of Support in Hamburg or assisting Support checks against the lower-stability adjacent spaces such as Denmark and Norway.
Tâm places her Extremist in Alsace-Lorraine (0*/0). France stands or falls with Paris, and currently it is not very protected. An early France Scoring, even without Extremists, could very well give the Right-Wing player dominance.
Turn 1
Both players will alternate playing cards during the seven rounds until each has had seven opportunities to play a card.
Action Round 1.1 — Kris' play: Right Wing: That Extremist in Alsace-Lorraine is a pity, making it that much harder to dominate France. Tâm is clearly interested in Algeria. There are a couple of options here. Firstly, Kris could play either of his 4 OPs cards to place 4 SP in Algeria, dominating France. Alternatively, that same 4 OPs could go a long way to making a successful Support check in Paris. In both cases, the Left Wing has some ways of returning, though (by taking Alsace-Lorraine, they turn France into a stalemate). Without much in his hand to really force the issue in France (and wary of the Left Wing having such cards), Kris plays the French Scoring card and makes a Support check in Paris. He has a +2 modifier to his die roll from the French Scoring itself, and another +1 through his control over the French Catholics. He has however a -1 modifier from Tâm's control over Nord/Pas-de-Calais, and another -1 due to her Extremist in Alsace-Lorraine. He rolls a 3, modified by +1 net for a total of 4. Subtracting Paris' stability of 2 multiplied by 2, he is left with 0. Rolling a 4 or higher would have broken Tâm's control over Paris. Both players end with 1 battleground in France and with only presence and no controlled Independent spaces, the score remains at 0 Power.
Action Round 1.1 — Tâm's play: Left Wing: A pity that the French Scoring ended up being a wash (rather than the boon it usually is for the Left-Wing player later in the game), but that could have been a lot worse. For her first Action Round, Tâm plays Jozef Pilsudski. This is a Right-Wing aligned card, so she can only use it for Operations points, and additionally the Event will occur (either before or after spending the OPs). She opts to go first and spends both her OPs by placing Support Markers in Russia (5*/1). The Event places 2 RW SP in Poland (2/3) and then gives the Right-Wing player a Support check in Poland. Right Wing has a +1 modifier (for control over Eastern Prussia) and a +4 modifier due to the Event. However, they also have a -1 modifier for Left Wing control over Russia and a -1 modifier for the LW Extremist in Russia. Kris rolls a 4, modified by a net +3 for a total of 7. Compared to the doubled stability of Poland of 6, he removes 1 LW SP from the Poland space (1/3). The Jozef Pilsudski card is removed from the game following its execution.
Action Round 1.2 — Kris' play: Right Wing: Tâm doesn't seem to have either of the missing scorings in hand, so it is time to work on board presence. As Kris wants to have the Admiral Horthy Event worthwhile, he tries to surround the Hungary space with Right-Wing controlled spaces. Miguel Primo de Rivera is played for Operations. Kris spends 1 OPs to take control over Poland (1/4) and 2 OPs to place 2 SP in Slovenia (0/2). As this is an Event aligned with the Right-Wing player, it does not occur when used for Operations by the Right Wing player, and it is discarded.
Action Round 1.2 — Tâm's play: Left Wing: Wall Street Crash is played for its Event. Tâm removes 1 RW SP from the UK Parliament (0/1), from Action Française (0/2*), East-Prussia (0/3), Slovenia (0/1), Fiume (0/0) and Spanish Catholics (0/1).
Action Round 1.3 — Kris' play: Right Wing: Damage control! Not everything Tâm just did needs to be repaired at the same time (nor would that be possible in a single action round!), so Kris plays Kellogg-Briand Pact. Kris chooses to have the event trigger first, reducing Tension to 0 and flipping the Tension marker. Then, he uses his 2 OPs to place 1 Support in both Slovenia (0/2) and East-Prussia (0/4). Tâm cannot reach Fiume yet, so it is not imperative to be reclaimed. Both UK and Spain scoring are still far off, while France scoring has already happened, so repairing those spaces is no priority.
Action Round 1.3 — Tâm's play: Left Wing: Tâm is still holding three dangerous Right-Wing Events. As players can generally avoid two Events per turn (by holding one in hand and using the other as a Rearmament card), she still needs to play at least one of them. As she would prefer to avoid Croix-de-Feu and Winston Churchill, she decides to play March on Rome. The Event is allowed to occur first, reducing RW Moderation by 1 to 11, with Kris placing an Extremist in Libya (0/0*) and one in South Tyrol (0/0*) while relocating all 4 SP from the Blackshirts space (0/0*) to Rome (1/4). With her 4 OPs, Tâm takes Berlin (3*/0) and Lombardy (3/0).
Action Round 1.4 — Kris' play: Right Wing: Time for Horthy to shine. Kris plays the Admiral Horthy Event, placing 1 SP and 1 Extremist in Hungary (2*/1*) and then rolls for the Support Check. He receives a +1 for control over Slovenia and a +1 for the Extremist in Hungary, while Tâm provides a -1 penalty by control over Austria and a -1 for her Extremist in Hungary. Kris rolls a 5, which modified by the 3 OPs is a total of eight, or (after subtracting Hungary's doubled stability) a total of 4 Support change. First, the 2 Left-Wing Support is removed. Then, Tâm's Extremist is removed. Finally, the last point provides Kris with a Support in Hungary (0/2*). Rolling a 6 would not have given Kris any extra bonus, as he already has an Extremist in Hungary, and sufficient SP for control over the space.
Action Round 1.4 — Tâm's play: Left Wing: While losing Hungary is painful, there is nothing to be done about it. Tâm uses her small breathing space to get rid of that Winston Churchill card in her hand, using it to make a Rearmament attempt. When trying to choose on which track to make the attempt, she rejects out of hand the UK (too difficult with just the 2 OPs), Spain (not worthwhile enough), the German and Italian ones (whose first progress box has a pro-Right Wing effect) and the USSR one (no interesting spaces containing extremists). She decides to take the French one (preferring 2 SP in Alsace-Lorraine over a less certain 1 SP elsewhere) and rolls a 3. Modified with +1 (from the rearmament marker flipped to its Left Wing side) and the +2 OPs, she rolled high enough to advance to Maginot Line Conception and places 2 SP in Alsace-Lorraine (2*/0).
Action Round 1.5 — Kris' play: Right Wing: Kris replies to that rearmament by doing some rearmament of his own, tossing the Spirit of Locarno for an attempt. Having used a 4-OPs card, he is tempted by the UK rearmament (and its possibility of discarding another card) before choosing the Little Entente track. He rolls a 4 (modified to 8). He flips the marker to its Right Wing +1 side, advances it to the Foreign Plane Import box and places 1 SP in the Hamburg space (1/1*).
Action Round 1.5 — Tâm's play: Left Wing: Tâm uses the 2 OPs of Tomas Masaryk to place 2 SP in the Bavaria space (3/0).
Action Round 6 — Kris' play: Right Wing: While an Aventine Secession in Italy would be quite worthwhile right now, Kris decides to go for Germany and plays the card for its Operation points, placing all 3 in Hamburg (1/4*).
Action Round 6 — Tâm's play: Left Wing: If Kris wants to fight for Germany, Tâm is willing! She plays Friedrich Ebert for Operations, placing 2 Left Wing SP in the Norway space (2/0). Norway, being adjacent to Germany and the United Kingdom, can be a good source of Power. With Tâm only holding 2-Operations cards, she couldn't take Hamburg in one Action Round, so she decided to go for the surrounding spaces.
End of turn 1: France is dominated by the Left Wing player, but as its Scoring card is already in the discard this is mainly a long-term, not short-term, advantage. Prior to the addition of the Rhineland (through removal of the Rhineland Demilitarized marker via Event Play), Germany has only four battlegrounds and they are currently divided two to two. Neither player can expect to dominate Germany if its Scoring happens next turn, although the Left Wing's battlegrounds are much weaker (as each is adjacent to a RW extremist) than the Right Wing's. Neither player is very present in Italy, and players will have to start investing in that Scoring Region (and its many adjacent Independents) soon.
Action Round 7 — Kris' play: Right Wing: War Reparations/War Debts is played for 4 OPs, and Kris makes a Support Check in Austria. He makes a roll of 3, modified by +4 (OPs), +3 (extremists in South Tyrol and Hungary plus control over Hungary) and by -1 (for the Left Wing control over Bavaria) and -4 (double the stability of the Austria space). The difference is 5, which means that 2 Left Wing Support is removed from the Austria space, 2 RW support is added, and a RW extremist is placed (0/2*).
Action Round 7 — Tâm's play: Left Wing: Not much to do about that. Central Europe is slowly turning to the Right Wing. Tâm plays American Expatriates and uses the event, in order to place a support and an extremist in the Action Française space (1*/2*).