fldmrshl wrote in message ... If anyone out there still plays this game, here are some lightly playtested rules my group uses. Cash Flow: a variant for the game Supremacy (revised) Supremacy rules by Robert J. Simpson Cash Flow Variant v1.2 Written by Galen Thies 05/22/2001 A.k.a. fldmrshl@hotmail.com Game Overview This variant contains some dramatic rule changes in virtually all areas of play. Some entirely new mechanics have been implemented. Please make sure to read through these rules thoroughly prior to play. If you have any questions regarding these rules, please feel free to email me at the address above. In this version, I have attempted to simplify the market mechanics to avoid the unpleasant math that was involved with the system as set down in v1.0. As in the former version, No bank loans are permitted. If a player wishes to borrow money, he must convince another player to lend it to him. The economy is a zero-sum game. If one player gains money, another loses it. I recommend against putting anything in that would alter this concept. The total amount of money in circulation in the game does not change after game start. Components The Board - The board consists of land territories and sea zones. The six superpowers are colored dark green, green, orange, purple, red and yellow. The Commodities Market - The commodities market is where players may sell resources to each other. The commodities market consists of three rows, one each for mineral, oil and grain. These rows are divided into columns according to price. It is recommended for this variant hat you renumber the market as follows (all prices are in millions): 10 / 25 / 50 / 100 / 150 / 200 / 250 / 300 / 350 / 400 / 450 / 500 / 550 / 600 / 650 / 700 / 800 / 900 / 1000. Resource units available for sale are indicated by discs colored according to the superpower that is offering the commodity for sale (we use the discs that came in the neutron bombs and k-sats expansion). For example, two dark green discs on the 100 spot on the scale would indicate that The USA has two grain units for sale at 100 million dollars each. When a player purchases a unit from the market, he simply pays the ask price to the seller, and returns the colored discs to the seller. The Labor Market - The labor market is the mechanism which determines how much a unit of labor costs. It consists of a single row of boxes (each box should be large enough to contain one stack of money) numbered as follows: 25 / 50 / 50 / 100 / 100 / 100 / 200 / 200 / 200 / 300 / 300 / 300 / 300 / 400 / 400 / 400 / 400 / 400 / 500 / 500 / 500 / 500 / 500 / 600 / 600 / 600 / 600 / 700 / 700 / 700 / 800 / 800 / 800 / 900 / 900 / 1000. The numbers indicate the price in millions of a unit of labor. When a player purchases a unit of labor, he must place the amount of money indicated on the first open spot from the left. When a set is turned in to satisfy labor demand, the player deleting the set simply picks up one stack of money for each set he deleted starting from the right of the scale. The Pieces - There are two types of military unit, armies (represented by the plastic squares) and navies (represented by the plastic oblongs). The black plastic discs are used to keep track of the current levels of supply centers. We use the colored mushroom clouds (provided in neutron bombs and k-sats expansion) for nuke clouds so that we can keep track of who placed them on the board for scoring purposes. We use the colored discs (also obtained in neutron bombs and k-sats expansion) for two purposes. First, to denote the location of nuke silos on the board. Second, to denote resource units for sale on the commodities market. The Resource Cards - These cards display a company name, a territory or sea zone location and a production value in resource pips. We use a deck consisting of resource decks one and two combined. Due to the special mechanics we use, all but one nuke card, one l-star card and one supremacy card are removed and set aside before play. The Entropy Token - Anything (small enough to be passed around) can be used as the entropy token. We use a small hourglass-style 3 minute egg timer. In addition to tracking entropy, it can be used, if your group prefers, to set a time limit on those players who tend to drag out their decision-making. The holder of the entropy token must discard one of his companies at the beginning of his turn as described in the turn sequence below. The token is passed counter-clockwise in the game (the opposite direction from which play proceeds). Game Set-Up Money - One player must be designated as banker. That player will run the bank by making change and insuring that all players pay the appropriate amounts to the labor market and when called upon to do so. Each player receives three billion dollars from the bank. This is the amount in their economies at game start. Set aside the remainder of the money for use as needed for change, etc. Resource Cards - Each player starts the game with six resource cards selected in the following manner. The banker sorts the cards by superpower, separating out the neutral and technology cards. Then, starting with the player to the banker's left, each player selects a superpower and randomly draws four (4) resource cards from their superpowers' stack. Then, they draw 2 more cards from the neutral cards. As these cards are drawn, they are immediately revealed. If a player draws a card in the same territory in which another player has a card, the new card must be set aside and shuffled back into the deck when all players have drawn their cards. A replacement card is then drawn. After all players have drawn their cards, The remaining superpower and neutral cards card are shuffled together, then divided into three equal (as close as possible) piles. The nuke card is shuffled into the first pile. The l-star card is shuffled into the second pile. The supremacy card is shuffled into the last pile. Place the l-star pile on top of the supremacy card pile. Then, place the nuke card pile on top of the ot her two. When finished, you should have a combined deck with the nuke card in the top third, the l-star card in the middle third and the supremacy card in the bottom third. Three cards are drawn from the top of the deck and placed in a row adjacent to the deck. If all three cards depict the same resource, discard them and draw three new cards. Supply Centers - Each player sets all the counters on their supply center to zero. Each player simultaneously selects fifteen resource units of his choice and stores them in his supply center. There is a limit to the number of resources a player may store in his supply center. Once the meter reaches 12, no more can be stored. Notice that labor units can not be stored. They must be paid for at the market price when required. Armies/Navies - Each player places one army in each home territory and each neutral territory where he has a resource card. Each player places one navy in every light blue sea zone adjacent to any territory he controls in which he has a port bordering that sea zone. If more than one player controls a port adjacent to a particular sea zone, then neither player may place a navy there. Each player then places 15 additional armies on the board on any territory that they already control. Markets - At game start, there are no units for sale on the market. Entropy - Randomly determine who starts with the entropy token. Turn Sequence Entropy - (note: the entropy process is ignored on the first turn of the game) If a player is in possession of the entropy token at the beginning of his turn, he must discard a resource company, randomly selected, in the following manner. Roll a die. A one or two (1,2) indicates a mineral company, a three or four (3,4) indicates an oil company, a five or six (5,6) indicates a grain company. If a player doesn't own a particular type rolled, simply re-roll until a valid type comes up. Once the type of company is determined, roll another die. The number on the die indicates minimum production of the company to be discarded. If a player does not own a company with production that meets the minimum requirement, he must discard his highest producer. If a six (6) is rolled, the player may choose which company of the rolled type to discard. After discarding a resource company, the player passes the entropy token to the player on his right and proceeds with his turn. Action Selection - On his turn, A player selects one of the following actions to perform. Production - A player selecting a production action wishes to activate his resource companies. To produce resource units, the following three steps must be completed. Purchase Labor - One labor unit is required to activate all of the resource companies of each particular type (mineral, oil or grain). For example, if a player wished to activate all of his grain companies, he would purchase one labor unit from the labor market. If he desired to activate all of his oil companies as well, he would be required to purchase an additional labor unit from the labor market. Transfer Production - When a resource company is activated, a player may transfer a number of resource units equal to the number of pips on the resource company card to their supply center. Exception: if all of the ports of a foreign territory where one of your resource companies is located are blocked by enemy navies in the adjacent sea zone(s), then that player may choose to blockade the territory thus preventing you from transferring the resource from that company. Similarly, if all of your home ports are blocked by enemy navies then the enemy may declare a siege, in which case you can transfer no resource units from any companies located outside of your home country. Excess Units - If a player produces more of a particular resource than their supply center can hold (12), the additional resources may immediately be placed on the market at any price the owning player wishes to set. If such excess units are not placed on the market, they are lost. At any time, a player may have no more than twelve (12) resource units for sale on the market. Build - A player selecting a build action wishes to build forces and weapons. A player wishing to build must complete the following three steps. Purchase Labor - A player must purchase a unit of labor from the labor market for each type (army, navy, nuke, l-star) of unit he wishes to build. Note that only one (1) labor unit is required for each type of unit produced without regard to the number of forces produced. Note that nukes and l-stars may not be produced until the technology becomes available. Delete mineral units - A player must delete mineral units from his supply center sufficient to build the forces he desires. Each army unit requires one (1) mineral unit to build. Each navy requires two (2) mineral units. Each nuke requires three (3) mineral units. Each l-star requires four (4) mineral units. Placement - New armies must be placed in their home territory. New navies must be placed in a light blue sea zone adjacent to any of their home territories containing a port (this sea zone cannot contain enemy navies). For every nuke produced, a silo must be placed in a friendly territory. They may be spread out among many territories or concentrated in one or a few as the player desires. L-stars are not technically placed on the board. When an l-star is built, the owner simply moves the l-star meter on his supply center up one spot. Market - A player selecting a market action wishes to buy or sell resources or companies. A player choosing a market action may execute any or all of the following activities. Buy Resources- A player may purchase units from the market by simply paying the price listed to the player offering the units for sale. The colored discs indicating the availability of the resources purchased are then removed from the market and returned to the selling player. The purchasing player then transfers the units into his supply center. Sell Resources- A player may offer any resource units he has for sale by deleting them from his supply center and placing a number of discs (of his country's color) on the appropriate market (mineral, oil or grain) at the price for which he wishes to sell them. At any time, a player may have no more than twelve (12) total resource units on the market. He receives no money for the units until someone purchases them. Adjust Prices - A player may adjust the price (up or down) of any units he has for sale on the market. Direct Trade - A player may choose to trade any number of resource units or companies with one or more players for whatever terms they can agree to. If a player trades a resource company located within a territory occupied by military units, the trade does not affect the ownership of the territory itself. The occupying player retains ownership. Satisfy Labor Market - A player may choose to delete any number of sets in order to satisfy demand from the labor market. For each set he deletes from his supply center, he may pick up one stack of money starting from the right on the labor market. Thus, the price of labor units will decline. Deployment - A player selecting a deployment action wishes to move his forces. A player may move any or all of his units provided he has the required oil to do so. Armies - Any number of armies may be moved from one friendly territory to another adjacent friendly territory by deleting one oil unit. Armies may also be deployed from a friendly port to any other friendly port provided that neither port is under blockade. Navies may also move armies. A navy may transport up to 4 armies. Armies may only be loaded from a port territory. Armies may only be unloaded at a territory containing a port. Armies may remain at sea between turns only if they are embarked aboard a navy. Navies - Navies may be moved any number of territories by deleting one (1) oil unit for each navy being moved. A navy moved in the deployment phase may not end its move in any light blue sea zone containing enemy navies. However, it may share a dark blue sea zone with any number of other players' navies. A navy may transport up to four army units as above. A navy may only load army units from one territory per turn. Although a navy may load and move, a navy must end its move if it unloads any army units. If a navy does not move but unloads armies (i.e. bridging between two port territories), this requires one (1) oil unit. At the conclusion of any deploy action, a player may declare blockade on a territory if he has navies blocking all ports of that territory. To indicate this status, the player should stand the blockading navies on their side. Attack - A player selecting an attack action wishes to destroy enemy forces or occupy/destroy unfriendly or neutral territories. A player choosing an attack action may execute any or all of the three activities listed below. However, an army or navy may only participate in one combat round per turn. Conventional Attack Sequence - A player executes a conventional attack according to the steps below. Declare Targets - A player must designate which territory(s) and/or sea(s) he is attacking. First Strike - The player who owns/occupies any territory being targeted has the option of nuclear first strike. The defender may immediately launch any or all of his nukes at one or more territories owned/occupied by the attacker. If the defender does this, the attacker has the option of responding with any or all of his nukes. Resolve any such nuke attacks using the Strategic Attack sequence below before proceeding with conventional combat. Attacker Deletes Units - The attacker must delete one (1) grain unit for each border over which he plans to attack. All attacks may originate only from territories/sea zones that are adjacent to the target territory/sea zone. The only exception is navies sharing a dark blue sea with targeted units, in which case one (1) grain unit would need to be deleted for them to attack enemy units within their own sea zone. If the target territory is empty, the attacker may skip down in the sequence to the occupation move. Defender's Option - In each territory/sea zone being targeted by the attacker, the defender has the option of deleting a grain unit to gain a combat advantage. If the defender chooses to delete a grain unit for a particular territory, the defender will win ties when the dice are matched up below. Otherwise, the attacker will win ties. L-Star Advantage - The side with more l-stars may re-roll a number of dice in the following step equal to their numerical superiority in l-stars over the enemy. For example, if the attacker had two more l-stars than the defender, the attacker could re-roll two of his dice prior to them being matched up in the below procedure. Combat - For each targeted territory/sea zone, the attacker rolls 1 die for each army and navy participating in the attack. The defender rolls one die for each army or navy within the targeted territory. Match up the attacker' s highest die with the defender's highest die and then the next highest in descending order. In each match, the player with the lower die must remove an army or navy participating in the combat as a casualty. In the event of a tie, the attacker wins unless the defender has deleted a grain unit in the step above, in which case the defender wins. Note that armies embarked aboard navies may only attack adjacent land territories. They may neither attack other navies nor be chosen as casualties. If the navy upon which they are embarked is chosen as a casualty, the armies are lost. Occupation - If, after the combat round, the defender was completely eliminated from the target territory, the attacker may make a special occupation move. The attacker may move any number of armies (in the case of a land territory) or navies (in the case of a sea zone) into the territory/sea zone formerly occupied by the defender by deleting one (1) oil unit for each army or navy moved in. Note that the movement cost in oil is higher than it is in the deployment action. Nationalization - Regardless of whether an attack has occurred, if the attacker chooses, he may nationalize any resource companies that have been, at some point in the game, opened in any territory he occupies. In this case, the owners of these companies must immediately hand over these resource companies to nationalizing player. At the conclusion of any attack action, a player may declare blockade on a territory if he has navies blocking all ports of that territory. To indicate this status, the player should stand the blockading navies on their side. Strategic Attack Sequence Declare Target(s) - Attacker declares the target(s) of his attack and how many nukes launched by placing one or more upside-down nuke clouds upon each territory targeted and removing a number of his silos equal to the number of nukes launched. Nukes may be targeted on any territory or sea zone. The attacker may also elect to attempt a space blast in the hopes of eliminating all l-stars in orbit. Any nuke devoted to an attack of this nature should be placed upside down in front of the attacking player. Launch on Warning - If the target of nuclear attack has any nukes, he may launch them now against any of the attacker's territories or sea zones by following the same procedure. If he chooses not to launch them at this time, they may be destroyed if the territory(s) in which their silos are positioned are hit by nukes. Launch - The player launching nukes now rolls a die for each nuke launched. For each six (6) rolled a launch fails and one nuke cloud must be removed from the board. L-Star Screen - If the player upon whom nukes have been targeted has l-stars, he may roll one die for each l-star he owns and remove a targeted nuke from the board for each die upon which he does not roll a six (6) which is a miss. Any player with l-stars may participate in the screen by taking a shot with each l-star they own, however, if they are not being targeted, their l-stars miss on a roll of four, five or six (4,5,6). L-stars may only fire once per strategic combat. If the nukes being targeted are designated for a space blast, all players may fire their l-stars at the incoming nukes but everyone misses on a four five or six (4,5,6). Land Impact - When a nuke strikes a land territory, all armies in that territory are removed from the board and returned to their owner. All resource companies located in the nuked territory must be discarded. The nuke cloud stays on the board and armies may not pass through or stop in a territory with a mushroom cloud on it. Light Blue Sea Impact - When a nuke strikes a light blue sea territory, All navies in that territory must be removed from the board and returned to their owner. Resource cards within that territory are not discarded. The nuke cloud does not persist at sea and will not block movement in any way. It is removed at the end of the attacker's turn. Dark Blue Sea Impact - Nukes have no effect in a dark blue sea zone. Space Blast - If any nukes designated for a space blast are not shot down, all l-stars of all players are immediately eliminated. Nuclear Destruction - If the last home territory of a superpower is destroyed by a nuke, that player is immediately eliminated. His Resource companies are discarded, his money is returned to the bank and his armies, navies and silos are removed from the board. L-Star Clash Declare Target(s) - A player may use his l-stars to attack another player's l-stars. The attack designates which player's l-stars he wishes to attack. The attacker rolls one die for each l-star he wishes to participate in the attack. The defender rolls one die for each l-star they own. Match up the attacker's dice with the defender's dice in descending order. In each pair, the low die loses and l-star. In the event of a tie, both players lose an l-star. R&D - A player selecting an R&D action wishes to increase his access to resources. To obtain access to additional resources, execute the steps below. A player may execute this sequence as many times as he wishes in a single turn. Purchase Labor - One labor unit is required to draw one card from the top of the deck or select a card from the three face-up cards adjacent to the deck. Draw Card - The player may draw a single card from either the top of the resource deck or from among the three face-up cards adjacent to the resource deck. Discard Decision - The drawing player must now decide whether he will keep the card or discard it. If he keeps the card, he may leave it closed by laying it face-down in front of him, he may open it immediately by placing it face-up in front of him with his other open companies. If he chooses to discard, he immediately receives a one-times bonus consisting of the resources depicted on the card. Note that a player may open a company in any territory, including enemy occupied territories. However, the occupying player may nationalize these companies at the conclusion of any attack action he takes. Replace Card - If a player elected to pick up one of the face-up cards, he must now replace it by drawing a card from the top of the deck. If, at any time, the three face-up cards depict the same resource, discard all three and replace them from the top of the resource deck. Tech Cards and Scoring - There are three cards in the deck that require special action. If a player draws the nuke card or the l-star card he immediately shows it to all players and a scoring round is initiated. After scoring has taken place, he places the tech card in a position where all players may see it. This card indicates that the technology depicted is now available to all players for building. When the Supremacy card comes up, the final scoring round is initiated and the game is over. Scoring and Game End There are three scoring rounds. When a scoring round occurs, each player scores victory points according to the following schedule. This score is recorded in each round. At game end, the score for all three rounds is added together to determine the overall winner of the game. One (1) point is scored for each full billion dollars (round down) in a player's treasury. Two (2) points are scored for the player with the most mineral production. The resource companies must be open. Production of resource companies in territories under blockade is not counted. Two (2) points are scored for the player with the most oil production. The resource companies must be open. Production of resource companies in territories under blockade is not counted. Two (2) points are scored for the player with the most grain production. The resource companies must be open. Production of resource companies in territories under blockade is not counted. One (1) victory point is deducted from a player for each nuke cloud on the board that was placed by his country. Design Notes As a long-time player of the original game Supremacy, I want to make a few comments about my reasoning in designing this variant. First, let me make it perfectly clear that I have greatly enjoyed playing the game with Robert Simpson's original rules for years. As far as I know, it is the only example of a game that attempts such breath-taking scope. All kudos go out to Mr. Simpson for pioneering this genre. The rule changes I have instituted here should in no way be construed as a criticism of the original rules-they are not. They are simply my attempt at realizing my personal vision of the game. My desire in designing this variant was to simulate the ebb and flow of wealth and power in the global economy. I wanted to create on the micro scale a "real" economic system that would behave as such without instituting arbitrary triggers or burying players in paperwork. I have playtested many of the rules described here individually through the years that I have been playing Supremacy. However, never before have I attempted to tie them all into one package. It is for you to judge how successful I have been. I am releasing these rules prior to thorough playtesting outside of my play group, so do not be surprised if you find some rather glaring oversights. Many of the rules contained herein are still very much in the experimental stage. Although I have revised these rules based upon playtesting within my play group, I would be very interested in hearing other opinions. I will post any conclusions and changes resulting from playtesting on the Yahoo Supremacy forum.(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Supremacy) If you choose to utilize any or all of these rules, I ask for nothing except for constructive feedback. I would be pleased if you would contact me through my email address fldmrshl@hotmail.com. Rest assured that I will personally respond to any constructive feedback I receive. If you choose to despise these rules and curse my name daily for bringing such blasphemy to the light of day and wish for nothing more than to burn my rule-changing carcass in effigy while you and your game group launch bottle rockets at my cat, then please accept my sincere apologies (and forget about all that confrontational stuff). All the Best, Galen Thies a.k.a. fldmrshl