POLITIKA :      VARIANTS AND GAME FIXES

By:  Greg J. Schloesser

Yelstin is dead.  Russia is in turmoil.  Various factions vie for
political control.  This is the premise of Tom Clancy’s Politika, by Red
Storm Entertainment, the author’s first entry into the wargaming market.

For a full review of the game, please see our section. 

As mentioned in the Game Reviews section, although intriguing in its
premise, the game has many flaws and appears to have been playtested
poorly.  We have devised some ‘fixes’ for the problems, as well as some
additional rules which add to the competitiveness and excitement of the
game.

1)  A limit needs to be placed on the number of Action cards a player
can have in his hand.  Otherwise, a player who is cash rich can purchase
vast quantities of cards each turn and have an overwhelming advantage.
Most of the cards give players 'free' attacks in regions, so a player
with a large quantity of cards can make numerous attacks each turn as
opposed to most other players, who are limited to two.  This occurred in
one of our games, as John Moore (playing the Separatists) continued to
get double production from the Separatist regions.  He was very wealthy,
so bought 5 or 6 Action cards per turn.  In the final round, he was able
to make over a dozen attacks and sweep the game.

Solution:  We have suggested a hand limit of 5 Action Cards.  If a
player wishes to purchase additional cards, he must first discard (or
play during the appropriate phase) cards before purchasing the new
cards.  At no time can a player’s hand exceed five Action cards.

2)  Player Turn Order should be varied each round, with a system such as
used in Air Baron.  As it stands now, players know exactly when their
turn is each round, so can plan accordingly.  Further, some of the
special powers bestowed by a player's faction could be useless or
'checked' depending upon who came before or after him.  This would be
less likely to occur if the turn order was varied.

Solution:  Use a variable turn order, such as in Air Baron.  Place a
chit from each player in a cup and draw the turn order at the beginning
of each turn.

3)  Action Cards:  One of the action cards allows a player to steal
$20,000 from the bank, while another allows a player to steal $20,000
from another player.  The problem with this is that purchasing an action
card costs $20,000 anyway.  So its a wash!

Solution:  Increase the amount able to be stolen to $40,000.

4)  Defender Dice:  As mentioned, in an attack, a defender gets one die
for each influence marker he has in the region, as well as one die for
each influence marker his ally has in the region.  More often than not,
this limits the defender to one die, while an attacker can purchase as
many dice as he desires and can afford.  If a player is fairly wealthy,
he usually can muster significant advantages in his attacks.

Solution:  Allow the defender to purchase up to one more die for
$20,000.  The defender purchases this die after the challenger purchases
his.

5)  Game End:  The game is scheduled to go 6 rounds.  Players can decide
before hand to play up to 10 rounds.  With the timing of the game's end
clearly known to all, the player going last has a BIG advantage, as he
can hoard his attack cards (as John did, in one of our games) and blow
everyone out of the water on the last turn without fear of being
counter-attacked.

Solution:  Vary the turn order, as suggested above, AND vary the games
end.  It can end anywhere from Turn 6 - Turn 10.  Beginning with Turn 6,
a dice can be rolled following each round.  After Turn 6, the game ends
on a roll of 1 or 2.  After Turn 7, it ends on a roll of 1 - 3.  After
Turn 8, it ends on a roll of 1 - 4.  After Turn 9, it ends on a roll of
1 - 5.  It automatically ends after Turn 10.