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I've introduced some of my students to this oddball card game and they've gotten into it. Along the way we've come up with some House Rules that we feel enhance the fun (or just make sense of apparent rules contradictions). We also made a bunch of expansion cards, also available.
| Russian Command Systems: |
| Confusion about the chain of command limits your flexibility. You are not permitted to look at your face down cards in the command chain. If an enemy catches you peeking, he/she may demand that you immediately lose 1 Million people (due to the purge that follows the scandal). |
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| Vaccinations |
| Just for consistency, we assume that Vaccinations work against any biological warfare effect (Supergerm, Supervirus, Bacteriological Warhead, etc.) unless explicitly stated otherwise. |
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| Domed Cities |
| Just for consistency, we assume that Domed Cities work against any biological warfare effect (Supergerm, Supervirus, Bacteriological Warhead, etc.) unless explicitly stated otherwise. Also Domed Cities renders a nation immune to the effects of the Ozone Hole. |
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| Special Warheads |
Some of the expansion cards out there on the 'Net (including our own) have special types of warheads (Chemical Warhead, Bacteriological Warhead, etc.). Even though these are listed as "Special" cards, we treat them as megaton cards... that is, they cannot be neutralized with the various special cards that obviate other special cards. On the other hand, they must be played through the command line, not out of your hand.
These warheads include
To denote the "usual" (megaton) cards, we now call those "nuclear" warheads. It's important because some effects of nuclear bombs would make no sense with these special cards. |
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| Population Balance |
| We learned early on that this game can be wildly unbalanced and proceed too quickly to be real fun. So now we give each player one 25 Million People card in addition to the specified number of random cards. We also enforce the rule that you can only "break" a population card in order to "make change" after taking damage. |
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| Salvation |
| There are a few cards that can give you players, and some of them can be played during Final Retaliaton (Ultimate Leadership Bomb Shelters, Zombie Bomb, Leaflets). We have decided that, if used during retaliation, such cards reincarnate the player but with all cards (including persistent Secrets, etc.) wiped clean. The resurrected player draws 9 cards immediately and is back in the game. |
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| Play Order |
| We conform to the Flying Buffalo rules but have some additions. Most importantly, the very first thing a player does in a turn is to draw back to 9 cards. We do this because the card(s) might cause him/her to lose a turn, obviating all other effects. Then the player suffers the effects of persistent Secrets (Bride of Supergerm, Chemical Warhead, etc.) in the order they were played upon him/her. He/she may then flip cards or play Specials as he/she desires. However, since an interceptor passes the turn to the firer immediately, it's wise to play all non-interceptable weapons and cards first. |
- Draw new cards
- Effects of new Secrets
- Effects of old Secrets
- Effects of other persistent cards (e.g., Chemical Warhead)
- Installation effects
- The order of the following is at the player's option:
- flip a new card
- play a Speial saying "play on your turn"
- utilize space platform, sub, etc.
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| ABM Confusion |
| Several cards in the game (Jamming, Decoy) can stop "any ABM system" or "any anti-missile". We've ruled that this really means "any interceptor". |
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| What is "a turn"? |
| A lot of cards have effects that last "a turn" or multiple thereof. We have decided that the "turn" expires the next time the drawer of the card goes. So if he/she loses his/her turn, the card remains in effect (because the sequence of play has skipped that player). This can prolong cards and adds a level of strategic distinction to figuring on whom to play cards that cause lost turns. |
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| Installations |
We created a large number of "installations", modeled on the Atomic Cannon. These act like "power-ups" that give a persistent advantage (usually small) to a player. Like Atomic Cannon, any installation can be targeted and destroyed by any nuclear warhead that doesn't dud or explode on pad or otherwise suffer a "does no damage" result. The terrific thing about Installations is, gameplay is automagically maintained: If you think an installation makes your enemy too powerful, you can rectify the situation.
In some ways, Installations are like the special country powers that Flying Buffalo added, but (in my opinion) more balanced and more fun.
Installations are all labeled "Special: Installation". A list (not guaranteed up to date) would be:
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| Doomsday Device |
| We play that the user of a Doomsday Device gets to draw until he/she pulls four weapons or warheads. Propaganda, Secrets, Specials, etc. are all ignored. Yes, this contradicts the card and what Flying Buffalo says. But the point of a Doomsday Device is to inflict maximal damage. |
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