| Junta (game) |
Article Index for Junta |
Website Links For Junta |
Information AboutJunta (game) |
Junta is a Machiavellian Board Game designed by Vincent Tsao . Players compete as the Corrupt power elite families of a fictional Parody of a Stereotypical Banana Republic (specificially ''Republica de los'' {Link without Title} ''Bananas'') trying to get as much Money as possible into their Swiss Bank Account before the Foreign Aid money runs out. The primary intrigue of the game exists not in the mechanics of the rules, but in the negotiations between players. Much like the game '' Diplomacy '', players will often have "private meetings" (out of earshot of other players) to negotiate secret alliances. The result is an Underground Economy where players may barter with any resources they have, including cash on hand (''i.e.'' not yet in their Swiss bank account), cards in hand, and favors. The number of coups that occur in a given game is entirely determined by the bloodthirstiness, greed, and guile of the players. No matter the material advantages accorded to a player by their Junta cards, a player must inevitably manipulate the social aspect of the game to win. Building alliances and knowing when to be deceitful is essential. A successful President must Divide And Rule to keep the ambitious members of the cabinet at bay. PLAYERS The players of ''Junta'' represent Corrupt and powerful Banana Republic families. Although players are often Executed or Assassinated in the course of gameplay, the only real implication of a player's Death is the loss of cash and Junta cards they are carrying and a temporary inability to participate until their next turn when another member of the family steps up to assume the responsibilities of the deceased. Each player is given a family token to underscore this permanent identity, although the token has no effect on game play. Cabinet positions, however, which are denoted by cards, are reassigned each turn. GAME PLAY Each game turn represents a year, which takes place during seven stages represented on the board's "political track". The game ends when the President cannot draw eight bills from the foreign aid money at the beginning of a turn. This event is disguised by the blank bills placed at the bottom of the foreign aid deck and by the "used" bills which are placed under the blanks when spent as part of a card action. A typical game will have 9-11 rounds. The winner is the player who has the most money in his or her Swiss bank account at the end of the game. Money on one's person is irrelevant. Each player not in Exile has the ability to draw and play ''Junta'' cards, Direct The Votes he or she controls via cabinet positions, influence and vote cards on the President and the Budget votes, carry out the Abilities listed on their influence cards and cabinet positions, command their troops during a coup, and manage their money. In all votes, each player commands one vote representing themselves and whatever votes they can garner from influence or voting cards. The only exception is the Presidential election after a successful coup in which each ''rebel'' player commands one and only one vote. Upkeep phase Junta cards are drawn and El Presidente is elected, if necessary. Each player's vote in the Chamber of Deputies as well as influence and vote cards are used. An ''errata'' later clarified that if a player declines a nomination votes may be recast with the exception of vote cards which are discarded. {Link without Title} El Presidente retains his or her position until the event of Assassination , a successful Coup , or Resignation . All three events have the effect of liquidating the President's assets and delivering his cash to his assassin or successor. Cabinet phase El Presidente assigns Cabinet Positions to the other players. El Presidente cannot hold a cabinet position and must assign each other player at least one position. If fewer than seven players are playing, or if players are in exile, players may hold two positions, but no more than one Generalship. Each cabinet position (note: not each player) holds one vote in the Chamber of Deputies. Cabinet positions are as follows:
Budget phase El Presidente draws 8 bills from the foreign aid money deck. Bills come in denominations of 1, 2, or 3 million pesos in order of decreasing probability. Thus, the President may draw between 8 and 24 million pesos on a given turn. El Presidente then assigns the budget by declaring how much money he intends to give to each player. Only the President knows the amount drawn, but he must reveal how much he intents to give to each other player. The budget is then voted on. If the budget fails the President keeps all the money, unless the Minister forces the budget to pass. Forcing the budget to pass has the effect of distributing the foreign aid money as if the budget had passed, consolidating the police units in the Chamber of Deputies, and making a coup justified that turn. Assassination phase A round of Assassination s takes place. First each player chooses their location using the location tiles in a Secret Yet Binding Fashion . Locations are as follows:
Then each player declares their assassinations. The Minister of Internal Security gets to use the Secret Police for one assassination and any player may order one with an assassination card. To declare an assassination, a player must name the player he or she is trying to assassinate and the location at which the assassination will be attempted. Once all assassinations are declared, they are resolved in order. An assassination is successful if a player's location is guessed correctly, although some assassination cards require a successful Dice Roll as well and some cards may be used to thwart an assassination. If multiple assassination attempts are declared against a single player, they are resolved in the order they were declared (a player cannot be killed more than once). An assassinated player discards their hand, turns over their cash to the assassinator, and is inactive for the rest of the turn. Assassinations are Transitive (if A assassinates B and B assassinates C, A gets both B and C's money). If players kill each other (e.g. A assassinates B and B assassinates A) both player's money is discarded to the bottom of the foreign aid deck (under the blanks). The same holds true for larger mutual assassinations (A assassinates B, B assassinates C, C assassinates A). If all players die during the assassination phase, the rules specify that all players lose the game. Assassination attempts by the Minister's secret police may not take place at the Bank two turns in a row. After an assassination attempt has taken place at the Bank, an indicator on the board is changed to indicate that the "Bank is Safe" from the secret police for a turn. The "Bank is Safe" indicator does not affect assassin cards. If the President has been assassinated, a new President is elected immediately after the last assassination has been resolved. Assassinated players may not take any action until the beginning of the next turn. Banking phase Players who chose the Bank as their location and who escaped assassination may deposit or withdraw money from their Swiss Bank Account . That is unless the budget failed. If the budget failed but was forced through by the Minister of Internal Security, the bank is closed for lunch until after the coup phase. If the budget failed altogether, leaving the President with the entire foreign aid, no banking may take place at all this turn. Coup phase Coups are a tactical game within the game that may result in the replacement of the President and unfortunate players being sent to the firing squad. Which side a player supports is often unclear during a coup. A scheming player can benefit by concealing their true objectives to gain a favourable position to negotiate from. Others may find it easier simply being a turncoat. Starting a Coup In order to start a coup there must exist a coup excuse, which is kept track of by an indicator on the board. Coup excuses are as follows:
Also, any player who chose their "Headquarters" as their location in the Location phase may start a coup without an excuse to do so. If allowed, any player may start a coup, thus becoming ''First Rebel'', by playing a card to place units on the board, moving any unit or bombarding the presidential palace. If no player does this, no coup takes place. The Rebel Phase The first phase of a coup is called the rebel phase. After the ''First Rebel'' has initiated the coup, all players in turn are given a chance to act. Any player who choses to move or fire during the rebel phase becomes a ''rebel''. Players who refrain from acting in the rebel phase remain ''loyalists''. The Coup Phases Following the rebel phase comes six coup phases. The players battle for control of five buildings, shown in red on the map, vital for the post-coup resolution. They are:
Although there officially are the two sides of ''rebels'' and ''loyalists'', in-fraction fighting may take place as players change sides or seize opportunities of gaining a stronger position. Should a ''loyalist'' attack a Palace Guard unit, they become a ''rebel''. A ''rebel'', however, can not become a ''loyalist''. Coup Victory After the end of the final coup phase, the players must declare themselves either ''Pro-President'' or ''Pro-Junta''. Note that a ''rebel'' may chose to be ''Pro-President'' and a ''loyalist'' may see reasons to become ''Pro-Junta''. Naturally, this may result in tough negotiations. The side controlling three or more of the vital buildings is victorious. If the President prevails, they may have any one ''rebel'' sent to the firing squad. In the case of a Junta victory, the ''rebels'' elect a new President. A ''Pro-Junta'' ''loyalist'' takes no part in the election. The ''First Rebel'' breaks a tied vote. The new President may then send any player, ''rebels'' as well as ''loyalists'', to be executed. An executed player discards their political cards and hands over their pocket money to the President. Exile A player may go into exile during the Location phase by placing a location marker on one of the embassies on the map, to indicate the country fled to. It is also possible to flee the republic during a coup, provided that the player controls an embassy with their forces. A player in exile is safe from executions and assassinations, but is very limited in all but the social aspects of the game. A player may return from exile at any time, but normally the Minister of Internal Security may have the returning player executed by the secret police at will. It is only safe to return from exile when the President is dead, before a new one has been elected, during a coup provided that a friendly player controls the relevant embassy, or if the Minister's position is ''frozen'' (see below). The Brother-in-law A dead or exiled player may not use any of their family's cabinet positions. The President may control one such position by his ''brother-in-law.'' Any other positions of dead or exiled players are considered ''frozen''. EQUIPMENT
Seven Junta cards are dealt at the beginning of gameplay and a player may have up to eleven in their hand (including influence cards a player controls) without being forced to discard cards during the upkeep phase. Junta cards and foreign aid money may be traded or gifted between players at any time except during the Assassination Phase or the Post-Coup Phase in which case they are immediately discarded (to prevent death bed generosity). However, other than influence cards, which sit face up in front of their controller once played, players are not allowed to reveal their hands to each other. HISTORY The game was originally published by Creative Wargames Workshop in 1979. West End Games re-released the game in 1985. When West End Games filed for Bankruptcy in 1998, copies of the game became hard to find until the 3rd edition was released in 2005. PLAYING TIME The length of the game depends on how often coups are declared, but can often exceed six hours. Perhaps as a result of this, the game never achieved broad-based popularity, although it still retains a Cult Following of Fans . THE TITLE The title of the game is taken from the Spanish term for the collegiate executive bodies that frequently came to power after a Military Coup in 20th century Latin America , although in modern usage and in the game "Junta" refers to a Military Dictatorship of high-ranking Officers , which are often less than collegial (see '' Junta ''). Ironically , although the act of declaring a coup encompasses the majority of the equipment of the game, rules, and playtime, it is tangential to the goal of the game. JUNTA VARIANTS ] Additional cabinet positions Additional cabinet positions allow for more players to play. Proposed variants include:
Money and Junta card variations Because the foreign aid money runs out quickly in large games and Junta cards get shuffled by several times per game, it has been suggested by some that the amount of Junta cards drawn and the maximum hand size be reduced and that money spent as per a Junta card or discarded by circular assassinations (see above) instead be shuffled back in. Alternatively, some players create their own cards to supplement the deck or use money from other copies of the game, if available. Boardless Junta All event cards, bribe cards, and the rigged voting card are removed from the deck and the board is not used. All forces are assigned a number between 2 and 4 and each player rolls a die. A roll less than or equal to a units power means success. The outcome of the coup depends on whether ''pro-Junta'' or ''pro-Presidente'' players have more successes. A tie causes all players to reroll. Forcing a budget causes the Minister to roll early instead of moving his units to the Chamber of Deputies (this still has the effect of justifying a coup). This version simplifies the materials and time required for gameplay but eliminates an element of the game which many players enjoy. First fire Players may elect to enable or disable the "first fire" option during coups. Units with first fire are flipped to indicate this. {Link without Title} New rules This variant allows players to propose after the budget has been voted on. New rules can be ''anything'' but require two-thirds approval. New rules cease taking effect at the beginning of the budget phase on the following turn. REFERENCES
EXTERNAL LINKS |
|
|