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"History punishes those who come too late." - Mikhail Gorbachev
1989: Dawn of Freedom is an exciting, fast paced game simulating the end of the Cold War in 1989. During this amazing year, a series of democratic revolutions ended the 40 year Soviet empire in Eastern Europe. 1989 simulates the political, social and economic aspects of these revolutions using a card-driven system similar to Twilight Struggle.
"No man is so old he cannot live one more year." - Leszek Kolakowski
One player plays the Communist. At the start of the game he holds unquestioned power across the six nations of the Warsaw Pact. But there are ominous clouds on the horizon. The new leader in Moscow has declared no more will Soviet tanks prop up tottering Communist governments. The economies, after decades of central planning and stagnation, have reached various stages of crisis. Inside the churches and among the students and their professors there are dissident movements that have been emboldened. From crushing dissent to offering concessions, the Communist player will have to use a variety of strategies in a struggle to hold on to his empire.
"A bad regime is never in so great danger as when it tries to improve." - Alexis de Tocqueville
The other player plays the Democrat. At the dawn of 1989, behind the iron curtain, no one considers revolution possible. The goal of dissidents is to create a civil society outside the control of the Communist regimes. On their side are students who are fascinated with the style and pop culture of the west, and the Church. Against them is the vast apparatus of the Communist state. Their challenge is to persuade the workers, who are the bulk of society, to join their cause.
"Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" - Ronald Reagan
- Great area control game
- Cool battles that play out
- Really like the battles that play out
- Really like that kind of card system with battles
- Really enjoyed that
- Some great history that I remember as a kid living through
- Very fun game
- Just a lot of great history to it
- Card play is freaking awesome
- Fall of communist regimes and installation of democratic systems
- Europe in 1989
- Twilight Struggle
- Hannibal
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Area Control — Great area control game kind of built on that Twilight Struggle model.
- asymmetrical factions — You are the Democrats in 1989 in Europe trying to get these countries to to these communist regimes to fall and install democratic um systems of government. And then the other one of you is communists as you're trying to hold on to power.
- Battles system — There's cool battles that play out sometimes and you play these battles which is kind of like um you know the battles from Hannibal.
- Card Play — The way you play it with the cards and making the best of bad decisions is a lot like Twilight Struggle.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- My number 20, Apocalypse Road.
- My number 19, Plains Indian Wars.
- My number 18 is Commands and Colors Ancients. My number 17 is Commands and Colors Medieval.
- So, this is Combat Commander Europe, and that is my number 16.
- So, I'm actually hopefully they they can do this with with other people as well. I find other historical figures to place with like Augustus or Julius Caesar or uh Charlemagne or you know what have you, Alexander the Great. I think there's a lot of stuff you could do with this kind of a system. Uh but that is my number 15. I Napoleon.
- Still, I loved it. That is my number 14, Mr. President.
- So, that is uh my number 13, Commands and Colors, Samurai Battles.
- And that is why it is my number 12.
- So this is 1989 Dawn of Freedom. That is my number 11.
- Again, I DON'T KNOW WHERE I'M GOING and I don't know where I've been. IT'S A LONG TIME AND I'LL BE DYING.
- That sounds suspiciously like something a bear would write.