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The Quartermaster General series goes nuclear!
Quartermaster General: The Cold War depicts the struggle between the aspirations of the Soviet Bloc, the West, and the Non-Aligned nationalist independence movements throughout the developing world.
You will play a Bloc of nations: the Soviet Bloc, the Western Bloc, or the Non-Aligned Bloc. Each Bloc is considered an enemy to each other Bloc, even if players decide to cooperate temporarily to preserve the balance of power. Each of the three Blocs may be played by one or two people, depending on the number of players.
On your turn, you’ll play cards to unfold a narrative of the Cold War, as it might have been. You may decide to use military force when espionage fails – but escalating tensions will reduce the penalty your enemies pay to use their WMDs in retaliation!
—description from the publisher
Quartermaster General WW2 - 2nd Edition
- Simple core rules with deep deck-driven strategy
- Elegant integration of supply lines and territory control
- Strong thematic feel similar to Twilight Struggle and Axis & Allies
- Multi-player team play adds cooperative elements
- Depth relies heavily on card decks; potentially steep learning curve for new players
- Requires several players for best experience; two-player play exists but is more constrained
- Thematic and historical accuracy depends on rules interpretation
- Global strategic competition between Axis and Allies; emphasis on supply lines and alliance coordination.
- World War II era with multiple theaters and cross-theatre military operations.
- Card-driven deck management with semi-cooperative multi-player play and tournament-style victory conditions.
- Axis & Allies
- Twilight Struggle
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Area control / victory points — Occupying spaces with stars yields victory points; track determines winner; round-based scoring.
- card-driven gameplay — Players play cards to perform actions like building units, deploying, and triggering events.
- Deck asymmetry by nation — Different nations have different deck compositions and strengths, reflecting historical roles.
- Elimination rules and tournament victory — If a side leads by 30+ points, they win immediately; final score after 20 rounds determines winner.
- Naval and land battles — Separate rules for sea and land battles; naval units require port adjacency and supply lines.
- player elimination — If a side leads by 30+ points, they win immediately; final score after 20 rounds determines winner.
- Resource management — Status/economic cards affect ongoing play and economies, adding depth beyond simple rules.
- Resource management and economy (status cards) — Status/economic cards affect ongoing play and economies, adding depth beyond simple rules.
- Straits and strategic choke points — Strategic straights affect supply routes and territorial control; control in certain sea routes matters.
- Supply lines and maintenance — Units must be kept in supply via supply spaces; unsupplied units are removed.
- Two-team / semi-cooperative play — Axis vs Allies with teams, where players on same side coordinate but manage separate countries.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- it's a card driven global war game but the rules are really simple it's very quick to pick up
- it's a super game
- the depth is in these decks
- this is a card driven global war game
- it's about knowing your deck it really is and that's why it feels like Twilight Struggle