by Marc M, 9 March 2025
The second turn of solo play in the Let’s Roll! Scenario of Labyrinth: The War on Terror, 2001 – ? begins with Jihadist cells scattered across the board, so I feel like I’m behind already. But I’m beginning to get a picture of how the strategy can work, so maybe I can start to turn the tide a bit this turn. We kick things off with the Jihadist side.
Jihadist Card 1
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The first card of Turn 2 is Taliban. Since this card is a Jihadist event, the event occurs. Afghanistan is already under Islamist Rule, so it doesn’t get a Besieged Regime marker, but Afghanistan and Pakistan do each get a cell, so the US loses 3 Prestige points. US Prestige is now Medium, which means no +1 die roll modifier for War of Ideas operations.
Jihadist Card 2
Bin Laden is next. This is an unassociated event that doesn’t recruit and doesn’t place cells, so the event plays for the Jihadists. Since Afghanistan is under Islamist Rule, US Prestige drops by 4 points to 1. Now there’s a -1 DRM for any War of Ideas operations.
This event is unassociated, so we go further down the flowchart to see how the Ops points get spent. A Major Jihad is possible in Yemen with 5 cells. The card has an Ops value of 3 so we roll three dice. Yemen is at Fair governance, so a 2 or less is necessary. All cells go active, but the rolls are 3, 4, and 5. The Major Jihad fails, and three cells return to the Funding Track.
US Card 1
I play Abbas for the event to reduce Jihadist funding and reclaim some Prestige. Funding drops by 2 to 7 and US prestige climbs to 2, which is still Poor, but better than 1.
US Card 2
I play the 3 Ops points from NATO to start a Regime Change in Afghanistan. The country shifts to Ally and the Test roll reveals Poor governance. Afghanistan is now a Regime Change country. As part of Regime Change, the US rolls for Prestige and loses 1 point. Prestige is back to 1.
Jihadist Card 1
This is the latest episode in a running playthrough of Labyrinth from GMT Games; you can find the links to all published episodes at the end of article, with new installments each Sunday
Oil Price is a special-case card for the Jihadists in solo play. They get a random high-value Jihadist card, in this case, Clean Operatives. I might be getting this wrong, but I’m going to assume this new card replaces Oil Spike for this play. There are no Good-governance countries, so no one gets extra resource points. Clean Operatives is a playable non-US event that doesn’t recruit or place cells, so the Jihadist side plays it for the event. Two cells attempt to travel. The first cell destination is the US by special rule, a tough job with a roll of 1 necessary. The second cell attempts to travel to Pakistan, a Poor country where Major Jihad is possible with two more cells.
The first cell attempts to Travel from France. The second from Yemen. Two rolls of 5 fail and both cells return to the funding track.
Jihadist Card 2
The second card is Renditions. It’s a playable US event, so by solo rules it goes toward Plots. We have to go pretty far down the flow chart to find the target country, Scandinavia. Scandinavia has a cell and shares a Hard posture with the US. The country has Good governance, so a 1 is necessary. Three die rolls generate a 1, 2 and 3 so we randomly select one plot and place it in Scandinavia. If the US doesn’t stop the plot, it will increase Jihadist funding by 1, 2 or 3 points.
US Card 1
My first priority is to try to remove the Plot in Scandinavia with an Alert operation. Alert requires 3 operations points and the US doesn’t have a 3-point card. With funding so close to dropping to moderate, I don’t want to risk it popping back up 2 or 3 points. I play Adam Gadahn for the Ops point and use it for Reserves. This is a potentially nasty Jihadist event, but it’s not playable.
US Card 2
I play Predator for the 2 Ops points, adding the Reserve point for an Alert operation. This removes the Plot in Scandinavia. The Plot had a value of 1 so it would’ve only raised Jihadist funding a point, but it could’ve had a value of 2 or 3. Since there aren’t any plots to resolve now, play is back to the Jihadists.
Jihadist Card 1
The next Jihadist card draw is Indo-Pakistani Talks. This is a US event, but it’s not playable so we check for the possibility of Jihads. Major Jihad isn’t possible, but a Minor Jihad is possible in Yemen, Pakistan, the Gulf States, or Syria. Back to the chart for the target. No countries are at Good governance. Yemen, the Gulf States and Syria are at fair, so the target is one of them. With a resource value of 3, the Gulf States is the highest priority of these, so the cell there goes active to attempt a Jihad. With 3 Ops points, we roll three dice. A roll of 2 or lower is necessary, but we get 4, 5, and 6. The active cell has failed to start a Minor Jihad, so it moves out of the Gulf States and returns to the funding track.
Jihadist Card 2
Enhanced Measures is a playable US event, so the Jihadist side uses it as a Plot. Again, Scandinavia is the first viable target on the flowchart, since it’s a country that shares the US posture of Hard. Scandinavia gets another Plot.
US Card 1
I play Special Forces and bank the single Ops point in Reserves so I can use my next card to stop the Plot and keep funding as low as possible. This would be a good event to use, but I don’t want to risk a 3-value Plot that boosts Jihadist funding.
US Card 2
UN Nation Building is a useful event, but I need the Ops points. I hate to give up the event, but the other cards in my hand are potentially more valuable. So, I use the 2 Ops points and Reserves for the Alert operation. A one-point plot is stopped. I’d have felt better about giving up those events if it had been a higher-value plot. Play goes back to the Jihadists.
Jihadist Card 1
The Jihadist draw is IEDs. This is a fairly disruptive card. Since it’s a playable non-US event, the event triggers and the US discards a random card. I lose Moro Talks, a US event I had plans for.
Jihadist Card 2
Abu Ghurayb is next. With Regime Change occurring in Afghanistan, this is another playable non-US event, so the event occurs. The Jihadist side gets two new cards to play. Since Prestige is already as low as it can go, nothing happens there. However, by die roll, Pakistan shifts to Neutral, so the US loses an Ally. This takes a country with a stock of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) one step closer to Islamic rule. If the Islamists get WMD Plots and resolve one in the US, I immediately lose the game.
US Card 1
I play Iran for the non-associated event. With US play, the event tests a Shia Mix country. Turkey and Lebanon are the two I can choose from. I choose Turkey since they have more resources. Turkey tests as Poor, which is unfortunate. But I do get to remove a cell from Iran.
US Card 2
Homegrown is the last US card of my hand. I can play, hold, or discard it. I decide to play it for the Ops points, even though playing it adds a cell in Great Britain.
But, since I have 2 more troops than cells in Afghanistan, I can remove 2 active cells from the country with a Disrupt operation, leaving just one. I also add +1 to the abysmal US Prestige, taking it up to 2.
Jihadist Card 1
Thanks to the card draws from Oil Prices Spike and Abu Ghurayb, The Jihadists have another three cards to play. That’s another hand and a half while I have nothing to play. Maybe I did something wrong in the gameplay or maybe I’m just unlucky. At any rate, this is my first game, so I’ll keep moving.
The Jihadists play US Election. It’s an automatic event that checks Posture and adjusts Prestige. By a die roll of 4 and +1 for a US Posture check, the US Posture remains Hard. There’s no GWOT penalty, so Prestige bumps up one point. Now we see what to do with the 3 Ops points. Major Jihad isn’t possible anywhere, but there are a few targets for a Minor Jihad to worsen governance. As countries with Fair governance, Pakistan, Yemen, and Syria are all options. A die roll confirms Yemen as the target. Success needs a roll of 2 or less. 3 points means three dice, a 1, 3, and 4. The 1 reduces governance in Yemen to Poor.
Jihadist Card 2
Schroeder & Chirac is a playable unassociated event, so the event plays out and it’s not great for the US. France is already at Soft, but Germany’s Soft posture unbalances US/GWOT Relations. This incurs a penalty on future War of Ideas rolls and the US loses a Prestige point. Prestige is low and will incur another -1 War of Ideas roll penalty. The US is out of cards and there are no plots to resolve, so my round ends.
Jihadist Card 1
The final card of the turn is Fata. As a non-US playable event, the event occurs. Pakistan gets a sleeper cell. Pakistan now has two cells, and as long as Fata is in effect, the US can only disrupt them if they enact a Regime Change. The card also blocks a couple of events in the future. Pakistan and it’s WMDs are now only one cell away from being vulnerable to a Major Jihad and potential Jihadist Rule.
End of Turn 2
The Expenditures & Diplomacy activities end the turn. Jihadist Funding drops 1 point to 5. US prestige doesn’t drop again since Afghanistan is no longer under Islamist rule. Net World Posture isn’t at 3, so no Prestige boost there. Taking a look at the Victory track, there are no Muslim countries at Good Governance and none under Islamist Rule, so neither side has Resource points. There are no Good-governance and only 2 Fair-governance countries, but there are 7 Poor-governance countries.
Turn 2 Thoughts
Despite my hopes, the second turn didn’t go particularly well for me. I think I’m losing pretty badly to the flow chart. I’m definitely on the defensive, reacting instead of acting. The good news is that I’m making fewer mistakes and I’m having to flip through the player aid cards and rule book a bit less. The game is starting to flow better. And I understand what I can and can’t do better. Hopefully that means I’ll be able to start creating my own strategy and try to win instead of just trying not to lose.
Labyrinth AAR – Let’s Roll
PART 1 ~ PART 2 ~ PART 3 ~ PART 4 ~ PART 5 ~ PART 6
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