by MarcM, 30 March 2025
We’re in the home stretch. Based on the number of cards left in the deck, will have this turn and one more. The US is in decent shape, with high Prestige. There are no Islamist Rule countries, which is really good I think, and Jihadist funding is somewhat low.
Jihadist Card 1
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Al-Anbar is the first card of Turn 5. It’s a playable Jihadist even, so the event occurs and places a cell in Iraq. We also set the Anbar Marker to remind us that future Disrupts in Syria and Iraq only affect one cell. Normally the presence of troops or a Hard US posture can Disrupt two cells, so this eliminates those benefits.
Jihadist Card 2
Hijab is a playable US event. With no country under Islamist Rule, the event becomes a Plot. Since there’s a cell in the US, that’s not great but the Jihadists don’t have access to weapons of mass destruction. There shouldn’t be a risk of a game-ending WMD Plot resolution. The first Ops point goes to an attempt in the US but a roll of 1 is necessary. The Plot attempt fails.
The next attempt goes to a country with troops. There are four options, and a die roll selects Somalia. With governance at Poor, a roll of 3 or less is necessary for success, but the roll is 4 and another Plot attempt fails.
The final attempt goes toward one of the four countries that shares the Hard posture of the US. A die roll indicates Israel. With Israel at Good governance, the Jihadists will need to roll a 1 here. And they get it. There’s now a Plot in Israel.
US Card 1
I start Turn 5 with a pretty good hand, I think. There are only two Jihadist cards.
I play one of them, “The door of Ijtihad was closed”, for the Ops points. The event isn’t playable so there’s no risk. I attempt War of Ideas in Afghanistan. A roll of 3 fails, even with the +1 from the High Prestige the US enjoys. On to the next card.
US Card 2
I play GTMO for a chance on raising Prestige. Bad choice. The roll goes against me and Prestige drops. A lot. I was at 7, now I’m at 2. The only good thing coming out of this phase is that there can be no Jihadist Recruit operations this turn.
Jihadist Card 1
Kemalist Republic is another playable US event. So, 2 Ops points go to Plots. Again, the US is the first target, but at Good governance, chances are slim and, indeed, the attempt fails.
With US Prestige Low now, the Flowchart indicates that the next attempt is in one of the four countries that share the US Hard posture. Caucasus is the target by die roll. At Fair governance 2 or better is necessary and the roll is 3, so the second Plot attempt fails.
Jihadist Card 2
The second card is Zarqawi, but it’s not playable. So, we check to see if Major Jihad is possible. It’s not and Minor Jihad isn’t possible in any Good or Fair countries. Since GTMO prohibits Recruit this turn, I’m assuming the 2 Ops points go to Travel. The first point goes to an attempt at travel to Somalia from, as it turns out…Somalia…by solo rules and a random roll. I guess we assume the cell is moving from one part of the country to another? At any rate, it automatically succeeds and by Travel rules, allows the active cell to go to sleeper status. That makes it harder to remove.
US Card 1
I play Benazir Bhutto for the event and Shift Pakistan to Fair. The event also blocks future play of the Musharraf event in the future.
US Card 2
Next, I play Tora Bora to Disrupt the cell in the US. Since it’s already active, I can remove it and send it back to the Funding track.
Jihadist Card 1
Fatwa is the draw. It’s a playable unassociated event, so the event occurs. I swap a random card with the Jihadist hand. They get Martyrdom Operation and I get Jemaah Islamiyah.
Now we see what to do with the single Ops point. There’s one country where a Minor Jihad is possible since Pakistan is now upgraded to Fair governance and has a cell. The cell goes active. At Fair governance, a roll of a 2 or less is needed. They get a 5 and a failed Jihad attempt. The lone cell in Pakistan returns to the funding track.
Jihadist Card 2
King Abdullah is a playable US event, so the two Ops points go to Plots. Lots of Plots this turn. With the cell removed, Plots are no longer possible in the US. Prestige is low however, so the Plot attempt goes to a country that shares the US Hard posture. Scandinavia is the target, but a die roll of 5 fails. A random Muslim country is the target of the second attempt and the die roll indicates Iraq. A roll of 3 is necessary and the Plot operation succeeds, barely, with a 3. Iraq now has a Plot.
US Card 1
I play Al-Azhar for the event. Egypt tests Poor (I get so many Poor rolls). On the bright side for the US, since no countries are under Islamic Rule, Funding drops 4 points. Jihadist Funding is now 1, as low as it can go. Ordinarily that would be a pretty big deal, since it means they only get 7 cards next turn, but we’re near the end of the deck (and the game) and there might not be a full hand available anyway.
US Card 2
I play Back Channel for the Ops points. 3 Ops points lets me Disrupt in Somalia. With troops in the country, I can turn two cells active in preparation for removing them with another Disrupt.
Jihadist Card 1
Tony Blair is another playable US event, so the 2 Ops points again go to Plots. So many Plot attempts. And again, Scandinavia gets the first attempt, since it’s the only Hard-posture country with a cell. A roll of 3 fails.
A random Muslim country receives the Plot from the second Ops point, and a die roll selects Libya as the target. They need a roll of 3 or less. A cell goes active and a roll of 1 succeeds. Somalia gets the final plot attempt. Again, the Jihadists need a 3 but get a 6 and the Plot attempt fails.
Jihadist Card 2
Martyrdom Operation is up next. It’s the card that the Jihadist got from me through the random card swap.
We’ll place two Plots in one of five countries that have cells but aren’t under Islamist Rule. A die roll selects Somalia. Two new Plots are now underway in Somalia. There’s a lot going on there.
US Card 1
I’m realizing how low the Good/Fair Countries marker on the Victory Track is compared to the Poor/Islamist Rule countries marker. It’s literally late in the game to be thinking about this but I need to gain Fair countries or better yet Good ones. I play Iran for the event and Test Iraq. I seem to always gets 1s on Test rolls. I am able to remove the cell, that’s not going to help me win, but let’s call it a moral victory. And now there’s another Poor country.
I have one card left, Jemaah Islamiyah. This is the card I got from the swap. It’s a Jihadist event that places 2 cells in Indonesia/Malaysia, but that shouldn’t hurt me too much this near the end of the game. Indonesia/Malasia tests as, you guessed it, Poor. The event only gets me 2 Ops points, so I can’t do much with it. I’m going to take a chance on War of Ideas in an attempt to move Saudi Arabia to Good governance. I can’t do it with this roll. I have a -1 penalty from Prestige and another -1 from trying to shift from Fair to Good. But I have a slim chance of getting an Aid marker, giving me better odds for shifting the country to Good with the next hand. I need a 6 and get a 5, so no Aid Marker. Saudi Arabia remains Fair. That’s the last card of my hand.
There are several plots to resolve. Quite a few, actually. The Plot in Libya turns out to be a 3. The Plot in Israel is a 1. The Plot in Iraq is 1. The plots in Somalia total 3 points. Jihadist Funding jumps from the minimum of 1 to the maximum of 9. Thankfully there are only a few cards left in the deck for the sixth and last hand, so it won’t really matter. But wow.
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
End of Turn
During the Expenditures & Diplomacy phase, Jihadist Funding drops by 1 to 8. They still get a full hand of 9 cards next turn, if there are that many in the deck, which I doubt. The US troops marker stays in the middle box, so I’ll potentially get eight. There are no Islamist Rule countries so there’s no Prestige drop, but the US gets no boost for World Posture, so US Prestige stays punitively low at 2. War of Ideas, again my main offensive tactic, won’t be easy if it’s possible at all.
End of Turn Thoughts
Two things stick in my mind as I wrap up this next-to-last turn and read through those final cards. I’ve really not been paying attention to the Victory track or, let’s be honest, to winning…I’m still just trying to learn how to play for effect and to keep from losing. And as I review the victory conditions – a little late for that – they remind me that not winning as the US is losing. So that looks grim. Also, I didn’t tend to those Plots like I should have. Funding went from as low as it can go to as high as it can go. Neither of these thoughts help me with this game, but if I can’t salvage a victory in the final turn, maybe realizing these factors makes my next game better.
Labyrinth AAR – Let’s Roll
PART 1 ~ PART 2 ~ PART 3 ~ PART 4 ~ PART 5 ~ PART 6
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