Twilight Struggle
Frequently Asked Questions
Compiled from Q & A found at [Link] and [Link]
Compiled from Q & A found at
[Link] and [Link]
Version 5.1 UPDATED 5/29/2011
This FAQ references ALL editions of the game
Authorized as official by designer Jason Matthews
Arranged and edited by David “the Preacher” Wilson - Further formatting by Michael Sobotta
Twilight Struggle is a Card-driven game published by GMT Game, LLC, of Hanford California. Game Design is by Jason Matthews and Ananda Gupta. David “the preacher”
Wilson has no affiliation with GMT games, but instead just a guy who spends too much time reading rules debates and trying to bring a halt by compiling rulings, etc. He really is a
Southern Baptist minister who serves in a church in Redondo Beach, California.
ERRATA QUESTIONS
Q. Some say that the first edition of this game had a large amount of errata immediately following publication. Is this true?
A. Sort of. Most of the errata are nothing more than inconsequential, spelling errors. The major exception was the setup for Australia, see below.
Q. Is there a list of the errata available online?
A. Check the Twilight Struggle forum at [Link].
Map Errata (1st Edition)
1) Chili: The nation of Chili is more commonly known as Chile; we apologize to that beautiful country and traditional US regional ally.
2) Saudi Arabia: Its stability number should be highlighted in red. It is a battleground country.
3) People’s Republic of China: That’s “Republic” not “Replublic” which is some new, scary form of government.
Card Errata (1st Edition)
1) ‘Defectors’ (103): This is not an asterisked event. It should NOT be removed after play as indicated at the bottom of the card.
2) ‘Marshall Plan’ (23): Title should be underlined as this card has the lasting game affect of allowing play of NATO.
3) Scoring Summary (104): The description of “Domination” of a region is incomplete. You are required to have more countries AND MORE
BATTLEGROUND COUNTRIES to dominate a region. See rule 10.1 for further elaboration.
4) ‘Cuban Missile Crisis’ (40): Should not be underlined. The card does not have effects that carry beyond the current turn. Add the word
“West” before Germany in the card’s text. The text refers only to West Germany.
Rule Errata (1st Edition)
3.3 Game Setup
Rule 3.3 should read: “The US player sets up second, placing a total of 23 Influence markers in the following locations . . . 4 in Australia.
[Copy of Player Aid Card back page] SETUP: Fourth bullet should read: “23 US Influence markers . . . 4 in Australia.”
4.5(C) Note
4.5.C NOTE: “If playing an opponent’s event during the Headline phase, your opponent implements the event text as if they had played the
card themselves. As when playing your own or a neutral event during the Headline phase, if your opponent’s implementation of the event results
in a shift to DEFCON 1, you lose (see 8.1.5).”
Example of Play
1) Turn 3 Headline Phase: ‘Korean War’ is played, but we did not adjust the DEFCON Status. We had hoped to correct the Example of Play,
but the correction did not make it to the printers in time. So, the rest of the example is off somewhat, as the DEFCON level should have
been 1 lower, prohibiting several actions that occurred subsequently. NOTE: The ‘Korean War’ card was changed in the second edition - the
extended example of play should NOT lower the DEFCON level.
2) Turn 4 USSR 4: Central American scoring. The example incorrectly states that the US had Presence in Central America. The US player only
had 1 Influence Point in Panama. He needed 2 Influence Points to control Panama. Therefore the total number of victory points is off by 1, it
should be USSR 11 here, and increased by one subsequently.
3) On page 13 of the 2nd Edition rules extended example of play, the US plays ‘Red Scare/Purge’ “as 2 Ops for a Coup in Iraq.” In the Second
edition printing the Ops value of ‘Red Scare/Purge’ was upgraded from 2 Ops to 4 Ops.