This is the first in a series of alternate Sandbox Scenarios that offers you different possible world situations and settings that alter the focus and play experience for your Sandbox Scenario games of Mr. President.

In this scenario, we postulate the following: A situation in the mid 2010s that might have happened but, thankfully, didn’t.

---

Situation – Mid-2010s. The United States and Venezuela are on the brink of war (or, in the Moderate and Hard scenarios, are already at War). In the wake of the death of Hugo Chávez in 2013, the Venezuelan government, led now by Nicolás Maduro, has become increasingly authoritarian, cracking down on dissent and imprisoning political opponents. The United States has increased diplomatic and economic pressure on Venezuela in an attempt to force Maduro to step down. They have even moved troops and aircraft into the region to provide firepower to support their threats. However these efforts, and the rumored CIA support for a strong anti-Maduro opposition, have only served to further destabilize the country and harden attitudes in Venezuela against the Yanqui Imperialists who are attacking them.

Amidst the chaos, Maduro and his generals assume an increasing amount of control over all aspects of Venezuelan life. They use their vast oil reserves as a weapon, denying US companies drilling rights and opening the door to additional Russian and Chinese economic and military advisors. Fearing a US military intervention, they set out to give the US a bigger headache to focus on, using their oil money to increase funding to FARC, while fostering and supporting other terror groups across South and Central America. Fearing the US military buildup, they also begin to seek access to WMDs for self-protection. 

In Central America, facing increased challenges from terror groups and drug cartels now flush with money and weapons, Central American governments struggle even more than they did historically to contain both groups. Thus they create a Mexican-drug-war-style situation on an accelerated timeline.

Together, these two regions in chaos create what many in Washington declare to be a “Clear and Present Danger” to US interests. How will you, as the newly-elected US President, respond to these challenges?

---

This scenario postulates three levels of difficulty that mirror the levels in the Main Sandbox Scenario, except this one, mainly because of the lack of multiple US Allies in either region (although Canada CAN affect both regions), is a bit more difficult that the Main Sandbox Scenario.

The three levels of difficulty present the following game-board situations:

Easy: The US has not yet gone to War. Venezuela is a lvl 2 Rogue State and there is a Lvl 4 Terror Group in a very unstable Central America, but how to deal with them is up to the player. War is certainly an option, but not the only one.

Moderate: The US is already at War with Venezuela. We postulate here that your predecessor, whose name you curse daily, committed US forces to War to try to solve “the Venezuela problem” militarily. Your predecessor did so against the advice of advisors who thought going to War near the end of his term was unwise, and would potentially leave the next President with a big mess to clean up. Well, it did.

There is also a Lvl 4 Terror Group in a very Unstable Central America. 

Hard: This is very similar to Moderate, except that there is also a Lvl 1 Rogue State in Central America (instead of the one that starts in the Middle East in the Sandbox Scenario). To be consistent with the Main Sandbox Scenario’s standard of “starts with two Wars,” you are also at War with the Rogue State in Central America.

Note: This scenario is more difficult than the Main Sandbox Scenario at any of the three levels you choose to play. We do not recommend it for your first game of Mr. President, but for those of you looking for a more challenging Sandbox experience, here you go. Have fun!

Set up this Sandbox Scenario the same as the Main Sandbox Scenario, with the following exceptions:

1. Set Regional Stability in Central America to 3 and  Regional Crises to 3.  Set Regional Stability in South America to 4 and Regional Crises to 2.
   
2. Place an additional Lvl 2 Terror Group in both Central and South America.
   
3. Instead of Placing a Lvl 1 Rogue State in Central/South Asia (as in the Main Sandbox Scenario), place a Lvl 3 Terror Group in C/S Asia and then place a Lvl 2 Rogue State in South America. 
   
4. If playing at Easy or Moderate Difficulty, Place a new Lvl 4 Terror Group in Central America. At Hard Difficulty, remove the Rogue State that starts in The Middle East in the Main Sandbox Scenario and place a Lvl 1 Rogue State in Central America instead.
   
5. Add a Russian Influence marker in South America.
   
6. Place one additional Unstable State in both Central and South America.
   
7. US Forces placement: Place these US forces that start in CONUS in the Main Sandbox Scenario as follows:
   One Carrier  in the South Atlantic Carrier box.
   One USMC (3), one Intel Advisors, and One Special Ops in South America.
   One USAF in Central America
   
   Then move both the Army Lt and the USAF counter from C/S Asia (where it starts in the Main Sandbox Scenario) to South America.
   
8. At Easy Difficulty, there is no War on the map at game start. If Playing at Normal Difficulty, Place a War 1 marker on the Lvl 2 Rogue State in South America. Conflict Type is Air/Ground War. The US is the Attacker. No additional units in the US strength box. Rogue State Strength is 7 (+1 higher than a normal Lvl 2 Rogue State (Strength 5) to account for Venezuela being a large nation state with a standing army and significant military and support infrastructure already developed. Also includes +1 for Normal Difficulty.)
   
9. If playing at Hard Difficulty, place a War 1 marker on the Lvl 2 Rogue State in South America. Conflict Type is Air/Ground War. The US is the Attacker. No additional units in the US strength box. Rogue State Strength is 9 (+1 higher than a normal Lvl 2 Rogue State (Strength 5) to account for Venezuela being a large nation state with a standing army and significant military and support infrastructure already developed. Also includes +3 for Harder Difficulty.)
   
   Then place a War 2 marker on the Lvl 1 Rogue State in Central America. Conflict Type is Air/Ground War. The US is the Attacker. No additional units in the US strength box. Rogue State Strength is 7 (which includes the +3 for Harder Difficulty).
   
10. Draw your Cascading Events normally to see what other crisis you might have left over from the previous administration. Have fun!

So the overall regional setup in Central and South America for the three levels of difficulty looks like this (see below) :

(Moderate or Hard Level Only) War Concerns Divert Cabinet’s Attention: After you set up your initial POTUS/Cabinet Priorities, place a Tensions marker next to both the 5 and 6 Priorities to represent the stress and demands of having to deal with a War you didn’t start from your first day in office. That flashy “Commander in Chief” title just got real.

Optional Difficulty Addition: Because I never want you all to get bored playing Mr,. President and I know that a few of you( I’m looking at you, Rick!) find wars too easy to win…. You can increase the difficulty of this Scenario (or any of them, really) by starting the war as a “Guerrilla War” instead of an “Air-Ground War.” This storyline in this case is that your predecessor started the war and US forces had some initial success taking key strategic points in and around Caracas. But a large portion of the Venezuelan military and their leaders retreated to long-established jungle bases and began a well-financed and prepared guerrilla insurgency.” 

I hope this new Sandbox Scenario gives you many more hours of fun with Mr. President! – Gene

---

PDF Download for Sandbox Scenario #2: A Clear and Present Danger