Testing and balancing four separate games for The British Way was no easy feat, and while for the most part I think we were successful, some players have reported issues with Cyprus after multiple games. While we do not think that the original game, as published, is strictly broken or unplayable, we would like to take this opportunity to offer an advanced variant for players who might have experienced these issues. Cyprus was originally designed as the simplest introduction to the basic mechanical systems found in the multipack, so there is plenty of scope for slightly increasing the complexity while still offering a fast and smooth experience.
Balance in The British Way games
Two-player games, such as those found in The British Way multipack, are tricky to balance, as even a slight advantage for one side can be quickly compounded into a dominant position (compare this with the original four-player COIN games, where the possibility of the three other players ganging up on the currently winning player offers a degree of automatic self-balancing – although this does not by any means guarantee perfect balance). Luckily, there are some simple fixes available within the core structure of the multipacks, all of which we encourage players to take advantage of if they feel that any of the games are unbalanced (including the advanced Cyprus variant presented below):
- Play twice and switch sides: All four the games in The British Way are short enough that you can easily play twice in one sitting, switching factions and comparing scores to see who does best. If one player wins both games, then perhaps they are just more skilled – or more lucky!
- Bid for starting Political Will: If both players agree that one faction has an advantage, they can bid starting Political Will to see who gets to play that faction. For example, I might offer to start with Political Will at 12 instead of 14 if I get to play the British in Cyprus. If both players make the same bid, then you can just set Political Will to that bid and assign factions randomly.
- Use the Pre-War Options: Specific picks from the Pre-War Options tables for each game can be used to offer a minor setup advantage for one side or the other, especially the ‘2’ and ‘5’ results on each table that offer an unambiguous advantage (the ‘1’ and ‘6’ results are more of a mixed blessing for both sides).
Curfews and Intel Chits in Cyprus
However, the potential issues that have arisen with Cyprus post-publication go beyond mere balance, affecting the gameplay in ways that we feel may detract both from the player experience and the historical depiction. In brief, some British players have found that they do not need to make use of Curfews at all (removing a powerful option from the EOKA Propagandize Special Activity), instead relying on Intel Chits to remove EOKA pieces. This can result in an oppressive game for EOKA, with a lot of Cells in Prison and not much that can be done about it. To some extent this does reflect the increasingly successful “intelligence-led” British policing strategy used towards the end of the conflict, but it also removes a major gameplay consideration (when and whether to use Curfews), and deemphasizes the international pressure faced by the British government over the Cyprus issue.
The Advanced Cyprus Variant
Our aim with this variant is to slightly strengthen both Curfews and EOKA, hopefully improving EOKA’s chances while also encouraging the use of the Curfews by the British in at least some situations (although it will often still make sense to avoid using Curfews if possible, which is an intentional design choice). Each change also adds increased depth to the historical choices presented in the game, as explained in the design notes below. Some of the changes are actually ideas that Stephen originally had, but that we removed during development for various reasons, so you could even see this as a “director’s cut” version of the game! The advanced Cyprus variant involves four simple changes (these can also be found on the updated player aid sheets that are available for you to download and print):
- The EOKA Recruit Operation may always place one Cell in selected Mountain spaces, even without an Arms Cache being present or adjacent. (Recruit may still place two Cells in a Mountain space with an Arms Cache, or one Cell in a Town space with or adjacent to an Arms Cache and with no Curfew marker, as per the original rule).
Design Note: While EOKA were reliant on smuggled or captured arms to equip their fighters, they did also maintain smaller stashes in the mountains and were able to regroup even after suffering serious setbacks. This change will make EOKA slightly less reliant on Arms Caches, although they will still face serious difficulty without any Arms Caches on the map.
- The EOKA Travel Operation may not select Town spaces with Curfew markers as origins.
Design Note: EOKA fighters could face difficulty in evading the British forces in Cyprus, who were able to flood a relatively small island with a very large number of soldiers. This change will allow the British to use Curfews to effectively trap EOKA Cells, rendering them ineffective and vulnerable to later removal.
- The EOKA Propagandize Special Activity may only increase International Opinion in Curfew spaces with a Cell and without any Sabotage markers. (Propagandize may still be used to reduce Political Will in any space with a Cell and a Sabotage marker as normal).
Design Note: EOKA deployed a sophisticated propaganda machine to encourage international condemnation of the British occupation of Cyprus, but even this machine had its limits. This change will allow the British to make use of “reactive” Curfews more safely, while still penalizing them for “proactive” Curfews placed before EOKA have conducted any Sabotage in a space.
- During the International Pressure step in the Political Willphase of the Propaganda Round, the International Opinion track is first increased one level for every three Cells in Prison (rounded down), then Political Will is reduced by the International Opinion track value.
Design Note: The British operated large detention camps in Cyprus, which were a major focus of EOKA’s international propaganda efforts. This change will present the British player with a tougher choice about how many Cells to send to Prison, slightly mitigating the effectiveness of using Patrol and Interrogate to gather a large amount of Intel Chits.
We hope that this advanced variant will offer a more satisfying experience for players who have found problems with the original Cyprus game, and an interesting alternative even for those who have not. Let us know what you think, and we look forward to hearing more about your experiences with all four of The British Way multipack games – the reception so far has been great, and both Stephen and I very much enjoy seeing them being played and studied by you all.
It’s great to see such wonderful support for the game post release! Maybe one day we will get a solo variant? 🙂