The Raj Faction in Gandhi will feel familiar for those who have played any of the 20^th century COIN games. Like many Government Factions, its forces are represented by two types of cubes; it has a limited budget to spend on its Operations; and it seeks Control over the populace as one of its victory goals. But like the Coalition in A Distant Plain or the U.S. in Fire in the Lake, the Raj also has forces that Operate for free as its seeks to build Support for the colonial government.

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The British Raj at a Glance

• Forces are Troops (red cubes) and Sepoys (white cubes).
• Victory goal: Population of spaces with Raj Control plus Total Support exceeds 38.
• Only Operations that use Sepoys cost Resources. The cost per space is equal to Restraint, a measure from 1 – 5 of the overall intensity of the conflict in India.
• Troops always Operate for free.

For this edition of The Gandhi Chronicles, we will take a close look at some of the Operations and Special Activities available to the Raj Faction using a real game example. Look at the dire situation below—Raj has lost Control over both Delhi and United Provinces. What’s more, Gandhi is leading a protest in United Provinces and there is ongoing Guerrilla activity there as well. Raj better act quickly to restore order!

Step 1 — Deploy Raj Forces

The most pressing concern right now is the lack of forces. Raj had better get more pieces onto the map quickly if it hopes to regain the upper hand in northern India. The only way to add Raj forces during Operations is with Deploy. Raj may Deploy into any Cities, even those without Raj Control. Deploy also allows Raj to move two cubes from the Out of Play box to Available, ready to add during a later Operation.

Raj selects Delhi. It may place up to six cubes there. It could add six Troops for free, but most Troops leave the map during the Redeploy phase at the end of each Campaign; better to balance powerful Troops with Sepoys that will remain during Redeploy. Raj places two Troops and four Sepoys into Delhi. Control in Gandhi is based on Active pieces only; Troops and Sepoys are always Active. Now that cubes outnumber Active adversaries, Raj has regained Control over the City. It places a Control marker there and adds one victory point. Since it placed Sepoys, Raj must pay Resources equal to Restraint for selecting Delhi. In this case, Restraint is 2—so Raj pays 2 Resources for this space. Lastly, Raj moves two Troop cubes from the Out of Play box to Available. It may not Deploy these Troops now, but they’re be available for the next Deploy Operation.

Raj now has plenty of forces to use, but there is just one catch. With a Protest marker in Delhi, all Raj cubes there are locked in place—cubes may not exit Protest spaces during Operations! In order to use Sweep later to move those cubes into United Provinces, Raj will first need to put down the Protest. It can do that by using its Govern Special Activity to remove the Protest marker. Luckily, Raj may pair Deploy with any Special Activity. Unfortunately, it may not use Govern to remove the Protest marker until all Activists have been removed first. But Raj can also use Govern to remove a single, Active adversary. So Raj insead uses Govern to remove the Activist. Raj ends its turn.

Step 2 — Sweep to Regain Control

A few cards later, it’s the Raj’s turn again. In the meantime, the Revolutionaries used an Event to place an Underground Guerrilla into United Provinces and Congress used its Demonstrate Operation to move nearby Activists into United Provinces. During Demonstrate, Congress is allowed to move Muslim League Activists if they move along with Congress Activists, and so brought one along. With the Protest marker there, all Activists that enter United Provinces are automatically Activated and join the Protest.

Raj wants to move the cubes in Delhi into United Provinces to add Control, but the Protest marker in Delhi blocks their exit. So Raj first executes the Govern Special Activity. Since there are no Activists in Delhi to protect the Protest marker, Raj uses Govern to remove it (and Congress wishes it had Demonstrated Activists into Delhi to keep the Protest alive). Now, the cubes in Delhi are free to exit. Raj will execute Sweep to move cubes into United Provinces.

The Raj Sweep Operation is similar to Government Sweep Operations in many of the previous COIN games based in the 20^th century. Cubes may move onto an adjacent Railway, if desired, and then into adjacent spaces. Spaces where only Troops Sweep are free. But like Deploy, Raj must pay for each selected destination where Sepoys Sweep. Restraint is still 2, so Raj pays 2 Resources to select United Provinces. In order for Raj to Control the space, cubes must exceed all Active adversaries. There are currently six Active adversaries there; but moving into the United Provinces will automatically Activate the Underground Guerrilla—so Raj will need a total of eight cubes to Control the space. There are already three cubes there; Raj will Sweep five additional cubes into United Provinces. It moves one Troop and four Sepoys from Delhi, all to United Provinces. Now that cubes exceed Active adversaries, Raj Control the space. It places a Control marker and adds 2 victory points to its total.

Step 3 — Assault then Imperialism

On the next Raj turn, it is finally time to deal with the growing insurgency in northern India. Raj forces are in place and all adversaries are Active—the perfect combination for an Assault Operation. Raj Assault is used to remove Active pieces—Active Guerrillas, Activists in Protest spaces or on Railways, Gandhi, and any Bases. When just Sepoys Assault, Raj removes one adversary for every two cubes. But when Troops are present, Raj instead removes one adversary for every cube. Raj selects United Provinces and pays 2 Resources (Restraint is still 2). With six Sepoys and two Troops there, they may remove eight adversaries. They first target the Guerrillas, removing both to Available. Next, they turn their attention to the Nonviolent Activists.

Raj must target Congress and Muslim League Activists together as a group. Also, it may choose to arrest Gandhi first or last. But with four Activists plus Gandhi, and six cubes that have not yet been used for Assault remaining, Raj will end up arresting all the Nonviolent pieces. When Gandhi and Activists are arrested, they are not sent to Available but instead to the Jail box. Pieces in Jail are not Available to be placed until released, either during a Nonviolent Faction Operation or Special Activity, through Events, or during a Campaign Round.

Now that all Active adversaries have been removed from United Provinces, Raj executes another Govern Special Activity. This time, the space qualifies for Imperialism which allows Raj to build Support and gain even more victory points. If there were any Revolutionaries Unrest markers in the space, Raj would first have to pay to remove them (much like Civic Action and Terror markers in earlier COIN games). But with no Unrest in United Provinces, Raj may instead immediately pay to build Support. Every 3 Raj Resources spent shifts the space one level towards Active Support, up to two levels. Raj pays 6 Resources and shifts United Provinces to Active Support. As a 2 Population space, this adds 4 victory points to the Raj victory level.

Raj has one more step to complete, at the very end of their turn. Since Gandhi was arrested during Operations or a Special Activity, Raj must shift Restraint down one. Restraint is now at 1. Two more Protest markers are now Available to be placed by the NV Factions. The Congress player may now place two Protest markers on the map. Moreover, should Unity—which is now at 3—also shift to 1, the nation would be in a state of Crisis. During Crisis, the conflict escalates to its highest level. Revolution in India!

In the next issue of the Gandhi Chronicles, we will take a closer look at the Indian National Congress and examine some of the Operations and Special Activities available to the Nonviolent Factions.

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Previous Article in this Series: The Gandhi Chronicles Issue #3: Raj Control

Next Article in this Series: The Gandhi Chronicles Issue #5: Playing the Congress in Gandhi — Operations and Special Activities