How to Play Wir sind das Volk!: 2+2

Objective of the Game

Wir sind das Volk!: 2+2 is an expansion for Wir sind das Volk! and is not a stand-alone game. Players form partnerships: the USA and West Germany (Yellow players) against the Soviet Union and East Germany (Red players). The basic idea is that players build up their part of Germany and raise its living standards. Additionally, the two superpowers, USA and Soviet Union, fight the Cold War on three fronts: global dominance, arms race, and space race, which could potentially lead to a nuclear apocalypse.

There will only be one individual winner in the end. A superpower wins if it triumphs over the other one AND if its German ally fulfills its base game victory conditions. If no superpower wins, the winner is the German state fulfilling its base game victory conditions.

Preparation (Setup)

To set up Wir sind das Volk!: 2+2, follow these steps:

1. The 4 players choose their role (USA, Soviet Union, West Germany, or East Germany).
2. Set up the base game according to its current rules version.
3. Lay the 2+2 game board alongside the top edge of the base game board.
4. Place the arms race, space race, and dominance markers onto their respective tracks, each in the space depicting its symbol.
5. Place the US treasury and Soviet treasury markers face-up onto the “$6” space of the treasury track.
6. Fill the world peace pool with all 6 peace doves and the red button, all markers placed face-up.
7. Relocate the base game End of Decade marker onto the end of decade space arms race on the 2+2 board.
8. Place the 4 player markers onto the turn order track. The initial turn order is: 1. USA, 2. Soviet Union, 3. West, 4. East. Use the black-numbered spaces.
9. Shuffle both the arms race and conflict cards and stack them close to the board.

The game is now ready to start. The USA will be the starting player.

Fluxo do Jogo

The sequence of play in Wir sind das Volk!: 2+2 is largely identical to the base game, with some key exceptions. Every decade consists of 3 sub-decades (called A, B, C), and there are more end of decade phases.

Sub-decade A

Every sub-decade A is played as follows:

1. Determine the turn order according to section 5. (Skip this step in decade I.)
2. Put the special card of the current decade into the card display. Shuffle the base game cards of the current decade to form the draw deck and deal cards until every player has 2 hand cards. (Players may discard hand cards from an earlier decade before receiving new hand cards.) As a reminder for 2+2, put the appropriate strict prestige arrow marker on prestige arrows on special cards.
3. From the draw deck, put 3 cards into the card display. Shuffle the 2+2 cards of the current decade and put 3 into the card display.
4. With the remaining cards, prepare 2 stacks for the upcoming sub-decades: Put 3 cards alongside each space sub-decade B and sub-decade C. Discard the remaining card unseen. These 2 sub-decade stacks serve as an automatic sub-decade tracker.
5. Actions: The starting player chooses 1 card from the card display or 1 hand card and performs 1 action. Only a red player may choose the special card. Then player 2 performs one action, followed by player 3, player 4, player 1 again, etc. When you finish your action, move your player marker to the right. When player 4 is done, return all markers to their space of origin to track whose turn it is.
6. The sub-decade ends as soon as there is only 1 normal card left in the card display. (Hand cards or the special card do not matter.)
7. The event of this last card is then triggered automatically (see Automatic Event section).

As in the base game, line up played cards at the bottom edge of the board, unless a player has to collect a card.

Sub-decades B and C

Sub-decades B and C are played in almost the same way. Differences are:

• Ignore steps 1, 2, 4 from Sub-decade A.
• In step 3, put into the card display:
  • For sub-decade B: The 3 prepared cards and 3 cards from the draw deck.
  • For sub-decade C: The 3 prepared cards and 4 cards from the draw deck (that is, 1 card more).
• If still in the display, the special card stays there.
• The starting player is the one who would have had the next action in the sub-decade that just ended.

Sub-decades B and C end the same way as sub-decade A. When sub-decade C is finished, play the end of decade (see End of Decade section). If there is no winner, discard the special card (if still in the card display), set aside the draw deck unseen, and start the next decade. In the rare case that the draw deck runs empty in decade III, bring into play 1 unplayed decade II card.

Ações e Como Jogar

As in the base game, players perform actions by playing a card. Every player can play a normal card in 1 of 4 ways:

• Remove 1 unrest counter
• Build up the economy of his side
• Increase living standard of his side
• Trigger the card event

A superpower has 2 more options:

• Engage in the arms race
• Take a credit

In the case of a special card, you may only trigger the event (and only a red player may do so).

Remove 1 unrest counter

The base game rules are not changed. The USA may remove 1 West unrest counter, the Soviet Union may remove 1 East unrest counter (as if they were West or East). For a yellow (red) player, the removal is free when using a Yellow (Red) Card. In all other cases, players have to pay by dismantling 1 build point in “their” Germany.

Build up economy

The base game rules are not changed. The USA may build up West’s economy, the Soviet Union may build up East’s economy (as if they were West or East).

Increase living standard

The base game rules are not changed. The USA may increase West’s living standard and the Soviet Union may increase East’s living standard (as if they were West or East, including the decision about where Hamburg or an external factory belongs to).

Trigger the card event

The base game rules are not changed. A Red Card event may be triggered only by a red player. A Yellow Card event may be triggered only by a yellow player. All other cards’ events can be triggered by any player.

• Dual Cards: A player may ignore 1 arrow or 1 icon without arrows when triggering a Dual Card event.
• Blue Cards: Blue Card events are symmetrical. When triggering the event, a red player ignores all yellow arrows/icons; a yellow player ignores all red arrows/icons.
• Black Cards: When triggering the event, a player executes all icons and arrows.
• Green Cards: When triggering the event, a player executes all icons and arrows.

Icons blended with a coat of arms are executed by West or East. Left-right arrows: When these arrows have to be executed, move the marker by the net-sum. In case of left-right arms race arrows, both superpowers still have to pick 1 arms race card each.

Superpowers and prestige arrows: When an active superpower executes a prestige arrow, it may opt to move the dominance marker instead. A double arrow (which allows the movement of 2 steps) may be split to both tracks. The strict prestige arrow, however, has to be executed on the prestige track. The same is true for a prestige arrow on a special card. Use the appropriate marker strict prestige arrow to convert a special card prestige arrow to a strict prestige arrow.

Non executable dominance arrows: For each red dominance arrow which cannot be executed (because it would shift the marker off the track) the Soviet Union may choose to add +$1 to its treasury or to remove 1 East unrest counter. The USA benefits from non-executable yellow arrows accordingly (+$1 or remove 1 West unrest counter).

New icons:

• Icons with arrows:
  • Move the dominance marker by 1 or 2 to the left or right.
  • Move the prestige marker. An active superpower may choose to move the dominance marker instead. A double arrow can be split to both tracks.
  • Strict prestige icon: Same as a prestige icon, but a superpower cannot choose to move the dominance marker instead.
  • The active player chooses whether to move the dominance or the prestige marker by either 1 space to the left or to the right. Ignore this icon in the case of an automatic event.
  • Move the space race marker to the left or right.
  • Move the arms race marker to the left or right. Furthermore, the benefiting superpower has to draw and execute the top arms race card.
• Icons without arrows:
  • Flip 1 peace dove to its blank side. If all are already flipped, the active player has to press the red button and put it in front of himself (with the mushroom cloud side face-up). By doing that he triggers a nuclear war and the game ends immediately. (If an automatic event triggers the war, the player who was last active has to press the button.)
  • Reflip 1 flipped peace dove (if possible).
  • Peacemaker: Upon finishing his action, the active player collects the card in front of himself. (In case of a nuclear war, the player with the most collected peacemaker cards will win.) Ignore this icon in the case of an automatic event.
  • The affected superpower pays the stated amount from its treasury. Move its treasury marker accordingly.
  • The affected superpower adds the stated income to its treasury. Move its treasury marker accordingly.
  • The affected superpower draws the top conflict card and executes its effects.
  • The superpower of the active side draws the top conflict card and executes its effects.
  • From now on, the cost for each arms race step is increased by +$1. Put the appropriate reminder on the arms race draw deck.
  • From now on, when the Soviet Union chooses the actions Build up economy or Increase LS the card value is reduced by 1 (but not below 0). Put the appropriate reminder into East’s territory. (Even with a 0-value the Soviet Union can still place up to 3 LS. East is not affected by this icon.)

Engage in the arms race

Only a superpower may choose this action. It can use every normal card not depicting a ban on arms race icon. On choosing that action, the superpower moves the arms race marker by 1 step in its favor, draws the top arms race card and executes its effects.

Take a credit

Only a superpower can take a credit. It can use every normal card. With this action, the superpower receives income equal to the card value. A superpower is in the red when its treasury becomes negative. It is then severely restricted in its choice of actions. It can only: Take a credit, or Trigger events which add income to its treasury. If a superpower is in the red, flip its player marker.

Fim de Jogo e Pontuação

The game can end in two main ways: a nuclear war or at the end of a decade.

Nuclear War

The game ends immediately with a nuclear war when a player has to press the red button (because there is no peace dove left in the pool). This triggering player loses.

Victory in case of a nuclear war: The winner is the non-triggering player who collected the most cards with a peacemaker icon. In case of a tie, the ally of the triggering player loses the tie. Peacemaker icons exist only on Green and Black cards. You collect such a card when you: a) trigger the event of a Green Card, or b) use a Black Card for any action, except triggering the event.

End of Decade

The end of decade is amended by the addition of arms race, space race, and dominance phases. After these, you play the 10 phases of the base game.

Arms race phase

Check the arms race track. A superpower wins immediately when the marker is in one of its victory spaces. If this happens, skip the remaining phases. All other icons of the arms race track are ignored during the end of decade.

Space race phase

The position of the marker on the space race track tells you what icon(s) to execute. One icon means: The benefiting superpower immediately receives 1 hand card from the draw deck of the next decade. At the start of the next decade, it may discard hand cards from a (then) earlier decade (but not the just received hand card). After that it refills its hand to 3 cards before then discarding 1 of its choice. A superpower wins immediately when the marker is in its victory space. If this happens, skip the remaining phases.

Dominance phase

The player holding the current dominance advantage executes the icon(s) below the dominance marker or of a lower value box. Both superpowers receive regular income from the dominance track. This is important, since ending the game in the red will result in negative victory points.

Base game end of decade

Now the base game end of decade is played, phase by phase, starting with Flight/wall, prestige, etc. If one of the base game victory conditions is fulfilled, the game ends immediately. The winner is then determined in 2 steps: