History TabletopGame / TwilightStruggle

* TheCoup: An action a superpower can initiate with ops. Coups count towards military operations (to placate the hawks in one's camp that want to stand tough against those communists/capitalists), and those in battlegrounds degrade the DEFCON meter and push the world closer to nuclear war.

** The Seventies: Oil shortages? Oh yeah.

** Also invoked in the ''{{Wargames}}'' card, which has the outline of a rook on it. It even has the famous "How about a nice game of chess?"

* GuideDangIt: What do you mean, Grain Sales etc. can trigger nuclear war?!

* PuppetState: In-universe accusations aside, the card "Puppet Governments" gives the US one influence in three countries that don't have influence from either superpower yet. As this is a Mid-War card and the vast majority of countries in Latin America and Africa are low-stability, the US usually ends up placing the influence in such countries, giving the player either outright control of a country like Zaire or close to it.

* PuppetState: In-universe accusations aside, the card "Puppet Governments" gives the US one influence in three countries that don't have influence from either superpower yet.

* RiskStyleMap: Countries are grouped into regions (Europe[[hottip:*:further divided into Eastern and Western]], Asia[[hottip:*:with a Southeast Asia subregion]], Middle East, Central America, South America, and Africa). Individual countries border each other via lines drawn on the game board rather than strictly by geography (i.e., Chile and Bolivia physically border each other in real life but do not border each other in the game owing to [[WarOfThePacific historical animosity]]). Borders come into play chiefly when playing a card for ops for influence (you can only place influence in a country where you already have influence or a country bordering it) or realignment (controlling neighboring countries gives you a +1 to your roll) - some card events also take borders into account (i.e., rolls for war cards have a -1 for each neighbor of the target your opponent controls).

* AlternateHistory: The Early-Middle-Late division of cards means events go off roughly around the time they went off in RealLife (i.e., the Early War Castro card will probably go off earlier than the Late War Chernobyl card), though events can be deferred to a later turn. The situation on the board will likely turn out this way to varying extents as the game progresses (i.e., Italy or South Korea falling under Soviet control early on).

[[IThoughtItMeant Has nothing to do]] with the rivalry between [[{{Twilight}} Team Edward and Team Jacob]], nor with [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Twilight Sparkle]][[hottip:*:Whether she would be intrigued or horrified by the basic premise of the game remains to be seen]].

''Twilight Struggle'' is a card-driven board game for two players which covers the entire Cold War. One player plays the United States and the other plays the Soviet Union. In each turn, both players are dealt a hand of cards, and then play them one at a time, alternating. The object of the game is to spread your superpower's influence into as many countries of the world as possible. By doing this, you score victory points when regions are scored, the timing of which is determined by cards. Cards are divided into three groups: Early War, Mid War, and Late War. This ensures that events like Fidel Castro's coming to power in Cuba, OPEC's founding, Chernobyl, etc. will happen in their historical era.

* PlayerPreferredPattern: The vast majority of games will see the Soviet player coup Iran on his first action round of the first turn - with a strong card or a decent roll of the die it at least eliminates easy US access to South Asia, as well as take care of military operations requirements early for the Soviets.

* [[GivingSomeoneThePointerFinger Giving Khrushchev The Pointer Finger]]: "Kitchen Debates" is a Mid-war card that awards the US player two {{VP}} if the US controls more battleground countries than the Soviets. It also tells the US player to poke the Soviet player in the chest.

* [[GivingSomeoneThePointerFinger Giving Khrushchev The Pointed Finger]]: "Kitchen Debates" is a Mid-war card that awards the US player two {{VP}} if the US controls more battleground countries than the Soviets. It also tells the US player to poke the Soviet player in the chest.

* [[GivingSomeoneThePointedFinger Giving Khrushchev The Pointed Finger]]: "Kitchen Debates" is a Mid-war card that awards the US player two {{VP}} if the US controls more battleground countries than the Soviets. It also tells the US player to poke the Soviet player in the chest.

* TheVietnamWar: Not explicitly, but there are several cards that serve to focus attention on Southeast Asia such as Vietnam Revolts and Decolonization for the Soviets (as well as the American equivalent of the latter in Colonial Rearguards). In addition, there is a Mid-War Southeast Asia scoring card that awards {{VPs}} for control of those countries, though unlike other scoring cards it is single-use.

* RefugeInAudacity: "Duck and Cover" is an Early War card in the game. It refers to the civil defense slogan that was taught to schoolchildren in TheFifties. Apparently if you duck the commie missiles might miss you. Also be sure to get under cover; a picnic blanket should provide an adequate shield from the blast, but to be extra careful use a wooden table.
** Given the inaccuracy of ICBMs on both sides and the relatively low yields of warheads during the early part of the Cold War (specifically before hydrogen bombs became widespread), huddling under a desk ''could'' have saved your life in such an event. Beyond about 3 kilometers from the blast site, the biggest threats from a nuclear detonation are skin burns from the heat, loss of vision from the brightness of the explosion, and falling debris. All of these can be mitigated if the populace is taught to take cover rather than stand around looking at what's going on (as what happened in Nagasaki - the local police all survived the atomic bomb on August 9th thanks to a cop from Hiroshima and were able to help afterwards).
** More practically, a more concerted effort to protect your own civilian populace from attack would fly in the face of the concept of Mutually Assured Destruction - it would suggest that you think you can survive a nuclear attack, thus making the thought of starting a nuclear war in order to utterly destroy the other side more tolerable and therefore more likely.

* StiffUpperLip: The UK is the only country on the board with a stability of 5. With the way coup attempts are resolved, it is impossible for the UK (and only the UK) to lose any influence by coup attempt.

** Given the inaccuracy of ICBMs on both sides and the relatively low yields of warheads during the early part of the Cold War (specifically before hydrogen bombs became widespread), huddling under a desk ''could'' have saved your life in such an event. More practically, a more concerted effort to protect your own civilian populace from attack would fly in the face of the concept of Mutually Assured Destruction - it would suggest that you think you can survive a nuclear attack, thus making the thought of starting a nuclear war in order to utterly destroy the other side more tolerable and therefore more likely.