History TabletopGame / TwilightStruggle

* CrutchCharacter: Iran. The US starts the game with one (or more if playing with a pro-US influence handicap) influence in the country, which gives it access to Iraq and Pakistan/India. At the very beginning, the US is virtually isolated in Iran, with no other influence anywhere nearby, making having control over said 2-stability country one of the top priorities for both sides during Turn 1. If the USSR fails (or does not even try) to immediately throw the US out of Iran, the latter will most likely gain a foothold in Western Asia and the ability to compete for Domination in the Middle East. If it succeeds, a whole group of countries will quickly turn red, given that the US, barring a lucky Indo-Pakistani War die roll or an unlikely not-too-late successful coup, will not be able to prevent Soviet expansion there. Either way, by the Mid War, the entire value of controlling Iran comes down to Iran itself.

* CrutchCharacter: Iran. The US starts the game with one influence in the country (or more if playing with a pro-US influence handicap), which gives it access to Iraq and Pakistan/India. At the very beginning, the US is virtually isolated in Iran, with no other influence anywhere nearby, making having control over said 2-stability country one of the top priorities for both sides during the 1st turn. If the USSR fails (or does not even try) to immediately throw the US out of Iran, the latter will most likely gain a foothold in Western Asia and the ability to compete for Domination in the Middle East. If it succeeds, a whole group of countries will quickly turn red, given that the US, barring a lucky Indo-Pakistani War die roll or an unlikely not-too-late successful coup, will not be able to prevent Soviet expansion there. Either way, by the Mid War, the entire value of controlling Iran comes down to Iran itself.

* NewAgeRetroHippie: "Flower Power" is a Mid-War 4-ops card that gives the Soviets 2 VP every time the US plays a card with "War" on it (unless the card is launched it into space). The card is cancelled/prevented when "An Evil Empire" is played.

* CrutchCharacter: Iran. The US starts the game with one influence in the country (or more if playing with a pro-US influence handicap), which gives it access to Iraq and Pakistan/India. At the very beginning, the US is virtually isolated in Iran, with no influence anywhere nearby, making control over said 2-stability country one of the key issues of the 1st turn. If the USSR fails to immediately throw the US out of Iran, the latter will most likely gain a foothold in Western Asia or even the ability to compete for Domination in the Middle East. If it does, the entire group of countries will quickly turn red, given that the US, barring a lucky Indo-Pakistani War die roll or an unlikely not-too-late successful coup, will not be able to prevent Soviet expansion there. Either way, by the Mid War, the entire value of controlling Iran comes down to Iran itself.

* CrutchCharacter: Iran. The US starts the game with one influence in the country (or more if playing with a pro-US influence handicap), which gives it access to Iraq and Pakistan/India. At the very beginning, the US is virtually isolated in Iran, with no influence anywhere nearby, making control over said 2-stability country one of the key issues of the 1st turn. If the USSR fails to immediately throw the US out of Iran, the latter will most likely gain a foothold in Western Asia or even the ability to compete for dominance in the Middle East. If it does, the entire group of countries will quickly turn red, given that the US, barring a lucky Indo-Pakistani War die roll or an unlikely not-too-late successful coup, will not be able to prevent Soviet expansion there. Either way, by the Mid War, the entire value of controlling Iran comes down to Iran itself.

* BalanceOfPower: A crucial part of the game and the reason scoring cards exist. The game designers were able to accurately convey the bipolar balance of power that resulted from the confrontation between the two superpowers and thus was an integral part of the Cold War. In each of the six regions, superpowers have their own status depending on the number of countries they control and their belonging to the battlegrounds and non-battlegrounds. Statuses can range from No Presence[[note]]a superpower has no control over any country in the region[[/note]] or Presence[[note]]a superpower controls at least one country in the region[[/note]] to Domination[[note]]a superpower has more battlegrounds and countries in total (with at least one non-battleground) within the region under its control[[/note]] or even Control[[note]]a superpower controls all battlegrounds of the region and more countries in it in total[[/note]]. Scorings are done in one particular region after another as their respective cards are received and played, with the exception in the form of Final Scoring: if the winner has not been determined within ten turns of the game, simultaneous scoring is carried out automatically in all regions - a unique case when the balance of power becomes gameplay-important on a global, worldwide scale. However, this does not mean that you cannot define it at any other time to understand how the game is going - just look at the location of the marker on the victory points scale and the ratio of pro-American/pro-Soviet battlegrounds.

* BalanceOfPower: A crucial part of the game and the reason scoring cards exist. The game designers were able to accurately convey the bipolar balance of power that resulted from the confrontation between the two superpowers and thus was an integral part of the Cold War. In each of the six regions, superpowers have their own status depending on the number of countries they control and their belonging to the battlegrounds and non-battlegrounds. Statuses can range from No Presence[[note]]a superpower has no control over any country in the region[[/note]] or Presence[[note]]a superpower controls at least one country in the region[[/note]] to Domination[[note]]a superpower has more battlegrounds and countries in total (with at least one non-battleground) within the region under its control[[/note]] or even Control[[note]]a superpower controls all battlegrounds of the region and more countries in it in total[[/note]]. Scorings are done depending on the arrival of the respective cards, in one particular region after another, with the exception in the form of Final Scoring: if the winner has not been determined within ten turns of the game, simultaneous scoring is carried out automatically in all regions - a unique case when the balance of power becomes gameplay-important on a global, worldwide scale. However, this does not mean that you cannot define it at any other time to understand how the game is going - just look at the location of the marker on the victory points scale and the ratio of pro-American/pro-Soviet battlegrounds.

* BalanceOfPower: The game designers were able to accurately convey the bipolar balance of power that was an integral part of the Cold War and which was a consequence of the confrontation between two superpowers. In each of the six regions, superpowers have their own status depending on the number of countries they control and their belonging to the battlegrounds and non-battlegrounds. Statuses can range from No Presence[[note]]a superpower has no control over any country in the region[[/note]] or Presence[[note]]a superpower controls at least one country in the region[[/note]] to Domination[[note]]a superpower has more battlegrounds and countries in total (with at least one non-battleground) within the region under its control[[/note]] or even Control[[note]]a superpower controls all battlegrounds of the region and more countries in total[[/note]]. Global balance of power as of a certain moment depends on both the location of the marker on the scale of victory points and the ratio of pro-American/pro-Soviet battlegrounds.

* UnwantedAssistance: "The Iron Lady" is a US 3-op card that gets rid of all Soviet influence in the UK and prevents "Socialist Governments"(remove 3 US influence in Western Europe, max 2 per country) from taking place. In practice, though, this card tends to help the Soviet player more often than not, since the card also grants 1 Soviet influence in battleground Argentina (thanks to the UsefulNotes/TheFalklandIslands) AND 3 ops (if played from the Soviet hand); the US benefits are of only marginal-at-best utility in many games because there is rarely much Soviet influence in the UK anyway (the UK starts US-controlled and is not a battleground country) and "Socialist Governments", while annoying in the Early War, is usually less of a problem for the US to deal with later in the game as its 3-ops value matches the influence damage it does, making it generally a wash.

* DiscardAndDraw: "Ask Not What Your Country Can Do For You..." allows the US player to discard as many cards as he wants from his hand and draw new cards to replace them. Very useful if said hand is holding a bunch of Soviet events and/or scoring cards (which would otherwise have to be played) for regions that the Soviet player is dominating.

[[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Has nothing to do]] with the rivalry between [[Literature/{{Twilight}} Team Edward and Team Jacob]], nor with the game ''TableTopGame/TwilightImperium'', nor with [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Twilight Sparkle]]. It is also not a before-the-end prequel to ''TabletopGame/Twilight2000''.

* BalanceOfPower: The game designers were able to accurately convey the bipolar balance of power that was an integral part of the Cold War, and which was a consequence of the confrontation between two superpowers. In each of the six regions, superpowers have their own status depending on the number of countries they control and their belonging to the battlegrounds and non-battlegrounds. Statuses can range from No Presence[[note]]a superpower has no control over any country in the region[[/note]] or Presence[[note]]a superpower controls at least one country in the region[[/note]] to Domination[[note]]a superpower has more battlegrounds and countries in total (with at least one non-battleground) within the region under its control[[/note]] or even Control[[note]]a superpower controls all battlegrounds of the region and more countries in total[[/note]]. Global balance of power as of a certain moment depends on both the location of the marker on the scale of victory points and the ratio of pro-American/pro-Soviet battlegrounds.

* BalanceOfPower: The game designers were able to accurately convey the bipolar balance of power that was an integral part of the Cold War, and which was a consequence of the confrontation between two superpowers. In each of the six regions, superpowers have their own status depending on the number of countries they control and their belonging to the battlegrounds and non-battlegrounds. Statuses can range from No Presence[[note]]superpower has no control over any country in the region[[/note]] or Presence[[note]]superpower controls at least one country in the region[[/note]] to Domination[[note]]superpower has more battlegrounds and countries in total (with at least one non-battleground) within the region under its control[[/note]] or even Control[[note]]superpower controls all battlegrounds of the region and more countries in total[[/note]]. Global balance of power as of a certain moment depends on both the location of the marker on the scale of victory points and the ratio of pro-American/pro-Soviet battlegrounds.

* BalanceOfPower: The game designers were able to accurately convey the bipolar balance of power that was an integral part of the Cold War, and which was a consequence of the confrontation between two superpowers. In each of the six regions, superpowers have their own status depending on the number of countries they control and their belonging to the battlegrounds and non-battlegrounds. Statuses can range from No Presence[[note]]superpower has no control over any country in the region[[/note]] or Presence[[note]]superpower controls either about as many countries in the region as its rival, or at least one of them[[/note]] to Domination[[note]]superpower has more battlegrounds and countries in total (with at least one non-battleground) within the region under its control[[/note]] or even Control[[note]]superpower controls all battlegrounds of the region and more countries in total[[/note]]. Global balance of power as of a certain moment depends on both the location of the marker on the scale of victory points and the ratio of pro-American/pro-Soviet battlegrounds.

* BalanceOfPower: The game designers were able to accurately convey the bipolar balance of power that was an integral part of the Cold War, and which was a consequence of the confrontation between two superpowers. In each of the six regions, superpowers have their own status depending on the number of countries they control and their belonging to the battlegrounds and non-battlegrounds. Statuses can range from No Presence[[note]]superpower has no control over any country in the region[[/note]] or Presence[[note]]superpower controls either about as many countries in the region as its rival, or at least one of them[[/note]] to Domination[[note]]superpower has more battlegrounds and countries in total within the region under its control[[/note]] or even Control[[note]]superpower controls all battlegrounds of the region and more countries in total[[/note]]. Global balance of power as of a certain moment depends on both the location of the marker on the scale of victory points and the ratio of pro-American/pro-Soviet battlegrounds.

* BalanceOfPower: The game designers were able to accurately convey the bipolar balance of power that was an integral part of the Cold War, and which was a consequence of the confrontation between two superpowers. In each of the six regions, superpowers have their own status depending on the number of countries they control and their belonging to the battlegrounds and non-battlegrounds. Statuses can range from No Presence[[note]]superpower has no control over any country in the region[[/note]] or Presence[[note]]can vary, but most often a superpower controls about as many countries in the region as its rival[[/note]] to Domination[[note]]superpower has more battlegrounds and countries in total within the region under its control[[/note]] or even Control[[note]]superpower controls all battlegrounds of the region and more countries in total[[/note]]. Global balance of power as of a certain moment depends on both the location of the marker on the scale of victory points and the ratio of pro-American/pro-Soviet battlegrounds.

* BalanceOfPower: The game designers were able to accurately convey the bipolar balance of power that was an integral part of the Cold War, and which was a consequence of the confrontation between two superpowers. In each of the six regions, superpowers have their own status depending on the number of countries they control and their belonging to the battlegrounds and non-battlegrounds. Statuses can range from No Presence[[note]]superpower has no control over any country in the region[[/note]] or Presence[[note]]can vary, but most often a superpower controls about as many countries in the region as its rival[[/note]] to Domination[[note]]superpower has more battlegrounds and countries in general within the region under its control[[/note]] or even Control[[note]]superpower controls all battlegrounds of the region and more countries in general[[/note]]. Global balance of power as of a certain moment depends on both the location of the marker on the scale of victory points and the ratio of pro-American/pro-Soviet battlegrounds.

* BalanceOfPower: The game designers were able to accurately convey the bipolar balance of power that was an integral part of the Cold War, and which was a consequence of the confrontation between two superpowers. Each of the six regions (and one sub-region) has its own status depending on the number of countries controlled by each superpower and their belonging to the battlegrounds and non-battlegrounds. Statuses can range from No Presence[[note]]no superpower has managed to take control of any country in the region[[/note]] or Presence[[note]]both superpowers have approximately the same number of controlled countries[[/note]] to Domination[[note]]one superpower has more battlegrounds and countries in general under its control[[/note]] or even Control[[note]]one superpower controls all battlegrounds of the region and more countries in general[[/note]]. Global balance of power as of a certain moment depends on both the location of the marker on the scale of victory points and the ratio of pro-American/pro-Soviet battlegrounds.

* BalanceOfPower: The game designers were able to accurately convey the bipolar balance of power that was an integral part of the Cold War, and which was a consequence of the confrontation between two superpowers. Each of the six regions (and one sub-region) has its own status depending on the number of countries controlled by each superpower and their belonging to the battlegrounds and non-battlegrounds. Statuses can range from No Presence[[note]]no superpower has managed to take control of any country in the region[[/note]] or Presence[[note]]both superpowers have approximately the same number of controlled countries[[/note]] to Domination[[note]]one superpower has more battlegrounds and countries in general under its control[[/note]] or even Control[[note]]one superpower controls all battlegrounds of the region and more countries in general[[/note]]. Global balance of power at a certain moment depends on both the location of the marker on the scale of victory points and the ratio of pro-American/pro-Soviet battlegrounds.

* BalanceOfPower: The game designers were able to accurately convey the bipolar balance of power that was an integral part of the Cold War, and which was a consequence of the confrontation between two superpowers. Each of the six regions (and one sub-region) has its own status depending on the number of countries controlled by each superpower and their belonging to the battlegrounds and non-battlegrounds. The statuses can range from No Presence[[note]]no superpower has managed to take control of any country in the region[[/note]] or Presence[[note]]both superpowers have approximately the same number of controlled countries[[/note]] to Domination[[note]]one superpower has more battlegrounds and countries in general under its control[[/note]] or even Control[[note]]one superpower controls all battlegrounds of the region and more countries in general[[/note]]. The global balance of power at a certain moment depends on both the location of the marker on the scale of victory points and the ratio of pro-American/pro-Soviet battlegrounds.

* BalanceOfPower: The game designers were able to accurately convey the bipolar balance of power that was an integral part of the Cold War, and which was a consequence of the confrontation between the two superpowers. Each of the six regions (and one sub-region) has its own status depending on the number of countries controlled by each superpower and their belonging to the battlegrounds and non-battlegrounds. The statuses can range from No Presence [[note]] no superpower has managed to take control of any country in the region[[/note]] or Presence [[note]] both superpowers have approximately the same number of controlled countries[[/note]] to Domination [[note]] one superpower has more battlegrounds and countries in general under its control[[/note]] or even Control [[note]] one superpower controls all the battlegrounds of the region and more countries in general[[/note]]. There is also a conditional similarity of the general balance of power at a particular moment, which depends on the location of the marker on the scale of victory points and the ratio of pro-American and pro-Soviet battlegrounds.

* RiskStyleMap: Countries are grouped into regions (Europe[[note]]further divided into Eastern and Western[[/note]], Asia[[note]]with a Southeast Asia subregion[[/note]], 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 (e.g., Chile and Bolivia physically border each other in real life but do not border each other in the game owing to [[UsefulNotes/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).

In December 2010, ''Twilight Struggle'' became the highest-ranked game on [=BoardGameGeek=], displacing ''Puerto Rico.'' It has also won several awards. Online play is popular, with tournaments being held annually. In fall 2019, the game got a huge publicity boost when it was featured in an episode of WesternAnimation/SouthPark

* BalanceOfPower: The game designers were able to accurately convey the bipolar balance of power that was an integral part of the Cold War, and which was a consequence of the confrontation between the two superpowers. Each of the six regions (and one sub-region) has its own status depending on the number of countries controlled by each superpower and their belonging to the battlegrounds and non-battlegrounds. The statuses can range from No Presence (no superpower has managed to take control of any country in the region) or Presence (both superpowers have approximately the same number of controlled countries) to Domination (one superpower has more battlegrounds and countries in general under its control) or even Control (one superpower controls all the battlegrounds of the region and more countries in general). There is also a conditional similarity of the general balance of power at a particular moment, which depends on the location of the marker on the scale of victory points and the ratio of the number of pro-American and pro-Soviet battlegrounds.

*** The Chinese Civil War could allow the US to give Chaing Kai-Shek more material support, creating a battleground state in Taiwan and allowing the Nationalist China card, which allows the US to place Influence in Asia.

* AllMuslimsAreArab: "Muslim Revolution" is a powerful Soviet Mid-War card, which give a possibility to remove all US influence in 2 out of 8 countries, most of which are part of the Middle East region.

** The "Turn Zero" expansion enables this to six different events that took place either during World War II or just after it. Depending on the die rolls, it makes even more alternate history.

* ChessMotifs: As befitting a game set in the Cold War - as noted by the game's designers, entire countries are treated as little more than pawns in the grand game against the opposing superpower, with the occasional bishop in battleground countries like France and China acting as a rook or perhaps queen. In-game it's invoked in the "''Film/{{Wargames}}''" card, which has the outline of a rook on it and includes the famous "How about a nice game of chess?".

* DefectorFromCommieLand: "Defectors" is a US card that, when played during the headline phase, cancels whatever the Soviet player had played for their headline event; Soviet play of this card during an action round also gives the US player 1 victory point. The card is reflective of the fact that while defections to the other side happened in both directions East to West was more common and reflected poorly on the Soviets.

* LethalJokeCharacter: Or "card", rather. The Early War US-only CIA Created card is only worth 1 op point, but if the Soviet player has it and doesn't treat it with care it can make him automatically lose[[note]]The card's text explicitly gives the US player 1 op point, so if there is '''any''' Soviet influence in a battleground country in Latin America or Africa (i.e., Cuba post-Castro) and DEFCON is at 2, the US can coup there, force DEFCON to level one, and win automatically because it was the Soviet player who played it[[/note]]. Ditto for the Mid-War "Lone Gunman" card for the American. The "First Lightning" Soviet card can cause this for both players, since it will degrade DEFCON one rank if either player plays it for Operations.

* NewAgeRetroHippie: "Flower Power" is a Mid-War 4-ops card that gives the Soviets 2 VP every time the US plays a card with "War" on it (unless he launches it into space). The card is cancelled/prevented when "An Evil Empire" is played.