USA "President Bush address to the nation spells out a bold new strategy towards freedom In the Soviet block. Repeatedly he stated It is our "moral imperative to ensure the democratization of Eastern Europe." When asked why he is taking such a move now, the President answered "We let our chance go by in 1956, and once again in 1968. I'm not going to wimp out on those brave Eastern Europeans now!" (Mean while the budget deficit is completely ignored in light of recent events overseas). CZECHOSLOVAKIA "Spectacular feats of courage were today seen in the streets of Prague. After weeks of quite, following the Soviet Union's invasion of the country, non-violent demonstrations were held all across the country. In Prague at least, these demonstrations appeared to be led by reformist members of the communist party. Flower bearing protestors asked Soviet Troops why they had come. Reports from the central city report that some protestors were fired upon, while in the suburbs Soviet Armored units refused to open fire on unarmed civilians. Military analysts speculate that Soviet morale has sharply dropped following today's protests." HUNGARY "The National Civic Forum has called for a nation wide general strike to protest the presence of Soviet Troops on their soil. (Two weeks later). The Hungarian Government to day announced that a free election will be held by the end of the year in which all political parties are welcome. All issues are now open to debate as a function of the election campaign." POLAND "A coalition of priests, trade unionists, and communist reformists petition President Jaruzelski to hold more free elections as promised, despite the recent crack down in Czechoslovakia. President Jaruzelski agreed to this despite pressure from hard line party members who openly reject the round table agreements of this spring." Now for the events of September and October ... September and October 1989 USSR "Ukrainian Nationalists and Communist Reformers link their political goals In Kiev. A huge demonstration was held in Kiev of Nationalists and Reformers. They called for the Soviet Union be reshaped into Autonomous Federal Republics. This move is felt by the Nationalist and Reformist leaders to have the best chance of reforming the USSR and maintaining the Union." CZECHOSLOVAKIA "Peaceful demonstrations continued throughout the country this week despite the sporadic use machine guns and tear gas on the crowds in Prague. (two weeks later) Reports of Soviet Troops refusing to fire on Czech protestors is confirmed. throughout the country the Red Army soldiers, many of them non-Russian, are refusing to accept orders to put down Communist reformers." "Colonel Dmitry and a coalition of Colonels of the Soviet Army mutiny against orders from Moscow to crush Czech freedom demonstrations. Colonel Dmitry has ordered his men to secure strategic positions in Bohemia to prevent other Soviet troops from attacking the protestors. In an interview with western Journalist the Colonel, a Ukranian, justified his actions by saying "Our Job is to defend the Soviet Union from itself. If that means defending Czechoslovakians from a wrongful a foolish policy of invasion, then so be it." ROMANIA "The government of Romaina today declared its overwhelming support of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, to put down "Counter-Revolutionaries." Their statement went on to voice their support of an invasion of Hungary, to stop subversion there." THE WEST "In light of the uncertainty of future events in Eastern Europe the NATO alliance and individual countries have begun up dating contingency plans for war. Britain and France In particular, are up dating their plans for independent use of Nuclear weapons." THE WARSAW PACT "The leadership of the Pact overestimate they military potential of Western response to the events in Eastern Europe. Military analysts report that NATO seems to be preparing for a first strike In Germany." Umpire Thoughts For some reason I don't think that Germany is going to be reunified in 1990 in this game. It seems more likely that some version of WWIII will happen. If that does come to pass then I may have to modify the time scale of the game somewhat. If you haven't jumped into the game before now, don't be shy, just do it. The rest of the article shows all the arguments that were sent in. For those of you who know about Matrix Games, feel free to Jump up to them for your review. If you are new to MGs, I will explain how the game works. A Matrix Game is a different way to play a game. Instead of there being a set of complicated rigid rules that tell the player how to do every action possible, MGs give flexibility. Each turn each player gets to make two "arguments" about what they want to have happen in that turn. The arguments are kind of like giving orders to your troops in other games, but in an MG there Is no guarantee that the argument will happen. A Matrix argument is kind of like saying "I wish it wouldn't rain today" and then giving reasons why that should happen. (For Instance, it never rains this time of year, the sky looks clear, the air pressure is high, etc). Just because I want it to happen doesn't mean it will, but there is a chance it will happen. The reasons that back up and argument usually come from a "Matrix" of descriptive words and phrases, that tell you a little about the world. often times players come up with reasons that are not In the matrix but which make since given the situation in the game. These are perfectly valid in MGs. In fact some of the best most creative arguments are made by free thinking players who do not feel bound by the limited "Possibilities" spelled out in the Matrix. For those who don't have it, The Solidarity Matrix is included at the end of this article. THE ARGUMENTS THAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED... USSR Action: Gorby orders purge then blames it on his political opposition. Result: Ukranian Red Army is used to put down the Siberian revolt while the Siberian Red Army is used to destroy the Turkistan Revolution. Reasons 1. Gorby wants to get rid of opposition to his rule. 2. Gorby controls what his government tells the media. 3.The west thinks Gorby is a hero, forgetting that he is a graduate of KGB school. AND Action 2: Militia recruited by region and ethnic group is happy to beat up on "enemy" religious & ethnic groups. AND Result 2: People's revolts all over the Soviet empire are successfully overpowered. Reasons 1. Hatred for other ethnic minorities is greater than any respect for the freedoms achieved by others. 2. Soviets are specialists in propaganda and misdirection. 3. When the news media is blocked from reporting an action, it can be concluded without interference. Back to Experimental Games Group # 10 Table of Contents Back to Experimental Games Group List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1990 by Chris Engle This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com