Mission Victory For Two Players By Rick Mathews Introduction In Mission Victory, each player is assigned an objective known only to himself. A player wins immediately if his objective is fulfilled at any time during the game. If neither player is able to fulfill his objective in ten turns, the player with the most points gained through controlling cities and destroying enemy units wins the game. The combination of different objectives, maps, and units yields a different game each time the scenario is played. Mission Victory was designed to provide variety and a reasonable playing time without altering the official rules of the game as published by Columbia. There is only one non-Columbia optional rule, and it is just that: optional. Another design goal was to allow players to use any mix of components from the basic game and expansion sets. Components from the expansion sets will yield additional interesting situations, but are not mandatory for the play of Mission Victory. Setup Set up any four boards by mutual agreement in the following pattern. Assign, randomly or by mutual agreement, one board to a player as that player’s “home board”. The board diagonally opposite becomes the other player’s home board. The remaining two boards are neutral territory. Per Columbia’s rules for neutral territory, cities and towns which begin the game neutral may be captured with normal movement only (not strategic). They must be garrisoned (any unit) to maintain control. You may not build new units (but you may build steps on existing units) in controlled neutral cities. Supply may be traced through vacant neutral cities and towns, but not strategic movement. Each player chooses 40 PPs worth of units. Note that if players use the recommended optional rules below, the number of blocks purchased is subject to optional rule 1. Missions Players are randomly assigned a mission from the following list. One way to do this is to use cards numbered 1 through 3 from two suits of a standard deck. Each player draws a card randomly from the three cards of one suit (thus it is possible for the players to have the same mission). Missions are kept secret from the opposing player. The cards are set aside face down, and are revealed for verification when a player claims that his mission is fulfilled. 1. Control 5 city points on the enemy home board, while retaining at least 5 city points on your own home board. 2. Control 15 city points outside of your home board, while retaining at least 5 city points on your home board. 3. Eliminate at least five enemy blocks, and more than you have lost. Recommended Optional Rules 1. A player may not build new units if doing so would cause the number of friendly blocks (of any strength) to exceed twice the number of city points currently controlled. A player need not remove blocks if, because of city losses, the number exceeds twice the number of city points controlled—he simply cannot build new ones. 2. Use all optional rules from the basic rulebook. Rules and components from expansion sets may be used by mutual agreement. Victory The game is 10 turns long. If at any point during the game a player fulfills his mission, he wins immediately. It is possible, after the mission card is revealed for verification, that the players discover that the mission is not fulfilled. There is no penalty for the player who made the mistaken claim. However, now the enemy knows his objective! If neither player fulfills his mission by the end of the game, the player with the most accumulated points is the winner. Accumulated points for each player are gained during the production phase of each turn, and are added to the total gained in previous turns. Points are awarded for the following accomplishments: City points controlled outside of the player’s home board. City points on the enemy home board count double (for accumulated points only, not for mission fulfillment). Five points for each enemy block eliminated (even if it is later rebuilt).