If there is insufficient consensus reached through democratic processes, Plan B comes into play: Take to the streets and express your dissatisfaction with firepower! Nothing shows El Presidente your unhappiness with his policies like a bombardment of his Palace.
The Coup d'Etat is a sub-game within JUNTA, and here the Unit markers and city map come into play.
After the Coup, the Political Game - specifically Phase 9 - resumes.
Initial Deployments
The military Units always start in the same spaces. The Police either start in I the Police Precincts or all together in I Parliament in the event the Ministro has forced the budget through.
Units destroyed in a Coup are available once again for the next Coup.
Coup Phases
A coup proceeds as follows:
- Rebellion Phase
- Coup Phase 1
- Coup Phase 2
- Coup Phase 3
- Coup Phase 4
- Coup Phase 5
- Coup Phase 6
Each phase is divided into two parts:
- Movement
- Battle
Battle is divided into:
- Declaration of attacks
- Shelling by Gunboat and Air Raid
- Three exchanges of fire
Overview of the Coup D'etat
At the beginning of a coup, the Rebel Leader moves his Units first, then each player may move his Units, proceeding in a clockwise direction. Any player who moves his Unit or attacks with them in the Rebellion Phase is considered a Rebel. Consequently, El Presidente may neither move nor shoot back with his Units in the first round.
After the first (Rebellion) phase, there are six further, complete Coup phases.
Each Coup phase (including the first, Rebellion phase) is divided into Movement and Battle segments. In the Movement segment, each player moves his Units in the order described above. Suitable Politics cards may be played at this point as well. After all of the Units have been moved, Battle begins. In the Battle segment, no further cards may be played.
At the end of the sixth Coup phase, it's decided whether the Rebels or the troops loyal to El Presidente have won. The side which holds more Important Power Centers wins.
At the end of each Coup phase, the Coup Phase marker is moved one space further. After the Coup, it's placed back on the first space, and Phase 9 of the Political Game follows.
If, during a Coup, all of the players are agreed on the outcome of the Coup, the Coup d'Etat can be broken off and Phase 9 of the Political Game played immediately.
Rebels & Loyalists
A player can become a Rebel in one of two ways:
If he moves his Units in the Rebellion phase or opens fire.
If at any point in the Coup, he fires on the Palace Guard (regardless of who controls them).
A player who's become a Rebel turns over his Office cards so that the Revolution side is showing.
If a player wishes to remain loyal to the regime, he may not move or shoot back in the Rebellion phase.
Once a player is a Rebel, he remains a Rebel for the remainder of the Coup.
El Presidente can never be a rebel.
Units of Dead or Exiled Players
Because dead and exiled players may not control their Units, those Units are completely ignored during a Coup. They don't move, don't shoot, cannot be shot, and do not count towards the control of buildings.
Exceptions are those Units potentially controlled by El Presidente's Cousin and the Units of players who return from Exile during the Coup.
Movement During a Coup
In the Rebellion phase, the Rebel Leader moves his Units first. Then all the other Rebels move their Units, proceeding in a clockwise direction. (Those wanting to stay loyal to the regime have to sit this out!)
In the next Coup phase, the player to the left of the Rebel Leader moves his Units first, and the others follow in a clockwise direction. In each of the six Coup phases, there is, therefore, a new starting player-the one to the left of the preceding round's starting player. Units loyal to the regime may move and fight as well as Rebel Units in all six regular phases of the Coup.
During the Movement segment, any of a player's Units in a single space may be moved into an adjacent space. Units may also be left behind in the old space.
A player may only move the Units in one space per Coup phase, regardless of how many stacks of units he controls.
Exceptions: If El Presidente's Cousin is holding an Office, El Presidente may make an additional movement with these Units during the turn of the player whose Office El Presidente's Cousin has taken.
The Helicopter (which only comes into play through a special Event card) may move up to two spaces per phase.
It can thus move with a Unit into a space then continue on to a farther space itself or it can move onto the space of one of its own units and travel together with it into a second space.
No player must move.
Transferring Units
During the Movement segment, a player may transfer his Units at will to other players or exchange Units with them. This is indicated by placing the Control markers of the controlling family on the Unit(s) acquired.
Such a change in control never means that the Unit may move twice in one turn. The control of Units can never be shared.
Paratroopers & Marines
The Comandante of the Air Force controls the Paratroopers Unit. During the Movement segment, the Comandante may place the Paratroopers on any space on the map he chooses. This does not count as a movement.
The Almirante of the Navy controls the Marines Unit. This Unit maybe be placed in any area bordering the Harbor (i.e., the Waterfront or the Puerto del Sur neighborhood) or on the First Army Brigade's Base. This does not count as a movement.
Both Units may then move normally in the course of the Coup. A new landing is only possible in the next Coup.
New Units
New Units may come into play during Movement segments through the playing of Politics cards. The cards determine the number, kind, and starting location of the new Units. New Units may be moved immediately if the player deploying them has not already used his movement.
Police Reaction
If a Rebel player brings a suitable Politics card of Agitators, Students, Strikers, or Demonstrators into play during the Rebellion phase, the Ministro for Internal Security may move some or all of his Police Units to some or all of the spaces with these new Units.
This does not count as movement, and the distance between the Units is irrelevant. It is also irrelevant whether the Ministro is a Rebel or loyal to the regime.
The Ministro does not have the option to deploy Police against Units brought into play from the first regular Coup phase on.
The Battle During a Coup
A battle can take place in any space where Units of two or more players are located.
Battles are conducted space by space. Only when a battle in a particular space is decided do you move on to another.
As soon as all spaces where fighting takes place have been declared, the Rebel Leader determines the order in which the battles take place. (If he is in Exile, El Presidente decides).
Declaration of Attacks
Normally, it's clear where battle will occur. El Presidente first declares in which spaces his Units will fight, and declarations then proceed in clockwise fashion.
If no players with a Unit in a space declare an attack, no battle takes place in that space.
As soon as one of the players declares an attack in a space, all the other players on that space may decide whom they will shoot at, even if they'd previously decided against fighting.
Shelling By Gunboat & Air Raid
The Gunboat, controlled by the Almirante of the Navy, and the Air Force, under the control of the Comandante of the Air Force may declare bombardments. They themselves may never be fired upon.
The Gunboat may fire once in each Coup phase. The Comandante can declare an Air Raid in three different Coup phases in a given Coup. After a successful Air Raid, an Air Raid marker is flipped over.
Exchanges of Gunfire
The battle in a given field is broken down into three exchanges of gunfire. During an exchange of gunfire, each unit in the area may attack once. All attacks take place simultaneously.
Example: Andy's Units kill some of Bill's Units with an attack-Bill's dead Units may shoot back once before they're removed.
A player is not required to shoot back at a Unit attacking him. (In the Rebellion phase, a player who wants to remain loyal to the regime must refrain from shooting back).
All the players involved in a battle in the same space may decide anew in each exchange of gunfire how many and which of his Units will attack which player.
If there are two or more players with surviving Units after three exchanges of gunfire, retreats may be in order (see Retreat).
Dice & Battle Results
Each Unit marker has a number in parentheses after its name. This represents the number of attacks this Unit has. Those Units marked with a (1) are considered armed-roll one die for each such Unit.
Unarmed Units have a (1/2) by their names. Roll one die for every two of such Units under your control in a given space (rounding down).
The Palace Guard are marked with (1) - you may roll one die for each of them unless they are in Presidential Palace, in which case you may roll two.
For the Gunboat, labeled (3), three dice are thrown, though only once per battle. An Air Raid (6) is conducted with six dice.
Every roll of 6 slays one opposing Unit of the opposing player's choice in the space, which is then removed from the city map.
Retreat
The player or players which have lost the fewest Units in a given field do not withdraw and, if they are agreed, can prevent some or all of the other players from withdrawing. Otherwise, all the other players must withdraw their Units. They may move them into any free adjacent space or into a space with Units whose players all agree to permit it.
The order of turns of several retreats taking place simultaneously is determined by the order of turns in the particular phase.
Units that must retreat but cannot due to the lack of an available space are removed from the city map.
Embassies
No combat is allowed on Embassy spaces. As many players as care to may place Units on these spaces.
A player who has at least one Unit in an Embassy may go into Exile (see above, Exile and Returning from Exile).
Choosing Sides
Beginning with the Rebel Leader and proceeding clockwise, all players must decide by the end of the sixth Coup phase whether they are for El Presidente or the Rebels.
A player can decide for the Rebels even if he was previously loyal to the regime, and vice versa.
"Coup D'etat! Coup D'etat!"
The Rebels control a space if all the units on the space belong to players who have chosen to side with the Rebels, regardless of whether the players were loyal to the regime at one time.
If there is no Unit in a space, or at least one loyal Unit, the space is counted as controlled by El Presidente.
The side which controls three of the five Important Power Centers:
- Central Bank
- Parliament
- Presidential Palace
- Radio Transmitter
- Train Station
is the victor in the Coup.
As soon as one side emerges victorious, the Coup d'Etat is over, and the game returns to Phase 9, Coup Consequences, in the Political Game.
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