Spotlight on Games > War Games > Variants
The Sigma File / Conspiracy
Variant for the board game

The two-part variant consists of the addition of a number of Event Cards as well as an expansion for six players.

The Event Cards are placed in a deck face down next to the game board. On a turn, a player may, instead of taking a normal turn, instead draw an Event Card. No player may draw more than 3 Event Cards per game.

Since there are only 13 cards, it is not necessary to make up new cards. Simply shuffle up all of the Spades of one suit of cards to form the deck and then refer to the list below to look up what each card means:

ACE - Accident: One random agent dies in an accident.
2 - Blackmail: Receive compromising information and $1000 more toward a random agent.
3 - Budget cut: Lose $2000.
4 - Budget surplus: Receive $2000.
5 - Communications Lost: Unable to bid for or move a random agent for remainder of game.
6 - Discredit: Everyone loses all money bid toward a random agent.
7 - Discredited: Lose $500 bid toward every agent.
8 - Government Scrutiny: Must play a waiting game for now (i.e. no effect).
9 - Information: Determine an agent randomly and then choose a player who must reveal how much he has bid on that agent.
10 - Information: Choose a player who must reveal their true home base (when using the Secret Bases optional rule, otherwise, no effect). This card also causes the discarded cards to be picked up and shuffled.
JACK - Misdirect: If any player has a paid agent in your country, you may pick one such player to lose their next turn.
QUEEN - Police: Imprison any agent currently in your country. This agent may not move until you give your permission.
KING - Surprise: The file suddenly turns up in a randomly-determined city.

Random Agents
When it is necessary to choose an agent at random, roll a 6-sided die twice in succession:

First RollSecond RollAgent
1 - UK
1-3
Francis Pym
4-6
Lady Jane Foxe
2 - USSR
1-3
Colonel Ivanov
4-6
Olga Mazarova
3 - PRC
1-3
Ho Chen
4-6
Martha Ming
4 - USA
1-3
Sam McCarthy
4-6
Sadie Lush
5 - BRD
1-3
Erich Knecht
4-6
Rosa Klepp
6 - Cuba
1-3
Teofilo Juarez
4-6
Angela Minho

If the agents of a particular country are not in the game and the first die roll corresponds to that country, roll again. If a country with only one agent remaining alive is rolled, the roll applies to that agent; there is no second roll.

Note: A city is in a particular player's country if the city is directly adjacent to that country's capital.

Random Cities
Choose a city at random by rolling a 6-sided die twice in succession:

First RollSecond RollCity
1 - 2
1-6
Tangier
3
1-2
Baghdad
3-4
Bombay
5-6
Bangkok
4
1-2
Havana
3-4
Lisbon
5-6
Paris
5
1-2
Berlin
3-4
Vienna
5-6
Omsk
6
1-2
Honolulu
3-4
Montreal
5-6
Copenhagen

If using the 6-player variant, roll twice on the following table:

First RollSecond RollCity
1 - 3
1-6
Tangier
4
1
Lisbon
2
Madrid
3
Rome
4
Cairo
5
Rio de Janeiro
6
Benghazi
5
1
Montreal
2
Azores
3
Gibraltar
4
Amsterdam
5
Vienna
6
Warsaw
6
1
Istanbul
2
Ulan Bator
3
Sydney
4
Caracas
5
Mexico City
6
Bogotá

Six-Player Map
From the following description of the map anyone should be able to draw their own copy:

  1. Place Tangier at the center.
  2. Equally spaced around and connected to Tangier are Rome, Madrid, Lisbon, Benghazi, Rio de Janeiro, Cairo. Each of these are also connected to the city directly before and after it. Also, Rome connects to Cairo.
  3. Rome is connected to Warsaw and Vienna. Warsaw is connected to Leningrad and Munich. Munich is connected to Vienna and Bonn (capital). Vienna is connected to Berlin. Berlin is connected to Bonn.
  4. Madrid is connected to Amsterdam and Gibraltar. Amsterdam is connected to Liverpool and Berlin. Liverpool is connected to Gibraltar and London (capital). London is connected to Belfast.
  5. Lisbon is connected to Montreal and Azores. Montreal is connected to Belfast and Chicago. Chicago is connected to Azores and Washington (capital). Washington is connected to Las Vegas. Las Vegas is connected to Azores.
  6. Benghazi is connected to Mexico City and Bogotá. Mexico City is connected to Las Vegas. Matanzas is connected to Bogotá and Havana (capital). Havana is connected to Pinar del Rio.
  7. Rio de Janeiro is connected to Sydney and Caracas. Sydney is connected to Pinar del Rio and Canton. Canton is connected to Caracas and Peking (capital). Peking is connected to Shanghai.
  8. Cairo is connected to Ulan Bator and Istanbul. Ulan Bator is connected to Shanghai and Omsk. Omsk is connected to Istanbul and Moscow (capital). Moscow is connected to Leningrad.

Secret Bases Optional Rule
Before play write the name of each home base on a separate piece of paper and fold them up. After players have assumed their agreed seating positions, they draw randomly for their home bases, which remain secret. You then have to find out not only what agents your opponents control, but also where they aim to take their files.


Last updated: Mon Oct 25 17:59:46 PDT 1999
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