COIN (board game)

Genre of asymmetric strategy board wargames

A game of Cuba Libre in progress; played using a Vassal module.

COIN (short for COunterINsurgency) is a series of multiplayer asymmetric strategy board wargames simulating historic insurgency and counter-insurgency conflicts and irregular warfare throughout the world. It is published by GMT Games. It consists of the main series of games, numbered as volumes, and the spinoff Irregular Conflicts series ("ICS") games, which are not numbered and which apply the game mechanics and counterinsurgency framing of the main series to events that would not be traditionally described as insurgencies.

The series has been noted for its innovative and dynamic gameplay, compared to more traditional hex-and-counter two-player wargames.[1]

## Game

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COIN games simulate past and ongoing historical insurgencies and counter-insurgencies with up to four players controlling a different faction, each with unique play styles and winning conditions. All games in the COIN series share the same underlying system first found in Andean Abyss, the original game of the series, designed by game designer and CIA national security analyst Volko Ruhnke.[2]

COIN games use variable turn order. For example, in Andean Abyss, players draw from a deck of event cards to decide the order in which factions take turns.[3] Meanwhile, in Colonial Twilight (a two-player game), one player holds the initiative until that player performs an action that gives the initiative to the other player.[4] In addition to event cards, the games use mechanics like area control and opportunity cost to represent factors such as winning hearts and minds, lines of communication, and government legitimacy.

Non-player rules are included for each faction, enabling a non-player-controlled faction to participate in the game based on a predetermined set of actions. The earlier COIN games used flowcharts to determine non-player procedures, while games in the series since Gandhi have included a small deck of cards with non-player actions.[5]

List of COIN games  Volume | Title | Published | Conflict

|
|
|

I  | Andean Abyss | 2012 | Colombian conflict
II  | Cuba Libre | 2013 | Cuban Revolution
III  | A Distant Plain | 2013 | War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
IV  | Fire in the Lake | 2014 | Vietnam War
V  | Liberty of Death: The American Insurrection | 2016 | American Revolutionary War
VI  | Falling Sky: The Gallic Revolt Against Ceasar | 2016 | Gallic Wars
VII  | Colonial Twilight: The French-Algerian War, 1954-62 | 2017 | Algerian War
VIII  | Pendragon: The Fall of Roman Britain | 2017 | End of Roman rule in Britain
IX  | Gandhi: The Decolonization of British India, 1917-1947 | 2018 | Indian independence movement
X  | All Bridges Burning: Red Revolt and White Guard in Finland, 1917–1918 | 2020 | Finnish Civil War
N/A  | The British Way: Counterinsurgency at the End of Empire | 2023 | British decolonization
XI  | People Power: Insurgency in the Philippines, 1981-1986 | 2023  | People Power Revolution
XII  | Red Dust Rebellion | 2024  | Fictional conflict following colonization of Mars
XIII  | China's War 1937-41 | forthcoming  | Second Sino-Japanese War
XIV  | The Pure Land: Ōnin War in Muromachi Japan, 1465-1477 | forthcoming  | Warring States Period
XV  | A Fading Star: Insurgency and Piracy in Somalia | forthcoming  | Somali civil war c. 2007

List of ICS games  Published | Title | Subject matter

|
|

2024  | Vijayanagara: The Deccan Empires of Medieval India, 1290-1398 | Founding of the Vijayanagara Empire
2024  | A Gest Of Robin Hood | Robin Hood legend
2024  | Cross Bronx Expressway | Mid-20th-century New York urban development
forthcoming  | Echo from the Dark | Fictional conflict following the invention of faster-than-light travel

## References

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1. ^ "Review of COIN Series by The Player Aid". Retrieved 3 August 2022.
2. ^ Albert, Jason (10 January 2014). "In the world of role-playing war games, Volko Ruhnke has become a hero". Washington Post. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
3. ^ Delwood, Robert (14 March 2013). "Andean Abyss – Boardgame Review". Armchair General.
4. ^ Train, Brian (24 April 2016). "Introducing Colonial Twilight: The French-Algerian War, 1954-62". InsideGMT. GMT Games.
5. ^ Carr, Jason. "The Arjuna Chronicles #1: An Intro to Gandhi's Arjuna System". insidegmt.com. Retrieved 17 June 2024.

## External links

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* GMT Games - COIN Series page
* GMT Games - Irregular Conflicts Series page