The Generalissimo is Dead comes to Brighton

I spent a very enjoyable day with the team at Get Questing in Brighton taking part in the Generalissimo Is Dead megagame. I have been trying to get into more megagaming recently after a hiatus of - gulp - 20 years. I used to be a regular player of megagames in London in the 1990s. These days there seem to be a small number of popular megagames doing the rounds, both here in the UK but also internationally. I have recently taken part in Watch The Skies (which seems to be one of the most popular) and Everybody Dies (based on the Game of Thrones books).

Five Things You Need To Know About Megagames

• They generally take all day and occur in one venue
• They can focus on a wide range of topics - from fantasy/sci fi to issues with very practical applications like disaster/crisis planning
• They typically involve large numbers of people (20+ up to 200)
• They can combine both wargaming and roleplaying elements
• There is rarely a specific 'winner' one could point to

Overall they are great fun and I highly recommend you give one a try.

The Generalissimo Is Dead

This is a fascinating game inspired by the film The Death Of Stalin. It deals with events in a communist-style state (Yugenya) in the week immediately after the death of a 'much-loved' generalissimo who has ruled the country for many years, with an iron grip. The politburo/ruling council is trying to work out who the great leader's successor will be. 

Apart from the players in the politburo, the rest of the players represent teams in government departments, including the military, law enforcement, media, public services, treasury etc who are tasked with keeping the country running while also pursuing their own interests/agendas.

In addition to this, there is the added complexity of the Americans and the Chinese, who are represented indirectly by two corporations. The degree to which those corporations also promote their governments' interests will likely vary depending on the game controls (GMs). The game takes place over seven turns, intended to be - rather abstactly - the seven days after the death of the generalissimo, although could be seven months.

Each team sits on a separate table, managing their department, which in turn becomes a mini game. For example, I was the minister of mining, sitting on the same table as the finance minister, the agriculture minister and the manufacturing minister. We reported in to the minister for the interior, who was one of the central committee members. Each turn we had to decide on and submit an economic policy which would impact a lot of the other tables, especially the department of international trade. Strangely, the latter did not have direct influence over us - I guess if they had concerns, they could raise it with the central committee.

Each turn every team can propose a policy which is submitted to the central committee. IF the central committee approves the policy, it is then voted on. Every player - with the exception of the members of the foreign teams - can allocate their support to policies using playing cards which they receive based on the performance of their department. I should have been receiving extra diamonds, which represented capital - for my uranium shipments, of which more below. Policies in turn impact a number of key metrics which reflected the state of the country, including military mobilisation levels, the amount of public money available, and general stability (happiness of the people).

These metrics determine what policies are possible in the future. They are effectively pre-requisites. Many departmental policies were disqualified - despite central committee approval - because there was not enough capital, especially in the second half of the game when taxes had gone up. While your team can start with a list of GM-defined policies in the first turn, it is possible to define your own as the game goes on. For example, our department tried to push through investment in tertiary education and the creation of welfare officers in farms and factories (I was a little concerned about this as I could see how welfare roles could be turned into de facto political commissars, providing additional eyes and ears for the secret police).

What happened in the People's Republic of Yugenya?

As mining minister I had a secret agenda (surprise!) - I had the ability to siphon off a small quantity of Yugenya's mining production for personal gain. Ultimately, I was looking for a way out of Yugenya, ideally involving a directorship in one of the foreign companies and an expensive lakeside villa in Switzerland. There was an established smuggling ring in place which included one of the officials in the ministry of international trade and development. I later found out the admiral of the fleet was also involved!

As with most megagames, there is so much going on, as a player you never see the entire picture. Early in the game the central committee seemed focused on when to announce the death of the generalissimo, and then how to stage his state funeral. Things became more chaotic after lunch however. The head of foreign intelligence was mysteriously murdered, although it was never made clear by whom. I spent a long time trying to secure military protection for my mines, especially those located near the border of neighbouring Buganda, but the defence department seemed more focused on other things (like plotting a coup). Had I known the admiral was also in my smuggling ring earlier in the game, I'd have used that leverage.

The finance minister - who was on my table and part of my team - obviously suspected I was up to something. I didn't want to come clean with him, however, as early on he admitted he was trying to secure the release of his cousin from the gulags. I feared that had he known there was uranium smuggling happening, he could have used that information as leverage with the department of internal security, potentially shopping me in for his cousin's release. As it happened, he must have done something right because his cousin was released in one of the afternoon turns.

After lunch it became clear to me that I wasn't receiving payment for the uranium being shipped out; I suspected I was being double-crossed by my contact in the department of trade. I decided to cut my own deal with the Chinese and began shipping directly to them in return for Joker cards. These are powerful cards which can help to sabotage other department's policies, but seemed to generally only come from the foreign corporations. They represent foreign 'soft' power in the country, but the corporations cannot use these cards themselves, as they cannot vote. The Chinese team did not seem bothered HOW I voted and were only keen that I provide them with uranium - and not sell it to the Americans of course.

When the smuggling ring came to me asking me why the uranium trucks were no longer arriving in the port, I spun them a yarn about how mining production had been impacted by the strikes/riots spreading in the country after the death of the generalissimo was announced. The riots WERE indeed a factor and the people WERE unhappy, so my colleagues seemed to accept this, allowing me to sell my uranium directly on the quiet. In retrospect, I should have asked for more diamond cards (capital) than Jokers from the Chinese, as this would have proved more influential in the later stages of the game, as the country was running out of cash. I cut a deal with the Americans in the last turn for cash, but not enough to fulfil my personal objectives.

Yugenya became more turbulent in the final couple of turns. There was an attempted coup by the military - which failed. There was also a 'rogue policy' - one that did not go through the central committee - to investigate why some policies seemed to be disappearing before they reached central committee stage. This was driven by the department of agriculture - I suspect in coordination with the secret police/department for internal security. It turned out the culprit was none other than the general secretary at work! While he did not end up in the gulag, the scandal torpedoed his chances at the general election, which the government managed to get over the line to end the game (with seven candidates running).

Concluding thoughts

This was a very enjoyable megagame and I think did the job well of simulating the tension and chaos which can occur in a one party state, where power has been heavily concentrated in the hands of a powerful individual. 

Unlike some others I have played in (like the ever popular Watch The Skies), it had only around 40-50 participants, which felt like a good number. Although there were still many players I did not speak to, I felt I had a somewhat better idea of what was going on as a result. There were obviously lots of rumours circulating, many of them untrue. But it was fun! I feel games like this could also play a role in education, especially with politics students in secondary schools.