1979: Revolution in Iran is a national-level strategic game covering the events leading up to the 1953

coup, the Islamic Revolution and the turbulent period in between.

Players will take the role of either the Royalist or the Coalition. The Coalition player represents the
factions pushing to nationalize the oil industry in 1951-1953 (Early Era, turns 1-3) and many of the
same forces that rose to oppose the shah and remove him from power during the Islamic Revolution.
The Royalist player represents the interest of the shah, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi as well as American
and British oil interests.

The objective for both players will be to remain in power for as long as possible to fulfill their agenda
while overthrowing the opposition. Additionally, the Coalition can achieve sudden victory if Iran
seizes control of its oil industry.

101 event cards 6 Ulama Influence tokens

4 leader cards 6 Bazaari Influence tokens
One 18” x 24” map 3 Toilers Party tokens
Two six-sided dice 3 Resurgence Party tokens
20 National Front Influence tokens 6 Guerrillas tokens
10 Tudeh Influence tokens 20 Royalist Military Influence
7 Markers for played events & buried cards 6 SAVAK Units

Six track markers to mark Turn, Nationalization, Reserves, Opposition & Support

Most locations highlighted on the game board

represent cities with connections between to
indicate adjacency. Two special areas that are not
cities are the oil resource space located between
Abadan and Isfahan and the Azerbaijan region
space (shaded red on the map). Neither space is a
city for the purpose of event text and activities.

The Azerbaijan region area, Tabriz and Tehran are

each one space from one another. Tokens are either
in the Tabriz city space or in the surrounding
Azerbaijan region space.

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Setting up the game begins with separating the event cards. Remove the four leader cards and
place them faceup beside the board. Separate the Early Era event cards (black and green backs)
from the Late Era event cards (black and red backs). Shuffle the Early Era cards and place them
in a stack. These will be used for turns 1-3.

Search the Late Era cards for four Hostage Crisis Events. Place those cards faceup near the
board. Those cards will be used Turn 4 and later.

Place one Ulama influence in Qom.

Place one Bazaari influence in Tehran, Isfahan and Abadan.
Place all National Front and Tudeh Party influence into a draw bag or cup. The Coalition player
draws six influence tokens from the draw pool. Place two in Tehran, one each in Isfahan, Yazd,
Shiraz and Kerman
Royalist player may place 4 Military influence in any cities on the map.
Place the Mossadegh leader card in the Leader in Power box. Using the track markers, set
Support at 3 and Opposition at 0.
Set the Nationalization marker on the “4” space. Set both Reserves at 0.
16 Military Influence should be in the available pool on the board.
Turn marker begins at 1. Shuffle and draw from the Early Era deck to begin.
SAVAK units, Guerrilla units, Toilers Party influence, unused Bazaari and Ulama influence
tokens should be set aside (they will enter play via events).

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The game is divided by seven turns. Each turn will begin with a Draft Phase, when 8 event cards
are dealt to each player. A card is selected by each player, placed facedown, and the remaining
cards are passed to the opponent. This process is repeated until both players have their complete
hand of eight cards facedown in front of them.

Next is the Action Phase. During this phase, each player will alternate playing a single card as
either an event or for activities. Each play of a card constitutes an action round. The player with a
leader in power will always act first. If neither player has a leader in power, the Royalist player
will start.

If an opponent’s event card is played, the active player will first choose whether to conduct
activities before or after the event would be triggered. Next, the opponent will decide whether or
not to trigger the event effect.

A player with no cards in hand must pass. After both players have no remaining cards, play
proceeds to the Stability Phase. During the Stability Phase, players will conduct a stability check
adhering to the following steps. Each player rolls a D6 and adds either Support (for the player
with a leader in power) or Opposition (for the player without) to their rolled result. If the
Opposition result is greater than the Support result, the Support player must either remove
influence (Military for Royalist, Tudeh Party/National Front for Iran) equal to the difference
between results and roll again for stability or remove their leader and any buried cards from the
display (set aside until end game scoring), replacing it with the other faction’s leader (Mossadegh
with the Shah, the Shah with Ayatollah Khomeini).

The final phase of each turn is the Resolution Phase, where active events are removed, leader card
effects and game ending conditions are checked before proceeding to the next turn.

Both players will likely have a leader in power over the course of the
game. How long they remain in power is determined by how the
leader withstands Stability Checks.

Opposition is increased by events and activities whereas Support is

typically reduced by leader effects during the Resolution Phase. In
addition to the Stability Phase of each turn, if Opposition cannot be
increased by an event or activity due to it being at 3, a Stability
Check is immediately triggered. Any instance that Support cannot be
lowered by an event due to it being at 0, a Stability Check is
immediately triggered. Additionally, the play of some events will
specify that players conduct a Stability Check during the Action
Phase.

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A faction with a leader in power may force both players to re-roll a failed Stability Check. The
faction in power may re-roll as many times as they are able, but they must remove influence
equal to the difference between results (after adding Support and Opposition to the roll).

When a Stability Check results in a change of leadership, the outgoing leader is removed from
the board with any cards buried beneath it and set aside until final scoring. Do not reveal buried
cards. Support is set at 3 and Opposition is set at 0 unless otherwise stated on the leader card
when a new leader is placed.

Event cards are the engine driving all action in

the game. Cards will have a value in the upper
left between one and three action points (AP).
Cards with a red band are Coalition events.
Cards with white bands are for Royalist events,
and cards with green bands are unassociated.

Event cards that are played for activities, will be

used only for the points noted on the card and
placed in the discard pile when finished.

Event cards played for their event by either

player will be removed from the game after the
action round ends unless stated otherwise in the
event text. Cards that have a beside the
event name are Active Events. These events
have an effect beyond the current action round
and are placed in the Active Event box for that
player faction. Only one event may be in a
A. Card Value and Faction faction’s Active Event box at any time. If another
B. Event Name active event is triggered, it will replace the
C. Event Effect Text previously active event. Unassociated active
D. Historical Background events are placed in the box of the acting player.

Personality Events remain in play until either a

change of Era or they are removed by another
event.

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Cards with the CIA/MI6 symbols in the upper left are not removed from the game when
played. Such events are placed in the CIA/MI6 Event Box until final scoring.

Players choose whether to trigger the event or conduct activities with their side’s event or
unassociated event cards. When playing an opponent’s event, the active player decides when it
will occur (before or after activities). The opponent would then decide if it will be triggered,
paying the cost in removed/activated influence if necessary. Costs to trigger an event played by
an opponent only apply to the player with a leader in power. This cost is outlined on the
bottom of each leader card.

A faction in power will have an opportunity once per turn to bury an event card from their
hand under the leader in power. This card is not revealed until final scoring, and the event
effect is not triggered. Additionally, each buried card will contribute (positively) to that player’s
score.

Burying an event card under a leader in power may not be combined with activities during an
action round.
Leader cards are never part of the event deck. Each
should be kept available beside the board until in
use.

Each leader card will highlight how their respective

faction scores buried event cards, how Support is
checked during the Resolution Phase of each turn,
and how players may trigger their faction’s events
when played by an opponent.

When a leader is removed from power, set aside the

leader card with all buried cards facedown beneath
it. These should not be revealed until scores are
calculated at the end of the game.

If Ahmad Qavam or Mehdi Bazargan are in power,

both players may trigger their faction’s events played
by an opponent without activating or expending
influence (as noted on their leader cards).

When rolling for stability checks. The player in power will roll Support and the other player will
roll Opposition. For Mehdi Bazargan (unassociated), the Royalist will roll Support and Coalition
will roll Opposition, and the Royalist may also remove influence to reroll stability checks

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The primary capital required to endure Stability checks, trigger events and remove your opponent
from power is political influence.

The Royalist will have 20 Military influence, represented by white cubes. Military influence each
have a value of 1. Military influence is neither ready or active for the purpose of events. It is the
only influence that can be moved on the map without play of events.

The Coalition has double-sided tokens denoting the value and type influence. Each will have a
symbol on one side if ready and a reverse side with a value of 1, 2 or 3 when active. The Coalition
player begins with two types of influence in their draw pool, National Front (green) and Tudeh
Party (red).

Other influence types will be available in the supply beside the board during play and can be added
to either the map or the Coalition draw pool as specified by events. When influence is added to the
Coalition draw pool from the supply, do not inspect the value before placing it in the bag.

It is recommended that the Coalition draw pool be placed in a cup or bag to ensure blind draws.

If an event card specifies that the Coalition player will place two National Front influence, the
player will draw one at a time from the Coalition draw pool until two such tokens have been drawn.
The specified influence is placed, while all other drawn tokens are returned to the draw pool.

The Coalition player may always inspect the value of influence before placing it face down on the
map. The Royalist may not inspect ready influence on the map.

When influence is placed as a Coalition activity, the Coalition player designates the city or location
where influence will be placed and draws a token. That token is placed facedown or ready and the
AP is spent. Each influence placement is a single activity that should follow these steps: Spend 1
AP. Select a destination. Draw and place the token.

Influence tokens on the map that are ready have a value of one regardless of the printed value on
the reverse side. The active value is only relevant when that influence is active.

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Unlike influence, SAVAK and Guerrillas represent units. Both units are neither ready or active
SAVAK units allow the Royalist player to conduct the Arrest Dissident activity in areas where
they are present.

Guerrillas represent armed resistance, chiefly Azeri cells, Fadayan units and Islamic
Mujahedin. Guerrilla units are double sided, depicting the Fadai and Mujahedin respectively,
but all guerrilla units function the same mechanically.

If an event would place guerrillas when all are currently in play, the Coalition player may
relocate a guerrilla.

During an action round, a player may perform as many activities as they can afford with AP
provided by the event card being played and available points from their reserves. The Royalist
and Coalition players each have a unique menu of activities to choose from.

Some activities require units (SAVAK & Guerrillas) that are only available in the Late Era
(turns 4 and later). These activities are marked with an asterisk on pages 8 through 11.

When playing a card for activities, the active player may invest some, none or all AP from a card
into their reserves. Points added to the reserves may be used in a later action round when
conducting activities.

Any AP added to reserves may not be used in the same action round it was added.

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Place Military Influence: Military influence may be placed for 1 AP per influence. It can only be
placed in cities or locations that have military influence. The Royalist player will use this activity
to prevent successful oil and labor strikes, remove guerrillas and maintain support when in power.

Invest in reserves: Any points from an event card may be invested in reserves as AP to be played
on activities conducted in a future action round.

Mobilize: Military influence may be moved from one location to another for 1 AP per influence
moved. During the Early Era, military influence may only mobilize to adjacent cities/locations
along connections. In the Late Era, roads and railways allow military influence to move to any
location for 1 AP per influence. The Royalist will need to mobilize influence to respond to threats
and place future influence on the far reaches of Iran.

Purge documents: Event cards in the CIA/MI6 box may be removed for an amount of AP equal to
the value of the CIA/MI6 event card being removed. Place removed cards in the game box. The
Royalist will purge documents to minimize any loss of VP from played CIA/MI6 events.

Establish Estates: When the Shah is in play, a card from the Royalist hand may be buried for 3 AP.
The buried card will not contribute AP to this activity. All buried estates are placed facedown in
the Royal Estates box. Events on buried cards are not triggered or revealed. The Royalist will
establish estates to score and occasionally bury an undesirable Coalition event.

EXAMPLE: Using 3 AP from the PLO Trains Guerrillas card, the Royalist player chooses to bury
Economic Crisis event from their hand. The buried card is placed facedown in the Royal Estates
box and the Economic Crisis event is not triggered. The Coalition player then chooses whether to
trigger the PLO Trains Guerrillas event.
8
Remove Guerrillas: In any location with both military influence and a guerrilla unit, attempt to
remove a guerrilla for 1 AP. Roll a D6. If the roll is less than or equal to the number of military
influence and SAVAK units, remove the guerrilla unit and lower Coalition Reserves by 1. Each
Guerrilla may only be targeted by this activity once per action round. The Royalist will need to
remove guerrillas to prevent Coalition guerrilla strikes and avoid loss of VP in Azerbaijan region
(see Siakhal Incident event).

Example: The Royalist player has 3 AP to spend and

chooses to attempt to remove a guerrilla unit in Tabriz.
Spending 1 AP, they add the four military influence and
the SAVAK unit to arrive at a strength of 5. They need
to roll a 5 or less to remove the Guerrilla. The rolled
result is a 6, resulting in failure, but with 1 AP more,
the Royalist attempts to remove the second guerrilla
unit in Tabriz and succeeds by rolling a 5. The Royalist
player has 1 AP left, but they may not spend it to
attempt removal of the remaining guerrilla in Tabriz,
because it has already been targeted this action round.

Place SAVAK*: If the SAVAK event is in play, place a SAVAK unit in any city (not Azerbaijan
region space or oil resource area) for 1 AP. May relocate one unit if all SAVAK are on the map.

Arrest Dissidents*: In a city with a SAVAK unit, remove one active influence for 1 AP or roll a D6
to attempt to remove one ready influence, succeeding if the roll is less than or equal to twice the
number of SAVAK units present. If an Ulama influence is removed, lower Support by 1. The
Royalist will arrest dissidents to reduce the amount of active influence and prevent loss of Support
during the Resolution Phase.

Example: The Royalist player has 2 AP. For the first

activity, the Royalist spends 1 AP to Arrest Dissidents in
Tabriz, targeting the active National Front influence
token (green), because it has a value of 2. Because the
token is active and a SAVAK unit is present, the National
Front token is removed from the map and placed in the
Coalition draw pool.

The Royalist then spends 1 AP to arrest the Tudeh Party

token (red). Because this influence is ready, the Royalist
will roll to determine if the activity succeeds. The Royalist
has two SAVAK units in Tabriz, so a roll of 4 or less will be
needed. The player rolls a 3, removing the Tudeh Party
influence from Tabriz.

9
Place Influence: Influence from the coalition draw pool may be placed for 1 AP per influence in any
city, region or resource space. Declare where the influence token will be placed, then draw the
influence. You may examine the value of any influence you place. For optimal placement, each
influence should be placed one at a time. In the Late Era, Tudeh Party and Toilers Party influence are
removed from the game when drawn. The AP has been spent. Do not draw a replacement. Placed
influence should be on its “ready” side. The Coalition will need to place influence to stage future
strikes and demonstrations.

Oil Strike: In a city or location with an oil resource, flip ready Tudeh Party and National Front
influence active for 1 AP per token. At least one Tudeh Party influence must flip active to perform this
activity. Add the values of all activated influence (do not include influence in the area that was
previously active). The Royalist player will roll a die. They will receive a +1 modifier if there is any
military influence in that location. The Royalist player may also spend any points from the Royalist
reserves for +1 per point spent, but all points must be spent prior to the roll. If the modified roll is less
than the sum of the activated influence, the Coalition player may advance Nationalization toward
NIOC control or lower Support by 1. Lower the Oil Strike marker by one on the Coalition Reserves. If
the Oil Strike marker is not on the Coalition Reserves, place it on the 3 space. Coalition Reserves may
never surpass the Oil Strike marker. The Coalition will rely on oil strikes to advance the
Nationalization track or reduce Support for the shah.

Example: The Coalition player has 3 AP to spend and chooses to conduct an Oil Strike in Bandar-e
Abbas. To perform this activity, they will need to be in an oil resource location (check) and activate a
minimum of one Tudeh Party token (check). The Coalition spends 1 AP to activate each of the three
ready influence tokens in the location. The Coalition reveals a total value of “6”. The Tudeh Party
marked with an X was activated prior to this activity, so it does not contribute its value to the Oil
Strike.
The Royalist player then chooses whether to
spend points from their reserves to modify the
upcoming roll (+1 per point spent). They elect not
to, but they still receive a +1 modifier for having
military influence in the city. The Royalist player
rolls “4” and adds the +1 for military presence, but
“5” still results in a successful Oil Strike.

The Coalition player may either

advance Nationalization or reduce
Support by 1. Because the Oil Strike
marker is not on the Coalition
Reserves, it is placed on the “3”
space.

10
Labor Strike: In any city, flip ready National Front and Tudeh Party influence active for 1 AP per
token. In the Late Era, Bazaari influence may also be used for this activity, but a minimum of one
non-Bazaari influence must be among the influence being activated. Add the values of all activated
influence (do not include influence in the area that was previously active). The Royalist player will
roll a die. They will receive a +1 modifier if there is any military influence in that location. The
Royalist player may also spend any points from the Royalist reserves for +1 per point spent, but all
points must be spent prior to the roll. If the modified roll is less than the sum of the activated
influence, the Coalition player may increase Opposition by 1. If successful, the Coalition will roll a
die. On a result of 1-3, decrease Royalist Reserves by one, on a 4-5 by two and eliminate all
reserves on a 6. The Coalition will use labor strikes to increase opposition when Royalist leaders
are in power.

Example: The Coalition player has 3 AP to spend and 1 point

available in the Coalition Reserves. They choose to conduct a
Labor Strike in Tabriz. The Coalition spends 3 AP and 1 AP
from reserves to activate four ready influence tokens in the
city. The Coalition reveals a total value of 7.

The Royalist has 3 points in reserves and chooses to spend 1 to

modify the roll (+1). Additionally, the Royalist receives +1 for
Military presence in Tabriz. The Royalist rolls “4” which is
modified to a “6”. The Coalition succeeds. Opposition increases
by 1.
The Coalition rolls a die to determine
how many points of Royalist reserves
are lost. The result is a “4”, so the
Royalist reserves are reduced by 2.

Invest in reserves: Any points from an event card may be invested in reserves as AP to be played
on activities conducted in a future action round.

Guerrilla Strike*: In any location with both military influence and a guerrilla unit, spend 1 AP
attempt to remove a military influence. Roll a D6. Succeed on 4+ if no SAVAK or 5+ if SAVAK is
present. Remove the military influence and increase Coalition Reserves by 1 if successful. Each
guerrilla may only attempt one guerrilla strike per action round. The Coalition will launch
guerrilla strikes to score extra reserves and reduce military influence.

Mass Demonstrations: Flip ready influence tokens in one city to active for 1 AP. You may flip as
many influence tokens as you choose, but the cost per city is always 1 AP. The Coalition uses mass
demonstrations to undercut Support for the Shah or maintain Support for Mossadegh.

NOTE: Keep a close eye on the balance of influence each player has at the close of the Action
Phase. Ready influence is needed for conducting activities, but well-timed demonstrations can tip
the balance in your favor when comparing influence during the Resolution Phase. Demonstrations
can be pivotal toward eroding the Shah’s support or withstanding stability checks with Mossadegh.

11
Before the Draw Phase on Turn 4, remove all personality events in play. CIA/MI6 personalities
should be placed in the CIA/MI6 Event Box. All other personalities can be placed in the discard.
Place the Early Era discard pile in the game box.

The Royalist player may retrieve the SAVAK and/or the Consortium Agreement of 1954 cards
before shuffling the Late Era event deck. If the Royalist player chooses to retrieve them, these
cards are the first of their eight cards dealt during the Draft Phase. These cards must be the first
drafted by the Royalist player if retrieved. Shuffle the rest of the Late Era deck (do not include the
Hostage Crisis Events) and deal the cards until each player has a hand of eight to begin drafting.

The Coalition player will draft one card as normal if only one event was retrieved by the Royalist
player. If both events were retrieved, the Coalition player will draft two cards before hands are
exchanged.

The following steps occur in the Late Era after the Draft Phase of Turn 4:

1. All active Ulama & Bazaari are returned to the supply. Active Tudeh Party influence are removed
from the game. Active National Front influence are returned to the draw pool.
2. Remove all Toilers Party influence tokens on the map or in the supply from the game. Any drawn
Toilers Party influence is henceforth simply removed from the game. The AP to place this influence
still counts as spent.

3. Remove all active events from their respective box

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Additionally, the following changes occur in the Late Era.

4. Tudeh influence is no longer returned to the Coalition draw pool when it is removed from the
board. Instead, it is removed from the game.

5. Tudeh tokens drawn from the pool are not placed on the map but are removed from the game.
The AP to place influence as an activity still counts as spent for these removed tokens.

At the start of Turn 7, collect all cards in the discard

pile and add the three Hostage Crisis event cards and
the Operation Eagle Claw event. Shuffle together to
form a draw deck. If there are fewer than 16 cards in
the draw pile, deal to the Royalist player first, and
alternate until all cards are dealt. Draft as normal,
but the Coalition player will receive one more card
than the Royalist if there is an odd number of cards
remaining.

Hostage Crisis events are unassociated events with a

value of 1 when buried or used for activities. These
events will give the Coalition VP equal to the value of
an influence token drawn from the draw pool if
played during their action round for the event. When
the Royalist player uses the card for activities, the
hostage has been secured.

Operation Eagle Claw is a normal Coalition event

card, but it is not added to the Late Era deck until
Turn 7 with the other Hostage Crisis type events.

Optional Rule – Second Land Reform Event

For those that may be seeking a greater challenge for

the Royalist Player, a second Land Reform event card
can be added to the draw deck with the Hostage
Crisis Event cards before Turn 7.

This optional rule is not recommended when first

learning the game, but it can level the playing field
for a more experienced Royalist player. Most playtests
were conducted with this optional rule included.

13
Each player has five areas that will determine their final score. In the event of a tied score,
the Coalition wins if Khomeini or Mehdi Bazargan is the leader in power. If scores are tied
and the shah is in power, victory goes to the Royalist.

The following contributes to the final Royalist score.

• Cards buried under the Shah leader card will contribute their value in VP.

• Cards in the CIA/MI6 Event Box that were triggered for event effects each reduce the
final score by 1 VP.

• Cards buried in the Royal Estates box each contribute their value to the final score.

• VP awarded by the space the Nationalization Marker occupies at game end (0 VP if

pawn has been removed).

• If Guerrillas outnumber Military influence in the Azerbaijan region, reduce the Royalist
score by 2 VP (only if Siakhal Incident was played).

The following contributes to the final Coalition score.

• Cards buried under the Mossadegh leader card will contribute their value (or 1 more if
the card is a Coalition event)

• If Khomeini is the leader in power, add 5 VP

• A “Land Reform” event that uncovers a buried Coalition card will add the value of the
uncovered event card to the Coalition score

• Guerrilla presence (one unit or more) in Tehran adds a total of 1 VP

• Hostage Crisis cards played for their event are set aside and added to the final score
(1 VP to 3 VP/each).

The game will end under one of the following conditions.

1. Ayatollah Khomeini becomes the leader in power

2. Turn 7 ends
3. The Nationalization status is in NIOC Control during the Stability Phase of any turn,
resulting in a Coalition victory.

14
For our example of play, we will be following Turn 4 of a game between Mandana and Ben to
demonstrate a blend of various mechanics as well as examples of activities that are only available
during the Late Era of the game. Mandana is playing the role of the Coalition. Ben is playing as the
Royalist.

The end of Turn 3 closed the Early Era. All face up Toilers Party, bazaari and ulama influence was
returned to the supply. All face up National Front influence was returned to the Coalition draw pool.
All face up Tudeh Party influence was removed the from the game. The shah’s leader card replaced
Mossadegh’s leader card in the Leader in Power box.

We begin with the Draft Phase of Turn 4. Normally, each player would be dealt eight cards, but as
the Late Era begins, the Royalist player has an option of retrieving the SAVAK and/or The
Consortium Agreement of 1954 from the Late Era event deck. Ben decides to pull the SAVAK event
from the deck. Since Ben has one card in hand already, he is dealt seven cards and Mandana is dealt
eight.

Heading into the draft, Ben is holding SAVAK (49), White Revolution (68), Queen Soroya (52), Dr.
Ali Alimini (77), Traditional Sectors (78), National Front Abroad (80), Land Reform (66), and
Ayatollah Sayyed Ruhollah Khomeini (86). Because Ben pulled the SAVAK event from the deck, he
must select it as the first card in the draft. Despite that, he will know which card Mandana takes
16
when this hand of cards returns to him in the draft.

Mandana is dealt Ashoura (62), Nixon Doctrine (85), Protests in Mashhad (90), Oil Revenue (50),
Premier Assassinated (81), 40th Day of the Qom Massacre (73), Muharram Upheavals (59) and The
Immortals (65). Mandana chooses Ashoura for her hand, then both players exchange undrafted
cards for their next selection. This continues until both players have drafted a hand of 8 cards.

Ben’s final hand is SAVAK, Nixon Doctrine, Queen Soroya, Dr. Ali Alimini, Oil Revenue, Ayatollah
Sayyed Ruhollah Khomeini, 40th Day of the Qom Massacre, and Muharram Upheavals.

Ben begins the Action Phase by playing Muharram

Upheavals for 2 AP, hoping that the Coalition will want to
play another active event later this turn. Ben asks
Mandana if she will trigger the event before he decides to
conduct activities. Mandana triggers the event and it is
placed in the Coalition’s Active Event Box. Because the
Coalition does not have a leader in power, this does not
require Mandana to activate or remove influence.

Ben spends 2 AP to Purge Documents and removes the

General Fazallah Zehedi card from the CIA/MI6 Event
Box.

Mandana plays Traditional Sectors for 3 AP. With no

targets, Ben chooses not to trigger the event. Mandana
spends 1 AP to Place Influence in Qom. She draws a
National Front influence (value 3). She secretly inspects
the value and places it face down in Qom. She then spends
1 AP to Place Influence in Tehran and draws a Toilers
Party token. Toilers Party influence drawn in the Late
Era is simply removed from the game, but the 1 AP is still
spent. With her final 1 AP, she attempts to Place Influence
in Tehran once more. She draws a National Front (value
3) and places it facedown.

Ben buries the Ayatollah Sayyed Ruhollah Khomeini event

facedown under the leader card. The event card is not
revealed until scoring at the end of the game. Ben places a
token at the top of the board in the Royalist Card Buried
space as a reminder. It can only be done once per turn.

This is the primary release valve for the Royalist, and the
Khomeini event card is devastating when played early.

17
 Mandana plays the Ashoura event. Two National Front (both
value 2) are drawn for Qom and placed. One National Front
(value 3) is placed in Tehran. A Tudeh Party influence is drawn
for Mashhad, but in the Late Era, drawn Tudeh influence is
removed from the game. Mandana draws one National Front
(value 3) influence for Shiraz.

Finally, the event allows Mandana to activate two non-military

influence in Qom to increase Opposition by one. She activates a
2 and 3 value National Front influence in Qom. Because the
Ashoura event was triggered, the event card is removed from
the game.

Having no reserves, Ben elects to play the

Queen Soroya event. The Royalist Reserves are
increased to 3. He places one ulama influence
selected randomly from the supply into the
Coalition draw pool. Queen Soroya is then
removed from the game.

Mandana follows up by playing the Immortals

for 2 AP. She spends 1 AP to Place Influence in
Tehran, drawing a National Front (value 2).
She invests the remaining 1 AP in the Coalition
Reserves.

Ben is now given an opportunity to trigger the

event, but he must remove one military
influence from the map, because Mohammed
Reza Pahlavi is the leader in power. Ben
removes one military influence from Tehran
and returns it to the supply. He places the
Immortals special influence token in Tehran.
The Immortals event card is then removed from
the game.

Ben decides to play the SAVAK event. Because it is a

personality event type, its only immediate effect is adding
SAVAK units to the Royalist token pool, but it will remain
in play for the remainder of the Late Era. The SAVAK event
card is placed face up near the game board.

18
 Mandana plays White Revolution for 3
AP to conduct a Labor Strike in Tehran.
She flips three National Front influence
tokens to active for 1 AP each.

Ben has military presence due to his

Immortals special token which counts
as one military influence, but he decides
to spend all 3 points of the Royalist
Reserves to oppose the strike. Ben rolls
a 3 and adds 4 to his result (+1 for
military presence and +3 for the spent
reserves)

for a total of 7. Because his result does not meet or exceed the total
influence activated for the strike (8), Opposition is increased by one.
If the Royalist player had reserves remaining, Coalition would then
roll to see how many points were lost to the strike.

With Mandana’s activities complete, Ben removes one military

influence from Bandar-e Abbas to trigger the White Revolution
event. Three ulama influence tokens are randomly selected from the
supply and added to the Coalition draw pool. White Revolution is
placed facedown under the leader card.

Next, Ben chooses to play Nixon Doctrine for 3 AP. He begins by spending 1 AP to Place SAVAK in
Tehran. He then spends 2 AP to remove two 3-value National Front influence tokens from Tehran
to the draw pool. The event card is then placed in the discard pile.

Because Ben triggered the White Revolution event on

her previous action round, Mandana decides to play
Premier Assassinated for the event. She increases
Opposition by one, but she is unable to remove a
guerrilla unit or Bazaari influence in Tehran, because
there are neither. Afterward, the event card is removed.

Ben notices many high-value influence token in Qom

that could lower Royalist support at the end of the turn.
He decides to play the 40th Day of the Qom Massacre
event for 3 AP. He performs the Place SAVAK activity for
1 AP in Qom. Then he performs the Arrest Dissidents
action to remove the National Front value-3 and value-2
token for 1 AP each.

If Ben had chosen to target ready influence with the Arrest Dissidents activity, success would
have required a die roll, but the activity is automatically successful when targeting active
influence.
19
 Mandana is then given an opportunity to trigger the event.
Because there are very few Coalition influence tokens active,
she elects not to use the event. The card is placed in the discard
pile.

Once again, it is Mandana’s turn to act. She plays National

Front Abroad for 2 AP to place influence in Mashhad and set the
stage for the Protest in Mashhad event card that she is holding
for later in the turn. Mandana draws a National Front (value 3)
and places it in Mashhad. Her second drawn influence is a
Tudeh Party (value 2) which is not placed but removed from the
game. Because the event was not used, National Front Abroad
is placed in the discard pile.

Knowing of the Land Reform card in the Coalition hand, Ben decides not to Establish Estates this
turn. Instead, Ben plays Oil Revenues for 3 AP. He performs the Mobilize activity for 1 AP to move a
military influence from Shiraz to Mashhad. Because this is the Late Era, the activity does not require
military influence to move from an adjacent location. He spends 1 AP in Mashhad to add one military
influence. Finally, Ben spends his last 1 AP to arrest the active National Front 2-value token in
Tehran, where he has a SAVAK unit present.

Ben will not be able to Establish Estates this turn. Mandana

chooses to play Land Reform for 2 AP. She spends 1 AP to
Place Influence and draws a National Front (value 3) in
Mashhad.

With her last 1 AP, she performs the Mass Demonstrations

activity in Mashhad. Mandana may activate as many
influence tokens in Mashhad as she wishes. She activates
two 3-value National Front tokens in Mashhad. The Land
Reform event is placed in the discard pile.

Ben has one last card to play before the

Stability Phase, when there will be a mandatory
Stability Check. He would normally play the Dr.
Ali Amini event to avoid the check, but with the
Protest in Mashhad event card in the Coalition
hand, Ben will be facing a Stability Check one
way or another.

Ben opts to play the event card for 3 AP of

activities. He begins by spending 1 AP to Place
SAVAK in Mashhad. He follows by performing
two Arrest Dissidents activities in Mashhad,
removing both active National Front influence
tokens for 1 AP each. The event is discarded.
20
 Mandana frowns slight. Her last event is no longer able to be
played. The Opposition is currently at 3, but she no longer has
more influence in Mashhad. She resigns herself to position her
influence for next turn instead.

She plays the card for 2 AP, starting with a Place Influence
activity in Isfahan, placing a National Front (value 2) token.
She then performs the same activity again in Isfahan, drawing
a second National Front (value 1) token. The event is placed in
the discard pile.

With both players having played all of their cards, the turn
proceeds to the Stability Phase, where players will perform a
Stability Check.

Support and Opposition are both at 3. Each

player will roll a die. Ben will be adding +3
to his roll, because he his leader is
currently in power and adds the Support to
his result. Mandana will be adding +3 to
her roll, because the Opposition is added to
the result for the player that does not have
a leader in power.

Ben rolls 1 and adds 3 (Support) for a

result of 4. Mandana rolls a 2 and adds 3
(Opposition) for a result of 5. If this result
were allowed to stand, Mohammed Reza
Pahlavi would be removed from power, but
Ben may remove military influence equal to
the difference between the two results to
force both players to roll again.
Without hesitation, Ben removes one military influence from the Azerbaijan region space and
both players roll again. Ben rolls a 6 and adds 3 (Support) for a result of 9. Mandana rolls a 4 and
adds 3 (Opposition) for a result of 7. The shah lives to fight another day, thus ending the Stability
Phase.

Play proceeds to the Resolution Phase. The shah’s leader card indicates Eroding Support occurs
if Royalist influence is less than all other combined influence. The Immortals token is counted,
but SAVAK units are not. Ben has 16 military influence on the map. Mandana has 5 ready
National Front influence and 1 Bazaari influence. Ready influence tokens have a value of 1 each.
The Support level remains at 3.

We check the active event, Muharram Upheavals. No influence tokens are active, so the event
has no effect. Play continues to Turn 5.

21
Action Phase 3, 8, 13 National Front 6
Active Events 4 Nationalization 10, 14
Active Influence 6
Activities 7-12 Oil Strike 10
Arrest Dissidents 9 Opposition 3, 4, 11
Azerbaijan Region 1
Personality Events 4
Bazaari 6 Placing Influence 8, 10, 13
Burying Cards 5, 12, 14 Placing Military Influence 8
Purge Documents 8
CIA/MI6 Events 5, 8, 14
Ready Influence 6
Drafting Phase 3 Reserves 7, 11
Resolution Phase 3,
Establish Royal Estates 8 Royal Estates 8, 14

Guerrillas 7, 9, 11, 14 SAVAK 7, 9, 12

Guerrilla Presence 14 Setup 2
Guerrilla Strike 11 Stability Checks 3-4
Stability Phase 3
Hostage Crisis Events 13-14 Support 3-4, 11

Influence 6, 7, 9 Toilers Party 12

Invest in Reserves 6, 9, 12 Tudeh Party 6, 10, 13
Turn Sequence 3
Labor Strike 11
Land Reform 11, 14 Ulama 6. 9, 12
Late Era 12-13
Leader Cards 5 Victory Conditions 14

Mass Demonstrations
Mehdi Bazarghan
Military Influence
Military Presence
Mobilize
 Turn Sequence

Draft Phase – Draw 8 cards and draft hands one card at a time
Action Phase – Alternate action rounds, playing/burying a single card until all no cards in hand
Stability Phase – Conduct a stability check
Resolution Phase – Check for “Dwindling Oil Revenues” or “Eroding Support” on leader card and
remove active events.

Royalist Activities

Place military influence – 1 AP/ token placed in any city or area that currently has military
influence
Invest in reserves (all or part of a card used for activities)
Purge documents – 1 AP/value of CIA/MI6 card to remove card from the event box
Mobilize – 1 AP/Military influence token. May not relocate influence from a location with a
guerrilla unit. Early Era (along connections)/Late Era (anywhere)
Remove Guerrilla (Late Era Only) – 1 AP to roll D6 where there is military presence. If result is
less than or equal to Total military influence + SAVAK units in area, remove one guerrilla. If
successful, reduce Coalition Reserves by 1.
Establish Estate – (When Shah in Power) 3 AP to bury a card in the Estates box.
Place SAVAK (Late Era Only) – 1 AP/ unit placed in any city
Arrest Dissidents (Late Era Only) – 1 AP for a SAVAK unit to remove an activated influence (any)
or attempt to remove ready influence with a successful roll (result less or equal to 2x the number
of SAVAK units in location) to remove one influence token. If Ulama influence removed, increase
Opposition by 1.

Coalition Player Activities

Place influence – select location and draw influence for placement (National Front or Tudeh
Party)
Invest in reserves (all or part of a card used for activities)
Oil Strike – (1 AP/activated influence marker) activate a minimum of one Tudeh and any National
Front influence in an oil resource location. Royalist rolls D6 and adds +1 if any military presence
(may add reserves to roll). Unless modified roll is higher or equal to the value of influence being
activated, move Nationalization status one space toward NIOC control or lower Support by 1.
Place or lower Oil Strike marker on Coalition Reserves.
Labor Strike – (1 AP/activated influence marker) activate Bazaari (Late Era), Tudeh or National
Front influence in cities. Royalist rolls D6 and adds +1 if any military presence (may add reserves
to roll). Unless modified roll is greater or equal to the value of influence being activated, raise
Opposition by 1 and reduce Royalist Reserves (D6 roll 1-3: 1, roll 4-5: 2, roll 6: all).
Mass Demonstrations – (1 AP per city) activate Bazaari, Ulama, Tudeh or National Front
influence in one area (Bazaari and Ulama in Late Era only).
Guerrilla Strike – Where guerrilla units (1AP) to attempt to remove one military influence in
same area. Each unit may only attempt this activity once per action round. Roll D6. If result is 4+,
remove one military influence and increase Coalition reserves by 1. If SAVAK present, success
only on 5+