In this series about my favorite wargame cards, I want to look at specific cards from games I have played. I want to share how they are used in the game. I am not a master strategist. To be honest, I am not always the best at playing games. However, I do understand how things should work in a game. With that in mind, here is the next card I want to talk about.

#65: Georgi Zhukov from Churchill: Big 3 Struggle for Peace

The game Churchill: Big 3 Struggle for Peace lets players take the roles of important leaders. You play as Churchill, Roosevelt, or Stalin during World War II. You move against each other over 10 different Conferences. These conferences decide who leads the Allied forces. They also decide where the military forces go and how the Axis powers will be defeated. The player who has the most control over the defeated Axis powers wins the game.

Churchill is not really a war game. It is more about political conflict. It is about cooperation and competition between the leaders. Over the 10 historical conferences from 1943 to the end of the war, the design should not be taken literally. Before and after each conference, small groups of advisors moved between the Allied capitals. They made deals that drove the peace after the war. These advisors are represented by cards with numbers on them. These numbers show how much influence they have.

At each conference, one issue is nominated for discussion. The issues include things like changing theater leadership, directed offensives, production priorities, and secret operations. There are also political activities and strategic warfare. Each historical conference card puts some issues on the table. The players also nominate seven more issues. The best part of the design is the conference table. There is stress and tension when fighting over every issue. No single issue wins the game for you. But each issue is key as the game goes on. They change the landscape where you are battling. It is not a landscape of terrain, but of pitfalls and traps.

As I have mentioned, the Staff Cards are the engine for the game. Players must use their different abilities to come out on top. These Staff Cards represent real people from that time. They were advisors and generals who had the ear of the leaders. They worked behind the scenes to move issues forward. Each player uses these cards to win issues. Each card gives a bonus for a specific attribute. Sometimes, they might give a negative modifier.

Today, we will look at one of my favorite types of cards. This is the Chief of Staff Cards. Specifically, we look at the Soviet Chief of Staff Georgi Zhukov. He was the Deputy Supreme Commander in Chief of the Red Army. Each Chief of Staff Card has a random number value. It also has a bonus for a certain attribute. The random number comes from rolling a six-sided die. That number becomes the card’s base value. For Zhukov, he is good with Production Issues. He gives a plus one strength toward moving these issues on the table.

I like to think this random number shows the power struggle inside the country. It shows the relationship between the leader and those close to him. For Stalin and Zhukov, their relationship was tense. It was professional but strained. They needed each other during World War II. After the war, there was jealousy and suspicion. Stalin relied on Zhukov to win battles. But he grew paranoid of Zhukov’s popularity. This led to Zhukov being demoted later. The random nature of the card reflects this well. Sometimes they agreed and made progress. Other times, there was tension and difficulty.

Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov was born on December 1, 1896. He was a Soviet military leader. He served as a top commander during World War II. He achieved the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union. During the war, he served as deputy commander-in-chief. He worked under leader Joseph Stalin. He oversaw some of the Red Army’s most important victories. He also served as Chief of the General Staff. He was the Minister of Defence and a member of the Presidium of the Communist Party.

Zhukov was born to a poor peasant family near Moscow. He was conscripted into the Imperial Russian Army. He fought in World War I. He served in the Red Army during the Russian Civil War. After that, he rose through the ranks quickly. In the summer of 1939, he commanded a Soviet army group. They won a decisive victory over Japanese forces at the Battles of Khalkhin Gol. He won his first Hero of the Soviet Union award for this. In 1940, he commanded the Soviet invasion of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina in Romania. In February 1941, Stalin appointed him chief of the General Staff.

After the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, Zhukov lost his post. He disagreed with Stalin over the defense of Kiev. Zhukov was involved in Soviet actions at Leningrad, Moscow, Stalingrad, and Kursk. He often worked with Aleksandr Vasilevsky. He held the title of deputy commander-in-chief from August 1942. He was promoted to Marshal of the Soviet Union in January 1943. He helped plan Operation Bagration in 1944. In 1945, he commanded the 1st Belorussian Front. He led the Vistula–Oder Offensive into Germany. He oversaw the Soviet victory at the Battle of Berlin. Because of his key role, he accepted the German Instrument of Surrender. He also inspected the 1945 Moscow Victory Parade. He was the first military governor of the Soviet occupation zone in Germany from 1945 to 1946.

After the war, Zhukov’s popularity worried Stalin. Stalin saw him as a potential threat. Stalin took away his positions and sent him to minor commands. After Stalin died in 1953, Zhukov supported Nikita Khrushchev. In 1955, he was appointed Defense Minister. He became a member of the Presidium. In 1957, Zhukov lost favor again and was forced to retire. He never returned to a top post. He died in 1974. Zhukov is remembered as one of the greatest Soviet military leaders.

In the next entry in this series, we will look at Harwood’s Intuition. This is from the game The Hunt by Salt & Pepper Games.