Copyright: Copyright © 2AM Inc 1998


Centers of Power

Centers of Power are Locations which provide pieces. Each time you seize control of a Center of Power, you gain a piece. Each time you lose control of a Center of Power, you lose a piece. The moment a player has 2/3rds of the Centers of Power, he/she wins. Centers of Power are therefore the crux of the game.

Each Center of Power has a name and a distinguishing symbol.

See also:

Organizations


Contents

Note: The current version of Capitol Affairs is an early Beta version.

Quick Start to Capitol Affairs

Entering the Game

The Board

The Pieces

The Sequence of Play

Vote Resolution

Seizing Control of Locations

Newspaper Stories

How to Win

The Locations in the Games


Displaced Pieces

When an Organization that is occupied by one player's piece is seized by another player, the first player's piece is displaced to the Center of Power from where it originated.

If the piece being displaced is at a Center of Power, the piece is removed, of course.


Entering the Game

When you first enter the game you will be asked which role you would like to play. Click on one of the available roles and you will be taken to the game.

Hosts! - Please Note

The first player to enter a game is the Host. The Host can set up a game to his/her liking. The Host decides how long the Intrigue period lasts, and how long players are given to enter their Influence instructions.


How to Win

The moment a player controls 2/3rds of the Centers of Power (13 Centers of Power), that player wins and the game is over.

You will find that you can generally win only if, at some time, you enlist the help of other players. This will test your persuasive skills. It is best to make your eventual back-stabbing look as if you really have no choice. But this is up to you. Good luck!


Influence

1.	When the Influence Phase starts each player will see one of his pieces flash, together with all Locations directly adjacent to that piece's Location.

2.	The player clicks on the Location that he would like the piece to Influence.

3.	Another piece begins to flash, and the player selects this piece's target of Influence as before.

4.	This is repeated until all his pieces have been assigned a Location to Influence.

Notes:

This procedure is done in secret. No other player knows what your intentions are.

A piece may only Influence one Location.

A piece may Influence its own Location (and should do so if you do not want it to Infuence another Location).

You have limited time. Watch the clock.  Make your decisions quickly.

See also:

Vote Resolution

Seizing Control of Locations

Next: Vote


Intrigue

During Intrigue players are given the opportunity to think about the coming turn and how they will act. They are encouraged to discuss plans with other players. There is a limited time for Intrigue so players are advised to watch the clock.

Next: Influence


Newspaper Stories

Whenever a Center of Power is seized by another player, a newspaper story or an internal memo may appear on the left describing what has occured. The facts reported in these articles and memos have no effect on the game and are intended for flavor and amusement only. The important fact is that a certain player has seized control of a particular Center of Power.


Organizations

These non-shaded Locations are simple spaces on the Board. They confer no benefit beyond the fact that they enable pieces to get from one Location to another. A piece that seizes control of an Organization moves into that Organization. Organizations have no symbol inside them.

See also:

Centers of Power


Quick Start to Capitol Affairs

Note: The current version of Capitol Affairs is an early Beta version.

Object of the Game

To take control of US Government (and thereby decide on the President's fate) by seizing 2/3rds of the Centers of Power on the Board.

The Board

Use the hotspots in this picture for more details.

Sequence of Play

Each turn runs through the following stages in sequence:

1) Intrigue

2) Influence

3) Vote

4) Results

After the results of the turn have been displayed the next turn begins. This continues until one player controls 2/3rds of the Centers of Power (13 Centers of Power).


Results

When all votes have been taken the results are displayed in turn.

Where pieces successfully Influenced Organizations you will see them move in to those Organizations.

Where pieces successfully Influenced Centers of Power you will see a new piece created for that player in the Center of Power. The previous controller of that Center of Power will also lose a piece.


Seizing Control of Locations

When a player's piece seizes control of a Location, the result depends on the type of location he has seized.

If the Location is an Organization, the player's piece moves into that Location.

If the Location is a Center of Power that is NOT that under that player's control, the piece stays in place, and a new piece is created for that player in the Center of Power.

If the Location is a Center of Power that IS under that player's control, the player's piece neither moves in nor creates another piece. Influencing one's own Center of Power is only effective in preventing its seizure by another player. One's own Centers of Power may not be used for transit from one Location to another.

See also:

Displaced Pieces


The Board

Use the hotspots in this picture for more details.

The Board of Capitol Affairs is an abstract display of Government Agencies and offices and non-governmental organizations and how they interact. Each of these is called a Location. Locations can Influence other Locations that are directly adjacent.

There are two types of Locations:

Organizations

Centers of Power


The Locations in the Game

The Locations in the game are represented for the most part by acronyms. For those who are interested, here are the meanings of the acronyms:

AARP	American Association of Retired Persons

ACLU	American Civil Liberties Union

AFL-CIO	American Federation of Labor - Congress of Industrial Organizations

AG	Attorney-General

AMA	American Medical Association

CDC	Center for Disease Control

DoD	Department of Defense

DoJ	Department of Justice

EPA	Environmental Protection Agency

FAA	Federal Aviation Administration

FEC	Federal Election Commission

FCC	Federal Communications Commission

FDA	Food and  Drugs Administration

FTC	Federal Trade Commission

HAC	House Appropriations Committee

HJC	House Judiciary Committee

HUD	Housing and Urban Development

IRS	Internal Revenue Service

JCS	Joint Chiefs of Staff

NAACP	National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

NASA	National Air and Space Administration

NewsCo	NewsCo(a fictional news service)

NIH	National National Institute of Health

NNC	No Nonsense Cable (a fictional news company)

NOW	National Organization for Women

NRA	National Rifle Association

NSA	National Security Agency

NSC	National Security Council

OIC	Office of the Independent Counsel

OVP	Office of the Vice-President

PFIAB	President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisor Board

SSA	Social Security Administration

Sup Ct	Supreme Court

The House	The House of Representatives

UAW	United Auto Workers

USMC	United States Marine Corps

USPS	United States Postal Service

USTR	United States Trade Representative

VA	Veterans Administration

VOA	Voice of America


The Pieces

Each player receives three pieces at the beginning of the game.

All pieces are equal in capability.

In each turn a single piece may Influence only one Location.

A player will always have the same number of pieces as he/she has Centers of Power.

CIA

Democrats

Media Moguls

President

Republicans


The Sequence of Play

Capitol Affairs is played in turns.

Each turn consists of the following sequence:

1.	Intrigue. Players are given the opportunity to discuss their plans with other players so as to combine actions, make alliances, threats, etc.

2.	Influence. The players then give instructions to each piece, telling it which adjacent Location they want it to Influence. This is done simultaneously and in secret.

3.	Vote. If there are any contested Locations the control is resolved with a vote.

4.	Results. The final results of all the players Influences and votes are displayed.


Vote

In the event that more than one piece is Influencing a Location, the final control of that Location is decided by a vote.

Each player who has at least one piece Influencing the contested Location can vote.

You vote for the player you want to control the contested Location by clicking on one of that players' involved pieces.

Your vote is secret. How you vote is not revealed until the Results are displayed.

See also:

Vote Resolution.

Next: Results


Vote Resolution

The control of a contested Location is decided according to the number of votes each involved player receives during the vote procedure.

When a player votes for the piece of another player, the voting player is essentially giving a number of votes equal to the number of pieces he/she has Influencing that Location.

EXAMPLE - The CIA, the President and the Media all have pieces Influencing the NRA (an Organization). The President has one piece Influencing the NRA, the Media has two, and the CIA also has two. During the vote the President clicks on his own piece (voting for himself), the Media clicks on one of his own pieces (voting for himself), and the CIA clicks on the President's piece (voting for the President).

The result would be that the President's piece moves into the NRA. He received three votes (his own, and two from the CIA - one per Influencing CIA piece). The Media receives two votes, both from himself (one per Influencing piece). So the President wins that Location.

Rules

The player with the greatest number of votes wins and seizes control of that location.

If there is a tie then the player currently in control retains control.

If there is a tie and no player is in control, then no player seizes control.