[Umbrella]

Card 3: Operations
Finally, our first operations card. These are more complicated, so let me try and break down the gameplay a bit further.

Normal turns consist of our turn, and the enemies turn. Normally, the enemy will go first, unless we preempt them. Preempting costs action points (AP's). The card will tell us how many AP's to preempt. Our card costs 3 AP's, which is what we start with. Preempting also reduces the number of enemy AP's as well.

For our turn, we have three options for operations. We can do Planning, Take Action, or Passage of Time. I'll break these down as we go along.

The enemy's AP's determine what actions they can do. Enemy AP's are determined as follows. You start with the number of AP's on the card. Then you add the number of cubes in the Subjugation of New Mexico box. This represents how much control the enemy has over the Pueblo tribes. Right now, there are no cubes, since the Spanish have just arrived in the area. Then you subtract the number of cubes in the Raid box. This box is the raiding that we do against the enemy. Since the game just started, this is empty as well. The Raid box represents the damage that the Navajo, and maybe other tribes, have done against the enemy.

Each Operations card also has a major event and a minor event. It is a good idea to check out the major event before making your decision about which operation to do. Our card's major event gives us additional food if we choose a planning operation.

I would like to get some cubes into the Raid box by raiding the Spanish, which will reduce their AP's. So I reluctantly choose not to plan, and use a Take Action operation. I also decide to spend all of my three AP's to preempt the enemy.

The number of families that can take action is equal to the number of elders plus either one, or the number of families in Canyon de Chelly. In our case, we have three elders, so we could take actions with four families. We only start with three families, so all of them will be able to do something.

Family A is in Shiprock, which is close to the Spanish in New Mexico. The Spanish have these strange animals, which I feel is the source of their power. If we can get some of these creatures, we could become powerful too! In the game, raiding is done by pulling cubes. Each family has 6 movement points (MP's) per turn. If you lose members of your family, you lose one MP per family member lost. This hasn't happened to us yet. Family A is only two MP's from Santa Fe, so it costs us 2 points to raid.

Our first raid, we draw a brown cube. This means we acquired horses. Horses allow us to move around the board quicker, as well as increase our strength in battle. Also, because this was successful, the ferocity of Family A increases. We will discuss ferocity and evasion when it comes up.

I choose to continue my raid, and draw a red cube. This represents the subjugation of the Pueblos. We can think of this as helping the Spanish against the Pueblos. This goes into the Subjugation of New Mexico box, and I have to draw again. I draw another red cube (uh-oh), and then draw a yellow cube. This represents taking some slaves from the Spanish. In the game, a child goes into the passage of time box.

I still have 2 MP's left, so I give the newly acquired horse to Family A, and retreat further into Shiprock.

For Family B, I just have them plant corn. Planting corn has two benefits. First, it can feed the tribe. Second, if the enemy comes along, they slow down to destroy crops, which can give us time to escape. Planting corn is very expensive for MP's, so that is all we can do with Family B.

Family C decides to leave Canyon de Chelly, and move to an area called Monument Valley. This is in southern Utah. In this game, spreading out is very important. When historical cards show up, I will show why.

Now we are done, so it is the enemy's turn. I don't want to go into a lot of detail on how the enemy AI works. It is kind of hard to explain, but the bottom line is we have a slight idea of what is coming. Early on, the enemy will likely concentrate on subjugating the Pueblos. We have kindly helped them with this, which we will come to regret.

Since we preempted the enemy, the card gives them 4 AP's. They get 2 more since there are two red cubes in the Subjugation box, and then we subtract two for the cubes in the raid box, giving them a total of 4 AP's. Their first action costs 1 AP, and it is Subjugation. What this means is they draw a cube. If it is red, it goes into the subjugation box. Any other color goes into the recovery box. Think of the recovery box as the colonists in New Mexico getting ready to counter the tribes in the area. They drew a black cube, which is the most powerful color for us. A shame that this cube is not available for us to draw.

They still have 3 AP's, and the next instruction costs 3, and is a Build instruction. What this means is that the Spanish missionaries build a mission on our land. Missions will cause problems, so we will need to see if we can get rid of that pretty soon. Since they are now out of AP's, their turn ends. However, we can see the next few enemy events are going to be aimed at subverting the Navajo people. In story play, we can say our scouts are seeing a lot of active missionaries in the area.

The major event only happens if we did a Planning operation, so it is ignored. The minor event caused drought in the Zuni Mountains. Drought effects how we can feed our people, so it is bad.

From a story standpoint, the Navajo have shown to be confusing to the Spanish. They have been raiding the Spanish, yet have helped the Spanish against the Pueblos. The Spanish are unsure if the Navajo are friends, or foes. The families have been planting corn, and migrating north towards Utah. Spanish missionaries are coming strong though, and this could mean trouble to our people.