Twilight Struggle Setup Guide

Setup Steps
- Turn & DEFCON: Place the Turn marker on Turn 1 and the DEFCON marker at 5.
- VP Track: Place VP marker at 0 on the VP track.
- Mil Ops: Place both Military Operations markers at 0.
- USSR Starting Influence: Place USSR influence: 1 in Syria, 1 in Iraq, 3 in North Korea, 3 in East Germany, 1 in Finland.
- US Starting Influence: Place US influence: 2 in Canada, 1 in Iran, 1 in Israel, 1 in Japan, 4 in Australia, 1 in Philippines, 5 in UK, 1 in Panama, 1 in South Africa, 1 in South Korea.
- USSR Bonus Influence: USSR receives additional 6 influence to place in Eastern Europe (East Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Finland).
- US Bonus Influence: US receives additional 7 influence to place in Western Europe (UK, France, West Germany, Spain/Portugal, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Benelux, Norway, Denmark, Canada).
- Deal Cards: Shuffle only the Early War cards. Deal 8 cards to each player.
- China Card: Give the China Card to the USSR player, face up.
- First Headline: The headline phase begins — both players simultaneously select and reveal one card to play for its event.
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