Junta

Welcome back, even though it is I that has been away for awhile, over a month to be exact. However, that's neither here nor there.

I am proud to bring you another post on my second-hand findings that have all been found at one of the two Bookmans locations that I visit.

The game I am writing about this week was found at the Bookmans on Grant and Campbell. The game is no longer available through regular retail outlets, online there is a copy available for the amount that I payed for it at Bookmans, $15.

"Junta" (pronounced whoon-ta) was a game that was originally created in 1978 by Vincent Tsao. In 1985 the game was put out by West End Games.

Ben Grossman and Eric Goldberg redesigned the game.

The game I got was missing the three dice, but those are easy enough to replace. The weird thing was that the cards and money looked used, but none of the counters were punched out. Makes me wonder if it was Frankensteined, uh oh well.

The box was in fair condition as well. However, the Bookmans on Grant should really get a shrink-wrap machine or if they already have one they need to use it on the board games. All they do to seal the boxes is put packaging tape on all four sides of the box.

I am not a fan of this because it destroys the integrity of the box. Granted I intend on playing the game, but there is a collectors market and to me that takes away from the value of the game.

Anyways onto how the game is played.

Now it is time to grab some friends and a cigar and head to the wonderful Republica de los Bananas, as you will be taking on the roles of El Presidente and his board of advisers in "Junta."

Before the game starts each player chooses one of the seven families, that are represented by little designed square counters.


The symbols on the counters are a cigarette holder, diamond stickpin, fedora, highball glass, mustache, pocket watch and sunglasses.

After families have been decided it is time to fill out the government positions for this great republic that you and your friends will control.

There are a total of seven positions to be filled in the Banana Republic, there is also a high turnover rate.

• The President- controls the Palace Guard, assigns positions and draws and proposes the budget.
• The Minister of Internal Security- controls the police, directs the Secret Police Assassin, may seize Chamber if budget is defeated and may have any returning exiles shot.
•  General 1- controls First Brigade.
•  General 2- controls Second Brigade.
•  General 3- controls Third Brigade.
•  Admiral of the Navy- controls gunboat and marines.
• Air Force Commander- controls air strikes and paratroopers.

Players draw five political cards and then at the beginning of each turn they draw an additional two. You are only allowed six cards in your hand, so you may have to discard at points in the game. There are six different types of political cards in the deck.

Influence Card- they are placed face up in front you and they show certain groups that you have influence over and they cast their votes with you. The card does still count as part of your hand, so keep it in mind.
Vote Card- can be played during any roll call vote, like electing a president or voting on the budget. Once the card is used it is discarded into the discard pile.
Assassination Card- These either allow you to attempt an assassination on another player or help prevent an attempt against you.
Secret Political Donation Card- take the top card from the money deck and then discard the donation card.
Event Card- is a special rule that will allow the player to do something that is not typically allowed in the game. Each event card explains what it does.
Bribe Card- these are used to try and take control of an assassin or fighting units during a coup. You have to spend money to use these and then roll a die to see if they accept the bribe. There are influence cards make it so you don't have to pay.

The political cards are able to be given away or traded by the players. You could offer money for them as well, if you feel it would be beneficial.

Now the group will decide who gets to be El Presidente going around the table and nominating players. You can nominate yourself or someone else vote along with someone else's nomination. If you choose to you can use voter cards as well.

After that is decided then the newly appointed President decides who he wants to give what jobs.

The President then hands out the cards with government offices to each player. Depending on how many players you have people may hold more than one job. No single player can have more than two jobs and the President cannot hold a second job.

After positions are handed the President then draws eight money cards from the money deck takes a look at them and then decides how he will budget it.

You do not tell the group how much money you drew, that way there is room for suspicion.

Depending on his strategy he can either divide the money up evenly, keep extra for himself and pretend he's being fair, can try and bribe some of his office heads by giving some them more than the others or he can put a target on his own head by taking it all.

If you choose you can also add money to the budget by taking from your own money pile.

You usually want to try and hide your motives.

To conceal your motives you can tell them something like, "Gentlemen, it has been a fruitful year so everyone will be getting two million this year."

But, you may be keeping three million for yourself.

If you decide to keep it all, tell them a fun story as they will know that nobody but you is getting any money.

"Gentlemen, it has been a rough year, I'm sure you are aware of all the legal issues that have been coming my way, as they have been no secret. So none of you will be getting any funding this year as I have numerous bastard children to pay for and certain diseases I need to find a cure for. What can I say, I love the prostitutes."

There is no wrong way to approach this, just do your best to hide your agenda, unless you are making yourself a target, then, make it fun.

Once the President has laid out the budget, the rest of the cabinet gets to vote on it. The voting goes in two rounds. The President will cast his votes using any or all of his influences or voter cards. Then it goes around the table with the rest of the people casting their votes either for or against. Once the first round is done then it goes around a second time giving people a chance to use any more influences or voter cards that they may have left.

Now it either passes, doesn't pass or ties. If it passes then the President hands out the proposed budget. If it fails then the Minister gets to decide if he wants to have his police seize the Chamber of Deputies and force the proposed budget to pass at gunpoint.

He then places his police units in the Chamber of Deputies on the board and the President hands out the proposed money as if it were passed.

If that doesn't happen and the bill stays unfavored then the bank is closed for the turn and the President keeps all the money that was drawn.

If the proposition passes then El Presidente hands giving out at least what he proposed, maybe giving certain people more.

After the money is handed out then all the players decide where they will head to, either the bank, the mistress, the nightclub, home or headquarters.

Going to the bank is the only way to put money into your Swiss Bank Account and only the money that is deposited in there is counted towards potential victory.

Players now have a chance to use their assassin cards and try to assassinate another player. The assassin cards will either strike specified areas or the player has to try and guess where that player is heading, then you roll a die to see if the assassin completes the hit.

If you guess where your opponent was and roll the correct number needed the assassination was completed and you take their money that is not in their Swiss Bank Account.

This provides an excuse for a coup.

There are several ways to cause a coup, such as the president being assassinated, someone stepping foot into headquarters or there are cards that give an excuse for a coup.

When a coup is started people can choose to go against El Presidente and try and take control of three of the five power centers; Central Bank, Chamber of Deputies, Presidential Palace, Radio Station or the Railroad Station.

The first to rise against the president becomes the first rebel.

People can choose to aid the president as well. People take turns moving their troops around the board trying to control the most government buildings while possibly attacking each other.

After it's all said and done either the president is overthrown and killed or the rebels are held at bay and the first rebel is executed at dawn.

Play continues until all the money is used or there isn't enough left to make a proposal. Once that point is reached everyone counts the money in their Swiss Bank Account and the player with the most wins.

The game is recommended for 2-7 players, ages 12 and up and they estimate a play time of 2-4 hours.

I did breeze over some of the finer points on how this game is played, but covered the basics. If I explained it in depth, this would be one hell of a long blog post.

If you have any questions on other parts of the game, feel free to post a comment with your question or feel free to post any other comments you may have as well.

As always be sure to check out my brother Will's "Let's Play" on YouTube in which he is currently playing "Portal 2."

At some point he may be posting some sort of game review on this blog and Mylar of the Dead may be making some appearances on his YouTube channel.

Also be sure to check out "TableTop" on YouTube and watch some of their older episodes, as in the link I posted they play "Castle Panic," which is a great co-op game for families.

Still trying to work on getting my friend Chris Wallace signed up so he can post reviews on war and miniature games.

Hopefully my next post will be sooner than a month away, but until then


Thanks and play well,
                                   MYLO