COIN (short for COunterINsurgency) is a series of multiplayer asymmetric strategy board wargames simulating historic insurgency and counter-insurgency conflicts and irregular warfare throughout the world. It is published by GMT Games. It consists of the main series of games, numbered as volumes, and the spinoff Irregular Conflicts series ("ICS") games, which apply similar game mechanics and counterinsurgency framing of the main series to events that would not be traditionally described as insurgencies.
The series has been noted for its innovative and dynamic gameplay, compared to more traditional hex-and-counter two-player wargames.
Game COIN games simulate past and ongoing historical insurgencies and counter-insurgencies with up to four players controlling a different faction, each with unique play styles and winning conditions. All games in the COIN series share the same underlying system first found in Andean Abyss, the original game of the series, designed by game designer and CIA national security analyst Volko Ruhnke.
COIN games use variable turn order. For example, in Andean Abyss, players draw from a deck of event cards to decide the order in which factions take turns. Meanwhile, in Colonial Twilight (a two-player game), one player holds the initiative until that player performs an action that gives the initiative to the other player. In addition to event cards, the games use mechanics like area control and opportunity cost to represent factors such as winning hearts and minds, lines of communication, and government legitimacy.
Non-player rules are included for each faction, enabling a non-player-controlled faction to participate in the game based on a predetermined set of actions. The earlier COIN games used flowcharts to determine non-player procedures, while games in the series since Gandhi have included a small deck of cards with non-player actions.
+List of COIN games Volume Title Published ConflictI Andean Abyss 2012 Colombian conflictII Cuba Libre 2013 Cuban RevolutionIII A Distant Plain 2013 War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)IV Fire in the Lake 2014 Vietnam WarV Liberty or Death: The American Insurrection 2016 American Revolutionary WarVI Falling Sky: The Gallic Revolt Against Ceasar 2016 Gallic WarsVII Colonial Twilight: The French-Algerian War, 1954-62 2017 Algerian WarVIII Pendragon: The Fall of Roman Britain 2017 End of Roman rule in BritainIX Gandhi: The Decolonization of British India, 1917-1947 2018 Indian independence movementX All Bridges Burning: Red Revolt and White Guard in Finland, 1917–1918 2020 Finnish Civil WarN/AThe British Way: Counterinsurgency at the End of Empire 2023 British decolonizationXIPeople Power: Insurgency in the Philippines, 1981-19862023People Power RevolutionXIIRed Dust Rebellion2024Fictional conflict following colonization of MarsXIIIChina's War 1937-412025Second Sino-Japanese WarXIVThe Pure Land: Ōnin War in Muromachi Japan, 1465-1477forthcomingWarring States PeriodXVA Fading Star: Insurgency and Piracy in SomaliaforthcomingSomali civil war c. 2007
+List of ICS games Published Title Subject matter2024Vijayanagara: The Deccan Empires of Medieval India, 1290-1398Founding of the Vijayanagara Empire2024A Gest Of Robin HoodRobin Hood legend2024Cross Bronx ExpresswayMid-20th-century New York urban developmentforthcomingEcho from the DarkFictional conflict following the invention of faster-than-light travel
References
External links GMT Games - COIN Series page GMT Games - Irregular Conflicts Series page