Defiance AAR: North Jersey, July 2026 — Chili Dogs and Chit Pulls
Finished: So, Mark and myself finished Defiance on July 4th – meaning, it is now in the GMT production shop to produce the game and ship it this fall. Champagne popped. To celebrate, we met to play a game without having edit/design/haggle. We selected the Quick Start Scenario. The scenario begins later on FEB 24, 2022 after air assaults and initial Russian special (crossing the border) activations. Players’ first action in this scenario is to pull three chits from the Cup of Chaos: so, a jump head first directly into the pool.
Chit pulls: Defiance uses a purchase, pull, play chit model: purchase activation chits using Logistics Points, toss in a cup and pull chits, play a chit and activate a formation. Mark (Ukraine) did the honors of the first chit pull. Ukraine pulled two chits and decided to activate OCN; repositioning forces in the west to guard against a breakthrough by the Russian 35th Army. Russia decided to toss their chit back into the cup. Some mechanics…
A player pulls three chits from the cup. Initially, there are formation (16), flex (4…allowing a player activate any formation) and a Berg Random Events chits: 21 chits total. If the Berg chit is drawn, a player rolls on the Random Events Table and tosses the other two chits back into the cup.
If no Berg, two situations occur:
- 3 of a kind: the player with their three chits selects one, activates the indicated formation and tosses the other two chits back into the cup.
- 2-1 split: the player with two chits selects one…the opposing player may choose their chit as the next played or toss it back into the cup and moan about their misfortune.
Phase ending chits are tossed into the cup after the 3rd, 6th and 9th activations – triggering a random end to the operations phase: 3 or less on a die roll after an activation ends the operations phase, besides running out of chits (seldom happens). Expected outcome is that a side will have 7-8 activations in a game turn. We’re very happy with our twist on chit pulls: it generates player decision angst and mitigates one side running off a string of activations – three in a row almost never happens.
Our second chit pull resulted in the Berg Random Events chit appearing (pre-ordained we believe). Mark tossed the dice. “Kitchen Table Chatter” resulted: no effect (we were hoping for something dramatic).
72nd Mech steals a march: Gaming gods favored Ukraine on the third chit pull: the 72nd Mech and 26th Artillery appeared. Russia pulled crapola – EMD – Eastern Military District – reserve units behind the attack columns…a SNAFU. Mark seized the 72nd Mech check, activated the formation and pushed forward – blocking a key bridge at Feneychi (the gate to northwest approach to Kyiv).
The active player (the side activating its formation) can use Assets (close air support, attack helicopters, missiles, etc.) and HQ Capabilities (Battlefield Recovery, Ammo Resupply, etc.) to enhance their operational ability. Mark used Combat Engineers to attempt to deploy a minefield and construct field fortifications. Dice gods granted Mark’s wishes: two battalions of the 72nd Mech dug in and deployed mines. Russia’s 35th Army would need to force a river crossing to occupy Hostomel and Bucha.
35th Army rolls south: On the 4th cup chit pull, Russian pushed the 35th Army into action. Opposing the 35th in the northwest sector is the 61st Jager. As an aside, the 61st Jager and other units in the northwest sector were a research challenge: we’re still unclear.
The 35th Army requested an asset strike on a 61st Jager motorized rifle battalion and accompanying anti-tank unit. We’ve handed assets (close air support, attack helicopters, missiles, etc.) by having sides draw from a cup (seeded during Strategic Phase), place on a target hex, roll for mission abandon (reflects maintenance, interception, etc.) and then impact of strike. We’ve always loved the air rules in GDW’s Third World War series and sought to replicate that level of simplicity and dramatic flavor. Russia reached into the cup and pulled a Su27. The asset successfully struck the Ukrainian forces.
Combat: Defiance has three combat systems: meeting engagements, set piece battle and VOVK/SoF. 35th Army utilized a meeting engagement vs the 61st Jager.
A lead unit is designated for each side. A TQ test (troop/technical quality) is made for each: roll a die. Less than or equal to the TQ rating? Unit passes. Otherwise, it loses a level of morale (normal, disorganized, broken, cadre). Modifiers to the TQ include supply status, artillery support, platform superiority, morale, terrain, position and a few others. In most cases, only a few modifiers apply. It’s our read that in modern combat these modifiers determine outcome instead of the ole 3-1 odds back in the day.
We calculated mods and both sides conducted their TQ checks. The lead Ukrainian unit broke, while the Russian unit passed. An attacker that passes and defender that fails results in a “FORWARD!” result”: the defender flees and the attacker may continue operations (expending ops points).
Chili Dogs: Given Ukraine’s stolen march in the west (the 72nd Mech) and its valiant initial stop of the 41st army in the northeast, Mark pulled a chili dog chit and declared its activation: “Lunch time!” We hop in the car and hit a favorite hot dog joint in north Jersey (Tony Soprano Land).
After lunch, we had a few inconsequential formation moves as both sides positioned forces for anticipated action later in the turn. Then, the Russian 36th army jumped into action and triggered a Ukrainian partisan and civilian resistance.
VOVK: We’ve built a significant partisan/special forces/civilian resistance mechanic into Defiance called “VOVK”. Russian movement into hexes (woods, towns, crossing a bridge) triggers a pull from the VOVK cup. The result is either a unit, a VOVK chit or no effect.
The 36th triggered a couple of draws: one resulted in the generation of a strong Ukrainian unit and another that triggered an “incident”. An incident can result in a possible atrocity, a war narrative chit or noise (no effect). In both the case of an incident or a war narrative chit move the political tracks. In this case, the Zelensky tract shifter 1 to the right. Later in the turn a war narrative chit, Russian Bots, shifted NATO 1 left.
The Road to Makariv: Back to the operations west of Kyiv. The 36th Army will frequently shift its early axis of advance in Defiance – bouncing between direct assault on Kyiv from the northwest to shifting west and south – leaving follow on forces to clear NW approaches to Kyiv. Given that the 72nd Mech had stolen a march and blocked a key river crossing, the 36th Army shifted south and captured Borodyanka: a doorway to Makariv and the ability to cut Ukrainian lines of communication to the west.
The fall of Borodyanka sent out alarm bells at Ukraine’s HQ: 95 Air Assault was tasked with forming a blocking position in the south. During an exchange of activations, Ukraine brought up the 26th and 44th Artillery brigades. And deployed a few drone zones which quickly made their presence known.
The Drone Zone chits provide either a modifier for Counter Battery or Strike die rolls. As 26th Artillery was about ready to strike, Mark shouted out “Drone Zone deployed!”. We check the rules (we’d forgotten the mechanics). They are easy: when the 26th, 44th or OCN activates, they may be deployed with command range. He deployed one. He tossed a die. The modifier proved the difference and a stack of the 36th Army took the full brunt of a 26th Artillery hammering. Later in the turn, further pain was administered via a drone zone and the 44th Artillery. Battered, the 36th Army temporarily stalled north of Makariv. Mark smiled.
Ukrainian Government Displacement. We played out the rest of the turn. Uneventful. We ended up with 19 chits on the Activation Chit, with only 2 remaining chits in the cup. During the end phase of the turn (the Logistics Phase), the Russian conducts a die roll on the Ukrainian Government Displacement table. There are no victory conditions in Defiance perse – since, the outcome of the war is still unknown. Instead, the Russian tries to displace the center of the Ukrainian government and Kyiv, while Ukraine strives to stand firm.
In our game, Russia had only managed to cut the rail line to Warsaw (Kyiv > Korosten), so had generated only a +2 mod to the die roll: Zelensky was staying put in Kyiv as midnight approached on FEB 24, 2026. We called it day.
Postscript. YOGI. Mark built a fab bot to play the Russians. We’ve posted an YOGI AAR on the GMT Defiance page. It also allows a player to continue a game if the Russian needs to leave the game before completion. It does a good job of working the historic Russian plan (ala Czechoslovakia 1968). YOGI got its name from the design of the bot: when you come to a fork in the road, take it.
