The Game of War and Trade

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The Game of War and Trade Rules

In the simulation each group represents a nation-state. The simulation is divided into a series of periods in which these states interact. The time allotted to each period will vary anywhere from five to thirty minutes and you will not know in advance how many will take place. As a group you may trade and engage in war with other nations. It is up to you to divide the decision-making and negotiating responsibilities of your group any way that you like. Be careful and efficient. The game is simple but complex enough to warrant caution.

The Objective

The object of the game is to accumulate as many units of prosperity as possible. Prosperity units are accumulated over the course of the simulation. The nation with the most PUs wins the game

Your job is to manage your nation's endowments in order to create as much prosperity as possible. Maximize your PUs! States "play" the game by trading, forming alliances, and making war with other states. At the end of each time period, your nation must turn in a play sheet (see attached) to the game controller. You will input your decisions into the Game or War and Trade computer simulation. After all nations have inputted their decisions, the overall results of the time period or round will be available for all groups.

The Players

Endowments AU IU

China 30 45

United Kingdom 15 55

United States 25 55

Pakistan 50 15

India 35 35

Russia 35 35

Endowments	AU	IU
China	30	45
United Kingdom	15	55
United States	25	55
Pakistan	50	15
India	35	35
Russia	35	35

The Basics

In each period, nations produce agricultural units (AUs) and industrial units (IUs) according to the endowments listed above. So at the start of every period or round of the game, each nation is "replenished" with their endowment. Each nation also has basic needs that must be met to achieve subsistence in each and every time period. Therefore, after trades, each nation must retain at least 20 AUs and 20 IUs for each period. These are "spent" in each round. Surplus units can be turned into prosperity units (PUs) and military units (MUs). If a country does not have 20 AUs and IUs to spend they cannot earn PU s during that round.

However, each nation has an upper limit regarding how many AUs and IUs it can effectively use during each time period. If a state produces or gains through trade (explained below) more than fifty (50) Agricultural and fifty (50) Industrial Units per time period, its surplus goes to waste and cannot be converted to prosperity units. Since twenty of each is consumed for subsistence, this means that the maximum number of AUs and IUs that can be turned into PUs is thirty each per time period. Thus, the maximum prosperity units a nation can generate per round is 60 (note this can change and is discussed next).

The simulation also assumes that successful nations have economic growth and can increase their prosperity potential. When a nation has accumulated 200 PUs, its prosperity potential shifts up by ten (10) for both AUs and IUs. After this point, nations may convert up to 40 AUs and 40 IUs (a combined total of eighty) into PUs at the end of each period. If a nation’s accumulated PUs fall below 200, then their prosperity potential also goes back to the original level. Nations can also raise their endowment levels by spending PUs. For 50 PUs a nation can raise its endowment level for AUs and IUs by 5 for all remaining period. For example, if China wished to increase its endowment level, it could spend 50 PUs. For every period after the purchase, China's new endowment would be 35 AUs and 50 IUs. This can be done multiple times.

Industrial Units can also be converted into military units (MUs). Agricultural Units cannot be converted to military units. Military units can be stockpiled over the course of the game. However, MUs may never be converted to PUs. PUs, once created, cannot be turned into any other unit.

Rules of Play

Trading Rules: Nations can negotiate to exchange agricultural and industrial units. You may trade IUs, AUs, and MUs. It is perfectly legitimate to trade AUs for AUs and IUs for IUs. However, MUs cannot be traded for MUs and PUs cannot be traded at all. The exchange agreement is determined by what "the markets will bear. The only restriction is that units must be traded in whole numbers (no fractions). The game assumes gains from trade. A nation earns additional 5 PUs for every 40 IUs or AUs gained through trade. So by trading and gaining 40 IUs a nation gets 5 additional PUs, and by trading and gaining 40 AUs a nation gets 5 additional PUs. So with an initial maximum of 60 PUs, a nation can add via trade additional 10 PUs. Remember that every nation must maintain subsistence levels at all times. You may also re-trade units in the same round, but not with the same country. You are however limited to 6 trades per round.

War Rules: Any nation or group (alliance) can declare war on any other nation or group. You must formally declare war and indicate who your allies (if any) are, and how many MUs you plan to use in the conflict for the current period. If you do not declare the level of MU s you wish to use, it is assumed you are using them all. Battle losses are determined as follows: each nation loses 25% of the MUs committed by the stronger nation or alliance. Thus if the initiating nation committed 60 MUs and the attacked nation had 30 MUs, each side would lose 15 MUs. In this game, a nation loses a war only when they have depleted their MUs. Thus a nation is defeated only when their MUs are reduced to zero. Wars usually last several time periods. Keep in mind that in a war you can only use the MU s you had at the beginning of the round, not new ones you create during the round. You can only use MUs that appear at the top of your play sheet in a given round.

If wars are fought among alliances, the war losses are divided EVENLY between them. For example if four nations ally and attack a fifth with a combined total of 80 MUs, then the loss of 20 MUs would be divided between the alliance partners by subtracting 5 from each nation. If a nation finds its MUs depleted but are in an Alliance, they do not lose the war if their partners retain MUs. However, the MU losses will be divided evenly between the remaining alliance partners.

If your nation or your alliance wins a war (forces the opponent to zero MUs), you can immediately take whatever PUs would be earned by the defeated nation in the current time period AND 50% of their accumulated PUs. For example, if the defeated nation has 200 PUs accumulated, the victor can take 100. If the same defeated nation loses a war in the next period, the victor can take 50 PUs. Note that nations are always left with subsistence production levels. States do not exit the game. They continue to get their endowments but all their prosperity can be taken away if they have lost a war and other nations "colonize" them by repeating war and winning.

Playing the Game

During each period, states negotiate trades and alliances. At the end of each period your group will fill out a playing sheet and one person will deliver it to the game controller. On the playing sheet you must declare:

1. Trades made during the round. What was traded? With whom? What were the terms of the trade? How many prosperity units do you expect to earn from the trade?

2. If you wish to convert industrial to military units - how many units?

3. Indication of the total expected PUs for the round and evidence of subsistence levels maintained.

If you choose to raise endowment levels, indicate the number of PUs you will spend.
If choosing to fight a war · with whom? How many MUs will you commit? If you are in an alliance what is the total committed by the alliance (detail the number from each nation). Each alliance partner must sign the declaration of war.
If a nation is attacked, I will first ask them if they have any allies they wish to call on. If so, I will then ASK the allied nation if they wish to participate in the war.
If you choose to raise prosperity levels, indicate the number of PUs you will spend.

Hints:

You cannot change your conversion level of IUs to MUs for a given round after war has been declared on you - plan ahead!

Whether by trade or war remember - the object of the simulation is to obtain more PUs then the other states.

The Game of War and Trade: Playing Sheet

Nation:___________________________________ Round #____________ Date:______________

Endowments AUs IUs Accumulated MUs PUs

From last round ____ ___ ____ ____

Trades

circle the units of trade

GIVE UP TAKE

# # nation

________ IU/AU/MU for ________ IU/AU/MU with _________________________

keep track of your trades so you know how many IU and AU you have at the end

add and ............... .............. write below

After all trades we have _______ IUs and _______ AUs. We gained a total of _______units from trade.

We expect to earn ________additional PUs as gains from trade. You earn 5 PUs for every 40 units you took in through trade. Formula: PUs = (gains/40)*5 (round down to units of 40)

Spending

We wish to convert _______IUs into MUs. MUs added ________. We are required to spend 20 IUs and

20 AUs for subsistence. We wish to spend ________ PUs to raise our endowment by ____________.

Formula: IU= (IU after trade)- spending on MUs - 20

Formula: AU= (AU after trade) - 20

Formula: PU = (PU from top of form) + (PU earned from trade)- (PU spent to raise endowments)

After this spending we have _______IUs, _______AUs and _______PUs.

We expect to earn _______PUs from surplus IUs and ________ from surplus AUs in this round. Max 30 per category unless your PU total is above 200. If above 200 then man 40 per category. At the end of this round we have _______PUs. Formula PU = (PU after spending) + (PU from surplus)

Going into the next round we will have: (write these on next sheet)

Endowments AUs IUs Accumulated MUs PUs

____ ___ ____ ____

Click here to Launch the War and Trade Simulation

Reading AssignmentsWar and TradePaper Assignment Peer Review Forum Lecture Outlines
Book/Simulation1Book/Simulation2Book/Simulation3 NewsgroupA NewsgroupB