by the pete
Though I don't have the box in front of me, I'm pretty sure the designer's notes comment a good deal on the randomness of the Propaganda cards. They do indeed represent something: namely, the difficulty of actually getting the public or the world at large to agree that one has won a COIN campaign (or insurgent uprising.) The Propaganda cards are considered to be ongoing throughout each campaign, and their resolution represents pivotal moments where the hearts and minds of the country are, for whatever number of semi-arbitrary reasons, most susceptible to persuasion and declarations of success. Sometimes, yes, it will seem like the winner was the lucky SOB who got the final action right before the Prop card. But I think time will demonstrate that more often than not it will go to the person who not only earned the victory, but sustained it over time. And in the world of COIN, that's the sort of victory that matters.↧