NORAD (board game)

NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) is a 2-player game set in the mid-1970s Cold War in which one player controls a Soviet Union bomber fleet and the other player controls American defenses.^[1] The map covers North America from the North Pole to the southern American border. Thirty American cities are marked with values from 5 (Dallas) to 9 (New York and Chicago). The Soviet player has 23 bomber counters and 7 decoy bombers. The American player has a 12 fighters, 5 missiles, and 5 decoy missiles. The fighters have a range of 6 hexes and the missiles have a range of zero.

The American player positions fighters, missiles and decoys on the map. The Russian player launches a bomber attack at the northern edge of the map. The American player waits until a bomber or missile is within range, and then interdicts with either a fighter or missile. When an interaction occurs, both players flip over their counter to reveal whether the counter is real or a decoy. If the fighter or missile is a decoy, the decoy is removed from play and the bomber continues on. If the fighter or missile is real, then both fighter or missile and the bomber are both removed from play.

If a bomber reaches a city unscathed, it is flipped over. If the reverse is blank, it is a decoy and is removed from play. If a mushroom cloud is revealed, the attack was successful. The mushroom cloud is left in place, and the Soviet player gains that city's score.

With a simple one-to-one elimination system that uses no dice, the game has been characterized as "low complexity".^[2]

The Soviet player wins by scoring 30 points or more. The American player wins by preventing this.^[2]

A number of variants are included in the rules:

• "Solitaire": A solitaire variant where the Russian bombers move on a programmed basis and the player controls the defenses.^[3]
• "DEW Line": If the Russian player takes out Anchorage and Godthåb, the anchors of the DEW Line, then Russian bombers enter the map on the 8th row from the top of the map rather than the first row.^[2]
• "Cuba Base": Up to five bombers (two of which must be decoys) can enter the game on the southern edge of the map from a hypothetical base in Cuba.^[2]
• "SLBM": The Russian player can replace up to five bombers with the same number of submarine-launched cruise missiles. These are launched adjacent to American coastal cities. The American player has one turn to destroy them before they detonate.^[2]
• "Canadian Air Defense": The American player places four Canadian fighters, one Canadian missile and one decoy on Canadian cities. All Canadian cities now become legitimate targets for Russian bombers.^[2]