Anatomy of a control decision - playing out the coup
Alex Vince works for the British Government as a civil servant and enjoys playing/facilitating megagames in his spare time. Beware his charming nature.
Alex facilitating at First Contact: 2035, another big (200 player!) megagame about alien arrival - we sure do love that plot hook. Photo by Ed Silverstone.
As a Megagame control, you face a wide range of decisions regarding how to facilitate player actions. From resolving simple investigations to managing complex negotiations with non-played nations, you must make choices that challenge and satisfy the players. Striking this balance can be tricky—and it becomes even more complicated when multiple players are drawn into adversarial plots.
Coups within a team are often the most impactful moments of the day for players. When executed well, they create immense tension and provide a satisfying culmination for a group that has spent the day playing together. However, if handled poorly, players can feel blindsided and disheartened by a significant low point over which they have little control.
In the sections below, I’ll explain how we managed a coup in South East Megagame's excellent Terra Invicta.
The world map at Terra Invicta. Photo by Alex Vince
Here’s some quick context: Terra Invicta is a current-day geopolitical game, very similar to the popular Watch the Skies. However, it features a more developed climate and economic subgame that influences the day as much as the actions on the military map and the negotiations within the UN. The nature of the great crisis players must navigate changes from game to game.
In this run, the crisis was the return of a long-lost offshoot of the human race to planet Earth. For brevity, I’ll refer to them as aliens going forward. These aliens are fleeing their great nemesis—a race of dangerous cyborgs. So far, so Battlestar Galactica. At the start of the day, the nations of Earth are unaware of these aliens, though their existence is revealed very early on. One group, however, does have some foreknowledge of them: His Majesty's Government of the United Kingdom.
But there was a second, more hidden layer to this crisis. Neither the aliens nor the Earthlings knew that, hidden among Earth’s governments, were several cyborg infiltrators. I really liked this as a twist—you can’t run a game like this without the players expecting some kind of hidden, alien conspiracy. But adding a second layer, subtly signalled in the background material for those paying close attention, created an even better moment: the paradigm shift where players must respond, on the fly, to a fundamentally different reality than they expected.
One of these cyborg agents was embedded within the United Kingdom team.
This left the UK team of five with:
An alien Prime Minister
An alien Chancellor of the Exchequer (Economics Minister for non-Brits)
An alien Science Minister
A cyborg Chief of the Defence Staff (Head of the military for non-Brits)
A very normal diplomat
This tension had to be resolved. By the final third of the game, after the alien members had revealed themselves, the cyborg player decided to launch a coup. He had managed to sway the diplomat to his side, leaving the team divided: two versus three.
The UK national board in all its glory. Photo by Alex Vince
Preparations for the coup
One of the biggest challenges in facilitating such an impactful moment is ensuring that every player involved feels their decisions significantly influence the outcome. Too much facilitator direction can feel like railroading, while too much reliance on dice rolls can leave players feeling that an otherwise successful day was ruined by poor luck. We also need to strike a balance: giving the coup plotters a sense of agency and initiative, while still allowing their victims to make meaningful decisions about how they might survive the ordeal.
Once it became clear that a coup was brewing, it was time to introduce some critical information into the game.
First, I briefed the Russian Military Commander, who had been investing significant efforts in keeping an eye on (read: spying on) the United Kingdom, that a coup was imminent. This enabled a third-party player to engage with the situation, potentially sharing information and forming alliances with either side to influence the outcome. Megagames work best when players are communicating, and this was a powerful secret for the Russian team to exploit.
Next, I had the coup plotters walk me through their plans. Normally, I wouldn’t delve too deeply into the rationale behind a player’s actions—spending 10 minutes dissecting a quick dice roll isn’t a good use of time when there are 40 players to manage. However, a player-versus-player conflict like this warranted extra attention.
The coup plotters’ plan included the following steps:
Seize control of London’s broadcast stations
This was resolved with a straightforward dice roll, which unfortunately failed, making their subsequent actions more challenging.Leverage UN peacekeepers to support the coup under the traitorous diplomat’s command
These peacekeepers were ostensibly present to bolster defences against the aliens, but their operational control was ambiguous. To resolve this, I visited the United Nations room and had the council explicitly decide who was in charge. The Secretary-General ultimately ordered the peacekeepers to be recalled. (As a side note, I think it’s always wise to be suspicious when someone asks you to clarify who controls your soldiers…)Deploy the local UK military garrison (led by the cyborg military commander) to secure 10 Downing Street from an alleged cyborg threat
Ironically, this involved the cyborg military commander entering No. 10 to "arrest a cyborg." I asked the Prime Minister whether he would allow these additional security forces into Downing Street "for his own protection." He approved their access—a critical decision he later reflected on, believing he could have made a different choice. This preserved his sense of agency.Enlist a borrowed Russian special forces unit for additional support
This was negotiated between the coup plotters and the Russian player. However, the Russian Commander had his own agenda and issued a secret order for the unit to secure the UK Prime Minister and extract him to Russia amidst the chaos.
At each stage, I asked the players involved to confirm who they trusted to be part of their plot. I then verified with those supposed allies to ensure everyone was on the same page. Each time plans didn’t align or allies disagreed, it counted as a strike against the plot’s success.
Players at the world map. Photo by Alex Vince
The coup unfolds
The plan was robust, and it was time to put it into action. We gathered the entire UK team and played it out, starting with the local garrison being welcomed into No 10 by the Prime Minister before they promptly arrested him. However, arresting one man doesn’t equate to controlling an entire country - so what were the next steps?
Checking with the Military Commander, he ordered a small escort to transport the Prime Minister out of London while the rest of his coup forces secured key government institutions. This is where the Russians' secret orders came into play. They ambushed the convoy transporting the Prime Minister, successfully extracting him to a waiting flight bound for Moscow.
With the Prime Minister dealt with, the coup plotters turned their attention to the other two alien members of the UK government.
The Science Minister posed a unique challenge - he was on the moon. This kind of complication is not unusual in a game centered on first contact with an alien race, but the coup plotters had planned for it by deploying a separate force to secure him. For the next two turns, the Science Minister was trapped in an American moonbase under siege. This created an opportunity for the main alien faction to launch their own rescue mission, bringing yet another team into the pivotal event - a good way to engage more players in a game involving 40 participants.
The Economics Minister was much easier to apprehend. As he left a recent international economics conference, he was ambushed. When I asked if he had any security plans, he mentioned heading to a safehouse provided by the larger alien faction to escape. However, the main alien team knew nothing about this supposed safe house. This classic moment of misaligned player strategies left him with nowhere to go, and he was swiftly detained. For the next turn, he was forced to accompany the couping Military Commander, slipping notes to friendly local players whenever the opportunity arose.
By the end of the coup, the situation had unfolded as follows:
The Prime Minister had escaped to Russia
The Science Minister was besieged on the moon
The Economics Minister was captured and under constant surveillance
The coup forces had successfully seized control of the government. Most importantly, the resolution of these events gave every involved player a sense of meaningful engagement, ensuring the moment felt like collective play, not events being forced upon them that they had no say in.
Checking in
This was an exciting moment for everyone involved—but it left the state of play somewhat unclear. Were all the players satisfied, and did they understand how their games would progress from that point? There was only one way to find out: ask them.
The Prime Minister was already deep into plotting his return with the Russian Government as his new sponsor. He needed no further support from me as a facilitator.
The Science Player was content to remain trapped on the moon (or rather, in the science room—a separate area of the venue) for the foreseeable future. I updated the Science Facilitator to ensure they provided the player with an engaging couple of turns while the rescue mission was planned. Trusting the rest of the facilitator team to add their own twists is an excellent way to make players feel like they’re part of something bigger.
The Economics Player was offered the option to play a new character but declined, preferring to focus on regaining his position of power. Although he would later lose his life during a counter-coup, the player was happy with how his story unfolded.
The coup players felt confident they could govern the country together moving forward. They couldn’t - but that was all part of the day’s fun.
With the players satisfied, the coup was resolved, and we moved on to other plots. Later, I caught the Map Facilitator managing the Russian invasion of the UK, led by the returning Prime Minister - a fantastic continuation of the story that drew in nearly a dozen players from various teams. By the end of the game, everyone involved was buzzing about the decisions they’d made, reflecting on their mistakes, and sharing cracking stories to relive in the pub.
As Control, our time is precious—there are so many players and ideas to manage! However, by being present to guide players through the most pivotal moments and spending time afterwards ensuring their satisfaction, we can help create truly rich and memorable experiences for all.
Would you have handled this coup differently as a facilitator and what do you think of coups at megagames? Let us know on our Facebook group!