Who goes first in Twilight Struggle?
GMT Games Deluxe Edition rules, 2015 · English
The USSR player goes first: they set up Influence first and always take the first Action Round of each turn. Each turn’s Headline cards are chosen and revealed simultaneously before that.
Official tie-break or fallback
If both Headline cards have the same Operations value, the US player’s Headline event takes effect first.
Rule details
In the Headline Phase, the card with the higher Operations value takes effect first. Scoring cards count as 0 and take effect second; if both are scoring cards, the US card goes first.
After the Headline Phase, the players alternate Action Rounds, USSR first, then US.
The rules do not say how players choose sides. The optional tournament rules offer secret bidding for sides, with extra Influence for the player who gets the other side.
Source & edition
- Twilight Struggle: Deluxe Edition rulesGMT Games · Page 4, sections 3.0 Game Setup and 4.5 turn structure (C. Headline Phase, D. Action Rounds); page 11, section 11.1.4 (optional tournament bidding) · Checked 2026-09-25Printed page references: 4, 11
Image: © GMT Games · GMT Games
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