Game: Mr. President

Thread: Ladies and Gentlemen, the next President of the United States.....

Phytoman — 2008-10-07T18:23:54+00:00

Once again, I’ve been caught up in the election and developed a solo variant for Mr. President (3M version) that can be down loaded in the files section. The following is a session that I played using my solo variant with the current candidate cards submitted by Eric Johnson. Since there was not a card for Sarah Palin, John McCain’s running mate (and IMHO don’t think that she would really help him anyway), I selected Jeb Bush as the Vice President candidate for the Republicans. I played the Democratic ticket with Obama and Biden.

To quickly review the solo variant, the AI’s vice president and president cards are distributed equally into the four country regions and depending upon a die roll, the AI will cast a ballot in a determined region, raise funds in a specific region, advertise to gain undecided ballots, or debate a topic. The player pretty much follows the written rules with some modifications that I will not get into here.

Anyway, in the game the Eastern region is typically a Democratic stronghold while the Republicans have an edge in the South and a majority of states in the Midwest. Thus, my strategy was to minimally campaign in the East, steal one or two states in the South, and win some big states in the Midwest and West (pretty obvious strategy). I started off my campaign in the East trying to quickly play Biden’s home state cards (Delaware) that I had in my hand so that I could fill my hand with cards that could better help me out in other regions than a state with only 3 electoral votes. My problem was that I had difficulty getting into Delaware (unlucky dice rolls) and ended up playing more eastern cards than I really had planned too. Meanwhile, it seemed that the AI was casting a lot of early ballots in the South. This meant that I had some work to do there if I wanted to get some votes. I shifted my attention to Florida and Virginia, which had the smallest Republican edge and some of the higher electoral votes. In the meantime, there was an early debate on national defense, which I won, convincing some of the Republican voters to vote for me. My Republican opponent was quickly raising funds far in excess to what I had so I decided to take a few turns towards the middle of the game to raise some money so that I could advertise.

In the second half of the game, I concentrated more in the Midwest (with Obama’s home state cards) and some of the big electoral vote states in the West such as California and Texas. Although I had an edge in California to begin with, McCain and Bush were campaigning heavily there and I knew if the million-vote card should end up there I would be in trouble. I also wanted either Ohio or Michigan but after McCain campaigned several times in Michigan, I shifted my attention to try to get Ohio (maybe this simulates what is happening in the real election with McCain virtually “conceding” Michigan).

The Republicans were finally getting the chance to spend some of their money to advertise and persuade a lot of undecided voters to vote for them. My funds were low but I decided not to waste any more turns to try and raise more and instead just cast as many ballots as I could, hoping the Republican side would have more cards left over that would go into the undecided envelope. I went back to the south a few more times since I thought I might have a chance at a few more states that appeared to be up for grabs.

In the end, I did use up all of my cards first, but the Republicans only had four cards left in their pile, which went into the undecided envelope. Since I won the debate, I got the first five cards from the undecided envelope. However, McCain and Bush got the remaining cards since they had campaigned in significantly more states than I did.

Now the votes were all counted and after all of the Eastern states were tallied, Obama and Biden led 61 electoral votes to 55 with the Republicans stealing New Jersey and Pennsylvania from me, but I narrowly held on to New York. In the South, I won a few more states than I hoped to including Tennessee, North Carolina and Florida. However, McCain and Bush now held a 137 to 111 electoral vote lead. The Midwest did not help me out either except by winning Ohio and Obama’s home state of Illinois, but I was now down 63 electoral votes (221 to 158). I was getting nervous as to whether I had campaigned enough in the West as it would all come down to this region. However, after sweeping both California and Texas, Obama and Biden surged over the needed 270 electoral votes to become the next president and vice president of the United States. The final tally was Obama-Biden 289, electoral votes and McCain-Bush, 249 electoral votes.

In retrospect, I think that the solo variant actually plays a pretty even game. Sure, there is the random die roll to select which region the AI will cast their ballots in but the card distribution is pretty even in the end and deciding which region to campaign in plays a significant role. I did not get to every state and neither did the AI so some of the built-in edges were significant. I’m not sure what would have happened if I had forced more debates or advertised more. I have not played the solo variant enough times to look at some of the extreme strategies and whether this would skew the game one way or the other. I would be very interested if others tried the solo variant and let me know what problems or changes I could make.

edited so it would read clearer.

Thread: Re: Election fever: Review of an old 3M “classic”

PlayMe1 — 2008-10-06T22:24:16+00:00

Kiwini wrote:
Here's how this game has ruined me forever, though: In "Mr. President" the Democrats are the red cards and the Republicans are the blue cards, and given how many times I played that game in my formative years - that's what stuck.

Since 2000, however, the media (and the popular culture) has standardized on red = Republican and blue = Democrat, and that just isn't right!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_states_and_blue_states

I agree! I still think of the state colors in terms of Mr. President's colors rather than the media's current colors.

I played the game a few weeks ago and we complied with current standards and we had the Democrat play the blue cards and the Republican the red cards. I think the decks are identical, so that's easily done. We don't use the candidate cards from the game -- instead I make real candidate cards and I use blue (Democrat) and red (Republican) index cards for those.

Thread: Re: Election fever: Review of an old 3M “classic”

Kiwini — 2008-10-06T19:31:12+00:00

I played this versus my quite a bit in 1968 - I was the Republican side and he was the Democratic side. It was before my transformation between Nixon 1 and Nixon 2!

Here's how this game has ruined me forever, though: In "Mr. President" the Democrats are the red cards and the Republicans are the blue cards, and given how many times I played that game in my formative years - that's what stuck.

Since 2000, however, the media (and the popular culture) has standardized on red = Republican and blue = Democrat, and that just isn't right!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_states_and_blue_states

Thread: Solo Variant

Phytoman — 2008-10-03T20:55:20+00:00

I have uploaded a file containing rules that I have written for a solo variant of Mr. President. I have played it twice and although won both times, the game was close and could have gone either way depending upon the way the cards were played. Let me know what you think and if I have missed anything obvious and need to modify and improve it. The game can be played along with either the original rules or with the updated rules written by Eric Johnson to simulate this years election.

Thanks and enjoy!

Thread: Re: Mr President Session 25 Sep 2008

jock380 — 2008-09-27T02:54:04+00:00

Phytoman wrote:
Nice session report and am curious how exactly you updated it. Did you change any states in regards to whether they are considered a blue or red state? How did you update the candidates' cards? I was thinking of a way to completely update and modernize the cards as well but just haven't had the time.

Updates available at http://www.boardgamegeek.com/file/info/30354 thanks to Eric Johnson. We made up ratings for Palin which balanced giving her enough to make the game reasonably even but not so much as to ignore her obvious shortcomings.

Thread: Re: Mr President Session 25 Sep 2008

bnordeng — 2008-09-26T15:44:30+00:00

Nice session report. I haven't played this game for a long time, but my parents have the original and I remember playing it and liking it a lot.

Just a side note... Obama's running mate is Joe Biden (with an "e", not an "o").

Thread: Re: Mr President Session 25 Sep 2008

Phytoman — 2008-09-26T12:29:07+00:00

Nice session report and am curious how exactly you updated it. Did you change any states in regards to whether they are considered a blue or red state? How did you update the candidates' cards? I was thinking of a way to completely update and modernize the cards as well but just haven't had the time.

Thread: Re: Mr President Session 25 Sep 2008

JohnBandettini — 2008-09-26T11:19:09+00:00

A truly great game. I've had it for many years and it still gets played on occasion. Good session and good to remind people of this game.

Thread: Mr President Session 25 Sep 2008

jock380 — 2008-09-26T08:17:53+00:00

Every four years at about this time we dust off 3M’s classic of political strategy, update the state electoral college vote totals and candidate ratings via BGG, and give it some presidential playtime.

Nick, Rohan and Jock were in the harness, with Natasha too occupied by infant attendance to make a neat foursome. So Nick (McCain & Palin) took on Rohan (Obama) and Jock (Bidon) in an attempt to prolong the Republican hegemony.

Initial campaigning was targeted at the East and West as the candidates sought to put some big ballots into the key states of New York, Texas and California. Obama started with some dominant stump work in Pennsylvania (which the Democrats subsequently ignored for the rest of the campaign, to their ultimate regret). He went big ticket, high intensity.

McCain in contrast moved in a slow, deliberate and painstaking manner. He also launched an early debate challenge on his long suit of Foreign Policy, and triumphed, his years as a Vietcong prisoner of war seemingly suited to discussing the demands of global negotiation and influence.

Bidon began striking some blows in the South, securing Florida early. Midgame then saw Bidon seek to balance the debate ledger by tackling Palin on education, but he was crucially stalemated.

Advertising was largely eschewed until the latter stages of the campaign when McCain ploughed some Midwest airtime into Missouri, Wisconsin, Kentucky and Nebraska, and Bidon kept working the South in Tennessee and Virginia. There was no fund raising.

Palin visited her headquarters in Anchorage to ensure the good people of Alaska delivered their three electoral college votes to the GOP.

The bulletin events favoured the Democrats, and they were the first to exhaust their stack after the home stretch saw neither side able to post ballots in Michigan or the vital bellweather state of Ohio. However the Republicans had won more debates, and by game’s end had campaigned in 26 states to the Democrats 24, so the overwhelming majority of undecided voter ballots went to the McCain-Palin ticket.

The result was decisive and soon obvious in the tally count. McCain carried the East, taking Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, and securing a surprise (and thumping) win in New York (5 million votes to 1,451,000). Pickings for Obama were slim in the South apart from Florida, whilst the Midwest went 2:1 to the Republicans despite being pipped in Indiana and Missouri and thrashed in Illinois where the Obama’s campaign erred by drastically over-allocating ballots to the candidate’s home state.

By the time the returns for Texas fell to McCain, we were calling Nick “Commander in Chief”. California had yet to be counted! It went Blue (5.9 million to 4.5 million) and the West came in for the Democrats, but it was too little too late.

The final electoral college count was Republican Party 302, Democratic Party 236, with states going 28 to 22 respectively. In retrospect had Texas (lost by only 601,000 votes) been held by Obama then he would have scraped into the White House – but it never seemed that close.

At the post-mortem we were struck again by the accuracy of the simulation of the political reality than no side can cover the whole country, and therefore strategic, on the run decisions have to be made about where to campaign and where to spend the ad money. We missed out this time on the building excitement of a close tally count which has provided such pleasure on previous occasions, but with the dynamics fresh again in the mind we may give it another run before this November.

Thread: Re: Election fever: Review of an old 3M “classic”

Sphere — 2008-09-13T16:43:24+00:00

Mr. President is a very good game, which I would still gladly play.

Thread: Re: Election fever: Review of an old 3M “classic”

PlayMe1 — 2008-09-13T14:10:59+00:00

Thanks for the well-written review of this old 3M classic.

Mr. President still holds up as an excellent game, and successfully captures the feel of the electoral ballot count in just one hour's play. I have been creating new candidate cards since I started playing this in the early 1970s, including this year's candidates. I play the basic game, not using the advertising, media and debate options.

I've played 1960: The Making of the President once, and don't think, for all it's additional bells and whistles, that it's any better than Mr. President.

Thread: Re: Electoral Edge Question

huber — 2008-06-09T18:58:33+00:00

atomzero wrote:
If every vote goes 1 = 100,000, and the edges are in thousands, then what difference does it make what number the edge is? A 90 edge is no better than a 1 edge. 2 beats 1, no matter what. Am I missing something?

The numbers are there for playing the popular vote variant.

Thread: Electoral Edge Question

atomzero — 2008-06-06T03:48:39+00:00

If every vote goes 1 = 100,000, and the edges are in thousands, then what difference does it make what number the edge is? A 90 edge is no better than a 1 edge. 2 beats 1, no matter what. Am I missing something?

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kidsplinter — 2008-04-16T17:45:17+00:00

Campaign Headquarters Cards

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KrudgeWelder — 2008-02-20T23:37:41+00:00

Examples of candidate cards

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KrudgeWelder — 2008-02-20T23:36:59+00:00

Examples of Election Cards

Thread: Re: General Comment

ejohnson7 — 2008-02-13T00:27:32+00:00

I've just posted a ZIP archive of updated rules, candidate cards, tally boards and fundraising chart for the 2008 election. You can find them in the files section of the game listing.

Thread: Re: Modern variant?

ejohnson7 — 2008-02-13T00:23:33+00:00

The files were accepted today. If you use 'em, please let me know your thoughts, and I'd appreciate a thumb if you like them.

Thread: Re: Modern variant?

MarkEJohnson — 2008-02-10T01:12:52+00:00

Yeah, I haven't seen them show up here, either.

Thread: Re: Modern variant?

fanaka66 — 2008-02-09T19:17:56+00:00

I know my last name isn't Johnson, but can I join this thread?

I guess your files didn't get approved? I was looking for some modern cards. Would you be able to send them to me? GM me if possible. Thanks!

Thread: Re: Election fever: Review of an old 3M “classic”

jollypirate — 2008-02-02T01:57:10+00:00

I've got this, and the much more family friendly "Landslide", waiting to get first plays when I return to the states.

Thanks for the nod that this one, at least, will be time well spent.

Thread: Re: Modern variant?

ejohnson7 — 2008-02-01T21:54:18+00:00

I have posted new Candidate Cards, Tally Boards, Fund Raising Chart and Rules for the 2008 election in the files section today. They'll be available as soon as the admin approves them.

If you try them, please let me know.

Thread: Election fever: Review of an old 3M “classic”

Phytoman — 2008-02-01T13:55:26+00:00

With the majority of the news about the election and seeing that 1960:The Making of a President was the most popular Secret Santa gift received, I decided to dust off an old 3M “classic” called Mr. President. Unfortunately, I do not own or have played 1960: The Making of a President so I cannot compare the two. It has also been a while since I have played Mr. President so was anxious to see if it still carried the election thrill that I remember it did.

Components:
As with most games manufactured during this time period, the components are well made with heavy stock card.

There are 18 candidate cards each for both the Republican and Democratic hopeful. These cards list a unique ratings for each candidate in the areas of campaign ability, financial support, press support, fund raising, and advertising, which adds up to their effective total. It also gives the state from where they come and which policies they are identified with.

There are individual decks (ballot cards) for the President and Vice President of both parties that list the votes they are worth for an individual state in one of the four regions (Eastern, Southern, Midwestern, or Western). Overall, the presidential ballots have more votes than the vice presidential ballots.

There is a deck of “Campaign Headquarters” cards that give various instructions, such as heading off rumors, etc.

Included is a re-usable plastic tally board for keeping track of campaigning, votes, and funds with a wax crayon. The board also lists the electoral vote for each state and whether that state is pro-Democrat or pro-Republican and how many “extra” votes that candidate will have for that state.

The Play:
The game can be played by 2 or 4 players and the rules vary slightly.

For 4 players (two teams of two), each player tries to convince their partner that their selected card would have the best chance to be elected President (based upon the ratings listed on the card). Once this has been determined, a Vice President card is selected and the other player uses this card. For 2 players, each player selects a President and Vice-President card.

Players draw a number of ballot cards equal to their campaign ability written on their profile cards. On each turn, the player announces which region to campaign and rolls the dice. If the player holds cards that lists a state for that region which matches the dice roll they can cast that ballot, not revealing the amount of votes listed on the card to the other player. As ballots are cast they are marked on the Tally Board as a “P” if it is Presidential ballot or “V” if it is a Vice-Presidential ballot under that state. This way both parties will see how hard they have to campaign for states. However, the opponent doesn’t know exactly how many votes the opponent has for that state. The player then refills their hand with cards. This continues until a party depletes both (President and VP) of its Ballot decks. After this, the campaign heads into the “home stretch” and any player may announce two regions in which to campaign casting ballots in the states that match the dice roll and their cards.

Absentee ballots, that were placed in an envelope during the game, are then distributed and cast in the states of the players’ choice.

The regions are then tallied separately by sorting the stacks by state and counting the totals adding any built-in edge listed for that candidate in a state. The party with the largest popular vote wins that state’s electoral votes. After all states have been counted, the party with the majority of electoral votes becomes Mr. President and Mr. Vice President.

The advanced game includes advertising that can be used to draw ballots from the undecided envelope, fund raising to earn money to pay for advertising, and debate issues that also “win” absentee ballots for the debate winner. There is also an advantage for an incumbent if there is interest to have the winner of one game run for re-election the next game.

Personal thoughts:
Yes, the game is a little outdated. The allocation of electoral votes per state are not the same today as they use to be in 1967. Issues that the candidates identify with such as states rights, urban renewal, and the space program are not “hot” topics now for the candidates. But, all this aside, it still gives a good feeling of what it must be like to win an election. There is a lot of tension, especially as the game is winding down, in trying to calculate which states a player should campaign in and which states one should just concede, knowing you just will not have enough time or resources to visit them all. It also gives a good sense of how hard a Republican or Democrat must campaign in a typically Democratic or Republican state. There is also strategy in deciding when to take the time to raise funds and where to advertise. Absentee ballots also play a crucial role in this game, although probably more than what is typical in real life.

In conclusion, if you are in to politics and presidential elections and can set aside the outdated issues with this game I would recommend dusting this “classic” off and giving it a try. I think you will be surprised how well it does hold up.

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KrudgeWelder — 2008-01-13T06:54:16+00:00

Oil pencil tally sheet.

Thread: Re: Modern variant?

MarkEJohnson — 2007-12-23T05:18:40+00:00

Ok, I found the answer to my own question, thanks to a hardcopy I still had folded inside my game box. Jared Scarborough posted a page with some plans for updating the game in 2004. He intended to use these modifications at the next (2004? 2005?) WBC. I wonder how it turned out.

http://users.adams.net/~jareds/

Thread: Re: Need parts list for Mr. President

Lobo2 — 2007-12-22T16:38:07+00:00

artfuldodge2 wrote:
axarca wrote:
The following parts list for Mr. President is being compiled from an unplayed game.

I am removing the cards from the cellophane wrappers as we speak (07-20-2005 6:32pm CDT)...

Although I do believe that every BGGeek is important, the cards were not unwrapped solely for the purpose of compiling this inventory...

As for Copywright dates of the edition that I own:
The front of the box cover states a copywright of "1967"
The back of the very same box cover states a copywright of "1971"
The printed rules state a copywright of "1972"
...go figure.

Inventory:

* 108 Ballot Cards, divided into 2 decks (Red and Blue)
* Each deck contains 54 cards = 27 "President" Cards (26 Cards with state names and 1 "Home State" Card) and 27 "Vice-President" Cards (26 Cards with state names and 1 "Home State" Card)
* 26 Candidate Cards (13 Red and 13 Blue) [There is actually one more Red Card that states, "This deck contains Candidate Cards for both political parties"]
* 1 sheet of 28 Campaign Headquarters Cards (light blue)
* 1 Ballot Box Lid (which fits over the card tray on the open box)
* 2 "Tally Boards"
* 2 grease pencils
* 2 dice
* box
* plastic card tray insert

I am assuming that my game is complete, as it was checked by Inspector #12 at the 3M Company in St. Paul, Minnesota...

Just for posterity - my copy has 1967 printed front and back of the box, and 1971 in the rules. My contents are exactly the same. I have to assume different printings had different inventory numbers.

Just glad my copy is in fact complete.

Ditto. I have the same printing and contents.

Thread: Modern variant?

MarkEJohnson — 2007-12-21T22:36:37+00:00

I'm sure I remember find a website where someone had made modifications to this game, bringing it up-to-date with modern electoral vote counts and regional advantages for the two parties. Now I can't find that anywhere.

Thread: Re: Game and designer background

Raiderjakk — 2007-11-04T17:46:43+00:00

Thank you for making a game that I have enjoyed since a kid. I have some good memories watching my parents play and likewise picking it back up as a grown up.

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cleonhard — 2007-10-05T01:32:10+00:00

sample candidates (Republican)

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cleonhard — 2007-10-05T01:31:38+00:00

sample candidates (Democrat)

Thread: Re: Different Vote Cards - Version Question

citizen k — 2007-09-22T20:52:17+00:00

Per Joe Huber's excellent comparison of editions:

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/fileinfo.php?fileid=10985

The version that has one number and the four states is the 1967 "Fixed Popular vote" version.

The one with a different number of votes for each of the four states must be the 1971 "Variable popular vote" edition.

Thread: Game and designer background

jackvcarmichael — 2007-08-12T00:45:11+00:00

Hi folks,

My name is Jack Carmichael. This is my first post to this forum.

I noticed that the name listed as the designer of Mr. President is "Jack Cavanaugh." I happen to know that this is not correct. Because the designer of this game was myself, Jack CARMICHAEL.

In the middle 1960s I was President and Creative Director of Carmichael Lynch Advertising in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

I finished the first playable prototype of the game on November 26, 1966. I remember that date because it was also the day my son was born.

Parenthetically I think I may still have the original prototype that I submitted to 3M.

The published-date listed here of 1965 is also not correct. There was a Mr. President game that was test marketed by 3M in 1965 but it was not successful. I called my game "The Next President." 3M accepted my game for test marketing but used the name Mr. President which they owned.

The test was successful and the game went into full production some time in 1967 just in time for the Christmas season leading up to the Humphrey/Nixon campaign of 1968.

With regard to the revision of 1971, because the Nixon/Humphrey campaign was so close, 3M was afraid that the electoral system might be discontinued. They then asked me if I could possibly make the game so it could be played with both the electoral and popular vote.

I made that change and I believe it appeared sometime 1971, prior to the Nixon/McGovern election.

Since then, I've had several other games published and have developed well in excess of 50 over the years.

If anyone has any questions or is in need of further information, I can be contacted at jackvcarmichael@gmail.com.

I would appreciate it if the corrections I've outlined could be made as soon as possible. Thank you. --Jack Carmichael.

Thread: Re: Voter Cards.....

karlkindt4 — 2007-07-29T00:28:04+00:00

Any chance you still need this? I picked up a complete version of the game today at a yard sale for $3.00! If you need it still, LMK.

Thread: Re: Need parts list for Mr. President

artfuldodge2 — 2007-05-17T03:10:01+00:00

axarca wrote:
The following parts list for Mr. President is being compiled from an unplayed game.

I am removing the cards from the cellophane wrappers as we speak (07-20-2005 6:32pm CDT)...

Although I do believe that every BGGeek is important, the cards were not unwrapped solely for the purpose of compiling this inventory...

As for Copywright dates of the edition that I own:
The front of the box cover states a copywright of "1967"
The back of the very same box cover states a copywright of "1971"
The printed rules state a copywright of "1972"
...go figure.

Inventory:

* 108 Ballot Cards, divided into 2 decks (Red and Blue)
* Each deck contains 54 cards = 27 "President" Cards (26 Cards with state names and 1 "Home State" Card) and 27 "Vice-President" Cards (26 Cards with state names and 1 "Home State" Card)
* 26 Candidate Cards (13 Red and 13 Blue) [There is actually one more Red Card that states, "This deck contains Candidate Cards for both political parties"]
* 1 sheet of 28 Campaign Headquarters Cards (light blue)
* 1 Ballot Box Lid (which fits over the card tray on the open box)
* 2 "Tally Boards"
* 2 grease pencils
* 2 dice
* box
* plastic card tray insert

I am assuming that my game is complete, as it was checked by Inspector #12 at the 3M Company in St. Paul, Minnesota...

Just for posterity - my copy has 1967 printed front and back of the box, and 1971 in the rules. My contents are exactly the same. I have to assume different printings had different inventory numbers.

Just glad my copy is in fact complete.

Thread: Re: Need parts list for Mr. President

vulsuck — 2007-02-21T04:27:28+00:00

My 1967 edition came with reference cards which indicate that there are indeed 78 ballot cards of each color. 40 for the president and 38 for the vice president.

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puckhead — 2007-01-28T19:50:21+00:00

Sample Incumbents Table, 1971 ed. Also comes with Debate and Fundraising Tables

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puckhead — 2007-01-28T19:48:36+00:00

Tally Board used to keep track of voting, advertising, and incumbency

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sroney — 2007-01-14T00:26:46+00:00

Back of box

Thread: Voter Cards.....

Raiderjakk — 2006-11-14T05:40:28+00:00

All,

I'm trying to write a computer version (open source) of this game and I was wondering if anyone had the voter cards. I was hoping to use the cards ('71 version) to see how to weight a 2004/2006/2008 version of the game.

Any help appreciated.

Thanks much.

Thread: Re: Another Advertising Question

Nolano — 2006-08-27T13:15:05+00:00

No, according to my rule-book (1967) when you advertise in a region you may advertise in ANY state in that region, as long as you have the money for each advertisement, and so long as the state appears on one of your cards.

Thread: Re: Debate Question

Nolano — 2006-08-27T13:09:41+00:00

As I understand it, if you win you cast ALL ballots both yours and your opponents, that is the reason to debate.

Thread: Another Advertising Question

justdoit — 2006-08-24T20:20:39+00:00

If you roll doubles or a seven, and decide to advertise in a region, after you take your alloted ballots from the Undecided Voter stack, must you then only advertise in the states which correspond to the dice roll? For example, if you chose the Eastern region and rolled two 5's, would you only be able to advertise in the 5th (PA) and 10th (DE) states (assuming you have the money), or could you advertise in ANY state that you have drawn a card for in that region? Any help would be much appreciated.

Thread: Re: Need parts list for Mr. President

throwingmuse — 2005-11-28T23:36:05+00:00

My inventory is different:

78 red ballot cards

There are 72 cards divided into President and Vice-President categories which consist of denominations:

50,000, 100,000, 200,000, 300,000, 400,000, 500,000 and 1 million

There are also 3 President home state 300,000 cards and 3 Vice-President 200,000 cards

78 blue ballot cards

Same as red breakdown

18 red candidate cards
18 blue candidate cards
30 yellow campaign headquarters cards

Image

belial1134 — 2005-07-25T14:04:30+00:00

1967 Edition

Thread: Parts list for "Mr. President"

axarca — 2005-07-21T00:14:36+00:00

The following parts list for Mr. President is being compiled from an unplayed game.

I am removing the cards from the cellophane wrappers as we speak (07-20-2005 6:32pm CDT)...

Although I do believe that every BGGeek is important, the cards were not unwrapped solely for the purpose of compiling this inventory...

As for Copywright dates of the edition that I own:
The front of the box cover states a copywright of "1967"
The back of the very same box cover states a copywright of "1971"
The printed rules state a copywright of "1972"
...go figure.

Inventory:

* 108 Ballot Cards, divided into 2 decks (Red and Blue)
* Each deck contains 54 cards = 27 "President" Cards (26 Cards with state names and 1 "Home State" Card) and 27 "Vice-President" Cards (26 Cards with state names and 1 "Home State" Card)
* 26 Candidate Cards (13 Red and 13 Blue) [There is actually one more Red Card that states, "This deck contains Candidate Cards for both political parties"]
* 1 sheet of 28 Campaign Headquarters Cards (light blue)
* 1 Ballot Box Lid (which fits over the card tray on the open box)
* 2 "Tally Boards"
* 2 grease pencils
* 2 dice
* box
* plastic card tray insert

I am assuming that my game is complete, as it was checked by Inspector #12 at the 3M Company in St. Paul, Minnesota...

Thread: Re: Need parts list for Mr. President

belial1134 — 2005-07-18T23:38:54+00:00

1967 Edition: I think it should be 40 President & 40 Vice President cards. Plus the 30 yellow cards. 2 Dice, 2 pencils.

To clarify this edition has 1967 on the front of the box as well as the back of the box.

Thread: Debate Question

fanaka66 — 2005-04-14T00:21:19+00:00

If both sides 'win' their debate, they both cast their risked ballots.

If both sides 'lose' their debate, it's a stalemate and they both cast their risked ballots.

If one side wins, they cast their ballots and mark the topic as won, but what happens to the loser's ballots? I would assume they go into the undecided envelope, but I can't find a clear answer.

Thread: Reifferent Vote Cards - Version Question

Windopaene — 2005-03-29T05:22:26+00:00

Randy and Dan,

Thanks for the info.

Thread: Reifferent Vote Cards - Version Question

tool — 2005-03-29T05:19:26+00:00

I don't know what version you have, but it isn't the 1965 or 1966 version - probably 1967. The 1967 version is similar to the 1971 version and is not rare. The 1965/66 versions (easily identifiable as they are in brown boxes instead of red) are of an entirely different game of the same name, and are fairly rare.

Thread: Reifferent Vote Cards - Version Question

Randy Cox — 2005-03-28T20:00:31+00:00

Windopaene (#462195),
I think you have the earlier version ('65, though maybe there was a version in '67). If I remember correctly, the earlier version showed a single vote tally (large numbers) and four states (e.g. 250000 SC NY WI OR). Later versions ('71, and the one I prefer) had four states listed, each with an abstracted number of votes (e.g. SC 3, NY 10, WI 7, OR 5).

Also, one of the versions had 'blacked out' sections of the tally sheet, thus limiting you to a maximum number of visits to certain states. I don't recall that being the case in the other rendition.

A final note: at last year's WBC, Joel Scarboro ran a tournament with updated game play (you actually build a candidate with issues and each state has a profile based on the five areas of issues). His version used the "large votes" version of the cards, so at least you have the means of playing his variant.

Thread: Different Vote Cards - Version Question

Windopaene — 2005-03-26T21:17:01+00:00

So I picked up another one of these the other day from a thrift store, (thinking at the very least I'd be able to use it to complete my other incomplete copy), and when I opened it up to count the cards, found something very odd.

The version shown here in pictures has the four region bars on each card, with a state listed, and a number of votes next to it on the left. However, the version I just got has a large number of votes across the top of the card, (from 50,000 - 1 Million), and then the four states. So the question then becomes, is this some amazingly rare version? Is this a version prior to the ones I'm used to seeing? Anyone else ever seen this?

Thread: Re:Campaign visit limits

Deserwest — 2004-12-14T09:50:46+00:00

thrasherguy (#60808), I think there already is a correlation between number of allowable visits and electoral votes, which is similar to what you propose. I think if you alter this you will upset the delicate balance of the game in several ways. part of your strategy has to do with how and when to exit the game in a way that is either to your advantage or to your oppenents direct deterement. Some ballot cards are more difficult than others to play and you may have to resort to advertising or debating to get rid of them. Because the ballot cards are set up so that the four states appearing on each ballot card equate with a different die cast, you could cause the game to prematurely end by allowing unlimited appearances in a state. Also, there would be nowhere to record more than 5 visits. In reality candidates are limited to how many times they can visit a state and there is opportunity cost involved. I think you will detract from the realism by doing what you propose to do.

Thread: Re:Campaign visit limits

Deserwest — 2004-12-14T09:37:16+00:00

thrasherguy (#60808),5 visits in: Penn, N.Y. Mich, Ohio, Ill, Texas and CA. 4 visits in: Mass, N.J. N. Caro, Florida, Wis, Missouri, Ind, 3 Visits in: all other states except those having 2 visits which are Alaska, Neveda, Wyoming, Hawaii, Montana, Dakotas, D.C. Vermont N.H. and Del. I am thinking over the second part of your post and will reply later under seperate reply.

Thread: Re:Advertising question

Deserwest — 2004-12-14T09:28:18+00:00

godard (#28764), re your question on advertising, you pay once and can place as many ballot cards as you draw from the undecided deck in a particular State. You must mark the tallyboard for each ballot, so be aware that does count towards the limit of times you can cast a ballot in that state. You do not pay for each card, just a one time fee for each state.

Thread: Campaign visit limits

thrasherguy — 2004-10-20T22:35:49+00:00

I have the 1967 version, but downloaded the 1971 rules for clarity. Apparently, there was a change between the 2 editions in which there are limits for number of times you may campaign in each state, from 2 to 5 visits depending on the size of the state. This must've been added in the post '67 versions. Can any of you fine BGG-ers either give a scan of the 1971 campaign tally board (which has the limits on it) or just tell me what the limits are. I was going to experiment with the limits being tied in with the advertising costs for the states ($250k = 3 visits, $750k = 4, $1m = 5). Also, is this even a good rule? It seems as though it would bog the game down a bit. If a candidate wants to spend his entire campaign foolishly trying to lock down 3 states, why can't he?

Thread: Re:Need parts list for Mr. President

fanaka66 — 2004-06-24T18:55:11+00:00

Bribaba (#39921),

I just got a copy off of eBay (1967 version). I have 18 candidates in each color. I have 40 President Ballot Cards in each color and 38 Vice President Cards in each color. I also have 30 small yellow cards.

Thread: Re:Need parts list for Mr. President

Bribaba — 2004-06-12T10:33:46+00:00

dguthrie (#33172),

I just did a recount (!) and this has got me thinking. I have 54 ballot cards in each deck, 14 red candidate cards, but only 13 blue candidate cards. Can anyone confirm this total?

Thread: Re:Need parts list for Mr. President

dguthrie — 2004-04-14T19:20:36+00:00

This is a common problem with old 3M games. I have several in my collection which I have been attempting to inventory. Few (if any) have a parts list. In some cases, the parts list is infered somewhere within the rules (UFO) or by the parts tray (Jumpin).

Thread: Session Report

godard — 2004-02-24T22:31:05+00:00

The game's almost 40 years old but still cello-wrapped. Cracked the cards open and played a two-player game with Tara. She, as the Republicans, took a few southern states, and whipped me in Texas as I somehow ended up with no Texas cards. We campaigned heavily in NY, but she eked out a win there as well. Only one debate all game, won by the Reps. Dems rarely rolled doubles, so my deck was emptied quickly -- allowing the Republicans to campaign at will while I tried in vain to dump my last 2 cards. It was more than enough for a 288 - 250 Republican victory.

The two player game as written has some flaws, and i'm eager to try the 4-player version.

Thread: Advertising question

godard — 2004-02-23T19:30:02+00:00

The rules state that you can only advertise once in a given state. Does that mean you can only buy one card to use in that state, or can you buy multiple cards during a single turn (and pay a multiple of the amount... say, $3M for three New York cards)?

I'm sure there are more unclear rules in Mr. President (like all AH games), so if anyone knows of a FAQ, I'd appreciate it.

(I love how the rulebook is 4 pages, and then in the box cover there are MORE rules that they don't tell you about anywhere else)