Just noting that the even though the Medic has the Government Grant card, it can be played on anyone's turn at any time.

Oh, duh. I forgot it was a Medic draw and was wondering if building research stations was a Medic thing I missed.

Does it count as an action?

It does not. Events are awesome.

PANDEMIC

We're clearly still under serious pressure but your turn was a great result. I think Government Grant gives us two excellent options. This is based on the premise that we'd want the Dispatcher to use their Shanghai card to build a research station right in the Red hotspot. Now we have two possibilities:

1. If we use the Government Grant to build the Shanghai station, the Dispatcher could instead pass their card to the Scientist when the opportunity arises. We could thus be very close to a Red cure. (I won't say immediately; we could do it this round but at the expense of leaving cities on the edge for longer.)

2. However, I think there's a better option. We now have two hotspots. We'll need to be able to move between both of them. We could do this: the Dispatcher moves to Tokyo, cures a cube, moves to Shanghai and builds the research station. On my turn we can use the grant to build a station in Baghdad, I can use the two stations to trip over there and get to curing.

I think option 2 is our fastest way to get things under some semblance of control for a bit. It delays the Red Cure a little, but I think we can still manage that in not much more time.

I think option 2 is our fastest way to get things under some semblance of control for a bit. It delays the Red Cure a little, but I think we can still manage that in not much more time.

Not necessarily. If you move to Cairo on your last action, I can join you there on my turn and pick up Ho Chi Minh City. Since, if the dispatcher doesn't move me on their turn, my turn will be fairly useless where I am (unless Johannesburg gets hit, and even then I think getting another red would be more important).

PANDEMIC

Not necessarily. If you move to Cairo on your last action, I can join you there on my turn and pick up Ho Chi Minh City. Since, if the dispatcher doesn't move me on their turn, my turn will be fairly useless where I am (unless Johannesburg gets hit, and even then I think getting another red would be more important).

Ah, I have some thoughts there too. If we're ok with delaying the Yellow cure, you can move back to Bogota and discard it to move anywhere on the board, with two actions left.

It's still, strictly speaking, going to delay the Red cure. If we went hell-for-leather you could cure it on your next turn. Say we use Government Grant to build the station in Shanghai, the Dispatcher moves there, hauls you over and passes the card; then on my turn I get to Shanghai too and give you Ho Chi Minh City. You're set to cure Red on your first action and still have a bunch of options to go. (Maybe steal my Buenos Aires and then go clear Tokyo or Seoul.)

I don't recommend this, I think it's too dangerous to leave Tokyo and Baghdad on the edge for longer than we absolutely have to. But it would be possible.

PANDEMIC

Yeah, I think bt's suggestion is our best option right now. Therefore:

Dispatch myself to Tokyo

Treat the Red Death once

Move to Shanghai

Build Research Center

If we're ok with delaying the Yellow cure, you can move back to Bogota and discard it to move anywhere on the board, with two actions left.

Well, let's see what happens with the Dispatcher's draw, but, since my main function is collecting cards and curing disease, I don't like the idea of discarding one instead of picking up another red.

And, I'll admit, part of the appeal to me of you going to Cairo instead of treating Baghdad twice is that it means ending up in Sao Paolo was actually a good thing.

PANDEMIC

The Dispatcher dispatches herself to Tokyo and puts up a bunch of signs reminding people to wash their hands, reducing the red death and taking Tokyo off the brink. From there she takes an Antonov An-2 to Shanghai where she convinces local party officials to rapidly build a research station.

She then draws Atlanta (Blue) and Cairo (Black). Red death spreads in Bangkok, and zombies multiply in Cairo.

The Situation:

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PANDEMIC

Ok! Another quite-good turn, Baghdad hasn't blown its top. Are we agreed that I ask the Medic to ask Daddy Warbucks to build a research station in Baghdad, so I can pop over there and kill a cube?

That'll account for three of my actions. Options for the remaining action:

We go with the Scientist's plan and I move to Cairo to await extraction. Of my Vietnamese metropolis. With the extra cube in Cairo, that's looking a bit more attractive.

I could take out another cube in either Tokyo or Baghdad.

I could move to Tehran and prepare to eliminate more Black cubes.

Basically the difference between option 1 and the others is that we end with one more cube on the board and one more Yellow card in the Scientist's hands. That'd put us one card away from both a Red and a Yellow cure, which does sound pretty awesome.

I need to consult with my own brains trust, so there's discussion time. Do we think the cube sitch is sufficiently under control?

PANDEMIC

Well, if you wind up in Cairo, she has the third Red at the end of her turn. So if we do:

Medic: Move to Seoul and treat, then teleport to Manila, move to Sydney.

Dispatcher: Move self and Scientist to Sydney, pass card, Move Scientist back to Cairo.

That lets her move to Baghdad and cure Red on her next turn.