Due to a mix-up in thinking, we thought that we won the second game in February, but technically didn’t. We completed the mandatory objective, which was establishing three new supply centers. However, we did not also complete one of the optional objectives. In February, the requirement was completing two objectives. Starting in March, that number bumps up to 3 and stays there for the rest of the season. By the time that we figured this out, things were mostly put away, so there was no point in going back to try to reconstruct. We just moved on. Since we didn’t technically win, we left the number of rationed cards (see below) the same.

Here’s the chart which shows the number of objectives required to win each month. Also on this chart is the number of supply cubes available in the stockpile for deployment to cities at the start of the game.

At this point in the game, we had the following optional objectives in play.

Going back to game mechanics, there are a couple of additional card types that make up the Player Deck.
Rationed Event cards are event cards that can be played, usually without requiring an action. They are all beneficial to one degree or another and can provide respite when things look bleak. Like all things with this game, there is a catch. When you start the game in January, you get to choose 4 rationed cards to include in the player deck. The game started with around 8 rationed cards, so there was some discussion and choice required. If you win a game, you are able to use 2 less rationed cards the next game. If you lose a game, your rationed card count increases by 2 in the following game. Writing this from a number of games in the future – the most rationed cards that we’ve had in a game is 4, while the least is zero.

Rationed Event cards that we have used a number of times includes:
Hidden Stockpile – allows you to place 6 supply cubes from the reserve on a location where a player is at.
Drastic Measures – allows you to remove two plague cubes from the board (but the marker doesn’t move backwards)
Team Bravo – allows you to place two supply cubes into cities on the board. Very useful when there are some vulnerable cities without supply cubes.

At the beginning of the game, there were no Unrationed Event cards. During the introduction of additional elements in the game, there have been some unrationed cards added. The catch with the Unrationed cards is that they are a one-use card. After you use them, they are destroyed and out of the game. Here’s an example of an Unrationed Card that we did use (although in a later month).

Another of the five characters created at the beginning of the game was Angel, the character that is being played by Daelynn.

Her initial role was the Administrator, able to spend an action to move one character to the same location as another. This ability is useful given the constraints of exchanging cards, where both parties to the exchange need to be in the same city as the card being exchanged. If one of the characters is in the right city, the Administrator can get the other party there quickly.
I haven’t talked about this yet, but at the end of each gaming session, there are a number of production points that can be allocated to make things a little easier going forward. We spent 1 production point to add the Record Keeper ability to Angel, allowing her to have eight cards in hand rather than the normal limit of 7.