Don't wait for the translation - bugged

[The Selfish Meme]

The description of the card does NOT say that the event can only be triggered if the US is behind in military ops (unlike NATO, for example).

So, the expected behavior is: the event is played and, if the condition is not met, no VPs are scored and the card is removed from the game.

Real behavior: the event cannot be played if the US is not behind in military ops.

[JustAnotherNerd2025]

This behavior is actually correct. There are a few other cards, such as Our Man in Tehran and Kitchen Debates, that say " If [X condition], [Y effect] takes place". The official rules say that if [X condition] isn't met, the event can't be triggered, and the card can't be removed. Don't Wait For the Translation happens to be one of these "if" cards and so isn't removed if the US isn't behind in Mil Ops.

[The Selfish Meme]

Originally posted by JustAnotherNerd2025:

This behavior is actually correct. There are a few other cards, such as Our Man in Tehran and Kitchen Debates, that say " If [X condition], [Y effect] takes place". The official rules say that if [X condition] isn't met, the event can't be triggered, and the card can't be removed. Don't Wait For the Translation happens to be one of these "if" cards and so isn't removed if the US isn't behind in Mil Ops.

It's confusing because it still doesn't say 'play the event only if...'. Why Truman Doctrine is removed from the game, then, even if no influence was removed due to the lack of uncontrolled countries?

[The Selfish Meme]

The rules say: if the opponent event brings no result, it still counts as played and is removed from the game, if the card has an asterisk.

I think this card is clearly this case, because NATO has a special writing saying that the event CANNOT BE PLAYED unless one of two others were played prior to that. And for this card, I think the event is played but brings no result, hence it should be removed from the game.

[JustAnotherNerd2025]

Originally posted by The Selfish Meme:

The rules say: if the opponent event brings no result, it still counts as played and is removed from the game, if the card has an asterisk.

I think this card is clearly this case, because NATO has a special writing saying that the event CANNOT BE PLAYED unless one of two others were played prior to that. And for this card, I think the event is played but brings no result, hence it should be removed from the game.

I am citing the official GMT Games rulebook here. The second bullet point of Section 5.2 is what applies here. It states:

• If a card play triggers an opponent’s Event, but that Event
  cannot occur because a prerequisite card has not been played,
  or a condition expressed in the Event has not been met, the
  Event does not occur. In this instance, cards with an asterisk
  Event (marked *) are returned to the discard pile, not removed
  from the game.

The second part of this point backs up my claim. "Don't Wait For the Translation" triggering is dependent on a condition of the US having fewer Mil Ops than the USSR. Other cards that are similar in function that you have not mentioned are Our Man in Tehran, Star Wars, and Kitchen Debates.

Your cited example of Truman Doctrine is not a proper counterexample because Truman Doctrine does not have a condition for the event to occur. There is a distinction between the event being able to trigger due to a condition and an event having a null effect.

[San Sebastian]

I just had a weird experience related to Don't Wait for the Translation. I was playing the USSR and mil ops was zero- zero. I wanted to play DWftT before I couped but it wouldn't trigger as an opponent event. Is this correct? Are there other playable cards that can't be played first to avoid the trigger. Special Relationship doesn't work this way.

[The Selfish Meme]

Originally posted by San Sebastian:

I just had a weird experience related to Don't Wait for the Translation. I was playing the USSR and mil ops was zero- zero. I wanted to play DWftT before I couped but it wouldn't trigger as an opponent event. Is this correct? Are there other playable cards that can't be played first to avoid the trigger. Special Relationship doesn't work this way.

Per the game rules,

'If a card play triggers an opponent’s Event, but that Event
cannot occur because a prerequisite card has not been played,
or a condition expressed in the Event has not been met, the
Event does not occur. In this instance, cards with an asterisk
Event (marked *) are returned to the discard pile, not removed
from the game'.

For this card, the condition (US is behind in mil ops) is not met, therefore the event cannot occur and you can only use the operation points from the card. And since the event cannot occur, the card is not removed.