Cuba Libre (game)

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Cuba Libre
Game data
author Jeff Grossman, Volko Ruhnke
graphic Xavier Carrascosa, Rodger B. MacGowan, Chechu Nieto
publishing company GMT Games
Publishing year 2013
Art Board game (card-driven war game)
Teammates 1 to 4
Duration 180 minutes
Age 14 years and older

Cuba Libre , or Cuba Libre: Castro's Insurgency, 1957-1958 , is a board game by the game designers Jeff Grossman and Volko Runke . It was published in 2013 by the US publisher GMT Games and has the Cuban Revolution as its theme. The game can be played by up to four players and takes about three hours. It is only distributed in English. The game was created as the second part of the COIN series and is often highlighted because of its easier accessibility compared to the other parts.

Theme and equipment

The game is a card-controlled board game that belongs to the family of conflict simulations (Kosims) and in which the players take over one of the four factions in the Cuban civil war. There is either the government and the criminal syndicate, which can work together in parts, or the July 26th Movement and the Directorio Revolucionario , both of which are fighting the existing regime. In addition to the game board, which shows the Cuban island among other things, the game material consists of the following:

  • a deck of 52 cards
  • 86 light and dark blue, red, green and yellow wooden stones
  • 8 embossed cylinders
  • 1 arch counter
  • 1 play book with background information
  • 1 rulebook
  • 5 game aids for the individual factions and game accounting
  • 2 game aids for playing without fellow players (bots)
  • 3 dice in the colors red, yellow and green

Gameplay

In Cuba Libre, each player takes on the role of an actor in the Cuban revolution: the government, the criminal syndicate, the July 26th Movement or the Directorio Revolucionario . All four factions must be played. In order to make the game playable with fewer than four players, there are special rules and flowcharts in order to let the factions not taken over by other players act automatically.

The game board shows the island of Cuba, divided into seven regions, three cities and three economic centers. At the start of the game, all 13 fields have a certain number of markers that symbolize the troops of the respective faction: red guerrillas of the July 26th movement, yellow the supporters of the Directorio, green the hitmen of the syndicate, and light and dark blue for the police or government military units.

The distinctive feature of all COIN games is the strong asymmetry of the factions. So the victory conditions and the action options for each player are sometimes drastically different. In general, there are two main factors or "game currencies" that are decisive for fulfilling the victory conditions:

  1. Control of areas (provinces or cities) with their different populations.
  2. Support / backing of the respective political stance in the population.

All third currencies have “resources”, so to speak money, which is required to be able to carry out (“pay”) many of the game actions. The Syndicate also considers resources an important part of their victory condition.

The following table roughly illustrates the asymmetrical nature of the game:

fraction Victory condition Available actions / operations Strategy (simplified)
government Great support from the population, especially in the cities Especially militarily: Train troops / police, occupy provinces, protect economic centers, uncover and eliminate rebels.

Also: transportation (fast movement); Air raid; Build support in the population with money.

At the beginning of the game, the government (historically based) has a high level of popular support, political support from abroad and a relatively high level of financial strength. It is important to use this initial advantage. Furthermore, the sabotage of the economic centers must be prevented by skillfully deploying police units, so that sufficient resources are available later in the game. So it is important to keep the main enemy of July 26th as small as possible.
syndicate Owning a certain number of (not closed) casinos and a certain amount of money Recruit supporters; Marching (slow compared to government troops)

Also: build casinos; "Profit" (take money; bribe)

As the government's henchman, the syndicate benefits from state control and as little popular support as possible for the rebels. In regions with this environment, the syndicate builds casinos, has them cleverly protected by police units, and gradually builds up large financial reserves that can bring the game victory.
Directorio "Control" a large part of the population and active underground bases Recruit supporters; Marching (slow movement); Terrorize / sabotage; Eliminate.

Also: infiltration (moderate population, make money); Lay ambushes; Attack.

The student movement stands between extremes and tries not to turn popular support towards the government or July 26th. Regions with moderate support can easily be “conquered” by the Directorio and put money into the till in the interim evaluations (“propaganda phases”).
July 26th Movement High popular support (against the government) and active underground bases Recruit supporters; Marching (slow movement); Terrorize / sabotage; Eliminate.

Also: infiltrate government units; Lay ambushes; Kidnapping (taking money)

As a direct opponent of the government, the July 26th strategy consists primarily of terror and sabotage. It is important to get the population on their side and to weaken the government's financial strength by attacking the economic centers. In doing so, the rebels must always endeavor to remain undetected, otherwise the government will have an easy time pushing back the advance of the movement militarily.

Game flow

Another defining feature of the COIN games is the round sequence and the action selection mechanism, which can be found in the same or very similar form in all publications of the series.

Central is the card deck, which consists of 48 event cards. While the game is being set up, it is divided into four roughly equal piles, into each of which a so-called propaganda card is shuffled. For each turn a card is revealed. If it is a propaganda card, an intermediate scoring takes place. Only in these interim evaluations is it possible for a faction to win the game, provided that it fulfills its victory conditions at that moment. If, however, an event card is revealed, a normal turn takes place.

The event card determines the order in which the factions have the opportunity to become active on this turn or not. A maximum of two of the four factions can become active per turn. If a player decides to make the move with his own faction, the faction is automatically blocked for the next move. Since the next event card to be played is already visible, depending on the game situation, it may be cheaper to suspend the current move (to pass) in order to secure the event card for the next round.

If a player exercises the right to move, he can decide which action is to be carried out with which “power”. An event on the card can be played (there are two of these on each card, usually advantageous for one of two opposing factions) or the faction-specific operations (either completely or limited). With the selection of the action, the player simultaneously determines which actions will be available for the second faction that becomes active. The more powerful your choice, the more options the second player has.

Development and reception

Cuba Libre was published by GMT Games . After Andean Abyss, the game is the second part of the COIN series (COIN = COunter-INsurgency = counter-insurgency) devised by Volko Ruhnke, which uses new game mechanics to combine elements from wargames with those of other strategy games and Eurogames and to design a series of games that does not the direct battle between units is crucial, but clever tactics and political decisions decide who achieves success. Cuba Libre was announced for the first time in November 2011 in the publisher's internal crowdfunding project P500 , even before its predecessor Andean Abyss was even delivered. Jeff Grossman, also an employee at GMT, suggested simplifying the gameplay of Andean Abyss and choosing the Cuban revolution as the setting. Since it was initially unsure whether the new game principle would be accepted at all, the predecessor Andean Abyss should not be published until the following year, it was initially thought of possibly releasing the game as a magazine game in a lower quality before deciding decided to design a full board game. After reaching the number of pre-orders required for production, the game was withdrawn from the project in August 2013 and released in September. A second edition was produced in 2016, and a third has also been announced again in the P500 project since 2017 .

Cuba Libre was expected in advance of its release and is still very popular. The game is considered to be the most accessible part of the COIN series due to its low level of complexity compared to the other parts of the series and is often recommended for newcomers to the series. In particular, the focus on asymmetrical situations resulting from the different actions of the different factions and the different victory conditions is often praised and emphasized.

extension

An expansion to Cuba Libre, Invierno Cubano: Castro's Counterinsurgency, 1959-1965 , which is intended to cover the years after the revolution and to expand the gameplay, was announced in July 2015 in the P500 project . In autumn 2018, the extension was withdrawn due to time constraints on the part of the developer. He announced that the files would be made freely available as soon as they were ready, so that those interested could make the extension themselves.

Awards

  • 2013: The Golden Elephant Award (nominated)
  • 2013: Meeples' Choice Award (nominated)
  • 2013: Golden Geek Best Wargame (nominated)

supporting documents

  1. ↑ a b Viva Revolución !: A Review of 'Cuba Libre' , Review of January 4, 2014.
  2. ↑ muwins.ch: MAKING OF… COIN , interview with Volko Ruhnke, June 28, 2017.
  3. ↑ muwins.ch: COINSTE THAT TIME EXPLAIN US?

Web links