by Brant Guillory, 19 October 2023 ~ #UnboxingDay
Among the other games that Tabletop Tycoon has updated from their Victory Point Games acquisition a while back is Cuba: A Splendid Little War by designer Javier Garcia de Gabiola.
click images to enlarge
If you grab this one on the shelf, this is what you see
And when you open the box and dump it on the table, this is what you see – there’s a map, a rulebook, a sheet of counters, a deck of cards, and a couple of player aid cards to go with four (holy cow!) dice.
The map isn’t big, and it’s an area-control map of Cuba and the surrounding Caribbean, plus a couple of different tracking charts. This isn’t a tactical game, but rather more high-operational level within a single theater, but with a bunch of off-map actions that all affect what’s going on.
It’s a colorful and well-illustrated rulebook on heavy, glossy paper. It’s not quite one of the mid-00’s FFG big books, but it’s not too far off.
These cards drive the action, whether bringing in US engagement, or juggling Spanish internal politics.
It’s only a single sheet of counters, but they’re quite colorful and really pop against the map.
Each player has an off-map player aid card that tracks their actions throughout the turn.
It’ll be interesting to see how this one plays once we get it on the table for folks.
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The Armchair Dragoons with glee,
Unbox games for all to see.
With dice and cardboard so neat,
They strategize, can’t be beat,
In their world of tabletop glee!
