The new Cuban government that came to power in 1959 was initially very popular, replacing the Batista dictatorship with an apparently moderate liberal regime, and with ambitious plans to stamp out political corruption, to enact land, labor, and education reforms, and to normalize relationships with important trade partners like the United States. However, as Castro and his allies began to strengthen their grip on power and expand the scope of their economic reforms, resistance began to grow, including not only wealthy landowners but also revolutionary veterans concerned by the political direction of the new regime. The Resistance faction in Resisting Revolution represents a loose coalition of urban political opposition, clandestine rural cells, and a guerrilla insurgency in the central Escambray Mountains, united by their commitment to overthrowing Castro but without much popular support or organized structure. In this article I will outline some key features of the Resistance faction and their new menu of Operations and Special Activities. 

As I mentioned in the previous article, due to the extreme strength disparity between the Government and Resistance factions there is no concept of ‘Control’ in Resisting Revolution. Instead, the Resistance faction is merely aiming to spread and survive long enough to maintain sustained resistance to the Castro regime, which is easier said than done. Unlike insurgent factions in most COIN games, they can only Rally in spaces where there is already Opposition and/or a Resistance piece. This reflects the limited popular opposition to Castro’s government and the fragmented nature of the political opposition, although it does also allow them to Rally in spaces at Support where Resistance pieces are already present (as they are able to recruit small resistance cells even where the Government is popular). Furthermore, the Resistance’s objective during this period is merely to survive, which is reflected by their victory condition being the number of spaces with Guerrillas, plus Resistance Bases on map. To ‘win’ as the Resistance you do not need to defeat the Government, or even actively oppose it that much, so you can play a more subtle game of spreading out and establishing small clandestine forces across multiple spaces. 

Like the Government, the Resistance also begins the game with three Leader counters, each of whom enhances a specific Operation (March, Attack, or Terror) and will be eliminated (either captured or killed) if a Government Assault removes all other Resistance pieces from their space. The three leaders represented by these counters were all previously members of the anti-Batista guerrilla movement, and were even initially friendly with Castro’s government after the revolution, but quickly became disillusioned with the direction it was taking. US adventurer William Alexander Morgan allows Guerrillas to March an additional space (just like his Capability card in Cuba Libre), veteran insurgent Eloy Gutiérrez Menoyo enhances Terror to also remove an enemy piece, and Escambray guerrilla leader Osvaldo Ramirez allows an Attack die to be re-rolled. Leaders are less critical to the Resistance than they are to the Government, so you can afford to be more reckless with them—historically Menoyo went into exile in 1961 and Morgan was executed by firing squad that same year, while Ramirez was captured and killed in 1962.

The relative weakness of the Resistance faction continues into their menu of Special Activities (SAs), each of which is more limited than their analogues in other COIN games. Their Exort SA may shift a space towards Neutral in order to gain additional Resources (representing more overt banditry), their Subvert SA is only able to remove (rather than replace) a single Militia cube (reflecting the popularity of the Castro government), and their Ambush SA guarantees a successful Attack but does not place an additional Guerrilla (representing the small scale of most engagements). Even with these additional tools the Resistance is relatively ill-equipped to face off against the full might of the Government, and they must rely on the distractions provided by the United States’ and Soviet Union’s meddling in Cuba to survive and spread. Playing as the Resistance in Resisting Revolution is an interesting exercise in cunning and patience, as you must convince the United States to support your insurrection while trying to avoid too much attention from the Government and their Soviet allies. In the next two articles I will introduce the two “external” factions, United States and Soviet Union, and the unique role they play in Resisting Revolution.

Previous Article: Resisting Revolution: The Government

Author: Joe Dewhurst