Last night after dinner, I set up, Maquis on the bar for a few missions in France. I've loved this game since I got it early this year but hadn't really sat down with it in a little while. World War II era theme, trying to rebel against Nazis occupying France; what's not to like? :)
The variety in the missions is a lot of fun, with some harder than others. In addition to that, the variety in difficulty levels is a great addition to the game as well. I still play "very easy" which allows you to airdrop more supplies into the fields. I'm pretty much ready to move up a level of difficulty now I'd say.
Game 1 went well. The above pic is a view of the town early on. A pretty quiet start with my workers getting some supplies from airdrops in the East field and calling on some more in the West.
The pic above is from game 2. I honestly thought as these two missions popped up that I'd be in trouble, but I pulled off two successful missions by the end of day 10 in this one. I really enjoy the missions that have a few steps to them, other than just gathering and delivering supplies. The "Double Agent" mission is one of them. The yellow cubes on the board are marked because with this mission, you are searching for the "Dark Lady". In order to do so, you have to visit all locations on the West side of the river (except the spare room - where my safe house was built - and the Fence). As you visit them, you mark them to show you've been there. Once that part of the mission is completed, you flip a Patrol card to figure out where the Dark Lady is located and then must visit that location again to complete the mission. So cool! I decided to get that mission completed as early on as I could, so I could focus my attention on taking out the bridges to complete the other mission. :)
I know what you're thinking; "How can dealing with Nazi occupied France and having to risk being captured while trying to complete missions for the greater good of your country be relaxing after a day of work!?!?!?"
My response: It just is. ;)
Have you tried any States of Siege games, Derek? They are not as puzzly as Maquis, of course. Your main focus is on mitigating the luck of the roll and delaying the march of the enemies towards you. Zulus on the Ramparts is a bit different in that it is card-driven (not sure how easy it is to find a copy). No campaigns, all these games are replayable.
My search says it means 'guerilla warfare': surprise raids and sabotages by small, mobile groups. More or less what you do in the game.
Nice photos, Derek. I own and enjoy this game, too, so an expansion would be quite welcome. The game has a nice small footprint, too. In the military sense, does Maquis mean "go underground"? On the Side Room Games website, in the description of Maquis, they use the phrase, "la petite guerre". Does that mean "the little war"? My French is only as good as what I can look-up on the Internet. Well, actually worse, 'cause I probably can't pronounce anything correctly, except perhaps "la".
A reprint of this very nice production will be coming to Kickstarter early 2021, as well as a small expansion.
I really enjoyed this game as well while it was still a PnP. I played through the missions but didn't feel like going through them again in different pairings, so I skipped the KS. Indeed, despite the theme it is thinky and relaxing at the same time. :)