Solitaire Worker Placement in a Small Box
Overview
Maquis is a small box, solitaire only, worker placement game based on the French Maquis in Occupied France during WW2. In most definitions of wargames this wouldn’t qualify as one. However, it is very thematic and executes that theme very well.
In WW2, the term used for French freedom fighters that resisted German occupation was the “Maquis”. Though officially many different cells all used similar tactics. This included: sabotage, assassinations, and intelligence gathering for the allies before D-Day landings. Generally speaking, they harassed the German occupation and French puppet forces: the Milice. The Milice was a paramilitary force of French fascists that supported Vichy France and operationally functioned like the German Gestapo. The major difference is that the Milice was made of French nationalists who understood the country, customs, and language. In many ways, this made them more dangerous.
Gameplay overview
Maquis’ gameplay is quite simple. You control a band of Maquis freedom fighters trying to fulfill two missions selected at the start of the game. These missions could be gathering supplies for the resistance, helping allied spies, assassinations, sabotage, etc. To complete these missions, you must send your fighters out to various points within the city to gather the resources. This could mean visiting the grocer to buy food, doctor for medicine, undercover radio station to call allies for supply drops, or acquiring black market goods or weapons.
The difficulty becomes that you have a limited time to complete your missions: 14 days. Also alternating after each of your placements, a Milice patrol is placed. At the end of the placement phase, to make it back safely each Maquis member must be able to trace a path back to the safehouse without going through an area with a Milice patrol. Any unit that can’t is captured and will be lost for the rest of the game.
This creates a push your luck element as you will not have enough turns to finish your mission in time if you act conservatively. Some luck and strategic risk-taking are key to victory. With the overview out of the way let’s see how it plays out.
Game Recap
Mission brief
Tensions are running high in our town. Local Milice has been increasingly ruthless recently. In trying to counter our attacks they have brought in dogs to supplement their patrols making them even more deadly. Our only options are to eliminate these dogs and focus efforts on rallying the city to our cause by getting the truth of the Axis losses in Russia and North Africa to the people. If we can get them allied intel, we might be able to leverage the underground newspaper to rally support.
Unfortunately, time is not on our side. If we cannot succeed in the next two weeks, we have word those German reinforcements will arrive effectively ending any chance we have to gain support for the movement. As I will log my journal our progress. Even if we don’t succeed hopefully someone will find it and continue the fight!
Days 0-3 log
- Day 0: We were able to keep the group together. First a visit to the Grocer for food, the black market to keep a lookout, and finally Radio B to receive allied intel
- Day 1: Agent sent to Pont Leveque to scout ahead. The next agent was sent to the doctor for medicine. The last stop was adjacent to Radio A for more intel.
- Day 2: We took our first risk and dealt the first blow! We sent the first two agents as far as the grocer and the black market to scout ahead. However, with only one more agent we risked the daily patrol and sent them with the poisoned food to the dog barrack. Luckily, our agent slipped patrols on the way back!
- Day 3: Our first agent scouts out Pont Leveque so that we can safely reach the doctor. Knowing the Milice have stepped up patrols we send our last agent to the cafe to recruit more to the cause.
Day 4-6
- Day 4: Using our new recruit, we were able to scout a line from the safe house to the Kennel and deliver the second batch of poisoned food
- Day 5: Our luck held out yet again. This time we were able to scout a line to the underground paper and deliver intel for printing.
- Day 6: Another good day for the resistance! We were able to send one agent to gather more food, while another scouted a line from Pont Leveque to the doctor and ultimately Radio A. This allowed us to gather supplies for both missions in a single day.
Days 7-9
- Day 7: Milice patrols were able to thwart efforts today to both Radio A and B. We had to adjust and keep both paths open to the safe house. The good news we were able to get the remaining medicine and food to take out the last of the German Shepherds. Now we just need to make the last delivery.
- Day 8: The last article in the underground paper has Milice scared. Today they focused on trying to find the paper’s source. They were close but did not succeed. Luckily, this gave us a clear path to the kennels, and we delivered the last of the tainted food. Those dogs will no longer pose a threat to the people of this town!
- Day 9: The removal of the dogs should have given some hope to the people. However, the focused Milice patrols from yesterday had effected morale. We used this opportunity to deliver food and medicine to the poor district. Good for us, our last agent was able to receive additional intel from Radio A. One step closer to bringing down the Milice once and for all!
Day 10-12
- Day 10: Milice patrols near Radio A and B, our team scouts a path from Pont Leveque to the Underground Paper, giving them more vital news from the allies
- Day 11: Patrols focus on the western half of the city. We safely reach Radio B and intercept more intelligence for the cause.
- Day 12: Again, our scouts leverage the knowledge of patrols. Today the Milice shifted to the eastern side of the city, our team pivoted to reach Radio A and receive the next intelligence report on time.
Day 13
Day 13: We realize we are out of time. If we can’t turn the city against its oppressors our window to succeed is closing fast. We can scout a path from Pont Leveque to the doctor and ultimately to Radio A to fetch the last intel we need.
Realizing time is nearly out, we take a risk and send our last agent with the intel to the paper without scouting ahead. Now is not the time for caution. Our luck held and we were able to make the final delivery, and everyone made it home safe. After succeeding with removing the dogs and rallying the city through the paper we’ve seen our number swell. There is no way the Milice can get another foothold in this town. Vive la Résistance!
Wrap-up
This was a close and tense game until the end. The final victory came on the second to last round and even then, I relied on a lot of luck to go my way. For reference, both missions I chose were single-star or easy-difficulty missions. Most other missions require supply drops, spending actions on sending agents to fields for recovery, or purchasing spare rooms to unlock new resources to collect. However, getting a new room requires money to purchase the space.
All in all, I enjoy Maquis as a weeknight quick solo game. It is good to set up and play a few games in a night. The small package makes it also an excellent portable game for a trip. It takes up little space on the table and could easily be played on a hotel room desk.
I think what I like most about the game is how it nails its theme. As you can tell from my AAR, you feel as though you are part of the Maquis sneaking through the city and narrowly avoiding Milice patrols. Each mission is unique and fun and there are lots of settings to also change difficulty such as how many supplies are dropped or the number of agents you can recruit.
This is a game that can appeal to lots of people. Euro players that enjoy worker placement will enjoy this little solo edition. I think wargamers that still want that WW2 theme but something different the plays in 30 minutes or less might like this as a filler game.
All in all, if you are looking for an easy-to-learn, fast-to-play solo game, then you really can’t go wrong with Maquis. If that sounds like something you are in for, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
