Beyond the Maquis Safe House: Towards Freedom and Victory
Guide a group of French resistance fighters from World War II to complete missions and avoid deadly patrols in Maquis.
My game shelves continue to overflow with unplayed or underplayed games, and Maquis caught my eye the other day. It looks at a serious time in history, which likely explains why I play it so rarely. Yet my time working to overcome the challenges in the past paid off, so it was time to increase the difficulty level and keep the resistance fighters safe!
Game Overview
Game Name: Maquis
Publication Year: 2013
Designer: Jake Staines
Artists: Ilya Baranovsky and Jake Staines
Publisher: Side Room Games
Solo Mode: Designed for Solo (Included in the Base Game)
Up to 5 individuals form a group that sets out to visit locations in the region. Specific missions form the basis for the right sorts of bonuses, yet the most important aspect is being able to return to the safe house at the end of each round. The next patrol is never far away…
First Play
November 17, 2019
Complexity
2
Latest Play
March 6, 2021
Expansions
0
Setup Time
Almost None
Lifetime Plays
6
Play Time
20 Minutes
High Score
N/A
Game Area
18" x 14"
Low Score
N/A
Mission Goals
With a pair of random missions for each play, there are many possible combinations. This time, I was tasked with aiding a spy and liberating the town. Lots to do!
All of the required weapons made me think carefully. This was going to be quite challenging, especially since I went up to the tricky difficulty level. Maybe not a good idea? Ha!
Since I needed to stockpile 5 weapons over the course of play, there was no chance to attack the Milice.
This was going to be all about careful movement in order to avoid being arrested. I had to be clever and stealthy.
The View from Safety
Note that I only started with 2 resistance fighters at this difficulty level, and this was taken after recruiting. The group had a nice view of the entire region.
But danger lurked beneath the surface. It was critical that they created a connected path back to the safe house.
The patrol appeared unexpectedly and could cut off a return route in an instant. Sometimes, it was important to send someone to a place like Pont Leveque.
These blank spaces without any resources nor bonuses often act as the main junctions back to safety.
Diverse Spare Rooms
A very interesting mechanic is in the spare rooms. Various empty spaces provide opportunities to pay to install one of many sorts of spare rooms. Plenty of variety!
Since I could use the fence to trade money for weapons, I decided to use the counterfeiter for quick money.
However, it was still a very long road to reach the fence. The decision to risk an arrest can seriously dampen future rounds with fewer resistance fighters. Very tricky, indeed!
This seemed to be off to a slow start. I only had until the end of the 11th day to succeed… I needed to take chances.
Avoiding the Patrol
Although the patrol deck is very small, it’s never clear exactly what the next location will be. However, places close to the safe house are important to protect.
In the worst case, if all 3 locations on a card are occupied, an immediate arrest might happen. Naturally, my luck didn’t hold out and I lost a resistance fighter once. No!
Discarded cards may be examined at any time, and I might need to start paying more attention to the information.
Then again, I’m far from an expert and just starting to go beyond the easiest difficulty levels. Plenty more to learn!
No Turning Back
As the situation became dire and delivering the weapons was necessary, it was impossible to guarantee safety.
I had to leave it up to luck that this resistance fighter could make it back safely. The weapons made it to the spy, yet the return path was completely blocked.
This brave soul was never seen again. Once again, this is a very serious subject and not a game I play for fun. It feels personal when a resistance fighter is lost to a patrol.
Without a doubt, there was no way I could complete both missions. Yet in honor of the sacrifice, I wouldn’t give up!
Morale Management
A subtle element that requires a lot of care is the group’s morale. This can result in an immediate loss, while it’s also tied into how large the patrol group is each round.
There are ways to lose morale that can be worth it, like trading in resources for money at the black market.
Yet with that difficult mission of maintaining morale of 4 or more, I had a lot to juggle and few options. In my second play, though, I actually saw a glimmer of hope.
As expected, no Milice were replaced with soldiers since weapons were in such high demand for the missions.
Session Overview
Play Number: 5 and 6
Solo Mode: Designed for Solo (Included in the Base Game)
Play Details: Tricky Difficulty Level
Outcome: 2 Losses
I felt pretty deflated when nothing panned out. I was going to be pretty close at this point, but sadly the resistance fighter at the black market couldn’t bring home the money. No extra weapon. I definitely need to work on my strategy, yet this felt very luck-dependent. Maybe I was wrong and wasn’t quite ready to play yet. I’ll pack this up for now and see how things go when I want to try again.
%
1 Play
Affordability
Price & Value
8
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
10
Originality
Design & Theme
7
Quality
Components & Rules
10
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
5
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
7
+ Pros (Positives)
- Each decision is important in its own way, especially when a resistance fighter is used to create a path to safety.
- The full set of rules is relatively simple, but the strategic choices take careful thought and planning.
- Various ways to increase the difficulty level allow the challenge to be tailored and adjusted based on preferences.
- Missions provide very different ways to succeed and the combinations ensure that most plays are unique.
- All of the components are high quality with custom wooden meeples, linen cards, and dual-layered boards.
- Setup requires minimal time and the full time to play from beginning to end flies by without any downtime.
– Cons (Negatives)
- Without spending time to carefully analyze the discarded patrol cards, the luck of the draw can feel unfair.
- Certain mission combinations can increase the difficulty level by a lot to the point that success seems unlikely.
- Some of the wording in the rulebook can make some situations not as straightforward as they could be.
- The theme is very compelling and intriguing, yet gameplay sometimes feels too repetitive or luck-based.
Victory Conditions
Complete Both Missions
- Overall Goal Progress 67%
Goals and Milestones
Win at least 1 game at the easy difficulty level.
Win at least 1 game at the very easy difficulty level.
Win at least 1 game at the tricky difficulty level.
Continue the Conversation
What do you enjoy about Maquis? Although I walked away from this session with a somewhat negative feeling, I still think part of that comes from my inexperience. Have you discovered any interesting strategies? There’s also the chance this isn’t necessarily the game for me, although I’m not ready to pass it along just yet. Hence the overflowing shelves!
It’s interesting to compare this mentally with V-Commandos, a favourite of mine which does feature Resistance fighters but lies much more in the “cinematic WW2” direction – it’s rare to lose a commando, and usually you can plan to be one step ahead of the enemy.
Very interesting, Roger! I haven’t looked into this one at all, but it sounds like it might be more akin to my preferred kind of game. Not that I’m trying to fill up these shelves even more, yet I appreciate the comparison! Good to know there’s something else out there. Thanks!