Board Game - Partisans

Partisans — is a puzzling solo strategy game about the Spanish partisan movement Maquis in the 1940s and 1950s. Act stealthily without risking your fighters or send them into battle to achieve the ultimate goal — the overthrow of the totalitarian regime. Be prepared to make desperate decisions, as victory cannot be achieved without sacrifice!

About the Game
In this game, you will lead a small but brave squad of 12 Spanish partisans ready to end the cruel dictatorship of Francisco Franco. Each round, you will need to send your fighters on increasingly dangerous missions from which not everyone may return. Success in the mission will earn you victory points, while failure will lead to serious consequences, possibly resulting in defeat.

In Partisans you will face a real test of resilience on the path to victory. You are likely to play more than one game and try different tactics and combinations of fighters to achieve a confident victory. The thing is, the resistance forces are never enough to both complete the mission and eliminate all enemies — you will have to prioritize, constantly sacrificing something.

Act stealthily or charge forward — the choice is yours! Exposed fighters are more useful, but at the end of the round, they will "die" and become unavailable to you. Hidden partisans will remain in your squad and can help in the future. Wise management of extremely limited resources is the key to victory in the partisan war!

After all, you make the decision: to surrender and cease resistance or to risk and heroically take on the next mission, which could become your victorious or… last!

Authors of Partisans — David Thompson and Trevor Benjamin — have gifted the board game world such games as Unbreakable, Pavlov's House, War Chest, and many others. They certainly have experience in the field of intense tactical strategies!
 

Brief Rules
First of all, you need to assemble a starting squad of 12 brave partisans, which will unavoidably deplete due to constant losses during missions.

You can play your fighters hidden or exposed (this affects their actions and attack value). In open confrontations, your partisans will accomplish their tasks more effectively and deal more damage to the enemy, but in this case, their cards will leave your deck. Being hidden in the rear, they are not as useful in combat but remain in the game for the next rounds.

Each mission is defended by enemies, but they can be ignored, and all strength can be spent on the combat task. However, then you will face repercussions from each uneliminated opponent. Due to the effects of enemies, civilians suffer, treacherous spies infiltrate your squad, or even hidden fighters may perish. By eliminating certain opponents, you will receive bonuses that will help in the ongoing struggle.

After each task, you must decide: continue fighting or lay down your arms. If you surrender, the game ends: count the victory points on all completed mission cards and compare your score with the results table. Not ready to extinguish the fire of resistance yet? Keep fighting!

If during the game you failed two missions, lost five or more civilians, or drew a full hand of spy cards from the deck, then your resistance has failed — and you have lost. Reflect on your mistakes and try again!

Game duration: from 20 minutes
Number of players: 1 player