Designer:  David Neale, David Thompson

Art: Kwanchai Moriya

Publisher: Osprey Games

1-6 players | 90-120 min | ages 14+ | MSRP $55 | BGG Listing

Time to teach/learn: 10 minutes

Game Synopsis

During the Second World War, thousands of French citizens fled to the wilderness (the maquis) rather than be sent to work in Germany. Those who fled became the core of the French resistance, the Maquis. Working in small groups, they gathered intelligence and fought fascist forces when and how they could. They were constantly outnumbered and undersupplied.

Fortunately, they had support from abroad.

The British led Special Operations Excecutive built a network to conduct covert operations and unleash a campaign of sabotage behind enemy lines. The SOE are most well known for laying the groundwork for the invasion of Normandy and supporting the Maquis. 

In War Story: Occupied France, you and your fellow players form a team of SOE agents. During the waning months of 1943, your team will conduct three missions to prevent the destruction of Maquis forces in the small town of Morette. Guided by choose-your-own-adventure style booklets, can you gather the intel, equipment, and allies needed to stop the relentless Officer Heidenreich? Each mission will put the talents and tactics of your team to the test. Time is short. Each decision could be the difference betwen survival and utter ruin.

Why We Love War Story: Occupied France

War Story: Occupied France is a deeply satisfying blend of role play and tactical strategy. Setup for each mission most closely resembles gathering a party for an adventure, discussing what skills and attributes might best benefit the mission. Once the mission is underway, a booklet will guide your group to decisions that will shape the experience and outcome in ways that are not easy to anticipate. Anyone who has read choose-your-own-adventure books will recognize this format, but War Story has added extra layers of nuance and complexity to the narrative. Prior decisions may unlock more options in a given encounter. Having certain equipment, or intel, or certain allies will direct you through a different path in the story.  The skills of your team can also be spent as resources to open new options or outcomes. And behind each decision lies the possibility of a board game style encounter, complete with a card driven map and tokens, each with its own set of rules and goals. Abstract discussions and theories quickly transition to concrete logic and tactics. How do we use the resources and skills of our people to accomplish the task at hand? 

The decisions you make in War Story, whether they are options in the mission book or an encounter on a map, are always tinged with the threat of sacrifice. Each choice can come at a high cost. It is never clear or easy when the team may need to spend its last reserves or send someone to finish a task knowing they (most likely) will not return. War Story manages something remarkable in this regard. The choices it forces players to face are filled with emotional resonance. You feel connected to the world of the game, the situation, the characters on your team, the characters you meet as well as your teammates around the table. It makes little victories you share along the way land in a way that goes far beyond tallying points on a score track. And it makes the unexpected betrayals and losses all the more painful when they come. Especially in these trying times, when fascist forces seem poised to unleash havoc across the world, War Story hit home for us in a visceral and cathartic way. We were not witnesses to the bravery of those in the resistance. We were responsible for it! In some small way, for three nights, over three missions, our tableop became a model for the world beyond. War Story is an important reminder  that one of the lessons we can find through play is hope.

***

Congratulations to David Neale, David Thompson and everyone at Osprey Games!

More information on War Story: Occupied France here.

***

***