I. Within the occupied territories, the adequate punishment for offences committed against the German State or the occupying power which endanger their security or a state of readiness is on principle the death penalty.”

the first directive of Hitler’s Nacht und Nebel decree

While 100,000 German troops were garrisoning Occupied France during World War Two, most were dealing with the Atlantic Wall, resting combat units, and general occupation duties. So special German units were used for policing actions against the resistance forces while they relied on the French milice irregular units to uncover resistance for Maquis forces.

While designing the actions for the Occupation player, we wanted to show the difference between the two factions. The Germans could use overwhelming force when needed, but they couldn’t be everywhere at once. The French collaborator milice forces were only supplied with light weapons. But as Frenchmen, they had a much easier time mixing with civilians and uncovering resistance forces.

I fought toughly the Milice but, if I hate them, I also have more regard for them than for the cowards and the liars whomsoever they are.

Dominique Ponchardier, French resistance fighter speaking about the difference between the active milice forces and the silent civilian collaborators

Occupation Actions

Move German and Move Milice

These actions allow you to move your Occupation units from one Zone to another. Moving a German unit costs two AP, while moving a milice unit only costs one. The additional cost for German units largely represents the opportunity costs of resources that would be better utilized elsewhere. The milice units were made up of Frenchmen who chose to collaborate, and thus the resource costs for the Occupation were less for them.

Uncover

The Uncover action allows you to flip a Resistance unit from Covert to Uncovered. With Uncovered units being necessary to target for Arrest, the use of the Uncover action is a critical tool for the Occupation player. Uncover has a cost of 1 AP, regardless of what type of unit uses this. Milice units have a better chance to uncover.

Informant

This action allows you to inspect any covert red unit for 1 AP when you have a milice or German unit in that zone. If that red unit has a German cross, you can uncover any other units in that zone for free. As 25% of the red units are informants, this can be a useful way to uncover more targets for your arrest actions.

Arrest

This is the main action you want to be using as the Occupation player on uncovered Resistance units, especially the yellow Maquis. This action costs 2 AP/1 AP for yellow/red units, showing the much higher cost and risk of arresting paramilitary Maquis. German units are much more effective at arresting, and we show this by letting the player use the German resolution if there are both German and milice units present, and by letting the player draw a second resolution card (which they must use) if there are two German units present.

Crackdown

This action is situational (requires a zone to be on alert), but can be quite powerful. For 2 AP you can uncover all red and yellow units in a zone with both a German unit and an Alert token. As the Alert token is removed once an Occupation player enters a zone with an Alert token, watch for this opportunity when a bold Resistance player fails a Sabotage action in a zone with a German unit.

Occupation Strategy

The best-case strategy for the Occupation player is to get at least one German and one milice unit into a location with at least one Maquis unit. The milice unit has a better chance of uncovering the resistance units, and the German unit has a better chance of arresting them.

Review the Resolution Deck Probability to see what the odds for success are for you and your opponent’s actions. Remember that the resolution deck is reshuffled whenever two German cards appear in a row.

Moving German and milice units is expensive, so it’s often best to wait until a location has an Alert to move an adjacent unit in there.

Using an informant to try and uncover red units isn’t a good use of AP. But the Informant move is quite useful when you are in a location with both yellow and red units.

Watch the suit on the Action card you are using as it can really change the number of AP you are spending on a particular action.

Even when you have the high AP card at the beginning of a turn, it will sometimes be advantageous to let your Resistance opponent go first. Keep your powder dry.

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Previous Articles:

A Desperate Struggle: Event Cards and Suits in In the Shadows

Designing a Narrative Solitaire Experience for In the Shadows

Why Cards? Resolving Outcomes for In the Shadows