In the Shadows: Resistance in France 1943 - 1944 Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Box Components
• Multiplayer Components
• Event Cards
• Resolution Cards
• Game Board
  • Map Spaces
  • Authority Track 3
  • Resistance Operations 4
  • Occupation Resources 5
  • The Disappeared Box 7
  • Action Point Tracker 8
  • Recruitment Pool
  • Round Tracker 9
  • Suits
• Game Pieces
  • Covert and Uncovered
  • Informants
  • Resistance Units
  • Occupation Units
  • Alert Markers
• Game Setup
• Sequence of Play
  • Initiative Phase
  • Action Phase
  • End Phase
• Resistance Actions
  • Move Uncovered
  • Move Covert
  • Hide Resistance
  • Ambush
  • Recruit
  • Sabotage
  • Resistance Actions Examples
• Occupation Actions
  • Move Milice, German or Informant
  • Roundup
  • Uncover
  • Informant
  • Arrest
  • Reprisal
  • Occupation Actions Examples
• Victory
  • Victory Example
  • Resolution Deck Composition
• Historical Card Notes
  • Agent Provocateur
  • Butcher of Lyon
  • Carlingue
  • Cimade
  • Citizen Surveillance
  • Clandestine Press
  • Escape
  • False Papers
  • I'll Go and Tell the Germans About It
  • International Brigades
  • Jean Moulin
  • Joseph Darnand
  • Josephine Baker
  • Night and Fog
  • Pearl Witherington
  • Rationnement
  • Réfractaires
  • Résistance-Fer
  • Service du Travail Obligatoire (STO)
  • Simone Segouin
• On Roundup and Exploitation
• Historiographical Notes
• Designers' Notes
• Credits
• Resolution Card Icons

Box Components

• 6 red Resistance cells
• 2 red Informants
• 4 yellow Maquis units
• 6 blue Milice units
• 10 black German units
• 1 Punch Board
• 6 white & 6 black Action pawns
• 20 Event cards (11 Resistance Event cards, 9 Occupation Event cards)
• 28 Resolution cards
• 34 Solitaire Persona, Location, and Event cards.
• 2 Player Aid cards
• 1 Multiplayer Rules booklet
• 1 Solitaire Rules booklet

Multiplayer Components

Resistance Cells, Informants, Maquis Units, Milice Units, German Units, Action Pawns.

Markers: Game Round, Alert, Authority, Resistance Operations, Action Points, Confiscated Resources/STO, Occupation Resources, Pearl Witherington, Butcher of Lyon.

Cards: Event Cards, Resolution Cards.

Remaining components are not used in the Multiplayer game and may be returned to the box.

Event Cards

A deck of cards, each depicting an Event name with a color background (red for Resistance and gray for Occupation), Event text, a suit, and points for actions. An Event card always triggers its Event text at the start of a player's Action Phase, prior to the player using action points (AP) to perform actions.

Resolution Cards

A deck of cards that determine the success or failure of Ambush, Arrest, Recruit, Sabotage, and Uncover actions. Do not draw Resolution cards when completing other actions. After resolving an action, if the Resolution card is marked "RESHUFFLE" at the top, reshuffle the entire deck.

Game Board

Map Spaces

The map represents districts and zones in 1943-44 occupied France. Each of the three districts is assigned a suit (Resistance Cross / Victory Cross / Iron Cross) and is comprised of four named zones. The gray regions outside of France are not districts and contain no zones. These gray regions (Iron Cross) may only be entered by German units. The tan regions (Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom) may not be entered by any units.

In the diagram on pg. 5, the contiguous blue area 1 is the district. The area labeled "R3" 2 is a zone.

Authority Track 3

Authority determines how victory is measured for both players. Each space below the "START" space outlines:

• The required number of units the Resistance must have on the map to win.
• The Minimum Occupation Resources level the Occupation must have to be eligible to win.

The "CNR is formed" space on the Authority track only applies when the Authority marker is on or below that space. The required Resistance units is seven and Minimum Occupation Resources level is one when the marker is on that space.

Resistance Operations 4

The Resistance Operations marker is advanced clockwise with each successful Sabotage action (p. 8) performed by the Resistance player. Some spaces on the Resistance Operations rondel reduce the base cost of Move Covert and Hide Resistance actions (p. 8).

Effects on the Resistance Operations rondel only apply when the marker is on the given space. When the Resistance Operations marker enters the "Lower Authority" space, immediately shift the Authority marker down one space.

Occupation Resources 5

Roundup actions (p. 9) advance the Confiscated Resources marker along the rail line located on the map. The marker begins in P1 6 and ends in the gray space on the map. When the Confiscated Resources marker enters the gray space, immediately move the Occupation Resources marker down one space. If that space is covered by a Resistance unit, then add that unit to the Recruitment Pool.

The Disappeared Box 7

Resistance units that have been arrested or removed from the map due to Events are placed in the Disappeared Box. Units placed in this box are not considered on the map and may not be examined or flipped. They only re-enter play through Events.

Action Point Tracker 8

Both players track action points as they are spent over the course of their turn. Action points may never be held over or saved for future turns.

Recruitment Pool

Resistance units that are not on the map, the Disappeared Box, or the Occupation Resources track are placed in front of the Resistance player facedown and comprise the Recruitment Pool. These units are available for placement with the Recruit action (p. 8).

Round Tracker 9

Mark the current game round on this track with the marker provided.

Suits

In each zone there is an assigned suit icon beside the letter and number designating the zone. It costs 1 AP more to perform a non-movement action in a zone if the zone and event are different suits.

The Iron Cross suit is considered matching in all districts and zones, and in the Confiscated Resources spaces. All other suits only count as matching suits for zones marked with the same symbol.

Historical Note: Suits represent the lack of coordinated operations between various Resistance groups and the challenges the Occupation faced in ferreting out local Resistance groups in various locales without support of Milice and informants.

See the back cover of this booklet for the Resolution card icon Key.

Game Pieces

Covert and Uncovered

Resistance Cells and Maquis are either covert (facedown) or uncovered (face up), displaying a Resistance Cross for Cells and Maquis or an Iron Cross for Informants. Cells and Maquis always enter play on their covert side. Units may perform actions in either state, but only uncovered units are vulnerable to Arrest.

Informants

A Resistance Cell with an Iron Cross on its uncovered side. When uncovered, Informants cannot be used for Resistance actions or targeted by Events.

Resistance Units

All Maquis, covert Cells, and Cells with a Resistance Cross on their uncovered side constitute Resistance units and count toward the required number of units for a Resistance victory.

Occupation Units

All Milice, German units, and Informants (uncovered Cells with an Iron Cross on their uncovered side). Occupation units are never removed from the map.

Alert Markers

Each zone may only have one Alert marker. Alert markers must be removed immediately when:

• an Occupation unit enters the zone for any reason.
• an Arrest action is performed in the zone (even if unsuccessful).
• no units remain in the zone.

Game Setup

1. Shuffle the Event cards and the Resolution cards and place them to the side. Then deal two Event cards to each player. They may inspect them during the setup steps that follow.
2. Place the Authority marker on the START space of the Authority Track.
3. Place the Confiscated Resources marker in the gray Confiscated Resources space in P1.
4. Place the Occupation Resources marker in the gray space on the Occupation Resources Track.
5. Place three non-Informant Resistance Cells and three Maquis on the designated spaces of the Occupation Resources track.
6. The Resistance player places the Resistance Operations Marker in any rondel space.
7. Place one German unit in each of the following zones: M1, M2, M3, M4, R4, P2. Place one German unit in each German region. Place two German units in P1.
8. Place one Milice unit in each of the following zones: M1, P1, P3, P4, R2 and R3.
9. The Resistance player flips the remaining Resistance Cells facedown, mixes them, and randomly selects three to place on any zones on the map.
10. The Resistance player places the one remaining Maquis on any blue (Victory Cross) zone on the map.

Sequence of Play

Each round consists of the following phases.

1. Initiative Phase
2. Action Phase
3. End Phase

Initiative Phase

Each player draws cards from the Event Deck until they have two cards in their hand. Each player then chooses one Event card from their hand and places it face down in front of them. Players reveal their card simultaneously.

The player with the higher-AP-value card chooses who acts first. If there is a tie, the Resistance player decides. The person chosen becomes the "acting player."

Action Phase

First, the Event on the acting player's card is resolved. If the Event has a red band, the Resistance Player executes the Event effect. If the Event has a gray band, the Occupation player executes the Event effect.

Once the Event has been resolved, the acting player performs any number of actions with the action points provided by the Event card until all points have been spent or the player passes.

Each time the Resistance player chooses to attempt the same type of action (e.g., Sabotage) more than once in the same zone using the same card, a covert unit must be uncovered in that same zone. If there are no covert units in that zone, the Resistance may not repeat the action there. The Occupation player may always attempt the same type of action more than once in a zone if they have the required AP.

The other player then becomes the acting player and repeats these steps for their card. Once this is done, move on to the End Phase.

End Phase

Perform the following steps in order:

1. If the Confiscated Resources marker is in the Confiscated Resources space, reset the marker to the gray space in P1.
2. The Resistance flips any uncovered Maquis in blue (Victory Cross) zones to their covert side.
3. The Resistance may place one Maquis from the Recruitment Pool in any blue (Victory Cross) zone.

Once these steps have been completed, advance the Round marker, flip the Pearl Witherington and Butcher of Lyon markers to their front side (if placed), and proceed to the next round. If it is the end of Round 9, instead check to see which player has met their victory conditions.

Resistance Actions

Move Uncovered

Move an uncovered Resistance Cell or Maquis to an adjacent zone. 1 AP.

Move Covert

Move a covert Resistance Cell or Maquis to an adjacent zone. 2 AP.

Hide Resistance

Flip an uncovered Resistance Cell or Maquis to its covert side. 1 AP + 1 AP per Occupation unit in the Resistance unit's zone + unmatched suit penalty.

Note: performing the Hide Resistance action when the Resistance Operations marker is in the "Hide Resistance Ignores Occupation Units" space on the rondel still incurs the additional 1 AP unmatched suit penalty.

Ambush

In a zone with a Maquis, draw a Resolution card to remove a German or Milice unit. If successful, place the Milice in an adjacent zone or the German unit in either gray region, as applicable. 1 AP + unmatched suit penalty.

Recruit

In a zone with a Resistance unit, draw a Resolution card to place a Resistance unit on their covert side from the Recruitment Pool. Special: Resistance may recruit in Lyon (R1) even if a Resistance unit is not present. 1 AP + unmatched suit penalty.

Sabotage

In a zone with a Resistance unit and without an Alert marker, draw a Resolution card to advance the Resistance Operations marker on the rondel. If there is more than one Resistance unit in the zone, the player may draw a second Resolution card after seeing the first but must accept the result of the second card. 1 AP + unmatched suit penalty.

Resistance Actions Examples

The Event effect has been executed on the Resistance's Event card. The Resistance player now performs actions using the five Resistance Cross AP. First, the Resistance attempts Sabotage in zone P4 for 1 AP, because it matches the suit of their card. The Resistance draws a Resolution card. Sabotage fails, but an Alert marker is placed.

Next, the Resistance attempts Ambush in zone R3 for 2 AP because this zone does not match the suit of their card. The Resistance draws a Resolution card and the Ambush succeeds. The Resistance chooses to remove the German unit from R3 and places it in one of the two German regions.

With the remaining 2 AP from their card, the Resistance performs a Move Covert action. The Cell in zone M4 moves to zone M3 for 2 AP (the action cost for movement is unaffected by unmatched suits).

Occupation Actions

Move Milice, German or Informant

Move a Milice, a German unit, or an uncovered Informant to an adjacent zone. An Occupation unit may move into a zone with an Alert marker for 0 AP. Immediately after the first Occupation unit has moved into a zone with an Alert marker, remove the Alert marker. 1 AP.

Roundup

Move the Confiscated Resources marker on the map one space toward Germany. If the marker enters the gray space, immediately move the Occupation Resources marker down one space on the Occupation Resources track and add the Resistance unit occupying that space to the Recruitment Pool (if any). Unmatched suit penalty applies if the suit icon in the just entered Confiscated Resources space (gray circle) on the map does not match the suit of the active player's card. 1 AP + unmatched suit penalty.

Historical Note: The Roundup action represents forced labor of captives and conscripted laborers, as well as the seizure of resources and economic exploitation vital to the German war effort. Many who managed to avoid the forced labor policy went underground to avoid deportation or imprisonment.

Uncover

In a zone with an Occupation unit, select a Resistance unit and draw a Resolution card. If successful, flip the selected covert Resistance unit to its uncovered side. 1 AP + unmatched suit penalty.

Informant

In a zone with an Occupation unit, examine the reverse side of one covert Resistance Cell. If the unit is an Informant, you may uncover the Informant and a Resistance unit in the same zone. 1 AP + unmatched suit penalty.

Note: The Resistance player cannot shuffle their Resistance Cells once they are on the map. The only time they can touch these pieces is when they are placed, uncovered, or moved.

Arrest

In a zone with an Occupation unit, draw a Resolution card. If successful, remove the selected uncovered unit from the zone and place it in the Disappeared Box. If present, remove any Alert marker in the zone (even if the Arrest action is unsuccessful). If two or more German units are present in the zone, the player may draw a second Resolution card after seeing the first, but must accept the result of the second card. 1 AP to target a Cell or 2 AP to target a Maquis + unmatched suit penalty.

Reprisal

In a zone with an Alert marker and a German unit, flip all covert Resistance units to their uncovered side. 1 AP + unmatched suit penalty.

Historical Note: Reprisals represent the German policy of classifying any arrested French people as hostages who could be executed in reprisal for the killing of German occupation soldiers.

Occupation Actions Examples

After the Event effect has been executed on their Event card, the Occupation will perform actions using the six Victory Cross AP. First, the Occupation performs a Reprisal in zone R3 for 1 AP because the suit matches that of their Event card. This uncovers the Maquis.

Next, the Occupation moves a German unit from R1 to R3. This would normally cost 1 AP, but the Alert marker in R3 reduces this cost to 0 AP. Once the German unit enters the zone, the Alert marker is removed.

Next, the Occupation attempts to Arrest the Maquis in R3 for 2 AP. The Occupation draws a Resolution card with a failure result. However, the Occupation may draw a second card because there are two German units in the zone. The second Resolution card drawn is a success. The Maquis is removed and placed in the Disappeared Box.

(Continued on page 10)

After the Arrest, the Occupation attempts to Uncover the Cell in zone M4. This costs 2 AP because the zone does not match the Victory Cross suit on their Event card. The Occupation draws a Resolution card and successfully uncovers the Cell.

With only 1 AP remaining, the Occupation does not have enough points to attempt to Arrest the Cell in M4. Instead, the Occupation performs the Roundup action to move the Confiscated Resources marker to the gray space. Because the gray space matches any suit, this costs only 1 AP.

When the Confiscated Resources marker enters the German region, the Occupation Resources marker is moved down one space, and the Maquis there is immediately added to the Recruitment Pool.

Victory

During a game of In the Shadows, victory is determined in one of the following ways (the minimum Occupation Resources and required Resistance units are noted on the spaces of the Authority track; see p. 4):

1. The Occupation player wins immediately if there are no Resistance units on the map and the Occupation has met the Minimum Occupation Resources for the current Authority level.
2. The Occupation player wins immediately if the Occupation Resources marker is in the seven space and the Resistance player has less than the required number of units on the map.
3. During the End Phase of round 9, if the Minimum Occupation Resources has been met and the Resistance has less than the required number of units on the map, the Occupation player wins. Otherwise, the Resistance Player wins.

Victory Example

At the End Phase of round 9, Authority is in the third space, indicating that the Minimum Occupation Resources is 3 and the Required Resistance units is 6. Occupation Resources meets the minimum, but the Resistance does not meet the required number of units (there are only five because the Informant is not a Resistance unit). The result is an Occupation victory.

Resolution Deck Composition

Ambush		Sabotage		Recruit		Uncover		Arrest
Remove a Milice or German unit	47%	Alert placed	64%	Maquis or Cell placed	11%	Fails (German unit in zone)	18%	Fails (German unit in zone)	50%
Remove a German unit only	21%	Resistance Operations advances	64%	Cell placed	57%	Succeeds (Milice unit in zone)	50%	Succeeds (Milice unit in zone)	29%
Remove any two units (Any 2)	7%	Resistance Operations advances (Cell in zone)	54%	Alert placed	7%
		Resistance Operations advances twice	3%

Some results are conditional on specific units being present, and other results are possible, but this table is meant to give players a broad idea of the composition of the Resolution Deck.

Historical Card Notes

Agent Provocateur

At the start of the occupation under the Vichy regime, vocal opposition was rare. Abteilung 3 monitored individuals suspected of disseminating propaganda and attending illegal meetings. It identified sites used for "Gaullist recruitment" in an effort to estimate how far such networks extended and to infiltrate such groups. Prior to 1943, the primary objective of agents was to catalog wealth for exploitation by the German government and pillage raw materials, artwork, gasoline, food, and other goods as much as possible.

Butcher of Lyon

Klaus Barbie was the intelligence chief for the Gestapo in Lyon. He ordered the torture, deportation, and murder of over 4,000 Jews and Resistance fighters during World War II. His nickname, "The Butcher of Lyon", was earned for his personal involvement in the torture of captives, during which he often utilized whips, dogs, truncheons, and electrocution. Shortly after the war, the US Army Counter Intelligence Corps recruited Barbie as an asset to aid in anti-communist activities. When the French government sought Barbie's extradition, the CIC aided his escape to Bolivia, where he ran arms trade operations and supported right-wing paramilitary groups, plying his trade (namely torture and repression of political opposition) in the service of dictators like René Barrientos Ortuño, Hugo Banzer, and Luis Garcia Meza.

Carlingue

The Carlingue was a group of French auxiliaries used for counterinsurgency operations against the Maquis. Formed in 1941, many of the members were said to have been recruited from the criminal underworld. The Carlingue was directed by former policeman Pierre Bonny, and Henri Lafont. Despite their primary function as French secret police and collaborators, their criminal enterprise focused on the sale and distribution of black market goods during the occupation.

Cimade

The evacuation of French citizens from the German border to southwestern France sparked the Comité inter-mouvements auprès des évacués (Cimade) to help the displaced. After the occupation, many refugees were interned in French camps, where Cimade was able to reside and provide aid. As the deportation of Jews accelerated in 1942, Cimade teams coordinated with local Protestant parishes to hide and smuggle them out of the country. André and Magda Trocmé were among a network of ministers that encouraged congregations to provide refuge. According to researcher Muriel Rosenberg, the Trocmés' township of Le Chambon and the surrounding village communities provided refuge and assistance with escape to nearly 2,000 refugees between 1940 and 1945.

Citizen Surveillance

Aside from the threat of discovery by the French arms of the Gestapo and Abwehr, the Resistance was also imperiled by fellow citizens collaborating with the occupation. Poison pen letters and denunciations apprised the Kommandantur of potential resistance activity. In 1943, Henri-Georges Clouzot directed the film Le Corbeau about a French community where townspeople receive anonymous letters accusing individual citizens of various crimes, which eventually incites some to take violent action. The Vichy government banned the film from theaters due to its commentary regarding the destructive nature of informing on one's neighbors. In post-war France, many leftists supported maintaining the ban on Le Corbeau, and Clouzot himself was banned for life from directing in France, though this injunction was later commuted to two years, ending in 1947.

Clandestine Press

Operating under extreme secrecy, these underground newspapers and publications served to undermine the Nazi occupation and their French collaborators. Papers like Combat, Front National, and Le Franc-Tireur became the heartbeat of the Resistance movement by circulating news, stories of heroism, and calls to action. In the game, the Resolution Deck is meant to model the papers and pamphlets collected by leaders gathering information — papers and pamphlets that have now become synonymous with the French Resistance.

Escape

A group of French officers imprisoned at Oflag XVII A coordinated a daring escape, tunneling 270 feet under the prison. Perhaps more impressive, the escapees built a movie camera from smuggled parts and filmed life within the prison camp and their daring escape. One hundred and twenty-six prisoners escaped over a two-day period and made their way to freedom. BBC has aired their 30-minute documentary film, Sous le Manteau.

False Papers

Forged documents such as identification, coupons, release papers, labor exemptions, and disabled veteran certificates were essential for Resistance travel and activities. Workshops were created to forge documents using stolen and replicated stamps, stock, and details obtained from municipal administrative offices.

One of the most famous forgers, Adolfo Kaminsky, developed in a makeshift lab a process of removing watermark ink stains from official papers using lactic acid and a method of photogravure to create more authentic-looking forgeries. Over the course of the war, his forgeries were credited with saving the lives of 14,000 people.

I'll Go and Tell the Germans About It

"J'irai le dire à la Kommandantur" was the title of an article in an underground French newspaper penned by Robert Desnos in 1940. Desnos appealed to the French public to refrain from informing on one another to the occupying Germans. While the sentiment may not have dissuaded many would-be collaborators, the phrase "I'll go and tell the Germans about it" lingered in the public imagination.

International Brigades

Formed during the Spanish Civil War, the surviving members of the International Brigades never stopped fighting against fascism. From the very beginning of the Resistance in France, these brave men and women used their experiences from the battlefields of Spain to combat the Nazi occupation. They played a major role in resistance movements all over Europe and are now seen as heroes by many in the modern world.

Jean Moulin

Moulin was a civil servant in Chartres when the Nazis invaded France. Rather than sit on the sidelines, he immediately jumped into action. He was a key player in the unification of the disorganized resistance movement and the founder of the Conseil national de la Résistance (CNR). Moulin was betrayed by informants and arrested by the Nazis in 1943. He was tortured by Klaus Barbie and would die in German captivity. Moulin is seen as a national hero and was inducted into the Panthéon in 1964.

Joseph Darnand

Joseph Darnand was a decorated hero of WWI in the French Army. In July of 1941, he collaborated with Pétain and the Vichy regime to form the Service d'Ordre Légionnaire to assist counterinsurgency efforts and aid in rounding up Jews. By January 1943, this military group became the Milice. Darnand was given the Waffen SS rank of Sturmbannfuehrer. Despite this, the Milice did not always work well alongside the German military. By 1944, the Milice employed over 35,000 collaborators. Darnand fled to Germany after the liberation of France to serve as part of Pétain's government in exile at Sigmaringen until his capture by the Allies. He was returned to France in 1945 where he was tried and executed.

Josephine Baker

The St. Louis-born Josephine Baker was a singular woman of many talents. She used her celebrity as a performer to amplify her work as an activist in the struggle for civil rights. During WWII, Baker worked as an agent collecting information on the Nazi occupation to share with French counterintelligence. Baker was inducted into the Panthéon, France's highest honor, in 2021.

Night and Fog

The Nacht und Nebel decree reversed the policy established by German authorities of taking hostages, long-term detainment, and "re-education" efforts. Instead, throughout German-occupied Europe, authorities were permitted to abduct individuals deemed to have endangered German security. It is estimated that nearly 5,000 such abductions were carried out in France, after which captives were routinely interrogated, often tortured, and then transferred to the Natzweiler-Struthof and Gross-Rosen concentration camps.

Pearl Witherington

An agent of the British Special Operations Executive, Pearl Witherington led the SOE Wrestler network in central France. Her network was responsible for hundreds of successful sabotage operations against the Nazi occupation. After the war, Pearl was denied honors because she was a woman. She nevertheless persisted and eventually received her parachute wings 63 years later at the age of 92.

Rationnement

The rationing system during the occupation provided coupons that many were unable to cash in due to the scarcity of food. Requisitions of food for troops and civilian populations in Germany placed a great strain on supplies. Fuel, fertilizer, and labor shortages, combined with a lack of trade partners and interference with transport, also contributed to the scarcity of both food and many basic staples. The black market thus became critical to every household. Though black market operations were not sanctioned by the Nazis, many collaborators were able to leverage their positions to profit from it via protection rackets and forged coupons, and by the Nazis turning a blind eye to legitimate businesses selling goods above the official prices.

Réfractaires

Réfractaires were people who actively avoided being sent to undertake forced labor in Nazi Germany. They refused to comply with the compulsory draft orders and sought to evade conscription or to escape from the labor camps by hiding in the countryside. In some cases, these réfractaires would become members of the various Resistance movements in France.

Résistance-Fer

The "Iron Resistance" was made up of rail workers from the SNCF, France's state-owned railway company. Under heavy surveillance, these brave members of the Resistance undermined the Nazi regime through sabotage and by monitoring troop movements. Their actions played a key role in impeding Nazi resupply actions after D-Day, which would later be lionized in René Clément's 1946 film, La Bataille du Rail.

Service du Travail Obligatoire (STO)

Nazi Germany instituted what would become the STO to press French citizens into forced labor for the German war effort from June 1942 to July 1944 in order to address the loss of workers due to growing deployments on the Eastern Front. As a tenet of the initial volunteer program as administered by Vichy Prime Minister Pierre Laval, the Nazi government promised to release one French prisoner of war for every three French workers requisitioned to work in camps on German soil; these workers were "subject to do any work that the Government deems necessary." An estimated 80,000 POWs were exchanged for the 240,000 workers sent to Germany. Under subsequent administrations of the STO under Fritz Sauckel, labor quotas of an additional 250,000 French workers were to be met via conscription by making work service mandatory for all citizens born between 1920 and 1922. In practice, the service was compulsory for young men but seldom enforced for women out of fear that it would stoke wider opposition. Broadly, the STO had contributed quite considerably toward souring French public opinion and rallying thousands of potential conscripts to the Resistance.

Simone Segouin

Segouin joined the Francs-Tireurs et Partisans (FTP), a militant communist Resistance group. Her first foray into Resistance activity was carrying messages; later she graduated to sabotaging rail operations and capturing German soldiers. She eventually became a symbol of the Resistance, "The Girl Partisan of Chartres." After the war, she was promoted to lieutenant and awarded the Croix de Guerre for heroism in combat.

On Roundup and Exploitation

In March 1942, a report from the French Army's General Staff estimated that each day, the Germans were passing more than 100 million francs worth of merchandise from the free zone to the occupied zone. From 1940 to 1944, the occupiers spent a total of almost 127 million francs buying up goods on the black market. This parallel market gave them the opportunity to purchase raw materials in France without having to go through the normal channels or bother with cumbersome bureaucracy. The intelligence services played an important role in this process. The link between the black market and the secret services was particularly evident in the case of the Abwehr, the military intelligence service. Right from the start, the Abwehr was closely associated with the biggest central procurement department for the Germans, the Otto bureaus. The Otto bureaus benefited from the Abwehr's experience in the art of camouflaging illegal transactions. For the Abwehr, the partnership brought in vast sums, thereby facilitating its administrative independence.

Historiographical Notes

The Gaullist narrative drove the misconception that the French Resistance was a unified movement from 1940 to 1944. The myth was that France had liberated herself through a well-coordinated Resistance, with only some help from the Allies, which differs starkly from reality.

That reality is better described as "resistance in France" than French Resistance. The pockets of resistance arose as separate movements, in support of different political motivations but in opposition to the same thing: the occupation. Early resisters were composed largely of individuals who stood to lose the most in the face of an occupied France. This resistance was comprised of those shunned by Vichy, German authorities, and French society as foreigners, Jews, and communists.

"Resistance" was defined by de Gaulle, however, as military resistance, only to be undertaken by the Free French. The implications of this definition had a major impact on how others would come to define the term and how it would eventually be judged by many. Even in the course of designing this game, we were approached by some who expressed an opinion that resistance had not accomplished much in France: D-Day had been France's liberation. The impact of resistance in France had been minimal from a military perspective, they had argued.

But resistance was more than a one-dimensional phenomenon. An individual's willingness to resist the German occupation took many forms. André and Magda Trocmé established safehouses amongst church members to hide Jewish families. Adolfo Kominsky developed sophisticated techniques for forging official papers that saved the lives of thousands of people. Many others served as radio operators and couriers, while yet others printed and distributed underground newspapers, escorted downed airmen, and carried out operations at great risk to themselves.

One aim we had in the design of In the Shadows was to reconcile those acts of resistance with how players may narrowly conceive "effective resistance" as military resistance in order to recognize the personal stories of heroism that we read in the making of this game. This overarching goal shaped the actions we offered to players as the Resistance, and it also refined our vision of player success in the model.

With contrasting suits on event cards and elastic costs for actions, we tried to ground the model in multiple Resistance cells and groups that were working to accomplish different things, but that slowly grew their capacity for coordinated action.

We also strove to demonstrate that a successful Resistance should be judged along a continuum of how much the German occupiers could exert their authority. Actions like sabotage attempts and ambushes would stretch demands placed on the occupying forces while recruitment, hiding resistance members, and covert travel would protect and grow networks to a tipping point where containing resistance would prove unsustainable for the occupation.

Admittedly, part of our insistence in creating a more multifaceted view of resistance in our design was that when we read about the past, we expand our empathy at the same time we look with circumspection at the future. The fear of how we might respond if placed in an impossible position akin to France's from 1940 to 1944 is more than a passing thought. Sometimes we talk ourselves out of gestures and acts thought too small to carry meaning or lasting impact. Instead, we should consider the accretion of small acts into larger ones. There is little comfort in defying authority, but there is even less found in wrestling with regret and an unsettled conscience.

Designers' Notes

In the Shadows was born in a whirlwind. We created the game for the inaugural Consim Game Jam in October 2020. We were tasked with designing an original game using the existing components from one of the COIN series games. And, if that wasn't challenging enough, we only had 72 hours to do it!

Fast forward to May 2024 and here we sit — years older, a little wiser, and ready to share our game with all of you. It is amazing to think that all of this started with a copy of Falling Sky and a bunch of cards. Game design is hard, but I would argue that development is even harder! Working to hone and craft your art into something that is as perfect as possible is a strenuous process. Kudos here go to Jason Carr and the fantastic GMT Team for walking us through the dark woods of development so we could get out to the other side.

We would also be nothing without our playtesters. All of you helped us tell this story, and Dan and I are eternally grateful for your help.

We also want to give our thanks and gratitude to Chris Bennett. One of the three musketeers, Chris worked with us during the game jam and was key to crafting the foundations of the game that sits in this box in front of you. Thank you, Chris!

Lastly, we dedicate this game to all of those who lost their lives in the struggle for freedom during the Resistance in France.

Credits

Game Design Dan Bullock and Joe Schmidt

Game Development Jason Carr

Rules Editing Evan Yoak and Marco Poutré

Artwork & Graphic Design Terry Leeds

Playtesters Dave Adams, Erin Becholt, Jim Burzelic, Andrew Carlson, Rachel Carpenter, Joe Dewhurst, Justine Dopke, Ottó Fogarasi, Scott Forbord, Marco Ghelardi, Joe Hill, JeffreyPaul Jones, Jason MacDowell, Jean-Michel Rubio Nevado, Luc Olivier, Scott Pagliaroni, Todd Penland, Stephen Rangazas, Jean Clare Sarmiento, Karl Schmidt, Joe Schmidt Jr., Fred Serval, Dan Skogstad, Saverio Spagnolie, Dominick Turoski, Ibai Zabaleta.

Proofreaders Scott Heenan, Michael Neubauer, Brent Pollock, David Spangler, David Wilkinson

Production Coordination Kai Jensen

Art Director Justin Martinez

Producers Gene Billingsley, Tony Curtis, Andy Lewis, Mark Simonitch, and Rodger MacGowan

Resolution Card Icons

The following is a key explaining the iconography for each of the Resolution card results. Reshuffle the Resolution deck after the card marked "Reshuffle" is placed in the discard.

Icon	Meaning
Milice X or German X	Ambush: Remove one Milice or German unit
German X	Ambush: Remove one German unit
Milice X	Ambush: Remove one Milice unit
X, Any 2 (unit)	Ambush: Remove any two units
Sabotage arrow icon	Sabotage: Advance Resistance Operations
Two Sabotage arrow icons	Sabotage: Advance Resistance Operations twice
Maquis token, Sabotage arrow icon	Sabotage: If a Maquis is in the zone, advance Resistance Operations
Cell token, Sabotage arrow icon, and Alert	Sabotage: If a Cell is in the zone, advance Resistance Operations and place an Alert marker
Alert	Place an Alert marker in the zone
"Unless Informant in zone"	Honor the result if there is no Informant in the zone
Resistance Cross UNCOVER	Uncover a covert Resistance Cell in the zone if able
Victory Cross UNCOVER	Uncover a covert Maquis in the zone if able
Cell token	Recruit: Place a Resistance Cell in the zone
Maquis or Cell token	Recruit: Place a Maquis or a Resistance Cell in the zone
Butcher of Lyon icon, Cell token	Recruit: If the Butcher of Lyon event marker is in play, place a Resistance Cell in the zone
Butcher of Lyon icon, Maquis or Cell token	Recruit: If the Butcher of Lyon event marker is in play, place a Maquis or Resistance Cell in the zone
Informant, Alert	If an Informant is in the zone, place an Alert marker in the zone
Informant, FAILURE	If an Informant is in the zone, the Action is a failure
Alert, SUCCESS	If an Alert marker is in the zone, the Action succeeds
Informant, SUCCESS	Arrest/Uncover: If an Informant is in the zone, the Action succeeds
German unit icon, SUCCESS

Note: German units are more likely to succeed when performing Arrest actions. When both Milice and German units are present for an Arrest, players should consult the German unit outcome. Conversely, Milice units are more likely to succeed when performing Uncover actions. When both Milice and German units are present for an Uncover action, players should consult the Milice unit outcome.