Resist! Rulebook

Table of Contents

HISTORY
COMPONENTS
GAME OVERVIEW
SETUP
PLAYING THE GAME
ENDING THE GAME
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Round Summary

HISTORY

Spain, 1936. General Franco and his troops advance through the territories of Spain, giving way to a long period of civil war and repression. After the Spanish Civil War, a group of loyalists to the Republic continued the armed struggle, forming resistance groups better known as "maquis". Hidden among the mountains these men and women risked their lives to defend the ideals of democracy and freedom. Against them they had the Army of Franco, the Civil Guard, and the Armed Police. But the maquis perfected their guerilla warfare in France during the second World War, and were determined to take back their homeland. In the head of each maquisard resonated the echo of the desire of many compatriots: Resist!

COMPONENTS

32 ENEMY CARDS
8 CIVILIAN CARDS
1 PLAYER AID
20 MISSIONS CARDS
6 SPY CARDS
24 MAQUIS CARDS

GAME OVERVIEW

Take on the role of the Spanish Maquis, fighting against the Francoist regime. Over a series of rounds, you will undertake increasingly difficult missions. Defeating missions gains you the victory points you need to win the game. Failing to defeat missions and enemies may cause you to lose the game. At the end of each round, you must choose whether to end the resistance or risk it and take on another mission.

SETUP

Maquis: Shuffle the 24 Maquis cards and divide them into 2 equal face-down decks. Designate one as the Hidden deck and place it on the left-hand side of the play area, leaving space for a face-up Hidden discard pile. Designate the other deck as the Recruit deck and place it to the right-hand side, leaving space for a face-up Revealed pile.

Drafting your Maquis

When you are comfortable with the game, we strongly recommend that you draft your Maquis instead. Shuffle the 24 Maquis cards together and reveal the top 2 cards. Choose one to add to the Hidden deck and the other to add to the Recruit deck. Repeat this process until there are 12 cards in each deck. Then shuffle each deck separately.
Spies: Shuffle 3 Spy cards into the Hidden deck. Place the remaining spy cards face-up near the play area.

Maquis and Spies

The Maquis cards in the Hidden deck, the Hidden discard pile and your hand represent the active members of the resistance. You will cycle through these cards as you play the game, sometimes moving them to the Revealed pile after you play them. The Maquis in the Revealed pile and Recruit deck are inactive, and not normally available to you, but can be added to your active Maquis through special actions and effects in the game.

Spies are not Maquis. They represent members of Franco’s regime who have infiltrated your team. Spy cards are unusable and serve only to clutter up your deck, discard pile and hand. Some actions and effects allow you to remove Spies from the game, but typically they will cycle through your deck as you draw and discard them.
Missions: Sort the 20 Mission cards by the Era and shuffle each set separately. Remove 4 cards from the first era, 3 from the second era, and 3 from the third era and place them back in the box. They will not be used in the game. Flip the 4 Mission cards from the first era face-up and place them in a row, forming the initial set of Available Missions. Stack the 3 Mission cards from the second era on top of the 3 from the third era to form a face-down Mission deck. Leave space for a face-up pile of Defeated Missions.
Enemies: Shuffle the 32 Enemy cards and deal a number of Enemy cards face down next to each available Mission equal to the Mission’s Garrison value. Leave the remaining Enemy cards in a face-down Enemy deck. Leave space for a face-up Enemy discard pile.
Civilians: Shuffle the 8 Civilian cards and leave them face-down in a Civilian deck. Leave space for a face-up Graveyard.
Starting Hand: Draw an initial hand of 5 cards from the Hidden deck. Leave space for a Play Area in front of you to play the cards from your hand.

PLAYING THE GAME

The game is played over a series of rounds. Each round is divided into 4 phases:

PLAN
ATTACK
AFTERMATH
RECOVER

These are further divided into a series of steps. Perform each phase and each step in the order indicated below.

The game continues until you choose to end the resistance during the AFTERMATH phase or you trigger one of the game’s three loss conditions:

You fail two Missions (see AFTERMATH)
You lose 5 civilians (see AFTERMATH)
You draw a hand of all Spies (see RECOVER)

1. PLAN

A) PLAY MAQUIS: You may play any number of Maquis from your hand, executing PLAN actions if appropriate. See “Maquis Persona and Actions” below. Some PLAN actions allow you to scout ahead, flipping the Enemies at Missions face up before you choose which to attack.

B) CHOOSE MISSION: Choose one of the Available Missions to attack this round. If there are any remaining face-down Enemies at the chosen Mission, flip them face up now.

Maquis persona and actions

When you play a Maquis card, you must first choose its persona--hidden or revealed. Revealed Maquis are more powerful than hidden Maquis but are lost at the end of the round. To record the choice of persona, place revealed Maquis to your right and hidden Maquis to your left. See the Setup diagram above.

After choosing a persona, you may perform the action indicated on the associated side of the card if it matches the phase that you are currently in (PLAN or ATTACK). That is, you may perform PLAN actions on Maquis played during the PLAN phase, ATTACK actions on Maquis played during the ATTACK phase, and PLAN/ATTACK actions on Maquis when they are played in either phase.

You are never required to perform the action on a played Maquis, even if it matches the phase you are in. However, if you choose to perform a Maquis action, you must perform it in full. For example, Jacinto’s revealed action says “Discard a Maquis card from your hand and then draw two cards from the Hidden deck.” You cannot perform this action if you do not have a Maquis to discard.

You must play all the Maquis cards in your hand each round, including any additional cards drawn from Maquis actions and Mission effects. You may not choose to discard Maquis or keep them in your hand for future rounds. You may never play the Spies from your hand.

Additional details about Maquis actions can be found in the Frequently Asked Questions section at the end of the rules.

2. ATTACK

A) DEFEND EFFECTS TRIGGER: Any DEFEND effects on the chosen Mission and its Enemies trigger. See “Mission and Enemy Effects”.

B) PLAY MAQUIS: Play the remaining Maquis cards from your hand, executing ATTACK actions if appropriate. See “Maquis Persona and Actions” above. Remember! You must play all the Maquis cards in your hand each round, including any additional cards drawn from Maquis actions.

Mission and Enemy Effects

Mission effects are active during the round in which the Mission is chosen, as are the effects on the Mission’s Enemies. The effects on unchosen Missions and their Enemies are not active.

There are three types of effects which trigger at different times during the ATTACK phase:

DEFEND: This effect triggers at the start of the ATTACK phase.
DEFEAT: This effect triggers if this card is defeated during the ATTACK phase. It does not trigger if this card is discarded or removed from the game in any other way.
SURVIVE: This effect triggers if this card is not defeated during the ATTACK phase.

If multiple DEFEND or SURVIVE effects trigger at the same time, you choose the order in which they resolve.

Additional details about Mission and Enemy effects can be found in the Frequently Asked Questions section at the end of the rules.

C) DEFEAT TARGETS: Now use the Attack value on your Maquis to defeat some combination of the chosen Mission and its Enemies (henceforth Targets).

Total the Attack value on all the Maquis you’ve played during the PLAN and ATTACK phases this round. Use the Revealed attack value for revealed Maquis and the Hidden Attack value for hidden Maquis. This is your Attack Strength for the round.
Use your Attack Strength to defeat Targets one by one, in any order you choose. To defeat a Target, you must reduce your Attack Strength by an amount equal to Defense value.
Place defeated Enemies face-up into the Enemy discard pile and defeated Missions face-up into the Defeated Missions pile. If a defeated Target has a DEFEAT effect, resolve it immediately. Any DEFEND effects on defeated Targets immediately become inactive.
Stop when all Targets are defeated or you don't have enough Attack Strength left to defeat any more. Any excess Attack Strength is lost. You may not save it for the next round.
Finally, resolve any SURVIVE effects on undefeated Enemies and then place them in the Enemy discard pile.

You might not have enough Attack Strength to defeat the chosen Mission and all of its Enemies. You will have to choose which Targets are the most important to you!

3. AFTERMATH

A) CHECK FOR CIVILIAN LOSS: Some Mission and Enemy effects instruct you to draw cards from the Civilian deck and place them face up in the Graveyard. Each Civilian card shows 0, 1, 2 or 3 civilians. If the total number of civilians on the cards in the Graveyard is 5 or greater, you immediately lose the game (see “Ending the Game”).

B) MISSION OUTCOME: Now do one of the following, based on the outcome of the Mission you chose this round:

SUCCESS: If you defeated the Mission, draw the top card from the Mission deck and place it face-up next to the other Available Mission cards. If there are no cards left in the Mission deck, skip this step. Now draw a number of cards from the Enemy deck equal to the new Mission’s Garrison value and place these cards face-down next to it. If there are no cards left in the Enemy deck, shuffle the Enemy discard pile to form a new deck.
FAILURE: If you did not defeat the Mission, flip it face-down. Do not draw a new Mission. You will have 1 less available Mission for the remainder of the game. If this is the second Mission you have failed, you immediately lose the game (see “Ending the Game”).

C) END THE RESISTANCE: You must now decide if you want to continue playing or end the resistance. If there are no longer any available Missions, you must end the resistance.

If you choose to continue, move on to the RECOVER phase.
If you choose to end the resistance, move immediately to “Ending the Game”.

Be careful! If you choose to continue, you may defeat the next Mission and increase your score, but you may instead lose the game. At some point, you will need to end the resistance if you want to win!

4. RECOVER

A) CLEAN UP PLAYED MAQUIS: Place all the revealed Maquis that you played this round into the face-up Revealed discard pile. Then place all the hidden Maquis, as well any Spy cards in your hand, face-up into the Hidden discard pile.

B) DRAW NEW HAND: Draw a hand of 5 cards from the Hidden deck. If the deck is empty and you need to draw a card, shuffle the Hidden discard pile to form a new Hidden deck and continue drawing. If the Hidden discard pile is also empty, do not draw a card. It is possible that you will not be able to draw a hand of 5 cards in later rounds.

C) CHECK FOR SPY LOSS: As the game progresses, you will lose Maquis from the Hidden deck and may gain more Spies. If you ever draw a hand consisting of only Spies during the RECOVER phase, you immediately lose the game (see “Ending the Game”). Otherwise, begin a new round.

ENDING THE GAME

The game can end in one of two ways:

If you chose to end the resistance, total the point value on the cards in the Defeated Missions pile and determine the result of your resistance using the table below.
If instead you failed two Missions, lost 5 civilians, or drew a hand of all Spies, your resistance has failed and you have lost the game. Do not total the point value on cards in the Defeated Missions area.

Points	Result
Defeat all 10 missions	Epic Victory: The Maquis overwhelms Franco’s forces, overthrows the dictator, and liberates Spain.
22+	Major Victory: The Maquis achieve major successes victory after victory across Spain, forcing Franco to the negotiation table and ultimately ending his dictatorship over Spain early.
19-21	Victory: Victories against Franco’s forces inspire guerrilla activity across Spain. While ultimately unsuccessful in liberating Spain, the Maquis achieves major successes in their battle against Franco.
15-18	Minor Victory: The Maquis are able to liberate some villages and towns, raising the Spanish Republican flag over them. However, they are ultimately defeated by Franco’s forces.
1-14	Draw: The Maquis fight valiantly, but are unable to achieve any major victories in the battle against Franco’s forces.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What happens if I run out of cards?

If an effect tells you to “draw” or “look at” a card in a deck, and there are not enough cards left, shuffle the associated discard pile to form a new deck and then continue drawing or looking at cards. If there are still not enough cards, draw as many as you can.

What happens when an effect tells me to discard a card?

When an effect tells you to discard a Maquis or a Spy, place it face-up in the Hidden discard pile. When an effect tells you to discard an Enemy card, place it face-up in the Enemy discard pile. “Discarding” an Enemy is not the same as “Defeating” it. Do not resolve DEFEATED effects on Enemies when you discard them. You may use effects to discard Enemies when you have been prevented from defeating them (for example, because of the effect on the grunt).

What happens when an effect tells me to remove a card from the game?

When an effect tells you to remove a card from the game, place it back in the box. Do not put it into a discard pile.

What does it mean when an effect references Maquis which are “in play”?

A Maquis card is considered “in play” after you’ve played it from your hand face up in front of you. Maquis typically leave play during the “Cleanup Up Played Maquis” step of the RECOVER phase. Maquis in your hand, in decks, or in piles are not considered in play.

What does it mean when an effect references a “revealed” or “hidden” Maquis?

Each Maquis card in play is either “hidden” or “revealed”, depending on the choice you made when you played it. Maquis cards in your hand or in a deck or discard pile are not considered “hidden” or “revealed”.

If an effect lets me draw a Maquis card, do I need to play it this round?

Yes, you must play it. You cannot “hide” Maquis cards in your hand or save them for the next round.

How do I get the Maquis from the Recruit deck?

There are only a few ways of doing this. You need to defeat an Enemy jailor, defeat the “Jailbreak at the Prison” Mission, or use Antonio or Ramona’s revealed actions. There are also a few actions and effects which let you get back the cards from the Revealed discard pile.

Do I need to defeat all Enemies at a Mission in order to win the Mission?

No, you don’t. In fact, you typically won’t be able to defeat the Mission and all of its Enemies. You need to choose which is more important!

During the ATTACK phase, do I add up the total Attack value on all my Maquis cards or do I assign these values one card at a time?

You total the value on all of your Maquis cards, including those played during the PLAN phase. You then assign this total value to targets, one card at a time.

Is there a limit to how many enemies can be at one Mission?

No, there is no limit. The largest Garrison value for a Mission is 5, but some actions and effects allow you to move Enemies to other Missions.

When evaluating the timing of an Enemy engineer’s effect (+1 defense) and Benigno’s revealed action (-1 defense), who goes first?

The Engineer’s happens first. The Engineer’s DEFEND effect happens in the first step of the ATTACK phase. Jugar’s ATTACK action happens in the second step, when you play him from your hand.

Can I use Antonio or Celia’s hidden action if I don’t have a Spy in my hand?

No, you must be able to perform an action in full in order to use it. The only exception is if you run out of cards to draw (see first FAQ question above).

Round Summary

PLAN

A) Play Maquis (resolve PLAN actions if appropriate)
B) Choose Mission (flip Enemies face up)
ATTACK

A) DEFEND Effects Trigger
B) Play Maquis (resolve ATTACK actions if appropriate)
C) Defeat Targets (resolve DEFEAT and SURVIVE effects)
AFTERMATH

A) Check for Civilian Loss (5 or more civilians in Graveyard)
B) Mission Outcome (replace defeated Missions, lose if 2 Missions failed)
C) End the Resistance?
RECOVER

A) Cleanup played Maquis (place in appropriate discard piles)
B) Draw new hand (5 cards, shuffle if necessary)
C) Check for Spy Loss (Hand of all spies)