Spiders' Nests 2027

Spiders' Nests is an asymmetric card-driven strategy game for 2–4 players about the Italian Liberation, from the September 1943 Armistice to the end of the war in May 1945. Players control four factions competing to influence the future of Italy: the German occupation forces (Achse), the Italian Social Republic (RSI), the Red Partisans, and the White Partisans.

The Allied armies are not controlled by a player. Instead, their advance from south to north acts as a changing front that progressively transforms the map. As territories pass from Occupied Italy to Liberated Italy, the possibilities available to the factions change as well: military control and guerrilla warfare increasingly give way to political influence and competition over the post-war order.

Event cards determine initiative and shape the sequence of play, while each faction has its own Operations and Special Activities. Players deploy and move forces, conduct attacks and anti-partisan operations, manage resources, influence the political alignment of the population, and compete for influence within the National Liberation Committee (CLN). The four factions differ substantially in their capabilities and in the way they operate in occupied and liberated territories.

Each faction also pursues different victory conditions. The German forces attempt to preserve their occupation network, while the RSI seeks to maintain political support for Fascism. The Red and White Partisans share the struggle against the occupation but compete with one another for political opposition, the establishment of Sections in liberated Italy, and the Monument to Memory, representing their respective role in the memory of the Resistance and in the political future of the country.

—description from the publisher