SOE: Lysander is a book-based wargame where you play the part of a pilot in Britain's most secret air unit, "A" Flight of RAF No. 161 Squadron (Special Duties). Your mission is to fly Special Intelligence Service (SIS) and Special Operations Executive (SOE) agents, wireless operators, saboteurs, assassins, escape line directors, diplomats, political figures, heads of the French Resistance, and others into German-occupied France during World War II.
You deliver caches of weapons, explosives, and radio electronics to assist the French Resistance, known as the “Maquis”. The mission is to “set Europe ablaze”, as Prime Minister Winston Churchill famously ordered. Flying by moonlight, you navigate in your Westland Lysander Mk. IIIA (SCW) aircraft across the English Channel and into occupied France, where you land on improvised, often muddy farm fields and meadows that are behind enemy lines. Once on the ground, you drop off the agents and cargo, then pick up others for the return flight to England. While there, you risk discovery by German patrols, the Gestapo, and even French gendarmes who collaborate with the enemy. As you fly, you are harassed by flak and small arms fire. You are hunted relentlessly by Luftwaffe nightfighters. Your aircraft may suffer from engine trouble or other malfunctions. If all goes well, you will return to England in one piece.
SOE: Lysander is a solitaire game in the narrative style. It features easy-to-learn rules and a small tabletop footprint. Gameplay involves both cards and dice. The challenges are extensive. Your career as a Lysander pilot flying special operations begins in June 1943 and continues until France is liberated in August 1944. Multiplayer Group play allows you to fly your solitaire missions in conjunction with others.
GAME SET-UP GUIDE VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KW3CfamsaDk
BOXED SET OF GAME ASSETS: https://www.bluepantherllc.com/products/soe-lysander
(You still need to get the book from Amazon to play with the boxed set!)
