Rimini Libera

1943. Between September 9 and 13, Rimini becomes a Platzkommandantur occupied by the 65th Infantry Division of the Wehrmacht. They occupy the central square, the barracks and the airport. Captain Ugo Ughi, a former officer of the royal army who had waited for the arrival of the Germans, is appointed Commissario Prefettizio. A curfew is imposed from 9:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. and a ban is placed on meetings, rallies, parades and public demonstrations. Ex-soldiers, daring young people and responsible citizens form patriotic groups to organize the Resistance to an increasingly ferocious war, between two foreign armies that distrust Italy, as they do not recognize it as an allied nation, but only a defeated enemy that is now a co-belligerent. At the beginning of the game, each player is associated with one or more of these 6 patriotic formations. They will set-up their tokens on to the map, built by square tiles each containing one or more of the six available resources, and each player will play the rounds in the order assigned by the group, moving the tokens with their movement points assigned. Each group has its own peculiarities in terms of pawns, total movements, priority for the round order and special effects. During the longest thirteen months, until 21st September, 1944, each participant leads one or more patriotic formations to overcome, by collaborating with others, the repressions and deprivations that the game exercises representing both the Nazi-Fascist occupation and the Allied offensive of liberation. Each month is represented by a round (13 total), where a card with the active repressions and potential additional effect such as the curfew, that limits the movements of the players, or winter months that limits the available resources. Each round an event that activates the repressions and moves the occupants' pawns is revealed, starting with the bombing that during the game will first reduce the resources available in the bombed tiles, then removes the tile from the map, reducing the available space. Players will then take their turns by moving and collecting resources to fulfill action cards and play them from their hand, to activate effects and/or score points. At the end of the game, after 13 rounds, points are calculated to determine the winner. Rimini Libera is a recreational, informative and cultural work promoted by the Istituto per la Storia della Resistenza e dell'Età Contemporanea della Provincia di Rimini (ISREC) and created with the contribution and collaboration of the Comune di Rimini and the Biblioteca Civica Gambalunga on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the Liberation of Rimini. Rimini Libera is a game about war, not a war game. It is inspired by real historical events, sourced from authoritative books, with the aim of spreading the news and recreating the contexts to provide a highly immersive experience. A challenging and at times frustrating reenactment, to achieve the goal of passing on and making people understand the value of historical memory. —description from the designer