TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Introduction
- Resistance Strength Mechanic
- Regions
- Outcomes
- Random Events
- Black Cross Mission
- Region Destruction
This article was written under Classified France '44 Game Build: 2321, P4Stream: Patch103, Change: 50005, Built: 14/05/2024 11:50:12
I am happy to make any corrections if more accurate information is discovered. If you have any comments, you can either post here or e-mail me at: byzantinekitty@gmail.com
All of the screenshots in this post were taken by me except for the Major Defeat image.
1. INTRODUCTION
In Classified France '44, the Resistance Strength mechanic is used to gauge your progress throughout the game as you approach D-Day. However, there is a lot that isn't sufficiently explained so this guide will provide a detailed look into how the system works and how to achieve a satisfying victory.
2. RESISTANCE STRENGTH MECHANIC
Every time you successfully complete a mission, you can choose a region to strengthen and this contributes to progress for the Resistance Strength bar that is at the top of the screen. Every region has 3 segments and when you have filled all 3 segments, it unlocks a special ability associated with that region.
At the end of the game, your performance is evaluated by how many undamaged segments you have filled in. Starting in the mid-game, enemy units will try to launch reprisals which will damage regions where you have made progress. You can either counter them by expending FFI (French Forces of the Interior) points or by repairing the regions which have been damaged.
Each playthrough offers up to 25 missions plus the final mission. There is a Steam achievement, I Live To Fight which requires successfully completing 50 different campaign missions, which is essentially 2 playthroughs. It does not seem to be possible to do more than 25 missions before the final mission. Most missions take 2 days but the third to last mission has a variable duration (I've seen it take 4-5 days) that always seems to take you to the final 2 days before D-Day. If you are not very time efficient, it could be possible that you get fewer than 25 missions before the final mission. The key is to avoid choosing event options that waste too many days and to avoid choosing missions that take longer because of the presence of enemy units (the latter can also be avoided if you unlock the Railroad region ability). I was able to achieve a Decisive Victory when there were 9 days left (and the third to last mission took 5 days), so there is a small amount of leeway in terms of days (don't be afraid to spend a day to obtain powerful equipment from an event) and the last three missions did not add additional resistance strength because I had already maxed it out.
There are two random events that can grant you additional region strength, meaning you can fill 28 segments at the end of the game. Also, there is a mission option that will make an additional region into a Key Region.
When you select a region to strengthen, there will be a flashing white bar along the Resistance Strength meter that shows how much resistance strength that will add.
All normal regions will add the same amount:
Selecting a Key Region will provide twice the amount:
There does seem to be a small bonus for establishing a foothold in an entirely new region:
And there are two possible Region abilities, High Command and Elite, which provide additional resistance strength once those regions are completed:
3. REGIONS
For a more detailed explanation on regions and region abilities, please read: Classified France '44: Region Analysis
Each region has a faction affiliation which is fixed and an associated ability which is mostly randomized. There are also certain regions which are always designated as Key Regions.
If you want to maximize Resistance Strength, then hope that High Command and Elite are present. Also, Railroad (enemy pieces do not increase mission day costs), Hit and Run (enemy movement time is increased) and Resisters (enemy reprisal times are increased) can help with managing time and the enemy units.
The three Key Regions are always Basse-Normandie, Picardie, and Ile-de-France:
Midway through the game, there is the option to make Bretagne into a Key Region. It does always seem to be Bretagne and not a random region.
One important detail that is important to note and which I didn't realize until my second playthrough - when you complete a mission, you can choose to strengthen any region that is affiliated with the faction where the mission took place. It does NOT have to be that specific region where the mission was. The location of the mission only matters for the faction affiliation and in the case of enemy units whether or not the enemy is tougher and the mission takes additional time.
4. OUTCOMES
As you progress throughout the game, there are 4 milestones you can reach:
STALEMATE
MINOR VICTORY
MAJOR VICTORY
DECISIVE VICTORY
It does not seem you can achieve anything higher than Decisive Victory. Here you can see that selecting a region no longer adds anything to the progress bar:
And here you can see that at the end of the game, 100% is the best you can get which is a Decisive Victory:
If you don't reach the Stalemate threshold, then you get a Major Defeat:
(This is a cropped screenshot from someone else's YouTube video, since I didn't actually trigger the Major Defeat myself).
Comparing Decisive Victory to Major Defeat:
There is a different narrative video at the end.
The fates of the characters can be different. Each of the characters gets a very different first paragraph depending on victory or defeat.
For some characters, their eventual fate (second paragraph) seems to be the same: Willard Cassady, Tom King, Charles Belanger, Sami Alami, and Anna Martineau. For other characters: Henri Vittel, Vincent Tremblay, and Luke Anson they can have completely different fates, which might be influenced by the number of missions they went on.
The final reel of actual film footage is also different at the end.
5. RANDOM EVENTS
For a more in-depth analysis of the game's random events, please take a look at my article: Classified France '44: Random Events Guide
There are two important events that you can get which provide additional region strength (beyond the 26 you can achieve from completing all 25 missions plus the final mission). I think these are the two best and strongest random events you can get, but it is up to RNG whether or not you get them. (Though if you are a min/maxer, you can save scum at the end of a mission and keep reloading until you get the random event you want).
The free region from the Competition event is completely free and the free region from the Strongpoint event costs some supplies but is well worth it.
6. BLACK CROSS MISSION
Around Day 33 (which may vary depending on how time efficient you are), you will get the choice between two paired missions:
Black Cross, which makes Bretagne into a Key Region, is far far better. Slaying Le Voirloup means one less enemy unit but it really isn't that hard managing the enemy units. Slaying Le Voirloup also offers more immediate XP and supplies but that's usually not a big deal.
Once you complete Black Cross, Bretagne becomes a Key Region. When selecting a region to strengthen, the large amount of resistance strength progress you get is factoring in the amount you are gaining by making Bretagne into a Key Region.
7. REGION DESTRUCTION
Starting around mid-game, enemy units will show up and will try to destroy your progress. You can end up with up to 4 enemy units at a time. However, it is not particularly challenging to manage them all.
Typically an enemy unit will spend a few days moving and then take several days to launch a reprisal that will then damage a region. While an enemy unit is in a region, missions in that region take longer (this can be avoided if you unlocked the Railroad ability in Bretagne) and enemies are a little tougher (+1 level, which applies even if you have unlocked the Railroad).
While a region is damaged, you lose access to the region ability (if all 3 segments are filled) and the damaged segment does not contribute to Resistance Strength. However, both of those are restored once you repair the region.
Other than temporarily not having access to the region ability, it really doesn't matter if regions are destroyed except at the end of the game. In fact, there is a point in the game where 2-3 regions will get destroyed regardless of what you choose.
Repairing a region requires assigning one of your characters to a task that takes 2 days. Since you can only use 4 characters per mission and characters on tasks will still recover fatigue, it's really not a big deal using one of your characters to repair a region. The bigger annoyance is that it costs precious supplies. You can also only repair one region at a time so just make sure that multiple regions aren't destroyed right before D-Day - you can judiciously save some FFI points to avoid this.
You can use FFI points to temporarily disable an enemy unit. It then takes several days to recover, after which it will then need a few days to move, and then several more days to launch a new reprisal. Typically you will want to expend the FFI point when the enemy unit is 1-2 days away from launching a reprisal. There is a Recruit FFI task that you can take to get more FFI points - it costs some supplies and takes 4 days so one of your characters will probably be unavailable for two missions. You can also get FFI points form certain missions and by maxing out your relationship (Loyal) with each faction. Thus if you reach Level 8 with each faction, that is 3 free FFI points.
