Before we get into this series of Event Card Spoilers I want to say this. Werwolf: Insurgency in Occupied Germany, 1945-1948 is not a glorification of Nazism. Nor is it an attempt to change the narrative, although this game is an alternate reality look at the occupation of Germany by the Allies immediately following the fall of Berlin and the resistance from various groups to that occupation. This game will not be for everyone and may offend some with its portrayal of the events and participants in this struggle. I would say give it a chance to develop over the next year or so as the game has just been placed on pre-order with Legion Wargames. I have long been enthralled with the COIN Series from GMT Games for its attempt to tell the less than squeaky clean side of some of the most infamous struggles in history. This game is not an official part of that series but is COIN Series inspired.

I have seen lots of information put out by the design team of Clint Warren-Davey and Ben Fiene and it appears that these two have done their homework and extrapolated some theories that may or may not have been totally 100% accurate but are based in some semblance of plans or partial historical information. I think that it is good to explore history in these type of games.

With all of that being said, we were contacted by our good friend Randy Lein from Legion Wargames a few months ago about this project and asked if we would be interested in doing some coverage through an interview and possibly some other mediums, such as our Event Card Spoilers format that we have used in other games, and we were immediately intrigued by the concept and the fact that the game uses some of the elements of one of our favorite series. I have been in communication with one of the designers Clint Warren-Davey since that time and he has shared lots of information with me, including the rules and some of their background work on this one, and I wanted to make sure we gave it some light to give you a chance to understand what the game is so that you can make an informed decision about whether you plan to order this one or not. Clint has been great to work with and has agreed to write a series of short articles on the Event Cards and their basis in history as well as how they are used in the game.

If you are interested in ordering Werwolf: Insurgency in Occupied Germany, 1945-1948, you can pre-order a copy for $72.00 from the Legion Wargames website at the following link: https://www.legionwargames.com/legion_WER.html

#25 Otto Skorzeny

Otto Skorzeny was an SS-Obersturmbannführer (lieutenant colonel) during the war and is famous for his involvement in all manner of daring special operations deep behind enemy lines. He was involved in Operation Panzerfaust, the 1945 coup in Hungary designed to keep Germany’s last European ally in the fight. Skorzeny also led the highly risky Gran Sasso raid, which rescued Benito Mussolini from captivity in 1943. To Americans, Skorzeny is most famous for his involvement in the Ardennes Offensive. While Kampfgruppe Peiper’s Panzers tore into Belgium directly, Skorzeny led Operation Greif, in which English-speaking German troops infiltrated Allied positions to spread misinformation and terror behind the lines. American soldiers were encouraged to question anyone slightly suspicious about things like baseball and Hollywood movies to see if they were real Americans – although some of Skorzeny’s commandos were still able to answer these questions accurately!

General Eisenhower himself had to be kept under tight security in Paris during Christmas of 1944 for fear that Skorzeny would assassinate him. While small in number, German commandos were enough to cause excessive caution and increased security behind the lines. General George Patton thought all of this was ridiculous, much as he would later claim that the Werwolves were not a real threat.

After the war Skorzeny had an illustrious career around the world, working as a military advisor for Egypt under Abdul Nasser, Argentina under Juan Peron and even for Mossad (ironic given his SS career). In the game’s timeline, Skorzeny has remained in Germany and has been recruited to train and lead Werwolf guerrillas, a very fitting role for him considering his service history. His skills in risky hit-and-run raids and spreading chaos behind enemy lines would be invaluable to the Werwolf organization. He is represented in the game as this powerful capability card, which allows all Werwolf guerrillas to flip back to being underground whenever they do a march action. This is incredibly powerful and can be used in a variety of ways.

If the Allies or Soviets search a location and reveal all the Werwolves there, they can simply march into adjacent spaces and return to being hidden. Being underground then allows them to perform terror, ambush, assassinate or capture actions. If the Werwolves are really pressed hard and running out of resources, a great move with Skorzeny is to march any revealed guerrillas onto roads (costing 0 resources), which will flip them to underground, then follow it up with capture on all of those roads for 2 resources each. Another great use of this card is sneaking into locations that would normally reveal guerrillas, such as a well-garrisoned city with Allied loyalty. If the Werwolf player manages to grab this capability they will have huge freedom of movement around the map and will need to be hunted down relentlessly. There is a way to get rid of capabilities like Skorzeny, but this will have to wait for another event card spoiler!