Last June, we were contacted by our good friend Randy Lein from Legion Wargames about a new project called Werwolf: Insurgency in Occupied Germany, 1945-1948, which is a COIN Series inspired multi-faction game taking a look at a what if situation at the end of World War II with various possible insurgencies. He 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

#54 Schnez-Truppe

The Schnez-Truppe was a secret, illegal, underground army formed by former Wehrmacht Colonel Albert Schnez in West Germany in 1949. Initially formed from 2,000 former SS and Wehrmacht officers, it grew to a reported strength of 40,000. The purpose of the organization was to defend West Germany from an invasion by East Germany and the Soviet Union, as the newly founded Federal Republic was officially unarmed and had no equivalent to the East German KVP. The Schnez-Truppe gained adherents during the Korean War as many Germans feared a similar war of communist aggression – East Germany seen as the equivalent of North Korea. In the event of such a war, Albert Schnez and his veterans would man four panzer divisions using borrowed American tanks, flee to neutral Switzerland or Francoist Spain to organize, and then return to liberate the Fatherland from communism. While technically illegal and recruited from within the American occupation zone in Southern Germany, US intelligence services almost certainly knew about the Schnez-Truppe and turned a blind eye, as any help in containing Soviet expansion was seen as useful.

In the game, Schnez and his private army might join the Allies to assist in holding back the Soviet hordes. This is extremely useful for the Allies, who normally pay a cost in morale for bringing on fresh troops as there is political pressure back in the USA to bring the men home. Recruiting local Germans from the Schnez-Truppe avoids this. It does come at a cost though – Cold War tensions will ramp up as the Soviets accuse the Americans of re-arming fascists. On the other hand, these paramilitary groups may side openly with the Werwolf or Edelweiss insurgencies. They would be happy joining either faction – while some had Nazi sympathies they were mainly united by opposition to communism. 4 free guerrillas and a HE token (representing “borrowed” American tanks) is a tremendous boost to either faction. This card is especially useful for Edelweiss as they can use these pieces to seize control of spaces and immediately add to their victory level.