A few years ago, 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.htm
#13 Golden Age of Film
While Werwolf is a wargame, it is a game about winning the hearts and minds of a nation’s people. Some cards do not seem to be related to military matters at all – but from the perspective of insurgency and counter-insurgency, make total sense. This is one such card – #13 Golden Age of Film.
The 1910’s to the 1960’s are widely considered to be the classical or “golden” age of Hollywood films. In the 1920’s, sound was first introduced and both the film sets and narrative devices departed significantly from the earlier vaudeville theatre style. The apogee of the classical Hollywood style coincided with the Second World War, with 1939 alone seeing the release of The Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. 1941 saw the release of Citizen Kane, considered by many critics to be the greatest film of all time.
American cinema was, and remains, an international industry of enormous propaganda potential. In the aftermath of both world wars, the German population was exposed to images of beautiful, carefree American stars in luxurious surroundings, enacting stories of romantic drama or slapstick comedy. The responses varied – many Germans became enamored of the American lifestyle presented by Hollywood, while others reacted with disgust to what they saw as decadent, vulgar and sexualized imagery. This card presents both options as the American occupation of Germany brings Hollywood classics to cinemas across the country. In game terms, it affects the loyalty of populations living in cities (where the cinemas are). Either the Allies or the Werwolves may benefit from this card, by shifting populations towards pro-Allied loyalty or toward pro-Werwolf resistance.
If you missed the previous entries in the series, you can catch up on the posts to date by following the below links:
Recently, the pre-order numbers have reached the ultimate goal of 250 orders! Congratulations to the designers Clint Warren-Davey and Ben Fiene as well as to the publisher Legion Wargames. To celebrate this fact, and the ultimate future printing of Werwolf, we are hosting a few more of these card spoilers to share more about the game and its alternate history. Also, if you are interested we posted an interview with the designers and you can read that at the following link: https://theplayersaid.com/2022/06/27/interview-with-clint-warren-davey-and-ben-fiene-designers-of-werwolf-insurgency-in-occupied-germany-1945-1948-from-legion-wargames/
-Grant
The Players' Aid 