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
#18 Ratlines
By 1944-45 it had become clear to many top Nazi officials that the war would soon be lost, and they would be imprisoned or executed for their war crimes, not least of which was participation in the Holocaust. Some tried to defy Hitler and were killed, some were loyal to the very end. Many chose a sneakier option – following orders as long as possible but forming a backup plan to flee when the Allied or Soviet armies began closing in.
The so-called ratlines were various paths of escape to foreign countries used by these criminals at the end of the war to avoid their well-deserved fate at Nuremberg. Many of the routes went from Germany or Austria through Italy, and then on to safe havens such as Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Ecuador, Mexico, the U.S. and Spain. Argentina in particular was friendly to these fugitives due to the fascist inclinations of President Juan Perón. Some of the Catholic leadership in Europe were sympathetic to the Nazi cause (primarily because it opposed atheist communism, and many members of the Waffen-SS were themselves practicing Catholics) and helped to secure fake passports and safe passage via the ratlines. The Austrian Bishop Alois Hudal was the first clergyman to organize this kind of operation and provided financial and moral support as well as escape routes to such war criminals as Adolf Eichmann and Franz Stangl.
In the game, Bishop Hudal and others like him may offer their full support to the Werwolves and convince the Catholic population of Bavaria to side with them. Alternatively, the Vatican might cut off this association entirely, indirectly helping the Allied cause.
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 