A Very German Revolution – offside report from Otto Landsberg

A Very German Revolution ( AVGR ) is a committee game designed by Jaap Boender. There should be an onside report from the designer around here – but as a brief summary, the game covers the decisions of the MSPD and USPD on 10th November 1918, deciding how to manage the rapidly developing situation in Germany. To use a modern euphemism, that time in Germany was very “fluid” – the German people ( including the King ) have been told only yesterday that the King has abdicated, the German Navy is openly in revolt, and apparently the newly forming version of the country was one well-timed speech away from being declared a soviet republic.

On playing the game itself – I did relatively little, rapidly scrolling through Wikipedia pages while listening to the more central characters debate and propose votes. Partly that’s the way I tend to play these games, partly I think it’s best not to get in the way if events are playing out in a way that’s beneficial to your role. But just listening to the conversations, while getting a view on what Otto Landsberg would want from this – mainly thank you to Wikipedia – was a great way to understand the period.

A few suggestions for the designer:

• I was going to say that some diagrams would be useful, who is on which “side”, a list of threats on the “radar” ( so combine size and time to impact ) – but I wonder if that’s a habit I should get into?
• I think the game needs more structure, an initial list of decisions to be made for example, all to be submitted by the end of the game. That would certainly help those of us who are less historically minded without impeding the historians.
• With it being an online game the PDF briefings were short, we can always quickly search for more information if needed. I wonder if one page on the setting and technology would be useful though – how many protesters are still in Berlin? What’s their mood? What information do we have access to regarding newspapers and telegrams?
• As with other planning games, I think it would benefit from a quick resolution phase at the end – don’t assume that history was inevitable ( the armistice occuring on the 11th of November for example ) and see how the players’ plans withstand different outcomes.