There’s never a wrong time to kill Hitler. The trouble is finding the motivation and a trustworthy crew. Luckily for us and countless alternate realities, we have Black Orchestra to solve these issues. Black Orchestra is a cooperative game of moving pieces around Europe, collecting and sharing resources to plan and carry out the elimination of the Hitler. Players win if they pull off what no-one but Hitler was able to and lose if they get caught or if the game ends as it did historically.
At the start, players pick a character who will either be from the Military, the Abwehr (Germany’s Military Intelligence), or Civilian life. This makes Black Orchestra one of the few games where you can play as Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Each character has a Commitment score that indicates how useful they are, what abilities they have, and which assassination plots they can carry out. They also has a suspicion score which determines how hard it is for them to carry out plots without getting detected. Every character also has a unique ability that gets unlocked when they are sufficiently motivated. Characters can hold a certain number of items and dossier cards based on how many players there are.
On a player’s turn, they can take at least three actions. Similar to Pandemic, they can move around the map, draw cards, give or take cards or items from players on their space, inspect and/or pick up items. They can also Conspire which lets them roll the custom dice. Any numbers they roll give them that many extra actions this turn. Any Eagles rolled increase the player’s Suspicion. Any Bullseyes get added to a Dissent track which, when it gets three Bullseyes, either lowers Hitler’s Military Support score or raises a player’s commitment. The final and most critical action a player can take is to carry out a Plot.
Moving around the board is largely about searching for items which start off hidden from players. Items are often necessary to carry off Plots but they can also be discarded on certain spaces to lower your Suspicion score. Moving also lets the player move away from Hitler and his goons who cause problems if a player starts their turn on the same spot as them. Drawing Dossier cards is how you find Plots as well as getting actions that help you. Some Dossier cards are illegal and getting caught with them can cause dire consequences.
After a player finishes their turn they draw from the Events deck that corresponds with the seven phases of the game. These cards and phases reflect the historical progress of the war and frequently move Hitler and his goons around the board often plopping them right on top of players. As the players enter new phases, different spaces on the board open up and/or lock down. Buried in the Events deck are SS Raids which can wind up confiscating illegal Dossier cards or arresting players under extreme Suspicion.
Players that have been arrested forego their normal turn and instead have to withstand interrogation which often forces them to choose from between unpalatable choices. Unlike the rest of the game, this process is hidden from the other players. If a player has been arrested, other players can use their turn to try to release them although they risk getting arrested themselves. If everyone is arrested, the players lose the game.
Plots are how you kill Hitler. You have to have a Plot as one of your dossier cards in order to carry it out. They often have a required element such as being in the same space as Hitler or having certain items. Optional elements give you bonus dice. Once you’ve determined your dice pool, you roll as your action and check the results. First you check your suspicion level and the number of Eagles rolled. If you rolled the amount or over the amount on your suspicion level then you are found out and the plan fails. If you rolled under your suspicion amount then you’re undetected. Next check the number of Bullseyes. If they are under the amount shown in Hitler’s Military Support then it fails and the game continues. If you roll the amount or over what is shown then the Plot is successful and you win!
Black Orchestra is a chilling game which brilliantly creates a claustrophobic feeling of dodging and hiding while trying to gather together everything you need to take on this monstrous regime. At the start of the game you are limited in what you can do until you build up enough motivation and events or unfortunate conversations with the Fuhrer can lower that motivation which creates a natural ebb and flow. The game offers different difficulty levels depending on just how much you want to sweat it out but ultimately it’s a fantastic if frequently depressing journey. Highly recommended.