Hi all! I'm Brenna from Starling Games, here to answer whatever questions you may have about Black Orchestra.
We did indeed change up the player pieces from the 1st edition to the 2nd, making the switch from plastic to wood and also making them smaller. We downsized the pawns to better accommodate multiple conspirators on the same space. There are other minor aesthetic changes that do not affect gameplay, such as the new dice. We also did some balancing on certain cards and player boards, and revamped some of the rules surrounding Interrogation. All just things to make the game that much more balanced.
As for the imagery used in the game, yes, it was definitely something discussed at length. We try not to use it overly often and only when necessary, so you'll see other symbols used such as the Imperial Eagle. When dealing with a sensitive subject such as the Holocaust it's a difficult but also a hugely important task to stay true to history while also being respectful of those who were affected by one of the worst events in human history. For example the 1st edition had a part in the rulebook where, depending on how long it took for you to kill Hitler, it told you how many lives you saved (of course, also with the correlation of how many lives were you lost if you took too long). This was an attempt on our part to show the magnitude of the enormous loss of life. However, we were met with some constructive criticism that some people felt we had attempted to gameify this loss of life. After discussing it internally we acknowledged that, while our intentions were good, ultimately the result did not reflect those intentions. So, you may notice that part of the rulebook has been removed from the 2nd edition in the interest of being more respectful to the victims and survivors.
