Bismarck (Second Edition)

Bismarck recreates the British hunt for the German battleship, Bismarck, in 1941. Players are operating blind and are attempting to find (in the case of the British) or avoid (as for the Germans) each other, as the locations of each player's ships are hidden from each other. Searches are conducted à la Battleship by calling out target locations that search planes or ships can 'see'.

If and when the British successfully intercept the Germans, play can then be conducted in a fashion similar to miniatures, with counters laid out on a large space (the floor), and which then maneuver and fire at enemy ships.

In greater detail;

Avalon Hill's (AH) Bismarck 1979/80 edition, designed by Jack Greene, is a totally different game from the AH 1962 edition designed by Lindsley Schutz and Charles Roberts.

The game centered around the hunt for the KMS Bismarck and the KMS Prinz Eugen in mid-1941. The game has some similarities to the game Battleship, with both players having a hidden map-board and calling out co-ordinates to locate their opponent.

There are two players, German and British. The British player has the task of placing the Royal Navy vessels and search aircraft on his map-board before game play begins. Each map-board is on a grid, with letters on one axis, and numbers on the other. Each Royal Navy unit has a historically accurate starting point. The German setup takes but a moment, since the Germans have only a few bomber units and the task force with Bismarck and Prinz Eugen to place on their map.