Situation
May 1941. England stands alone. The Panzers have crushed the Belgians and French. The Soviets have swallowed their misgivings and have made common cause with Hitler. The North African theater in full swing and the British and allies being pushed back. It looks grim for our heroes. Stout hearts of oak once again defend England's shores.
In the North Sea, German u-boats are at the end of their Glückliche Zeit and allied shipping is falling prey at unprecedented rates. Lend lease is starting to pick up and feed a starving British Isles and the American Neutrality Patrol is working to help the English without actually being "seen" to help the Brits.
Out of the mist and muck of the Heligoland Bight steams the fantastical battleship reputed to be the strongest ship afloat. The Bismarck and her escort, the Prinz Eugen, sallied out to gain access to the north sea shipping routes where the larder of England is crawling toward London and Liverpool and the other ports waiting to feed the people and to arm the factories and armies defending Britain from Germany.
Bismarck, the game, covers the famous hunt for Bismarck, the battleship, but also all of the other German commerce raids into the Atlantic between the fall of 1939 and the summer of 1941. The breakout of the battle cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau is here, the raids of the cruisers Admiral Hipper and Scheer, and much more. Like all games in the series, this one is packed with scenarios - 45 of them!
Beyond those missions, there are those planned or discussed that weren't attempted: the use of the German battleship Tirpitz, either alone or alongside her sister. German aircraft carriers. The U.S. Navy's Central Atlantic Neutrality Patrol and its carriers, battleships and cruisers.
Bismarck includes a large operational map covering the North Atlantic Ocean, plus 490 playing pieces and a set of full-color play aids. Bismarck's Playbook Edition comes with the Second World War at Sea Second Edition series rules, featuring full-color player charts and set-up cards.