Bismarck: Death of a Battleship

Bismarck: Death of a Battleship is a wargame based on the Operation Rheinübung which took place in the North Atlantic Ocean in May 1941. The game can be played by one or two players. In the single player game the player commands the Allied fleet while the computer controls the German. In the two player game the second player controls the German forces. The objective for the Allies is to sink the German ships Bismarck and Prinz Eugen before they can escape to Brest on the French coast while at the same time bring Allied convoys to safety. The objective of the German player is to sink as many enemy ships as possible and reach Brest with the ships.

The game is turn based with each turn representing four hours. A turn may contain four phases: movement phase, update phase, sighting phase and battle phase. The first two happen on every turn. In the movement phase the player issue instructions to units by entering the coordinates they should move to. In the update phase the computer changes the status and positions of all units. In the sighting phase the player can enter battle orders if units of both sides are in the same sector. The battle phase will then be entered and the player can give orders to units to engage, ignore, withdraw or to shadow.

There is also an alternative scenario that takes place in September 1941. It's based on a fictitious history line where Bismarck and Prinz Eugen have made it safely to Brest. The AI player will here attempt to bring the ships back to Germany by moving them through the Atlantic and the player's task is to stop and sink them. In the two player mode the second player controls the German ships. The alternative scenario is played on the same map but some of the units available are different.