I learned to play this game in 1962, when I was twelve, at the Marshall Fields toy department counter, where you could play with any toy there. I played all the games he mentioned and this one was always my favorite.
I played this game many times in the 1960's, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Very simple, but it worked fine. I later bought the updated version in 1978, and that game was very detailed.
Definitely my most played game of all time. We could play game after game. It was my first AH game. Great review Gilbert. Thanks. My opponent twiddled the Bismarck in his hands while I set up and wore the info off the glossy counter! But those were the days of replacement parts, so I ordered new counters and lots of record pads.
Some really old games are like wine--they mature with age. Bismarck" is one of them. Yes you could easily pick the game to pieces, compared to modern war games, But rewind half a century, and Bismarck was something of a landmark in war gaming. I have a nostalgic feeling for old war games, they were the pioneers of the hobby we know today. Incidentally I think AH's Midway game has the same sort of format as Bismarck, if memory serves. Games produced all those years ago can easily be ridiculed, but remember if it wasn't for them where would the hobby be today? Every journey starts with the first step.
An update to my last comment: I got myself a copy of this version. There is a little damage, but nothing that really impacts the playability of the game. Now what I said in my last comment still stands, Bismarck is seriously overpowered, although I notice the British battleships also have had turbos fitted to their engines. However, I do see your point, there's a simple... charm about the game that is definitely lacking in Bismarck 2. I'm really looking forward to the end of this lockdown, when I can get a game of this going, I just know it's gonna be a bucketful of fun! And the reason I got it is largely down to you and this video, so I really and sincerely want to say thanks for putting up such a positive review of the game. I just hope that if I should end up being in command of the Bismarck, I have more luck than Admiral Lutjens! 😁
thanks for taking a look at this old game and for showing us what it looks like and how it plays. I will always have a fondness for Avalon Hill and SPI games.
I must have a newer edition of this game. My favorite part of the game was the advanced combat system. It took into account shell size, armor penetration and some other fine details, it was basically miniatures. You still had the search boards, but they were different too. It also had land based and carrier based air units that could search and attack.
Sometimes, actually most of the time, we would just decide on who had what ships and went at it. Not doing any of the actual patrols and searching just straight to battle.
I had the 2nd Ed of this title although it really was a totally different game. I got rid of that title many years ago. I never owned or played the '62 version until yesterday. I played the Brits and after engaging the Bismarck four times she met her end at Brest thanks to my cruisers. By the time of the 4th battle she was unable to fire so her only hope was to escape via the "mist". In battle one, Ramillies was mauled, and Bismarck only took one main hit gun but both port secondary guns were lost too. In battle two, Rodney was lost, and Repulse suffered several hits. The Bismarck lost two more main guns. In battle three, my Brits finally found the range and the Bismarck lost its ability to fire. But it was able to escape again. My carriers were able to attack 3 times but without any success. I really liked the game and sometimes a simple game is the best game. On a side note, I talked with Bill (who owned the game) about the early games we played. Battle Cry, Hit the Beach, Dogfight and Broadsides. I owned the last two and liked those two and wonder to this day why I parted ways with them. I did not really care for Battle Cry or Hit the Beach. Bill owns all four games and those are the ones he had as a kid. He also showed me the Combat game (1965 and based on the Combat! show).
I no longer have this version of Bismarck, but I don't think you used the search zone cards correctly. When the Brit has ships in the same area as the Bismarck, he uses the cards to show the German where those ships are. If any are in the same zone (ex. A5-C) as Bismarck, the German announces it and they proceed to battle. If the zone(s) shown on the card do not match Bismarck's actual location, the German simply states "not found" and his ship's zone is not disclosed. At least that's the way I and my friends played it.
Enjoy your vids. If and when you're inclined to produce a tutorial on the venerable "Tactics II" then I'd be eternally grateful. I was always sorry AH never (to my knowledge) developed a "Tactics II" version utilizing hexes instead of squares. Sigh. Gettyburg. Tactics II. And Blitzkrieg. That was my wargaming childhood! Cheers.
I've never seen this version of Bismarck, let alone play it. In the 2nd edition, there's a chance Bismarck will be betrayed by radio signalling, can this also happen in this version? I was listening really closely to your description on the video. You say you think the search board is slanted too much towards the British player. That may be so, but looking at the hit record pad, I can tell the Bismarck is WAY overpowered. Maybe the slanted search board is to compensate a little for this? I think I would knock a box or two off Bismarck's midships section, because although she was a fine ship, she wasn't the super ship some would have you believe.
Please remember when this game was designed. 1962. For its time it was way ahead of what other companies were producing and the research fairly sound for the time. While the 'Bismarck' was certainly not 'invincible', as the historical results clearly show, it is a GAME which is meant to be fun to play and informative. I'm pretty forgiving of this old title.
@@XLEGION1 I absolutely agree with you, I wasn't really trying to knock this game, indeed I'm trying hard to acquire a copy even as I type this. I just find it slightly irksome that Bismarck seems to always be granted superpowers in games and simulations, when in fact she was fitted with an out of date armour scheme, with serious weaknesses including having the communications system run above the armoured deck, just begging to be knocked out by incoming shells. And don't even get me started on the weakness of the ship's stern... You're right of course, when Avalon Hill released Bismarck 1, little was really known about the real thing, and indeed not a whole lot more when the second edition was released. As a matter of interest, just how difficult is it to sink the Bismarck in Bismarck 1st edition?
With all due respect sir I was really interested in finding out more about this game but those birds in the background completely distracted your presentation, even though this is a 5 year old video you might consider redubbing this audio.
Yes it did. Although I wish the remake had a fairly simple version like the original. I tried to play the 'advanced version' but could never figure out the 'methodology' of what the logs represented in terms of real hardware. I don't think it was an accident that they gave you copies of nearly every ship in the advanced rules.
