“Realistic Naval GAME” No. 517, 1962, $5.98
Designed by Charles S. Roberts, Thomas Shaw & Lindsley Schutz
Players 2
Playing Time 30-90 minutes
Period World War II, ETO
Scale Tactical
Turn Search: 4 hours, Battle: 40 minutes
Map not stated
Unit individual ships

A tactical naval game focusing on the search for the battleship Bismarck. It was one of three games released in the “huge” flat box format (as described in the Waterloo listing.) Bismarck was discontinued in 1972. The title was reborn in a 1979 revision which added a miniatures-like advanced game in the style of Jutland. In Simulacrum 3 I described a seventies vintage Bismarck. The component manifest describes the 1962 first edition.

Components

Box
Huge flat box (as described for Waterloo)

Map
1 22”x14” Search Board mapsheet mounted on blue board and marked copyright 1962
2 22”x14” battle board mapsheet mounted on blue board and marked copyright 1962

Rules
1 8”x10¼” Instruction folder (4 pp.) text in blue and red, marked copyright 1962
2 8”x10” two-sided Historical Commentary and examples card

Counters
93 counters in three sizes: 24 ½” counters (2 blanks), 5 2”x½” counters, and 3 1-7/8”x½” counters. All counters have green backs.

Charts, Pads, and Play-Aids
1 13-3/4”x7-7/8” pink screen on heavy card marked copyright 1962
2 5½”x7½” pad of double-sided log sheets
3 Four 2-3/8”x2-7/8” two-sided Zone Cards marked with A, B, C or D on one side

Inserts
1 6”x3” AH catalog pamphlet (unfolds to 18”x6”) printed in blue
2 6”x6” double-sided sheet showing four AH games released in 1962
3 Yellow 5½”x3¼” “To help us improve BISMARCK” postpaid postcard addressed to “6720 White Stone Road”

In Memoriam: Revisiting the Avalon Hill Classics, Part II Old Games Never Die, Their Counters Just Fade Away

Introduction
Gettysburg '58
Gettysburg Battlefield Edition
Tactics II
U-Boat
Chancellorsville
D-Day
Civil War
Waterloo
Bismarck
Stalingrad
Jutland
Conclusion