Bismarck:
Fancy Carrier Cards
By Mike Bennighof, Ph.D.
February 2020

During the early design stages of the game system that became Second World War at Sea, I wanted each aircraft carrier to have a fairly detailed card including a picture of the carrier. On the card, the player would move aircraft pieces between the hangar and the flight deck and then on to their missions. I just thought it would be cool to “process” the aircraft on a deck view of the carrier.

Down below is my kind of rough version of what these cards looked like in my brain, for the aircraft carriers of Second World War at Sea: Bismarck. They’re in color, with the aircraft carrier basing boxes (use them just like the plain ones included in the game) plus the ship data from the hit records. You can mark off hits with counters or coins, or slip the card into a sleeve and mark on it with a grease pencil just like a real staff officer. British and German carriers have their light hull and tertiary armor in blue because I liked that better than the standard hatch pattern, otherwise the symbols are just like the standard ship data sheets. The ratings differ slightly from the ship data sheets on a couple of these; use the data on the fancy cards.

Graf Zeppelin Carrier Card

Peter Strasser Carrier Card

Long Island Carrier Card

Ranger Carrier Card

Wasp Carrier Card

Yorktown Carrier Card

Argus Carrier Card

Ark Royal Carrier Card

Eagle Carrier Card

Furious Carrier Card

Victorious Carrier Card

Put these cards to use! Order Bismarck right now!

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Mike Bennighof is president of Avalanche Press and holds a doctorate in history from Emory University. A Fulbright Scholar and award-winning journalist, he has published over 100 books, games and articles on historical subjects. He lives in Birmingham, Alabama with his wife, three children and his dog, Leopold.