Description

From the publisher's catalog: "Once again the German pocket-battleship is loose in the South Atlantic and the British player faces the challenge of finding and bringing her to battle. Graf Spee comes complete with die-cut counters, rules booklet, battle board and two movement boards."

Another entry in the long line of AH Bismarck-style search and battle naval wargames, this one is very rare. As the name implies, it covers the search for the German "pocket battleship" Graf Spee in 1939.

With the usual low-quality Third Millenia components (especially the counters) and very simple rules, it is nevertheless a pretty fun game.

Like AH Bismarck, Midway, et al, movement and search are conducted on the two identical map sheets, and battles are resolved on the battle and charts sheet. Turn order is:
a. German player rolls for bad weather (no searches). German player moves.
b. British player searches.
c. British player moves.
d. German player searches.
e. If both in same hex, resolve battle.
f. When all battles are resolved, advance the turn record and start over.

The British can search the hexes ships are in, and one more hex within four hexes (search aircraft). Aircraft carriers (4 British and 1 French) can search the six adjacent hexes. The German player can search the hexes ships are in, plus the Graf Spee has two search aircraft that can search within four hexes. The German player can also search any other three hexes on the board (u-boat reports?).

Both players must keep track of fuel expenditures, and both have supply ships available to re-fuel (or they can re-fuel in ports). Every other turn the German player can roll on a table to sink one (or two) merchantmen. If he sinks any, he then rolls on another table to see how many turns later he must inform the British player in which hex the sinking occurred. The German player must sink a number of merchant ships and escape the map to win; otherwise the British player wins.

No indication is given of map or time scale. I suspect search board turns are one day. 20 turns to a game.

Components: two identical 14" x 24" hex-gridded search map sheets, one 14" x 24" battle and chart sheet, one rule folder (five small pages), plus 119 of 1/2-inch die-cut unit counters.
I think there were 24 actual ship counters, some "?" s and "search" counters, and a bunch of blanks (my copy is unfortunately incomplete).