Great War at Sea: Cruiser Warfare (2004)

In the summer of 1914, Germany’s East Asia cruiser squadron’s superbly-trained crews of long-service professionals made Admiral Maximilian Graf von Spee's small fleet the envy of the China station. But when war broke out, this tiny force found itself far from home and threatened by the powerful Japanese navy, many times the size of the German squadron. Spee decided to force his way home around the world. After an epic journey across the Pacific, his cruisers met their end off of the Falkland Islands in a final battle.

Cruiser Warfare gives the Great War at Sea series its greatest scope yet: the entire world. British, German, Japanese, Italian, Austro-Hungarian, Russian and Dutch ships begin as they did in August 1914. The German player must disrupt Allied commerce and try to get the cruisers home if at all possible. The Allied player must track them down and destroy them before they can wreak havoc.

Cruiser Warfare’s map divides the world into sea areas, with modified search rules allowing German and Austrian ships to look for prey, and Allied ships to hunt them. Once contact is made, combat is resolved using the standard game rules.

Cruiser Warfare: Final Edition comes in our popular Playbook format and includes the playing pieces from the first edition (we had several hundred of each in storage), a new map, new full-color play aids, and an all-new book with revised rules and scenarios, additional scenarios plus historical background.

Cruiser Warfare: Final Edition is a complete game: everything you need to play (except dice) is included in the Playbook.