The Z-Pak: Plan Z, Expanded
by Mike Bennighof, Ph.D.
March 2026

Alternative history, at least the way I’ve come to think of it, means a series of events that could have happened, but didn’t. Naval wargames are at the center of what we do here at Avalanche Press, and they are ripe with alternatives. Wars, campaigns, and most of all the ships themselves.

Every nation that sent warships to sea, and a few that didn’t, had plans for them. Sometimes these plans had little hope of reaching reality, while others actually began construction but would not be completed. None of these plans matched the sheer insanity of the German Plan Z.

Like the rest of the Nazi state, factional strife roiled the German Navy. When planning for the fleet increases that the supreme leader promised, each faction pushed its own agenda: more battleships, an aircraft carrier arm, more submarines, more long-range raiders, a coastal-defense approach. The naval command resolved the conflict by approving every wish list and rolling them together into Plan Z (the ultimate plan, since it included all of the others). And for a brief moment in mid-1939, the Navy had the supreme leader’s favor, and approval to proceed with Plan Z.

Plan Z, the game expansion, brings Plan Z, the plan, to Second World War at Sea, our series of games based on World War Two naval campaigns. It’s an expansion for Bismarck, our game of commerce raiding in the North Atlantic (with the last and only voyage of the battleship Bismarck at the center, but other operations included, too). As with our other series, we publish Second World War at Sea games on what we call the core-expansion model. There’s a core game, in this case Bismarck, that you can play by itself. And then there are expansions, that use the maps and pieces from the core game, and sometimes add more maps and pieces. Each expansion turns the core game into something new for you to play and explore.

Second World War at Sea is played at two levels. There’s the operational game, where task forces move on the operational map that shows the seas where the campaign took place. Task forces are plotted to move; since there aren’t many of these in play at the same time, it’s not a lot of bookkeeping. And then when they make contact, they fight on the Tactical Map with guns and torpedoes. Aircraft seek out the enemy, and can attack on their own (sometimes with devastating effect).

The pieces are individual warships (except for the very smallest) and squadrons of aircraft (a dozen at full strength, a half-dozen at half-strength). Submarines are abstracted.

Each game and most expansions include scenarios, so you can play out the battles that took place during the campaign. They’re grouped into chapters (what we call our “story-arc format”), each of those covering one segment of the campaign.

So let’s have a look at the trio of expansions that make up the Z-Pak:

Plan Z
We call Plan Z a “massive expansion set,” because it’s much larger than what we usually frame as an expansion: 530 pieces, 170 of those double-sized. The actual Plan Z was oversized, and so is the expansion set.

The German Plan Z included a vast surface fleet centered on six new super-battleships, so that’s also the centerpiece of the Plan Z set. The Germans bring those six new battleships (gigantic vessels with 410mm (16-inch) guns, five fast battle cruisers, and a dozen ultra-long-range armored cruisers (optimized for commerce raiding). Plus heavy and light cruisers, fast minelaying cruisers, and scads of new destroyers to escort that array. For ir cover, there are six new aircraft carriers. In the air, you get jet fighters (Me262, He162), jet bombers (Ar234), heavy bombers (He177), and ex-Soviet Storm Bird torpedo planes.

The Royal Navy would not have stood by and watched the Germans build up their mighty fleet. So we have a great many additional British ships and planes: Lion-class battleships, modernized older ships, Winston Churchill’s super cruisers (with a dozen 9.2-inch guns), and more carriers, cruisers, and destroyers. New planes including Meteor and Sea Vampire jet fighters and the awesome Spitfire XIV (not a jet, but might as well be).

A large German surface fleet changes the equation from Bismarck (the game), where the Axis player operates with very small forces, sometimes just a single surface raider against the power of the Home Fleet. He or she must use the wide, empty gray seas to hide from the enemy and strike vulnerable points (generally, convoys). With the Plan Z fleet, the Axis can go looking for battle. And the Brits are more than happy to provide it. You get 30 (thirty!) new scenarios so you can play with all of those new ships and planes. You’ll need Bismarck and North Cape to do that.

Order Plan Z Here.

Ships of Plan Z
Second World War at Sea games usually put small warships on smaller, square pieces rather than the long pieces with gloriously-rendered overhead drawings of the ship represented. In Ships of Plan Z, we add those lovely long pieces for 105 German small warships: 93 torpedo boats, four gunboats, and seven anti-aircraft ships. Plus one cruiser-carrier.

We have their stories, too, but not any extra scenarios – you’ll want to use these in your Second World War at Sea games that include these ships on small pieces: Bismarck, North Cape, and of course Plan Z.

Order Ships of Plan Z Here.

Stolen Fleets
Nazi Germany’s conquests (and potential conquests) provided another source of potential fleet augmentation: former French, Soviet, and Dutch warships confiscated and added to the German fleet. From the super-battleship Sovietsky Soyuz down through the French battleship Richelieu and carrier Joffre to the Soviet battle cruiser Kronshtadt and French super-destroyer Volta, the Germans field their stolen loot. Plus six more super-battleships of their own, in the form of the Improved H-Class. Those new aircraft carriers (six of them) need some new airplanes, so you get those too: He162 jet fighters and the utterly weird Bv237 dive bomber.

We tell you all about the ships, and give you 30 more scenarios so you can play with them, picking up the story begun in Plan Z.

Order Plan Z: Stolen Fleets Here.

The Z-Pak
      Plan Z
      Plan Z: Stolen Fleet
      Ships of Plan Z
Retail Price: $142.97
Package Price: $110
Gold Club Price: $88

Crack Open the Z-Pak.

Order Plan Z Here.

Order Ships of Plan Z Here.

Order Plan Z: Stolen Fleets Here.

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Mike Bennighof is president of Avalanche Press and holds a doctorate in history from Emory University. A Fulbright Scholar and NASA Journalist in Space finalist, he has published countless books, games and articles on historical subjects. He lives in Birmingham, Alabama with his wife and three children.

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