
- BGG rank
- BGG #9,028
- BGG rating
- 7.2
Great War at Sea: Jutland
- 2 players
- 30–120 min
- Complexity 3.1/5
- 2006

Rules assistance for Great War at Sea: Airships
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.

What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Great War at Sea: Airships is an expansion for Great War at Sea: Dreadnoughts released in 2008 for 2 players, 90 minutes per game, and ages 12 and up. It was designed by Michael Bennighof, Doug McNair, and Ernie Wheeler and its main mechanics are Dice Rolling and Hexagon Grid.
For a brief period, Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin's giant floating cylinders seemed poised to play a major role in naval warfare. But just as the technology matured, high-performance aircraft, a spectacular accident caught on film and the Great Depression combined to bring an end to military and most civilian use of the rigid airship. Airships is a supplement for our Great War at Sea series of games, building on the popular Zeppelins to take a further look at lighter than air operations. There are ten scenarios, or separate game situations, based on missions that took place or could have taken place. All are by Ernie Wheeler and Doug McNair. This module is not playable by itself, but requires ownership of our Zeppelins supplement and Jutland and Mediterranean games to play most of the scenarios, and our U.S. Navy Plan Gold game and Sea of Troubles and Dreadnoughts supplements to play all of them. Each scenario has its own card in a spiral-bound booklet.
Great War at Sea: Airships supports 2 players according to the catalogue. This is the publisher’s listed player count, so the game is designed for exactly that number of participants. Variants for other group sizes, if any, are described in the rulebook of your edition, so check it before setting up a different configuration.
The listed playing time for Great War at Sea: Airships is 90 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists Great War at Sea: Airships for ages 12 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
Great War at Sea: Airships has a complexity rating of 2.7 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a medium-light game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Great War at Sea: Airships belongs to these categories: Wargame, Nautical, and Expansion for Base-game. Its main mechanics are Dice Rolling and Hexagon Grid. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of Great War at Sea: Airships are: Michael Bennighof, Doug McNair, and Ernie Wheeler. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Great War at Sea: Airships as an expansion for Great War at Sea: Dreadnoughts. Expansions add new content, rules or scenarios to the base game and usually cannot be played on their own, so you need Great War at Sea: Dreadnoughts to use it. Check that your edition of Great War at Sea: Dreadnoughts is compatible, as some expansions were revised between editions.