- Original Release: 1999
- Developer: Cabajou
- Publisher: Cabajou
- Platform: Board Game
![](https://djcube.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/1999-jbsm-box-s.jpg)
![James Bond 007: Special Mission](https://djcube.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/1999-jbsm-008-1024x576.jpg)
This one of the most difficult ones to track down, I found lots of low quality imagery, and most of that was from the French version – I eventually managed to convince someone on Board Game Geek to send me images of the English rulebook and text-heavy sections.
From the vast amount of text and large looking rulebook, I initially thought that this was going to be a very complex game, but now I’ve seen the English version, it’s quite simple. It’s a time management and risk taking game where you have to travel the world using either slow public transport, or quick Q transport that requires spending tokens.
Each player starts off a mission based on the newest 10 films at the time – from The Spy Who Loved Me to The World Is Not Enough. They will have to collect Q tokens (representing weapons, equipment and transport), move around and take part in combat. The easiest way to move between each location is handily listed on your mission sheet, although if you want to take a detour to London to get more equipment, you’ll have to use a bunch of charts and wheels to figure out the best way to move around.
![James Bond 007: Special Mission](https://djcube.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/1999-jbsm-007-1024x576.jpg)
Events are very simple: you roll the 00 dice while the player to the left rolls the enemy dice, both are numbered 1-3, highest wins. The agent can spend tokens to beat the enemy – either weapons for combat events or equipment for intelligence events. Players have reliable “counter-intelligence” cards that list what their actions are – this is entirely flavour text as all you really need to do is roll a dice when told – really, each player could do it on their own. Still, it’s a nice touch to provide some kind of interactivity as this is essentially people playing their own games.
To get equipment, you need to go to the MI6 headquarters in London. You choose a type and roll the relevant dice, drawing tokens to the value of your dice roll. You can stay in London and roll again on the next turn – it’s up to you to decide how much you want in reserve. However, if you don’t have enough and get beaten in combat by an enemy, you fail that mission and have to start a new one, gaining no points.
![James Bond 007: Special Mission](https://djcube.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/1999-jbsm-005-1024x576.jpg)
Once you finish a mission, you score the points listed on the mission sheet, along with bonuses for having equipment left over. Then you pick the next mission. The goal is to be the first to collect 4000 points, which will take at least 2 missions to do. The winner gets the coveted 007 title.
Special Mission is an interesting board game. It has a lot of writing but is ultimately a very simple game. Globetrotting to complete the missions is a good idea, although even with that, a lot of the planning is worked out for you.
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