Battleship Instructions

Set up the Board

• Players sit across from each other with their board open and facing themselves so that they cannot see each other's board. Each player must set up their ships in their target grid, which represents the ocean, either horizontally or vertically. The carrier takes up five pegs, the battleship uses four, the destroyer uses two, and the cruiser and submarine each take up three pegs. Each player will also get their white and red pegs ready. These will be used to mark the location of enemy ships and missed shots on the top portion of the board.

Calling Shots and Marking Hits

• Players take turn calling out a letter and number that represents a location on the grid in an attempt to "hit" their opponent's ships. Mark hits with a red peg and misses with a white. When a hit is made the player must say what type of ship was hit. The player whose ship was hit will place a red peg on the location the ship was struck, and a red peg on each subsequent location that is hit. When the ship is completely filled with red pegs it is now sunk and the player must announce this.

Sinking the Fleet and Winning the Game

• Play continues to alternate as ships are sunk. The game ends when a player has sunk all five of her opponent's ships, or 17 direct hits with the called shots.

Salvo Version

• An advanced form of Battleship can be played in which players call out a salvo of five consecutive shots to mark their turn. Every time a ship is sunk the number of salvo shots is reduced. For example, if Player A has lost his carrier and destroyer he now can only call out three shots on his turn. Play continues until one player loses his five ships.