"You Sunk My Battleship, Biatch!"

As an intellectual entertainment after dinner with friends, some of us played around with the rules to the classic game Battleship®©™. We think they'll speed the game up, and provide a certain level of complexity to an otherwise mind-numbingly simple rule set. We didn’t actually test them out, however. If you know the game, try these out and share what you think! There’s a paper-and-pencil grid to play with [HERE].

Battleship: Wayfarer House Variant

Players launch 1 salvo per turn at each other, with a total number of shots equal to their ships in play. Damage is announced in turns, but it is assessed simultaneously so that no player has an advantage during a turn. After the salvo, players may move any undamaged ships according to the rules for each ship. A pivot costs 1 move, and may be centered on any slot. Damaged ships may not move (except the battleship). Damaged subs cannot submerge.

The five ships have these properties:

Carrier:
Can move 1 every even turn.
Contributes 5 shots to each turn’s salvo.
Can hit a submerged submarine.

Battleship:
Can move 1 per turn.
Can move while hit.
Contributes 3 shots to each turn’s salvo.

Destroyer:
Can move 2 per turn.
Contributes 2 shots to each turn’s salvo.
Can hit a submerged submarine.
Cannot damage a battleship.

Submarine:
Can move 2 per turn.
Normally submerged. Must surface every 3rd turn.
Contributes 1 shot to each turn’s salvo. This is automatically the last shot.
Can hit a submerged submarine.
A single hit by a submarine destroys the ship (An additional hit from any ship is required to sink a carrier).

PT Boat:
Can move 3 per turn.
Contributes 1 shot to each turn’s salvo.
If this ship is in play, the opposing player must announce which ship has been hit.

This is just some of what we do at our dinner parties! Geeky, n’est-ce pas?