Battleships - Battleship Board Game

One of my favourite Battleship board games, is of course - Battleships itself! Whether you have a basic manual version, or a fancy electronic version, the game play's the same - to find and sink, your opponent's fleet :)

My Battleships fleet may have been moth-balled for sometime, but that all changed, this weekend! I found myself grinning, as I came across the box, with it's fleet of warships, and it's coloured pegs (red for hit, white for miss). With it's secret plastic case, and it's two dimensional peg boards - why it felt like time, for a skirmish or two :) I've always liked the fact that this game, had five warships in each fleet: one Aircraft Carrier (five slots), one Battleship (four slots), one Destroyer/Cruiser (three slots), one Submarine (three slots) and one Patrol Boat (two slots). Whilst the game has changed little (over the years), one part that had changed, was my choice of opponents: two younger relatives - who knew, they'd sink my fleet! Well now ... With a Battleship's broadside, we setup our boards :) It may have been for an hour, it may have been for an afternoon - but in any case, was I amazed with just how much, I'd forgotten ... Perhaps most paramount, was the importance of keeping your ships board, hidden from your opponent(s) - as I kept forgetting, not-so-secret after-all! Even so, I found myself amazed, by the amount of game-play variation, that can be found within this game - both depending upon your chosen shot strategy, and upon the level of your opponents, perceived luck :) For example, I decided to proceed logically, by shooting into: A1, B2, C3, etc. (i.e. make a big cross and subdivide), whilst my opponents, both tended to fire randomly. There was something of a contrast between these two methods - as I was surprised that random firing, tended to find warships, faster than with my logical approach ... Even so, I was glad to see that the random firing method, still seemed to suffer - when it comes to the two-peg Patrol Boat! Although if your first random shot, just-so-happens to be in the Patrol Boat, well ... Even a Battleship's Commander, may raise an eyebrow at that! In any case, I found it good to compare, each other's boards - at the end of the game. Where-as my first opponent, tended to keep her warships on the outer edges of the board, my second opponent, preferred to keep his warships, towards the centre of the board. I on the other hand, preferred to mix the location of my warships (although never on an outside edge, and avoiding the standard big cross firing layout - where possible). I also seemed to obsess more, about the location of my Battleship, to the location of my Aircraft Carrier - as Battleships were always my favourite form, of Capital Ship! As I would say: Nothing wrong with that :) I also love, the maths side to this game - as your really learning/using 2d coordinates, and for the most part, your not even aware, that your doing this! Mind you, one minor downside, with the standard (non-electronic) version of Battleships, is that it's relatively easy, for your opponents to cheat ... For one of my opponents, kept moving their Battleship about! Weve all done that, havent we? Although from memory, it was much harder to cheat, on electronic Battleships - as the computer knew just where, your Battleships were :) When I asked my opponents, what their favourite warship was (in the game): one said Patrol Boat (their reason being - the hardest to find), and the other said Battleship (their reason being - that their big gunned, and sink your fleet). In any case, I've always enjoyed the mystery that surrounds, both the Destroyer/Cruiser, and the Submarine - as their both three-slot models, that lead to a particular question: which one have I sunk? Although again, with the electronic version, I believe that didn't matter - as it used to tell you (for example: Cruiser sunk!). Overall: a classic Battleship game, that feels as though, it has stood the test of time ... For me, it's secrets lay - in both it's warships, and it's strategy. For others, it's secrets lay - in both it's timeless, and it's fun. Yet in any case, it's secrets lay - in both it's Battleships, and it's pegs! For this game of Battleships, is as much fun now, as it was back then :) And let's be clear, on one simple point: there's no way, you'll sink MY Battleship!