Battleship Express
Battleship Express Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- Game pod
- 20 ship tiles (4 Aircraft Carriers, 4 Battleships, 4 Submarines, 4 Patrol Boats, 4 Destroyers)
- 8 Attack dice
Choose from Two Games
Decide which game you'd like to play: the Captain's Game (basic play) or the Admiral's Game (advanced play).
The Captain's Game
About Your Fleet
Each player controls 5 ships: one Battleship, one Aircraft Carrier, one Submarine, one Destroyer and one Patrol Boat. Each ship has its own attack powers. The illustration on page 2 shows the key features of a ship tile.
Setting Up
Take 5 ship tiles (one of each kind) and place them logo-side up. All players do the same. Place any extra ship tiles out of the game.
At the same time, you and your opponents arrange your 5 ships in a line in front of you. The ship that is farthest to your right is at the "front" of your fleet. Arrange your ships in any order that you want.
The ship tile illustration in the setup example shows a Battleship tile: "Roll 8 dice to attack with your Battleship." "An opponent must roll 4 hits to sink your Battleship." "Place your ship tiles logo-side up to play the Captain's Game." "When attacking with any ship in the Captain's Game, you get 2 chances to roll the dice."
Setup example: the setup illustration shows five ship tiles in a row, labelled "(Front of fleet)".
Playing
Choose one player to start. Play will then move clockwise.
On Your Turn
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Anchors Aweigh! Decide which one of your ships will attack. Then move that ship to the front of your fleet.
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Decide and declare which opponent's fleet, and which ship in that fleet, you're attacking. This will be your target ship. You may attack either one of the two front ships in any opponent's fleet.
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Now you get to roll the dice twice, to try to sink it. Here's how:
- Roll the number of dice shown on your attacking ship's tile. For example, if you're attacking with your Aircraft Carrier, roll 7 dice.
- Hits: All dice that match your target ship, and all bursts, count as hits. (Submarines have a special attack power. See When subs attack, on page 4.)
- Misses: All dice that do not match your target ship and are not bursts, are misses.
Set all hits aside after you roll. If you have enough hits to sink the target ship, take the ship tile (see Sinking a Ship). If not, roll the remaining dice again, and combine the hits from your first and second rolls.
After your second roll, if you have enough total hits to sink the target ship, take the ship tile (see Sinking a Ship). If not, your turn is over. Better luck next time!
When Subs Attack
The Submarine rolls only two dice to attack, but it has a special power that makes it unique. If you roll a burst when attacking any ship with your Submarine, you'll instantly sink it!
Sinking a Ship
To sink a ship, you must roll a total of at least the number of hits shown on the target ship's tile. For example, to sink a Destroyer, you need a total of 5 or more hits.
After sinking a ship, take the ship tile from your opponent and set it aside. Keep your "sunk ships" together so you'll know how many you've sunk.
Winning
Keep playing until one player has sunk the number of ships needed to win the game.
- 2-player game: Sink all 5 enemy ships.
- 3-player game: Sink a total of 4 enemy ships.
- 4-player game: Sink a total of 3 enemy ships.
Team Play
If you have 4 players, try a team game. Sit across from your teammate. As in a regular game, players take individual turns trying to sink enemy ships. On your turn, you may target a ship from either player on the opposite team. To win, a team must sink a total of 5 enemy ships.
Captain's Game Turn Example
Your Fleet: the example shows a five-tile fleet in a row.
On your turn, you decide to attack an opponent's Battleship with your Aircraft Carrier. You move your Carrier to the front of your fleet, then roll 7 dice:
First roll, 7 dice: 3 hits (two ship-symbol hits and one burst) and 4 misses.
You set aside the hits. You need a total of 4 hits to sink the Battleship, so you reroll the remaining 4 dice:
Second roll, 4 dice: 2 hits (one ship-symbol hit and one burst) and 2 misses.
Two more hits; you sank the Battleship! You take the Battleship tile from your opponent. Your turn is over.
The Admiral's Game
The Admiral's Game is very similar to The Captain's Game; but in the Admiral's Game, every ship has special attack powers, which adds an exciting level of strategy to every turn!
Setting Up
Each player takes 5 ship tiles and lines them up as in the Captain's Game, except that each ship tile should be placed logo-side down. The illustration below shows the key features of a ship tile.
The ship tile illustration for the Admiral's Game shows a Battleship tile: "Roll 8 dice to attack with your Battleship." "An opponent must roll 5 hits to sink your Battleship." "Place your ships logo-side down to play the Admiral's Game." "When attacking with any ship in the Admiral's Game, follow the special attack rules."
Playing
As in the Captain's Game, players take turns rolling the dice trying to sink enemy ships. Each ship attacks in a different way, as explained below.
Attacking
As in the Captain's Game, you must target the first or second ship in an opponent's fleet, and move your attacking ship to the front of the fleet. (Submarines and Aircraft Carriers have special attack powers.)
Each ship's attack power is listed on the tile, for quick reference. Below is a list of how each ship attacks.
- Battleship: Declare a target ship, then roll 8 dice. You may roll up to 4 times. Bursts do not count as hits.
- Destroyer: Declare a target ship, then roll 6 dice. You may roll up to 2 times. Each burst counts as 2 hits.
- Submarine: Declare a target ship, then roll 3 dice once. One burst will sink any target.
- Special Sub attack power: Unlike other ships, your Submarine may attack any ship in an enemy fleet.
- Aircraft Carrier: Roll 6 dice, then declare a target ship, based on your dice roll. After declaring, you may roll any or all of the 6 dice a second time.
- Special Carrier attack power: Unlike other ships, your Aircraft Carrier does not have to move to the front of the fleet to attack. By "launching its attack fighters," this ship can attack from any position in your fleet.
- Patrol Boat: Declare a target ship, then roll 5 dice. You may roll up to 3 times.
Winning
Win conditions are the same as in the Captain's Game.