Electronic Battleship: Advanced Mission

Electronic Battleship: Advanced Mission is a commercial variant of the classic game Battleship published by Milton Bradley. The objective, like all other versions of the game, is to sink the opponent's fleet of five ships.

Unlike previous versions of Battleship, players have access to special weapons that can hit multiple grid squares in one turn. Also available are scanning systems, which allow players to locate fleets without firing.

Currently there are two different versions of this game available.

Fleet and weapons systems

Version 1

Each player's fleet consists of the following:

1. Aircraft carrier (five grid spaces): Equipped with guns, two Exocet anti-ship missiles, and two reconnaissance aircraft on its flight deck.
2. Battleship (four grid spaces): Equipped with guns and a single Tomahawk anti-ship missile.
3. Destroyer (three grid spaces): Equipped with guns and two "Apache" anti-ship missiles.

Version 2

Each player's fleet consists of the following:

1. Aircraft carrier (five grid spaces): Equipped with guns and two attack squadron aircraft on its flight deck.
2. Battleship (four grid spaces): Equipped with guns and a single Tomahawk anti-ship missile.
3. Destroyer (three grid spaces): Equipped with guns and two Harpoon anti-ship missiles.

Shared

1. Submarine (three grid spaces): Equipped with guns, two torpedoes, and sonar
2. Patrol boat (two grid spaces): Equipped with guns only.
3. Each player also has an anti-aircraft gun that is not housed on any of the ships. This weapon is used to shoot down enemy reconnaissance aircraft/attack squadrons that may be flying over the player's ships' airspace.

Standard gameplay

On each player's turn, they may simply call out the coordinates of a space they wish to fire a shell on to, like in the normal game. Alternatively, they may use a special weapon.

Special Weapons in-depth

Version 1

Exocet Missile: Fired from the Aircraft Carrier. These missiles cover five spaces, in the shape of an X or a cross, as the player decides. Players get two of these.

Apache Missile: Fired from the Destroyer. These missiles cover three spaces in a row, either horizontally or vertically, as decided. Use the Apache Missiles to finish off ships when their location is known. Players get two of these.

Version 2

Attack Squadrons: These aircraft are deployed from the deck of the aircraft carrier. These aircraft fly over enemy water searching for enemy ships. In a single turn the aircraft can be deployed, scan for enemy ships and, if detected, fire anti-ship missiles at the discovered ships. In this version the game does not give the option of not firing the aircraft's missiles. After firing, the aircraft can only move and scan without any further attacks.

Harpoon Missile: Fired from the destroyer. These missiles have a firing pattern of three grid spaces, in a 1×3 rectangle either horizontally or vertically. The destroyer is equipped with two of these missiles.

Shared

Tomahawk Missile: Fired from the Battleship. This missile has a firing pattern that covers nine grid spaces in a 3×3 square.

Torpedo: Fired from the Submarine. Torpedoes are unique, in that their firing pattern is a path, either horizontal or vertical, as the player decides. Starting at a point on the edge of the grid, the Torpedo will travel from one side of the grid to the other. If it encounters enemy craft in its path, the Torpedo explodes and travels no farther. Torpedoes can score no more than one hit, but they are more likely to hit something than any other weapon. Players get two of these.

Note

If the ship that houses a particular weapon is destroyed (sunk); that weapon will no longer be available for use.

Scanning for enemy ships

If the player does not wish to fire a weapon, they can narrow down the location of enemy craft by searching.

Shared

Sonar Scan: Players' Submarines have sonar scanning systems, which can search the enemy's waters. The scan will search a square of nine spaces, three rows by three columns. When the scan is complete, the player will be told whether anything was found or not. If something was found, however, they will not be given the precise location of the craft, just that there is something there. Players can perform as many scans as they wish (one per turn), as long as their Submarine has not been sunk.

Version 1

Recon Planes: Unlike the sonar sweep, which can only give a broad estimation about the location of enemy fleets, the Recon Jets can pin-point the exact spot where they are located. At the start of the game, the player has two recon jets on the flight deck of their Aircraft Carrier. To explore enemy territory, they will have to move them into the battle zone. Input the coordinates of the space in enemy territory for the jet to fly to. Moving a recon plane counts as one turn. The player cannot move a plane and use it to search (or make an attack) on the same turn. Once the plane is in position, the player may scan the area. The plane will search only the four spaces next to it, either orthogonally or diagonally, depending on which surveillance pattern the player choose. The plane cannot scan the square it is over. If an enemy is sighted, the coordinates where enemy fleets were found will be called out.

Recon jets can be destroyed while they are on the deck of the aircraft carrier. If a missile hits the space it is on, not only is the carrier damaged, but the jet is also destroyed.

The player may keep using their jets for as long as they wish, as long as they are not destroyed by enemy missiles or anti-air weapons.

Version 2

Attack Squadrons: Unlike the sonar sweep, which can only give a broad estimation about the location of enemy fleets, the attack squadrons can pin-point the exact spot where they are located. At the start of the game, the player has two attack squadron jets on the flight deck of their Aircraft Carrier. To explore enemy territory, they will have to move them into the battle zone. Input the coordinates of the space in enemy territory for want the jet to fly to and input the search pattern that it will use to search for enemy vessels. The search pattern can either be in an "X" shape covering five grid spaces or a cross/plus "+" shape also covering five grid spaces. The search patterns include the grid space directly beneath the aircraft plus the immediate four grid spaces that surround it either diagonally in the "X" pattern or vertically/horizontally in the cross/plus "+" pattern. If enemy ships are detected within this search area the attack squadron will be able to immediately fire its complement of missiles at the grid spaces in which enemy ships were detected (in this version there is no option not to fire). Once an aircraft fires its missiles it can still move and scan on subsequent turns, but it will not be able to attack any ships that it discovers.

Note: Attack squadrons can be destroyed while they are on the deck of the aircraft carrier. If a weapon damages the grid space that an attack squadron it is on, not only will the aircraft carrier be damaged, but the squadron is also destroyed.

The player may keep using their jets for as long as they wish, as long as they are not destroyed by enemy missiles or anti-air weapons.

Anti-aircraft guns

The player may, as their turn, defend their own airspace from enemy recon jets/attack squadrons flying in their airspace. The player will first need to locate the enemy jet's location. The player listens to the coordinates called out when the opponent finds one of their ships with his or her aircraft. They input the space they think the enemy jet is on, and their anti-air gun will fire there. When an enemy plane is hit, they are notified.