Help For the Game Of Warship

Introduction

Welcome to the network Warship server. The challenge command is described here. Other commands are the same as for all pbmserv games.

   warship challenge [-allfire] [-nosink] [-place] userid1 userid2 [userid3] [userid4]

Starts a new game between userid1, userid2... up to four players.

The -allfire option specifies that every unsunk ship fires a shot per turn (maximum of 5 shots per turn).

The -nosink option specifies that completely hit ships are not marked as sunk, adding an additional element of mystery. Each player gets three shots per round (unless the -allfire option dictates otherwise).

The -place option allows players to manually place their five ships as their first move. For example "a1-a2,b1-b3,c1-c3,d1-d4,e1-e5" specifies five ship placements.

Introduction

The battle has started but you're all at sea: you're wet, it's foggy, and you can't see a thing. The only rational course of action is to shoot randomly into the night and listen for explosions.

Rules

Each player starts with five warships randomly placed on a 10x10 grid (hidden from opponents):
    1 x Aircraft carrier (5 units long)
    1 x Destroyer (4 units long)
    2 x Cruisers (3 units long)
    1 x Submarine (2 units long)

Each turn the current player specifies a number of board coordinates to which they fire shots on all opponent's boards. Misses are marked '+', hits are marked 'x', and sunk ships are marked 'X' (unless the -nosink option is used).

Players get one shot per turn unless the -allfire and/or -nosink options entitle them to more. Players must fire if possible, but do not have to use all of their allotted shots each turn. Players with no remaining floaters are skipped. The last remaining floater wins the game.

The following board shows a battle in progress from nelson's perspective. Numbers in brackets indicate how many shots each player may currently fire.

     A B C D E F G H I J      A B C D E F G H I J
 
 10  . . . . . 3 . . . .  10  . . . . . . . . . .  10
  9  . . . . . x . . 4 .   9  . . . . . . . . . .   9
  8  . + 3 . + x + . 4 .   8  . . . x + . . + . .   8     + = Miss
  7  . . 3 . . + . . 4 .   7  . . . . . + X X X .   7
  6  . . 3 . . . . + 4 .   6  . + . + . . + . . .   6     x = Hit
  5  . . . . + . + . . .   5  . . . . . . . . . .   5
  4  . 5 5 x x 5 . . . .   4  . . X . . + . . . .   4     X = Sunk 
  3  . + . . . . . + . .   3  . . X + . . . + . .   3
  2  . . 2 2 + . . . . .   2  . . . . . . . . . .   2
  1  . . . . . . . . . .   1  . . . . . . . . . .   1
          nelson (5)             villeneuve (3)
     A B C D E F G H I J      A B C D E F G H I J

First move equaliser: the opening player's number of shots is halved for the first move (rounded up).

Multiplayer Warship

The multiplayer game is identical to the standard game except that more than two players participate.

Syntax

   warship move board# userid password f5
   warship move board# userid password g1,g2
   warship move board# userid password a2,g4,g7,d4,e3
   warship move board# userid password random (fire random shots)

References and History

Warship is a traditional game of naval gazing, though the rather nasty multiplayer option may be novel.

Implementation and help file by Cameron Browne, September 2004.