There are five ships of varied sizes to sink in the Milton Bradley version of the board game.
Battleship is a two-player guessing game based on strategy. There are four grids in the game, two for each player. Individual squares of the grid are identifiable by letter and number, and the grids are normally square – commonly 10x10 – in size. On one grid, the player arranges ships and keeps track of the opponent's shots. The player registers their own shots on the opposite grid.
Each player secretly sets their ships on their main grid before the game starts. Each ship takes up a row of squares on the grid, which may be placed horizontally or vertically. The kind of ship determines the amount of squares for each ship. The ships cannot be stacked on top of each other (i.e., only one ship can occupy any given square in the grid). Each participant is limited to the same kinds and quantities of ships. Depending on the regulations, they may differ.
The game is played in a succession of rounds once the ships have been placed. Each player takes a turn in each round to declare a target square in the opponent's grid that will be fired at. Whether or whether the square is occupied by a ship is announced by the opponent. If a player is struck, the hit player marks it on their own or "ocean" grid (with a red peg in the pegboard version). In the paper version of the game, the attacking player uses a pencil to record the hit or miss on their own "tracking" or "target" grid, while in the pegboard version, they use the proper color peg (red for "hit," white for "miss") to build up an image of the opponent's fleet.
When all of a ship's squares have been struck, the owner declares the Carrier, Submarine, Cruiser/Destroyer/Patrol Boat, or the titular Battleship to be sunk. The game is ended when all of a player's ships are sunk, and their opponent wins. The game is a draw if both players' ships are sunk at the conclusion of the round.
