Naval Battle is known worldwide as a pencil and paper game which predates World War I.
The game is played on two grids for each player. The grids are square 10×10 and the individual squares in the grid are identified by letter and number. On one grid the player arranges ships and records the shots by the opponent. On the other grid the player records his/her own shots.
Before play begins, each player secretly arranges their ships on their primary grid. Each ship occupies a number of consecutive squares on the grid, arranged either horizontally or vertically. The number of squares for each ship is determined by the type of the ship. The types and numbers of ships allowed are the same for each player:
- 1 Aircraft Carrier (4 squares)
- 2 Frigates (3 squares)
- 3 Corvettes (2 squares)
- 4 Support Vessels (1 square)
Ships cannot place in the edges of the board and cannot touch each other.
After the ships have been positioned, the game proceeds in a series of rounds. In each round, each players turn consists of touching a target square in the opponents grid which is to be shot at. If a ship occupies the square, then it takes a hit. The players opponent board announces whether or not the shot has hit one of the opponents ships; the opponent then fires a shot at the first players ships. When all of the squares of a ship have been hit, the ship is sunk. After all of one players ships have been sunk, the game ends and the other player wins.