Fish'n'Ships

A game of strategy and chance between two players based on WW2 naval scenarios.

The scenario: Somewhere in the cold north seas, a convoy of cargo ships must cross a highly dangerous stretch of open water. They are protected by an armed escort vessel. While floating mines are a constant challenge, the convoy faces a bigger threat from a pursuing enemy submarine.

The goals: For the convoy: to get the escort ship and at least one cargo vessel across the map and to safety. For the Sub: to sink the three cargo transports or the convoy protector.

The play: [Complete game rules booklet is provided with the game]
Each player decides by dice roll what vessel they will play and what type. There are three types of Submarine and Convoy protector with varying strengths and skill levels. Players use special tokens to represent the the Convoy and the Sub, and the game is played on a grid map of the open seas. Players begin at specified positions at one end of the map.

Rounds alternate between players, with each drawing cards from a large main deck. The cards contain various actions and events like ship movement, attacks and repairs, and defenses. Multiple cards are drawn one at a time, and the player follows a preset order of card play and actions each round. Most actions and events are controlled by dice roll scoring using four colour coded dice that relate to the individual ship stats and strengths.

The convoy escort player will attempt to move "the convoy" across the grid map, to any one of the exit squares. At least one transport vessel must survive (along with the escort) to win the game. The submarine player will pursue and attack the convoy whenever possible and must sink all three transport ships, or the escort vessel, to win.

The parts: a large folded map sheet, 99 playing cards, 9 ship cards, two sets of four D6 dice (coloured coded), ship token cubes, and printed rules booklet.
*a printable map sheet (PDF) is also provided to make spare map sheets!

Game play estimated to be 30-60 minutes but actual duration will vary.