Battle Navigation (Ahoy.navy)

About Battle Navigation (Ahoy.navy)

Battle Navigation, at ahoy.navy, is a daily naval tactics duel played on an isometric sea. The site is marked alpha. Each day there is one numbered board with a fixed layout of rocks, winds and whirlpools, the same for every player, and you get a single run against one enemy ship. The aim is to sink her before she sinks you.

A turn is planned, not played move by move. Your ship has a rack of four deck stations down its centreline, one for each of the turn's four phases, played in order. You tap a station to cycle its heading (ahead, to port, to starboard, or empty), and a gunport on either side lets you run a gun out for that phase. Each gun you run out spends a shot from your magazine. You can also plot a course on the chart instead: tap your ship and every tile it can reach lights up, then tap one to lay the whole four phase course at once, with a ghost showing where you will really end up.

When you commit, both ships' orders resolve together, phase by phase. A run out gun fires square off that broadside the moment its phase plays, three tiles out, stopping at the first hull or standing rock. Low rocks block sailing but cannons fire clean over them. Winds and whirlpools push ships off their plotted line, so reading the sea matters as much as aiming. Hits crack your hull, and a cracked station gives up its move and gun that phase; enough damage sinks a ship.

Because the day's water is the same for everyone and you only get one attempt, it plays as a puzzle of position as much as a fight: line your heading and your guns up so a broadside lands while the enemy's misses. The end screen gives a score with your remaining hull and firing accuracy, and a result you can share. It suits players who like turn based tactics and planning several moves ahead, and anyone after a short daily that rewards reading a board.

How to play Battle Navigation (Ahoy.navy)

1. Read the day's board: note the rocks, winds and whirlpools, your ship and the enemy's.
2. Plan the four phases on your ship's rack: tap each station to set a heading (ahead, port or starboard), or tap your ship on the sea to plot a whole course at once.
3. Run guns out on the phases where you want to fire; each one spends a shot from your magazine and fires off that side three tiles out.
4. Commit the turn and watch both ships' orders play out together, phase by phase.
5. Keep planning turns until one ship sinks, then check your score and share your result.

Tips

• A broadside is a heading and a gun set together: turn your side onto the enemy before you run a gun out, or the shot flies into open water.
• Account for winds and whirlpools when you plot, and use the ghost marker to check where the course really ends before you commit.
• Standing rocks stop your shots and your hull; low rocks block only sailing, so you can still fire over them.
• Hold some shots in the magazine for a clear broadside rather than firing on every phase.
• Use enemy facing to predict where its guns will fire, and plan a heading that keeps you out of that line.

Questions