Make an Off-Shore Battle game
By Jodie MangorIllustrations by David Brooks
From the June 2008 issue of Boys' Life magazine
Charge up your power drill, sharpen that saw and make this cool custom-made Off-Shore Battle game.
WHAT YOU’LL NEED
- Ruler
- Tracing paper and tape
- Power drill
- Saw
- Awl and hammer
- Anvil pruning shears
- Fine-tipped permanent marker
- Wood glue
- Screws
- 3 10-inch-by-10-inch-by-3⁄4-inch boards
- 2 small wooden door knobs
- 4 hinges
- 1 latch
- Drill bit slightly larger than game pegs
- 1 package of wooden skewers
- Enough pine scraps to make the ships
- Sandpaper
- Red paint
WHAT YOU’LL DO
The Boards:
1. With lines spaced 3⁄4-inches apart, mark out a 71⁄2-by-71⁄2-inch grid on all three game boards. The center, vertical board has a grid with holes on both sides. The side boards have a grid only.
2. Tape tracing paper over your grid and draw diagonal lines as shown. Use an awl to punch starter holes for drilling.
3. Drill 1⁄4-inch-deep holes in the center of each square.
4. Use decals or a fine-tipped permanent marker to label the vertical squares A through J and the horizontal squares 1 through 10.
5. Attach the vertical board to the base with wood glue and screws.
6. After all the grids are complete and the holes are drilled, attach the knobs and give the boards an oil finish.
7. Put it all together using the 4 hinges.
The Pegs:
1. Use the pruning shears to cut the skewers into 3⁄4-inch pegs. You’ll need at least 140 pegs.
2. Paint 40 of them red.
The Ships:
- Fashion 2 sets of 5 ships from scraps of pine.
- Drill the 1⁄4-inch-deep holes before cutting out the ships.
- Make 2 ships 3 3⁄4 inches long with 5 holes.
- Make 2 ships 3 inches long with 4 holes.
- Make 2 ships 2 1⁄4 inches long with 3 holes.
- Make 4 ships 1 1⁄2 inches long with 2 holes.
- Sand the ship bottoms smooth.
Get ship templates at www.boyslife.org/links/shiptemplates. You can also make the ships from plastic clay.
TO PLAY
Players place ships on the grids of their individual boards. One player calls out a coordinate on the grid. If it’s a hit, he goes again. A miss means it’s the other player’s turn. Red pegs are used to track hits and natural-colored pegs to track misses. Whoever sinks all their opponent’s ships first wins.
pretty cool
I WANT TO MAKE IT SOON!!!!
cool
Awesome! Now you can make your own Battleship game!!!! This is way cooler than the normal Battleship!
Jman
i hate this
nice now i don’t have to buy a game for my cousin
Actually before “Battleship” the original name for this game was “Swiss Navy”.
I found that in an old book of games I found in a used book store. I think this game has been around in one form or another since before ships had engines.
I’m not quite that old so I can’t be sure.
That is a cool thing to do during your free time.
Enemy fleet destroyed congaulations admrial
lol
If it is not battel ship call me a scout!
BATTLESHIP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
its just battell ship but cooler
Battieship rock!
I want to make it soon!
because battleship is a trade mark.
This game is excatly like Battleship. I wonder why you didn’t call it Battleship.
this is the best game EVER!!!!!!
yeah its like BATTLESHIP to THEpizzaGuy.
That’s a really cool idea.
I’ll like playing it!
wonderful game I’ll be sure to make it soon
I will make this game
isnt that like battleship
Can’t get grid quite right. very fun project though. Keep at it!!
Awesome Idea,You Guys Rock!!!!
Thanks for a great idea!
Cool