Oh ye of little faith, say I!
Ok . . . so I deserved that . . .
Anyway, I've had several requests over the last couple of months from teachers and non-teachers alike from all over, to send them my Naval Combat Game rules. So I've decided to just put them up here for anyone who wants them.
They're not really super detailed, they're not historically accurate in ANY WAY, and you'll have to season them to your local tastes . . . but without further ado, here they are:
Roman Naval Combat
The Game
We have learned about how bloodthirsty the Romans could get in their entertainments, and now we are going to follow them into the wild and wacky world of Mock Battles! In this case, we are going to recreate, in our own unique way, the mock naval battles they staged in flooded arenas and coliseums throughout the Empire.
You will be building a boat using materials provided to you in class. This boat must have two elements: a hull (body), and a mast OR oars. You may, if you wish, add other features to your boat as described below after the Basic Rules.
BASIC RULES
Your Boat: Each boat must be between 9” and 12” long, and at least 2” tall and 2” wide not counting oars, and masts must be at least 8” tall.
Movement: Each boat moves between 9” and 18” each turn. You may make ONE 45 degree turn AFTER moving 9” and another after you’ve moved another 9”. Your boat MUST move 9”, and if it hits something, it counts as RAMMING whatever it hit (see below).
Attacking: AFTER you have moved your boat, it may ATTACK. This is simulated by shooting a rubber band, with your fingers, from just above your boat at any other boat in the game. If you hit ANY PART of ANY BOAT, you do ONE square of damage (see below). You CAN hurt yourself or some other unintended target with a poor shot.
Damage: Your boat can be harmed by either getting hit by another boat or in the event of a ramming. Each boat starts with FOUR damage squares. This means you can get hit FOUR times before your boat sinks. Each time you get hit, mark off one of your squares. Ramming is special, and is covered on your SHIP REGISTRATION CARD.
UPGRADING YOUR SHIP
Each boat may choose ONE of these four upgrades to make it better and different in some way. Your upgrade MUST be visible on the boat, as detailed beneath each type of upgrade.
Speed: Your boat is built for better speed. You gain another 9” of movement each turn if you wish, and can make a further 45 degree turn at the end of that 9”. This must be indicated by an overly large sail OR a sail AND oars.
Better Weapons: Your ship has a bigger or better weapon, or more weapons, on it. You get to shoot TWICE each turn. You must indicated this by actually building a weapon to put on your ship. It could be a big catapult, or a big crossbow, or some other suitable weapon.
Ram: Many ships built a huge metal spear on the front, and they rammed other ships with them. If you have a ram, you may make a special RAM attack when you move (see your CARD for instructions). You must indicate this by actually building a ram onto the front of your boat.
Your Hull: Boats will start with four damage boxes . After you construct your boat the class will vote, and you may gain or lose a box or two, depending how strong and sturdy your boat looks to your peers.
Roman Naval Combat
Ship Registration Card
Student Name: _______________________ Ship Name: _________________________
# of Inches per Turn:: ________ # of Shots per Turn: ________ Ram? _______________
Ramming, flip 4 coins, calling in mid-air. For every coin that lands on your called side, you do 1 block of damage to the opposing ship. Flip another coin and call it after you’re done but before the other boat sinks (if you did enough damage). Heads: you are free to move next turn as normal. Tails: you are trapped by the other boat until one of you flips a heads. If the other boat sinks while you are attached, you get one last chance to get a heads. If you fail, flip 4 coins, your opponent calls it in mid air, and for every called coin, YOU take one block of damage.
Damage:
Roman Naval Combat
Ship Registration Card
Student Name: _______________________ Ship Name: _________________________
# of Inches per Turn:: ________ # of Shots per Turn: ________ Ram? _______________
Ramming, flip 4 coins, calling in mid-air. For every coin that lands on your called side, you do 1 block of damage to the opposing ship. Flip another coin and call it after you’re done but before the other boat sinks (if you did enough damage). Heads: you are free to move next turn as normal. Tails: you are trapped by the other boat until one of you flips a heads. If the other boat sinks while you are attached, you get one last chance to get a heads. If you fail, flip 4 coins, your opponent calls it in mid air, and for every called coin, YOU take one block of damage.
Damage:
Roman Naval Combat
Ship Registration Card
Student Name: _______________________ Ship Name: _________________________
# of Inches per Turn:: ________ # of Shots per Turn: ________ Ram? _______________
Ramming, flip 4 coins, calling in mid-air. For every coin that lands on your called side, you do 1 block of damage to the opposing ship. Flip another coin and call it after you’re done but before the other boat sinks (if you did enough damage). Heads: you are free to move next turn as normal. Tails: you are trapped by the other boat until one of you flips a heads. If the other boat sinks while you are attached, you get one last chance to get a heads. If you fail, flip 4 coins, your opponent calls it in mid air, and for every called coin, YOU take one block of damage.
Damage:
Thanks as a fellow teacher and a gamer this is great. Now to find a way to work this into elementary technology curriculum!
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