BATTLESHIP

[Prof. Missa Matz 30]

Welcome to the start of the 2010 Battleship den challenge! In the past we were able to demonstrate how this challenge worked by opening up the previous year's forum. Unfortunately, all that information was lost when we had to completely redo the Gryffindor Board. So for those of you who are new at this, look towards your den leaders and higher years for guidance.

What is Battleship?

Well Battleship is a game where the main objective is to sink the other persons ships, in this case there will be a total of six ships that you will have to search for.

How do I play?

Gryffindor's version of Battleship is run a bit differently than any other normal Battleship game. The three dens compete against each other. The first den who has all their ships sunk ends in third place, the second one down is in second place, and the winning den is the den that still has ships left. You can earn up to three hits a day, but more information on that will follow.

How do we earn shots?

At the very beginning of the game, each den has three shots. They can choose to shoot all at one den, or break up the shots between the other two dens. Once the den leader selects three locations, a series of puzzles for those specific locations are placed into the den and in order for them to count, the puzzles must be solved.

So as an example, the CC den chooses three locations, but only solves two of the puzzles. At that point the two locations they have selected are colored into the board, showing a hit or a miss. This gives them two shots to select the following day. The third puzzle (that they didn't solve) rolls over and once it is solved the location will be colored in on the grid and they will have three turns again. Each den has the opportunity to pass if they cannot solve a puzzle, however there are only three passes for each den the entire game, and of course, they won't get to know what was in the location they selected.

Sounds a bit confusing, I know. So here's a simplified version.

This is how CC's turn would have looked.

GG: c4

MM: b3, a6

CC managed to solve the puzzle for GG's c4 and MM's a6, but failed to solve NN's b3 before the deadline, but the other dens solved all three of their puzzles. So once the deadline has arrived, I color in the grid locations, and the firing thread opens for the next day. When this happens it will look like this.

GG and MM have 3 shots to fire. CC has 2 shots to fire.

That next day, after selecting their two new locations CC manages to solve the two new puzzles, as well as the one that they were not able to solve the first day. They will get the three locations colored in. The original MM b3 they had from the previous day, and the two new locations they had selected. When the firing thread opens for the next round, they will be given all three shots to fire.

Who gets to select the locations?

There will be FOUR people in each den who will be allowed to select locations in the firing thread. It is preferrable that it be the den leaders and one chosen student. However, I know that the dens aren't currently all that active, so in such a scenario, there can be the den leaders and two students. NO ONE else is to post in the firing thread, EVER. If there is a problem within the den then someone needs to PM me to advise me, so that alternate selections can be chosen. It is also very important to note that you absolutely, positively may NOT edit any firing locations once they are placed in the thread. I don't care if you made a mistake, or one of the other people wanted a different location. If I see it, your den will be disqualified, as I consider it cheating. So don't do it!

Great, you know how it's played, but what does everything look like?

The GRID.

In the main thread there will be three grids like the one above (one for each den). Based on the locations the den leaders have chosen for their ships the object will be to select squares. Once the puzzles are solved you will be able to tell what was hit. Blue squares are water (meaning you missed), red squares mean a hit. Once the ship is sunk, it will be crossed off. Once ALL ships have been sunk on a grid, the grid will be crossed off. A tally of which locations each den selected and whether they were hit or miss, will be placed below the grid, so that everyone knows each location and who did it.

The PUZZLES.

There will be 4 different types of squares.

1. FREE HIT.

The free hit square is exactly what it sounds like. There is no puzzle in that square, it is a free hit. When the answers are sent to me via PM the den will include the free hit location as well.

2. Logic puzzles.

Yep, them good old word logic puzzles. You have to love to hate them. But they are necessary.

3. Sudoku puzzles.

Again, you either love them or hate them. I'll leave that up to all of you to decide.

4. Brain teasers.

Traditional brainteasers, which I don't think are all that hard to solve.

THE SHIPS.

There will be six ships this year. There will be two size 2 ships, two size 3 ships, one size 4 ship, and one size 5 ship. The size of the ship correspondes with the number of squares it will take up on the grid. So a size 5 ship, will take up 5 squares on the grid. Ships may be placed veritically or horizontally, you are not allowed to place a ship diagonally.

THE RULES.

I will PM the leaders of each den individually within the next few days. They will select the people to represent the dens for the firing thread, as well as picking ship locations. It is at the descretion of the den leader whether to select the locations themselves, or to have the den do it as a whole. I really don't care, so long as the locations and the leaders are sent to me before June 1st.

After I have received the above information from all dens, I will open the firing thread on June 2nd at 2am EST, which would be 10pm PST (which is when I get home from work). Don't ask me to convert to your timezones, figure it out yourselves. At that time, each den may post their selected dens and locations to hit. You will start with three shots. As soon as I see your selected locations, I will go into your den and post your challenges. You will have until 11pm EST, (8 pm PST) the following day to solve and to send the answers to me via PM. The only people who may PM the answers to me are one of the three selected in each den to have access to post in the firing thread. When the answers are sent to me, I prefer they be in the format:

Message title:

CC Day One Answers

Message body:

GG a3: (Answer)

MM a3: (Answer)

MM b2: (Answer)

It will help me keep track of what I'm supposed to be doing as well. It is important to note that some days I may be a bit late in opening the firing thread. I get home from work less than 30 minutes before the firing thread opens, and I will need to check puzzles and update the grids before I open the firing thread. Also note, I DO sleep people. Not often, but I do try. So sometimes, if you take 3-4 hours to post your locations in the firing thread, there is the chance that I won't get around to posting your challenges until I wake up the next day. So you may want to select someone who is awake during the beginning of the firing thread, to get your shots in fast so you can have longer to work on your challenges. The game will run until there is a clear winner. If it makes it simpler for you, I will not be able to send puzzles to dens after noon EST on any day. I will be at work. I hate that place, btw.

IMPORTANT:

Please be advised that if you solve a challenge incorrectly you will lose that shot for that day. So the answers you PM to me must be correct. If not, then it's just like not solving it, and that location will roll over to the next day and you will only have 2 shots in the firing thread. I will advise you which answers are correct and incorrect in a PM back to you.

If you have any questions, please seek out your den leader. If the den leaders have any questions, please post them in the War Room so that I may answer them.

Rubies: 1 ruby for each person in a den who answers a task (that means a ruby for every task you answer, not just one in general). No rubies for free hits. Winning den gets 40 rubies. Second place gets 20 rubies. Third place gets 10 rubies. Only those who have participated in the task will be awarded rubies.

[Prof. Missa Matz 30]

Firing thread will open on Thursday at 1 AM EST (that's 10 pm Pacific), I'll post in the correct forum to take your shots. Everything will be updated before then.