How to Play Armada: Battleship Where the Ships Move
Armada is an original naval strategy game made for Royal Duels. It starts like Battleship: each admiral hides a fleet on an 8×8 sea. But in Armada the ships move, and both players give their orders at the same time. You don't shoot at where a ship is: you shoot at where you think it will be.
Your fleet
Each admiral has 4 ships: a Battleship (4 squares), a Cruiser (3), a Destroyer (2) and a Submarine (2). Place them anywhere, as long as they don't overlap. You'll see your ships the whole game; the enemy's stay hidden until they sink.
A round
Every round you get 3 command points to spend on any mix of:
- 🎯 Fire (1 point): shoot one square of the enemy sea.
- 🧭 Move (1 point): slide one of your ships one square up, down, left or right. Each ship can move once per round.
- 📡 Sonar (2 points): pick a square; sonar tells you how many enemy ship squares are in the 3×3 area around it.
Both admirals plan in secret and press Send orders. When both orders are in, everything happens together, in this order: all ships move, then sonar pings, then all shots land. Against a friend, each round has a 45-second clock; if time runs out, whatever you planned is sent automatically.
What your shots tell you
- 💥 Hit: you damaged a ship. The fire 🔥 moves with that ship.
- 💦 Near miss: no hit, but a ship is right next to that square (up, down, left or right).
- • Miss: nothing there, or next to it.
- 🔥 Already burning: you hit a part of a ship that was already damaged. It's still there!
A small number on old hits and near misses shows how many rounds ago they happened. Old information goes stale, because ships move.
Damage and sinking
A ship sinks when every one of its squares has been hit. A damaged ship is slower: it can only move every other round. Sink all 4 enemy ships to win. If both fleets go down in the same round, it's a draw. After 30 rounds, the admiral who took less damage wins.
Strategy
- Lead your shots. After a hit, the enemy will often move that ship. Fire at the hit square and the squares beside it.
- Follow near misses. A 💦 means a ship is next door this round. Next round it may be one more square away.
- Hunt the wounded. A damaged ship that moved last round can't move this round. That's your chance to finish it.
- Spend points on defense. If one of your ships was just hit, moving it costs a shot but can save it.
- Sonar when you're lost. Two points for sonar feels expensive, but it can turn a blind round into a hunt.
- Bluff by staying still. Your opponent expects you to dodge. Sometimes the best move is no move.
Play it now
Practice against the Easy, Medium or Hard admiral, or send a link to a friend. Wins earn 🪙 points toward the monthly prize.
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