What is Mines?
With mines, each player hides one or more mines after placing their ships: one mine on the 8×8 and 10×10 grids, two on 12×12 and three on 15×15. A mine takes a single cell and, like a ship, may not touch a ship or another mine, not even at a corner.
Mines stay hidden from your opponent until they are hit. A shot that lands on a mine is answered with "mine", and the shooter has to give away one cell of their own ships that has not been hit or given away yet. They choose the cell themselves, and the mine's owner sees it marked on their target grid as a known target, to fire at whenever they like. Hitting a mine is no success: the turn then passes to the mine's owner, even with shoot again on a hit.
Mines are not ships. You never need to find them, and the game still ends when the last ship of a fleet is sunk.
Rule changes
| Rule | Standard Naval Battle | Mines |
|---|---|---|
| Setup | Standard Naval BattleEach player places only their ships. | MinesAfter the ships, each player hides one mine on 8×8 and 10×10, two on 12×12 and three on 15×15. |
| Where mines go | Standard Naval BattleNo mines. | MinesOn any open cell that touches no ship and no other mine, not even at a corner. |
| Shooting a mine | Standard Naval BattleNo mines: a shot is a miss, a hit or a sinking. | MinesThe shooter gives away one unhit cell of their own ships, which the mine's owner can then target. In a Salvo volley, one cell for each mine hit. |
| Turn after a mine | Standard Naval BattleNo mines. | MinesPasses to the mine's owner, even when shoot again on a hit is on. |
| End of the game | Standard Naval BattleThe first player to sink the whole enemy fleet wins. | MinesThe same: mines are not ships and never need to be found. |
| Other options | Standard Naval BattleA 10×10 grid, the classic fleet and one shot per turn. | MinesMines work with every grid size, with the classic or the Russian fleet, with Salvo and with shoot again on a hit. |
History
Mines are a folk addition to Morskoy boy, the sea battle game played on notebook paper in Russia and other countries of the former Soviet Union. In the version found in Russian descriptions of the game, the standard 10×10 field and fleet get one mine or more, drawn as a circle in a single cell that may not touch a ship or another mine. A player who hits a mine must give its owner the coordinates of one undamaged cell of their own ships, which the owner may shoot at any time, and since hitting a mine is no success, the turn passes to the mine's owner.
The same description suggests up to three mines per player on larger fields, together with minesweepers, which this site does not use. The number of mines here grows with the grid: one on 8×8 and 10×10, two on 12×12 and three on 15×15.