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Fishwar is a global conquest game in which players fight to control the oceans rather than the land surface. It's a fairly standard turn-based game, and comes in three different sizes, standard (60 countries), deluxe (90 countries) and ultimate (180 countries).
 Graphical Symbols
Fishwar and Fishwar Deluxe make use of six non-standard graphical symbols:
- 1. Open Sea
- 2. Coastal Sea
- 3. Island
- 4. Seamount or Rise
- 5. Basin or Trench
- 6. Defensive Channel or Overland Route
Symbols 1-5 are equivalent as far as gameplay goes, and indicate the use of standard dice. The sixth symbol, a white dotted line, indicates a defensive feature such as a narrow channel or an overland route. A defender on such a border is given a slight defensive advantage in the dice rolls. Ultimate Fishwar adds two additional symbols:
- 7. River
- 8. Freshwater Lake
The upstream defender on a river is given the same defensive advantage as the dotted line. A downstream attack, however, uses the standard dice.
The game is provided in three standard sizes. Basic Fishwar is composed of 60 countries, and is suitable for tournament games, quick games, beginner games, and smaller groups. Fishwar Deluxe increases the number of countries to 90 to accommodate longer games and larger groups. Ultimate Fishwar expands this to a mind-boggling 180 countries to provide extra elbow-room for games with many players. Ultimate Fishwar is provided in two variations, one with escalating cards and one with rotating cards.
Since this game is similar to standard Warfish world maps, strategy for Fishwar resembles the strategy for those games. Players should be aware of the border modifiers, though, and understand that attacks in the Mediterranean and Northwest Passage areas are likely to require a stronger attack force than usual.
Rivers and freshwater lakes are not grouped into any continents in Ultimate Fishwar and exist solely to provide the game with extra defensive positions. Players inhabiting these rivers are in good position to attack the downstream oceans, or defend them if they belong to the player.