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I thought I'd offer a game design I've been boiling in the back of my brain for a month or two. I just got two cheap chess sets to try this out with, but I haven't played it yet.
It's a chess variant. No name yet, but I'm leaning toward "Skirmish".
PIECES:
*1* Infantry (Pawns): These are basic foot soldiers. You start with three of them and they can move up to 3 spaces per turn. They only fight by Melee (move into the space of an enemy piece).
*2* Archers (Bishops): These pieces can only fire ranged attacks at a single target from 2-to-4 spaces away in a straight line in any of the eight directions. They can shoot over a target and hit any single enemy in their range. They cannot Melee attack, nor can they attack adjacent pieces. They also can move up to 3 spaces per turn, but they cannot attack and move on the same turn.
*3* Cavalry (Knights): These pieces can move up to 6 spaces per turn. They have two types of attack; Melee and Trample. Melee has been explained and can only kill on piece per turn. Trample allows the Cavalry to move in a straight line only along any of the eight directions and kill up to 5 enemy pieces if they are in the path, but the space where the Cavalry stops must have already been unoccupied.
*4* Artillery (Rooks): These pieces are siege engines. They can only fire in the four non-diagonal directions and can only move 1 space per turn. They will destroy EVERY piece, regardless of color, in a 3 X 3 square of spaces centered 5 spaces from the Artillery. They can be captured by the enemy (see Reinforcements)
*6* Warriors (Queens): These piece move and fight exactly like Infantry, with the added ability to rampage endlessly. This means that, if a Warrior takes an enemy piece in Melee and is now adjacent to another enemy piece, it can instantly Melee against that piece. This pattern can continue as long as the Warrior ends up adjacent to enemy pieces and, theoretically, can kill every enemy on the board if the spacing works out.
* Generals (Kings): Generals fight just like Warriors with two differences; if the General is killed, the game ends and the General can lead Sorties. Sorties allow every piece of the same type that begins the round adjacent to the General to move in a single turn. Each piece can operate independently, but any piece that took part in a Sortie cannot move on the next round.
REINFORCEMENTS:
The game begins with 3 Infantry and 1 of each of the other types of pieces arrayed by the player's design along the back row of the board. This is not the limit of the forces a player can wield, however. When a player kills an enemy piece, he or she can declare immediately that they wish to bring a reinforcement to the battle. After the other player takes his or her turn, the first player can then place a new piece of equal or lesser rank to the killed piece in any open space on their back row. If there are no open spaces, the reinforcement opportunity is lost. Placing a Reinforcement takes of the place of moving a piece in a player's turn.
Artillery can be captured instead if a player announces it. This function is the same as calling in Reinforcements, but it allows the new Artillery (and only if the enemy Artillery is replaced with friendly Artillery) to be placed on the same space as the old Artillery. This piece cannot move on the next turn after being placed, then it is a valid piece to use, often near the enemy's back lines.
That's about it. I have other ideas for more specialized types of boards, with elevation and rivers and such, but for now, these are my ideas. If you like it, feel free to try and and share it. It will work an a regular board with regular pieces, though I bought two cheap sets so I can alter the pieces (I'm going to make the extra King another Warrior by snipping the cross/crown off) and so the reinforcements allow a player to build large armies and/or highly specialized armies like mostly Cavalry or something.
Please let me know what you think.
It's a chess variant. No name yet, but I'm leaning toward "Skirmish".
PIECES:
*1* Infantry (Pawns): These are basic foot soldiers. You start with three of them and they can move up to 3 spaces per turn. They only fight by Melee (move into the space of an enemy piece).
*2* Archers (Bishops): These pieces can only fire ranged attacks at a single target from 2-to-4 spaces away in a straight line in any of the eight directions. They can shoot over a target and hit any single enemy in their range. They cannot Melee attack, nor can they attack adjacent pieces. They also can move up to 3 spaces per turn, but they cannot attack and move on the same turn.
*3* Cavalry (Knights): These pieces can move up to 6 spaces per turn. They have two types of attack; Melee and Trample. Melee has been explained and can only kill on piece per turn. Trample allows the Cavalry to move in a straight line only along any of the eight directions and kill up to 5 enemy pieces if they are in the path, but the space where the Cavalry stops must have already been unoccupied.
*4* Artillery (Rooks): These pieces are siege engines. They can only fire in the four non-diagonal directions and can only move 1 space per turn. They will destroy EVERY piece, regardless of color, in a 3 X 3 square of spaces centered 5 spaces from the Artillery. They can be captured by the enemy (see Reinforcements)
*6* Warriors (Queens): These piece move and fight exactly like Infantry, with the added ability to rampage endlessly. This means that, if a Warrior takes an enemy piece in Melee and is now adjacent to another enemy piece, it can instantly Melee against that piece. This pattern can continue as long as the Warrior ends up adjacent to enemy pieces and, theoretically, can kill every enemy on the board if the spacing works out.
* Generals (Kings): Generals fight just like Warriors with two differences; if the General is killed, the game ends and the General can lead Sorties. Sorties allow every piece of the same type that begins the round adjacent to the General to move in a single turn. Each piece can operate independently, but any piece that took part in a Sortie cannot move on the next round.
REINFORCEMENTS:
The game begins with 3 Infantry and 1 of each of the other types of pieces arrayed by the player's design along the back row of the board. This is not the limit of the forces a player can wield, however. When a player kills an enemy piece, he or she can declare immediately that they wish to bring a reinforcement to the battle. After the other player takes his or her turn, the first player can then place a new piece of equal or lesser rank to the killed piece in any open space on their back row. If there are no open spaces, the reinforcement opportunity is lost. Placing a Reinforcement takes of the place of moving a piece in a player's turn.
Artillery can be captured instead if a player announces it. This function is the same as calling in Reinforcements, but it allows the new Artillery (and only if the enemy Artillery is replaced with friendly Artillery) to be placed on the same space as the old Artillery. This piece cannot move on the next turn after being placed, then it is a valid piece to use, often near the enemy's back lines.
That's about it. I have other ideas for more specialized types of boards, with elevation and rivers and such, but for now, these are my ideas. If you like it, feel free to try and and share it. It will work an a regular board with regular pieces, though I bought two cheap sets so I can alter the pieces (I'm going to make the extra King another Warrior by snipping the cross/crown off) and so the reinforcements allow a player to build large armies and/or highly specialized armies like mostly Cavalry or something.
Please let me know what you think.
