Tag: Complex rules

These nations contain rules that I have found to be too long to effectively fit on a standard-size card.


Assassins' Guild

YOU HAVE THE POWER OF STEALTH. Assassins can strike without warning.


Starting configuration for Assassins' Guild

You may only have one knight in play at a time: if you have more than one knight at any time, you must remove all your knights except for one from the board. On your turn, instead of moving, you may permanently convert a bishop or rook you control into a knight.

At the beginning of your turn, you may choose to hide your knight. Knights may be hidden for up to three turns in a row. While your knight is hidden, its position is not shown on the board but is secretly written down each turn by you. Hidden knights may still be captured, but if a piece passes through a hidden knight, you may choose to reveal the knight’s location and automatically capture the piece that moved through it.


Medieval China

YOU HAVE THE POWER OF CANNONS. Your cannons are difficult to mobilize but can be deadly when they strike.


Starting configuration for Medieval China

Cannons move and capture any number of spaces horizontally and vertically, but must jump over exactly one (friendly or enemy) piece to reach its destination. A cannon can only capture a king if it jumps over a friendly piece, not an enemy piece.

Chinese pawns capture forward, not diagonally. Chinese pawns do not promote normally, but once a Chinese pawn crosses the halfway line of the board (in your direction), it can move and capture one space horizontally or vertically.


Mycenae

YOU HAVE THE POWER OF THE TROJAN HORSE. Your soldiers are hidden inside giant wooden horses, from which you can catch the enemy off guard.


Starting configuration for Mycenae

Mycenaean knights may not capture but may carry other pieces.

At the start of the game, your army is carried inside the knights. The army consists of one king, one rook, two bishops, and three pawns. Secretly write down which pieces are inside which knight.

On your turn, instead of moving, you can load or unload any number of pieces to or from a knight. Loaded or unloaded pieces must be horizontally, vertically, or diagonally adjacent to the knight. You may load another player’s pieces into a knight only with his permission, and he may only unload pieces from a knight on his turn.

Instead of moving, loading, or unloading, you may choose to "burn" a knight that has at least one piece inside it – the knight, all pieces inside it, and all pieces horizontally or vertically adjacent to it are destroyed.

If one of your knights is ever captured or if another player takes control of one of your knights, all pieces inside of it are automatically destroyed. If your king was inside it, you are automatically checkmated.


North Korea

YOU HAVE THE POWER OF INSANITY. Your moves are wild and unpredictable, and it is this that makes you dangerous.


Starting configuration for North Korea

At the start of your turn, roll a six-sided die. If it lands on 1, 2, 3, or 4, your turn proceeds normally. However, if it lands on 5 or 6, do the following:

First, roll another die. If it lands on 1 or 2, you can move one piece this turn. 3 or 4: up to two different pieces. 5 or 6: up to three different pieces.

Then select the piece(s) you wish to move. For each piece, roll a die. If it lands on 1, that piece moves and captures as a pawn this turn, 2 – knight, 3 – bishop, 4 – rook, 5 – queen, 6 – king. After this, you can move your piece(s), ending your turn. You must select all of the pieces you wish to move before rolling dice for them.

Even if a piece temporarily moves as a king, you are not checkmated until your actual king is captured.


Ottoman Empire

YOU HAVE THE POWER OF DEPLOYMENT. Although you have a powerful army, you are forced to deploy it slowly because of the distance it has to travel.


Starting configuration for Ottoman Empire

You do not start with any pieces, but with four deployment squares (represented as ?’s in the diagram), and have one king, two pawns, two bishops, two knights, and one rook in reserve. On your turn, you have the choice of either moving a piece or placing a piece from your reserve onto an empty deployment square.

If you don’t have any pieces in play, and it is not your first turn, you lose the game automatically. However, your pieces may not be captured until the end of your second turn. Three of the first five pieces you play must be the king and two pawns.


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