Nation Database: Alphabetical List

Whenever one of your pawns reaches the 6th row, it promotes to a queen, knight, rook, or bishop. You may only have one queen in play at a time.

At the start of your turn, you may have any number of your pawns "dig in," provided that none of these pawns have moved on your last two turns. These pawns cannot be captured, pushed, or pulled until the start of your next turn but may not capture on your next turn.

Once per turn, after moving you may summon a militia in your 3x5 starting area. A militia can move like a king, but may only capture diagonally, and is destroyed two turns after it is summoned. A militia may make a move outside your 3x5 area only to capture a piece.

You have a wall partially enclosing your 3x5 starting area as shown. Enemy pieces may not cross the wall unless they jump over it. Your queen cannot cross the wall, and if your queen is captured, the wall no longer functions.

Your nonpawn pieces in your 2x4 area can move like a king instead of moving normally.

Your nonpawn pieces in your 3x5 area that are not in your 2x4 area can jump diagonally two spaces instead of moving normally.

Your nonpawn pieces in the center 2x2 area can capture a horizontally or vertically adjacent piece without moving, instead of moving normally.

Your kings can also move like a bishop, and can jump two squares diagonally, but cannot capture.

Whenever one of your pieces moves to a square within two squares of an Armenian king and does not check any player, it can move again this turn. This ability can only be used once per turn.

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.

Your bishops may move to any open space on the board as long as you don’t put an opponent in check by doing so. You may not use this ability two turns in a row.

At the end of your turn, you can sink or raise (un-sink) one unoccupied square. Sunken squares may be entered or crossed only by royal pieces or by pieces whose only moves would require them to move through sunken squares. There may not be more than 10 sunken squares at any time.

Boomerangs can move like rooks, or in a U-shape.

To move in a U-shape, move a boomerang as far as it can go in one horizontal or vertical direction without capturing, then make a left or right turn and move the boomerang in that horizontal or vertical direction without capturing, and finally make the same turn again and move the boomerang as far as it can move, capturing a piece if possible.

You cannot make rook moves two turns in a row.

Instead of moving one piece, you can move two knights. You cannot use this ability two turns in a row.

Whenever an Austrian knight moves to a position where he is threatening an enemy piece that is also threatened by another Austrian knight, that piece is immediately destroyed.

At the start of your turn, if you have at least three pieces in play, you may target any enemy piece in your 4x4 area and roll a six-sided die:

1. You misfire. If any of your pieces is horizontally or vertically adjacent to the target, it is destroyed; otherwise, nothing happens. If more than one of your pieces are adjacent, you choose which piece is destroyed.
2. If the target is a pawn or knight, it is destroyed.
3. If the target is a pawn, knight, or bishop, it is destroyed.
4. If the target is a pawn, knight, bishop, or rook, it is destroyed.
5. If the target is any non-royal piece (including special pieces), it is destroyed.
6. The target piece is automatically destroyed. If it is a royal piece, you checkmate its owner.

Whenever one of your pieces captures an opponent’s piece, it cannot move again until one of your pieces ends a turn within two squares of it. However, that piece cannot be captured until it moves or until three of your turns pass.

Whenever a player (ex: Player A) captures one of your pieces, you may choose another player (ex: Player B). On Player B’s next turn, Player B must capture a piece belonging to Player A, if able.

Ministers can move like kings and like knights, and are royal. If you move a minister as a knight, on your next turn you may not move a minister as a knight.

On your turn, instead of moving a piece normally, you can move any of your pieces to any open square in your 2x4 starting area. If the piece is outside your 3x5 area and is not a pawn, you may use this ability to move it into a square in your 2x4 area that is occupied by an enemy piece, capturing the enemy piece.

Twice per game, you may take any piece that you lost at some point in the game and place it anywhere in your 2x4 starting area.

Elephants can move up to three squares horizontally or vertically each turn and may only be captured by pieces no more than two squares away from them.

When any opponent moves a non-royal piece, you may “censor” that move: move the piece back, and let that player redo his move, but the piece that was censored may not move in the same direction that turn (this only applies to pieces who move only in one direction, so pieces such as knights are excluded from this restriction). Once you censor a move, you may not censor again until the end of your next turn.

Your pieces cannot be moved or destroyed as a result of other players’ special abilities.

Your pawns can promote to any piece that was on the board at any point in the game, including special pieces. However, normal pieces with extra powers given to them do not keep these powers. (For instance, if you promote to a Papal States bishop, it still moves as a normal bishop for you.)

Your kings can jump two squares diagonally in addition to moving normally.

When one of your pieces is about to be captured, you can switch places between that piece and another piece you control within three squares of it.

After moving a piece on your turn, you may move again if you sacrifice a piece you control. Remove the sacrificed piece from the game. You may do this any number of times per turn, but you may not check or capture a royal piece with one of your additional moves.

After you move, you can choose to push any number of pieces belonging to other players, provided that these players are on the same rank or file and of the same type as the piece you moved, and there are no other pieces between them. Each chosen piece is pushed two squares away from the piece you moved, stopping if another piece or obstacle (but not the edge of the board) is in its way. If a piece is pushed off the edge of the board this way, it is removed.

On your turn, instead of moving, you may take a group of your pieces that forms a horizontally/vertically connected chain and move the whole group of pieces anywhere on the board. The pieces within the group must be placed on unoccupied spaces and retain the same arrangement as before. You may use this ability once per game, and you gain one additional use of your ability every time a player is checkmated by anyone (however, you do not have to use your ability immediately after the checkmate).

(In the diagram at right, the red group of pieces can be moved into the position outlined in blue.)

You may not use this ability to move a pawn to a square where it would promote or to move a piece into a square where it would cause check.

At the start of the game, take 8 small square cards (2 labeled "Bomb" and 6 blank) and put one facedown under each of your pieces. The pieces with a "Bomb" card underneath them are secretly carrying a bomb.

Each turn, instead of moving, you have the option of detonating a bomb carried by one of your pieces. If you do, that piece and all pieces horizontally, vertically, and diagonally adjacent to it are removed from the game.

If a piece carrying a bomb is captured, destroyed, or removed, then the bomb doesn’t detonate. Whenever one of your pieces is captured, destroyed, or removed, you can choose whether or not to reveal the card underneath it (however, you should keep all cards removed this way and reveal them all at the end of the game to prevent cheating).

On your turn, instead of moving one piece, you may choose to move two rooks. However, you may not move them in the same direction.

When one of your rooks is captured, the piece that captured it cannot be captured by one of your rooks on your next turn, but can be captured on later turns.

At the start of your turn, if any opponent’s non-royal piece is horizontally or vertically adjacent to your bishop, knight, or king, destroy the enemy piece.

At the end of your turn, you may choose any unoccupied square on the board. Until the start of your next turn, non-royal pieces may not move into or through that square.

If any of your pieces is the only piece of its kind on the board, that piece may move twice in one turn. However, if a piece’s first move results in a check, your turn automatically ends.

If an enemy controls a piece of a kind that you also control, you may sacrifice a non-pawn piece you control to destroy that piece.

At the end of each of your turns, you may choose a non-royal piece you control that has not moved that turn. Until the start of your next turn, the chosen piece may not be captured, except by royal pieces.

Only your king and your pawns may capture enemy pieces. However, whenever another player’s piece is within the standard capturing zone of any of your non-pawn pieces, that piece may not move.

Whenever an enemy piece is "frozen" by two or more of your pieces, remove it from the board.

Whenever an enemy player captures one of your non-pawn pieces, each piece that was removed from the game with this ability is placed by its owner into his 2x4 starting area, provided that that player is still in the game.

Your rooks and bishops can ignore other pieces for the purpose of movement, but may not check, checkmate, or capture any piece other than a pawn when doing so.

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.

Instead of moving normally, your bishop can jump up to two squares in any direction.

Whenever you move a piece into the middle 4x4 square in such a position that it borders two other pieces that themselves both border the same piece (so that moving your own piece creates a "square" arrangement of four pieces), you may choose to have all three pieces destroyed. These pieces can include pieces of your own army, in which case they are captured nonetheless.

Generals move one square either diagonally or forward. Japanese pawns capture forward, not diagonally.

Japanese pawns do not promote normally. If any Japanese piece moves into the final three rows (determined in the direction that your pawns go) it can move like a king until it is captured, in addition to its normal move.

You start the game with four points. Whenever you capture a piece, you gain one point.

At the start of any opponent’s turn, you may pay one point to take back your last move. You may pay one additional point to immediately make a move, interrupting the current player’s turn. If a move is taken back, so are all of its effects (i.e. captured pieces are brought back into the game), and after the interruption, play resumes normally starting with the play clockwise from you.

Your pawns can move one square horizontally or vertically and can capture one square diagonally in any direction. Your pawns may promote either vertically or horizontally, and may promote to any standard chess piece, provided that you have no more than one queen, two rooks, two bishops, and two knights.

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.

Whenever a Dutch piece moves to a space horizontally or vertically (not diagonally) adjacent to an enemy piece, you take control the enemy piece, while that player takes control of your piece. If a Dutch piece moves to a space adjacent to two or more enemy pieces, you can choose which piece to trade with.

Neither your king nor enemy kings can be traded. You cannot trade on your first turn. If trading is not allowed in any situation, you may still make the move, but no trade occurs.

At the start of your turn you may, instead of moving normally, exchange places with one of your non-pawn pieces and an enemy piece, provided that you do not check any player by doing so. You may not use this power two turns in a row.

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.

Once every three turns (starting on your third turn), at the start of your turn you can choose any 2x2 square in the center 4x4 area. At the start of your next turn, all pieces within this 2x2 square are destroyed.

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.

Your bishops can jump two squares diagonally in addition to moving normally.

Whenever one of your bishops moves into another player’s 2x4, it promotes to an archbishop . Archbishops can move like regular Papal States bishops, but can also jump one or two squares horizontally or vertically.

You do not lose the game if you do not have your king in play.

On your turn, instead of moving you may put any of your pieces that have been captured or destroyed into your 2x4 area, as long as your king is in play.

Whenever you are put in check and the only way you can get out of check is by moving your king, you must immediately remove your king from the game.

On your turn, after your move you may declare an "alliance" with one other player. You must then give a pawn you control to that player: remove that pawn from the game, and the chosen opponent can choose to place a pawn into his 3x5 starting area at the start of his next turn. That opponent, for the next two turns, may not capture any of your pieces, and whenever he captures any piece during his next two turns, you can place a pawn into you 3x5 starting area. However, you may not capture any of that player’s pieces until the alliance expires.

You may move your pieces as though the top and bottom sides of the board are connected, and the right and left sides of the board are connected. In this manner, bishops can also move as though opposite corners are connected. You may not capture while crossing a side or corner of the board.

Whenever a Prussian piece moves, you may choose to pull pieces. If you do, all pieces that are on the same rank or file as it, and are within three squares of it, are pulled as close to the Prussian piece as possible (i.e. without passing obstacles or other pieces).

On your turn, instead of moving one piece, you may choose to move two pawns.

When two or more pawns are adjacent to each other, those pawns cannot be captured from further than three squares.

Whenever a non-Russian non-royal piece stands for two of your turns without any other pieces horizontally or vertically adjacent to it, it is automatically destroyed. If the Russian player is defeated, this rule no longer applies.

At the start of the game, take 8 small square cards (3 labeled “Pawn,” 2 labeled “Knight,” 2 labeled “Bishop,” and 1 labeled “King”) and put one facedown under each of your pieces. The piece named on the card determines what each of your pieces actually is, but only you can look at the cards.

On your first three turns, you may not capture any pieces outside of your 3x5 starting area.

On your turn, you may move a piece wherever you want. However, any player may choose to challenge your move: reveal the card under the piece; if the move that you made was illegal, you lose that piece, but if the move was legal, then the player who challenged your move skips his/her next turn.

If you ever put an opponent’s king in check, or if an opponent’s king moves into check by one of your pieces, you must reveal that that player’s king is in check. If you do not, you may not capture the king with that piece.

Whenever one of your pieces is captured, the card underneath it is revealed. If it was the “King” card, you are checkmated, all of the cards underneath your pieces are revealed, and your pieces are replaced by their cards' equivalents and are under the control of the player who checkmated you.

Whenever you capture a piece, you receive an additional pawn and place it "in reserve" outside of the board. On your turn, instead of moving, you may place any pawn that you have in reserve on the board, provided that it does not put any player in check, it cannot promote, and it cannot immediately move to a square where it can promote.

The warrior can move as a queen and as a knight, and cannot be moved or destroyed as a result of other players’ special abilities. You may not have more than one warrior at a time.

Spartan pawns can promote to a rook, knight, bishop or warrior.

Once per game, while in check, you may move your king and warrior on the same turn.

You may move one pawn and one non-pawn piece in the same turn. This power may not be used two turns in a row.

An enemy player may only capture a Swiss piece if at least one of the following conditions is satisfied:

1. The Swiss captured a piece belonging to that player at some point in the game.
2. The enemy player has already either captured or lost at least three pieces.
3. The enemy player is in check.

You start the game with five influence points.

On your turn, you may give any player one influence point to move one of that player’s pieces instead of one of your pieces. If that piece is captured before its owner’s next turn, you must give that player another influence point (if you have no more influence points, you skip your next turn).

Whenever any player has influence points, they may use Taiwan's special power. However, your own pieces are immune from being affected by Taiwan's power.

On your turn, instead of moving you may change one of your knights into a rook, or vice versa.

On each of your turns, instead of moving a piece, you may instead choose to place an additional pawn under your control into your 3x5 starting area. However, you may not use this ability two turns in a row.

All of your pieces can jump two squares in any direction that they normally move in, but when using a jump move you must jump over a piece. Thus, a king can jump two squares in any direction over a piece, a bishop two squares diagonally, a rook two squares horizontally or vertically and a pawn two squares forwards into an open square or two squares diagonally to capture a piece.

Delegates can move like kings but can also jump 2 squares horizontally or vertically. Every time a delegate starts a turn within one square horizontally or vertically of a nonroyal enemy piece, that enemy piece joins the Incan army.

Your pieces do not move when they capture other pieces. Instead, if an opponent's piece is within capturing range of one of your pieces and you choose to capture it, you remove it from the board without actually moving your piece. This action counts as your movement even though you have not technically moved.

Your bishops and rooks may only move up to three squares each turn.

At the start of each turn you get a token. On your turn, instead of moving, you can use tokens to upgrade any piece other than your original king (which is your only royal piece) by giving it the movement capability of another piece:

• 2 tokens – king (non-royal), knight, or bishop
• 3 tokens – rook
• 6 tokens - any piece on the board

The Valkyrie moves like a knight. On your turn, instead of moving normally, you can move a valkyrie anywhere on the board where it does not give check, but you may not use this ability two turns in a row. You cannot promote pawns to valkyries.

Whenever the valkyrie captures a piece put it by your side of the board. At the start of the turn, instead of moving you may put one of these pieces on the board in your 2x4 starting area, as long as your valkyrie is still on the board.

Your rook can move as a rook or jump two or three squares horizontally or vertically. Your bishops can move as bishops or jump two or three squares diagonally. However, you may not use either of these abilities two turns in a row, and you may not use these abilities to cause check or to capture a king.

Your pieces cannot be moved as a result of other players’ special abilities.

While a piece you control is in your 4x4 area, it can only be captured by a piece no more than two squares away from it or by a knight.

Your bishops and rooks may only move up to three squares each turn. Your pawns may move one square in any direction each turn.

Your pieces can only be captured within your 2x4 starting area, and you can only capture other pieces normally if they are within your 2x4 starting area, and only with your bishops and rooks. Your pawns cannot capture anywhere.

If an opponent’s piece cannot move at the start of its owner's turn, and at least one UN Peacekeeper is horizontally or vertically adjacent to it, that piece is removed from the game.

You are checkmated only if any opponent moves at least three of his/her pieces into your starting area.

At the start of your turn, roll a six-sided die.

If the die lands on 5 or 6, choose any other player. For the remainder of your turn, you can use that player’s special ability (except of course the starting configuration).

If the die lands on 3 or 4, roll again. If it lands on 1 or 2, you can “steal” the ability of the player clockwise from you, as outlined above. If it lands on 3 or 4, you can “steal” the ability of the player across from you. If it lands on 5 or 6, you can “steal” the ability of the player counterclockwise from you. In all cases, you may choose not to “steal” if you don’t want to.

If the die lands on 1 or 2, you have no power this turn.

You may not the abilities of a country with special units (i.e. Sparta or the Carthagian Empire) or one that requires special setup (i.e. Guerillas or the Soviet Union). If the second roll gives you one of these countries, you may roll again.

Once every other turn you may counter an opponent’s power at the start of your turn. Any power may be countered, including Egypt’s. The opponent will regain his power at the end of your next turn. If a player is put in checkmate because of this, then the person who had his power cancelled retains it. This power may not be used on the first turn.

At the start of your turn, secretly write down the location of any unoccupied square in the center 4x4 area; that square is trapped.

When a jumping piece (i.e. a knight) ends its move on the trap square, that piece may not move until two of its controller’s turns pass (not counting his current turn).

When a non-jumping piece (i.e. a rook) moves through the trap square without stopping there, that piece may not move until two of its controller’s turns pass (not counting his current turn).

However, if a non-jumping piece ends its move on the trap square, that piece is immediately destroyed.

On your turn, instead of moving, you can choose to either:

• take a piece you control off the board as long as it is within two squares of another piece you control, or
• place a piece removed from the board with this ability onto the board as long as it is placed within two squares of a piece you control.

Instead of moving normally, your pawns jump one to two squares diagonally. They cannot promote.

The bomb moves like a king. If a pawn and the bomb are adjacent to each other, you may move both of them on the same turn, if they both move in the same direction.

On your turn, instead of moving you may detonate the bomb. All pieces within two squares of it except your pawns are destroyed.