Game Players
In this topic I will refer to the players as follows:
Player 1
Player 2
Player 3
Player 4
I will not refer to the players using colours.
This will help to simplify certain things that I will need to explain later on in this topic.
The important thing to note now is that the players always make their moves in strict numerical sequence as follows:
Player 1 --> Player 2 --> Player 3 --> Player 4
Game Board
The overall game board is a 14 x 14 square grid.
Located in each corner of the game board is a 3 x 3 square grid.
These corner grids, as shown in the diagram above, are called void zones and they are not actually used or even shown during game play.
A Unit or Pawn may not enter or pass through any part of these void zones when making a move.
A Knights move is considered to be "L" shaped using 3 squares, so a Knight can swing around a void zone corner, just as long as it does not land in the actual void zone.
This is also true for the Knights special double jump move, the Knight can not bounce off a void zone during this special move.
Locked Zones
The above diagram shows the parts of the board that a player may not use during the early stages of the game.
Each player has to complete 8 moves before the locks are lifted.
In total 4 players x 8 moves each = 32 moves that are played before the locks are lifted.
As soon as player # 4 completes his 8th move the locks are lifted and the board is then fully open.
Player # 1 on his 9th move has full access to the board including the promotion zone and all the other player zones.
Lock Count Down
For Over-The-Board play the players can use a stack of 8 coins that are placed in the locked promotion zone.
Player # 4 removes one of the coins after he makes his move.
When only 4 coins remain on the stack in the promotion zone he spreads them out, one on each of the four central squares so that all the players can easily see that the lock down is almost over.
When he lifts the last coin off the board it signals that the board is now unlocked.
For online play a nice fancy graphic can be used right in the middle of the promotion zone.
Same thing, after player # 4 makes his move the number bumps down.
When the number is 1 and he then makes his move the number vanishes and this signals that the board is now unlocked.
Pawns
A Pawn can move in 4 directions.
A Player can move a Pawn backwards to his first rank.
A Pawn can approach the promotion zone along any path.
A players 2 Pawns located on that players 2 central files can reach the promotion zone quickest because they do not have to change direction.
A players 2 Pawns located on that players 2 outer files take the longest to reach the promotion zone.
Pawns
A Pawn can capture in 4 directions.
Captures towards the promotion zone speeds up the progress of the Pawn because the player does not have to make an extra move to change direction.
Captures away from the promotion zone slows down the progress of the Pawn because the player has to make an extra move to change direction.
Pawn Jumps
A Pawn that is located on rank 1 or rank 2 in its own players zone can advance forward either one or two squares in one move.
A Pawn that has previously been moved can still advance forward two squares in one move providing that the Pawn is located on rank 1 or rank 2 in its own players zone.
Blocked Pawn Jumps
A Pawn can not jump over a square that is controlled by an opposing Pawn.
A pinned opposing Pawn still blocks a Pawn jump.
Knight Leaps
A Knight, from its starting position, can land on the unlocked promotion zone in either 2 or 3 moves.
3 normal Knight moves or a combination, in any order, of a Knight Leap (Double Jump) and one normal Knight move.
Note that in the diagram above the player has completed 8 moves and so the promotion zone is now unlocked, providing that all the other players have also completed 8 moves.
Note that, in the diagram above, the player has a nice opening position because the locks were in effect during the early stages of the game.
He did not pawn rush for promotion.
He was not forced to trade any long range units.
He was not forced to setup an unusual pawn structure to avoid exchanges.
Warlord
Knight Double Jump
64 x 2.50 = 160 squares.
The Knight has a special move because the board is much larger than a standard chessboard.
The long range pieces naturally become much stronger on such a large board and the short range pieces naturally much weaker.
The Pawns are a lot stronger now because they can move in four directions and capture in four directions.
The King is much weaker but that is the nature of the game.
So that leaves the Knight, a unit that is no longer in balance with the game, hence the special move.
If you look at the previous diagrams you will see that the special move allows the Knight to cover ground quickly on such a large board. The move is almost quite similar to a Bishop move, it is almost in a straight line, but not quite.
Note that the special move has certain restrictions:
The Knight can not change direction during the move, it must always be in the same direction, otherwise this would complicate the game with Knights twisting and turning all over the place.
The Knight can also not capture or bounce off other pieces during this move, otherwise this would probably make the Knight over powered.
Players may now consider trading Bishop and Knight which they would usually try to avoid without the special move.
Knights can now leap into attack from distance, a player could say play the special move to give check or to attack a major piece and win material on the next move.