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Minima. johnnyluken. (6x6, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

💡📝Johnny Luken wrote on Tue, Nov 20, 2012 07:44 PM UTC:

I'm considering rewriting this game a bit. It looks like it could be refined with a few adjustments.

a) I would upgrade the kings capturing from displacement (which is already covered), to pushme-pullyu, and then removing that officer piece itself, as an option. Seems slightly more elegant, and makes the king a more interesting and powerful piece.

b) this however allows the king to immediately capture on 1st turn. This can be counterracted by mirrored setup with each king facing an coordinator, which could immediately capture the king in retribution. An immobiliser can be placed on the other side of the coordinator, to attack the king if it captures the other pawn.

c) pushme-pullyu/displacer/long leaper aren't ideal promotion pieces, as they dont improve on the power of existing officer pieces. So with the pushme-pullyu gone, I would introduce a new piece on promotion, the remover. This piece is the most powerful piece on the board, capturing pieces with rifle capture over any distance, even if immobilised. In opening setup, its too powerful, but as a promotion piece on a more open board, it works well.

d) the coordinator, as is, is too powerful. I would still allow it to capture passively, on kings movement, but would restrict it to only capturing on the 1st diagonal intersections, and not the secondary diagonal intersections that occur in a cyindrical board. This still makes it at least twice as powerful as an Ultima/Maxima coordinator. The king, in cooperation with the coordinator, can capture up to 6 pieces in one turn.

💡📝Johnny Luken wrote on Tue, Nov 20, 2012 07:24 PM UTC:

Hi Malcolm,
Thanks for your interest.

a) yes, cylinder is vertical, so attacking enemy pieces isn't possible on 1st move.

b) I hadn't thought about this. Yes, I would allow it, and also to make stationary capture, in the case of the coordinator. Its quite an aggressive game, so null moves to stall wouldn't generally offer any great advantage...

c) another good question. No, I wouldn't allow that, as that would make the pushme-pullyu a de facto displacement capturing piece in certain cases.

d) yes multiple capture is possible, for all pieces.

e)chameleon is restricted to the opposition pieces capture method, but not movement type, so captures all pieces, pawn and king included, with queenwise movement.

f) yes the pawns can move and capture up to 2 squares in any direction, apart from backwards.

g) correct, a pawn can theoretically capture 7 pieces in one turn.

h) pawn promotion is compulsory. Default would be pushme-pullyu as promotion piece, as its not actually in starting setup, or if it is, is then queen/long leaper as promotion piece, (ie whichever of the 3 isn't in starting setup), then previously captured pieces for every promotion thereafter.

Malcolm Webb wrote on Tue, Nov 20, 2012 11:30 AM UTC:Good ★★★★

I would like clarification on a few points:
a) Is the board a vertical cylinder: ie do the right & left sides meet, but
not the top & bottom edges?
b) Is it legal for an officer piece to go right around the cylinder back to
its starting square (effectively a null or passing move?)
c) Can the pushmepullyu piece capture an enemy piece by withdrawal, go
round the cylinder, and stop where the captured piece was located?
d) Can the pushmepullyu capture two pieces in the same move, one by
advancement, and one by withdrawal?
e) When the chameleon captures a King, does it do so with a knight-jump or
with a Queen-slide?
f) Is it correct that the pawn moves one or two steps straight-forward,
diagonally forward, or sideways?
g) Is it correct that the pawn can make its sandwich-capture orthogonally &
diagonally, possibly capturing up to seven pieces in one go?
h) Is pawn promotion compulsory (assuming that there is a captured piece
available for promotion?

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