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This page is written by the game's inventor, Gary Gifford.

Maces, Shields, and Horse-apults

by Gary K. Gifford; March 2008

Partial Board with the Alternate Pieces Shown

This is a sister game of "Maces and Horse-apults." It was created after experiencing two strong desires: (a) allowing Maces to capture pawns and (b) not allowing Maces to capture pawns. I was tormented by both options. Not wanting to alter the original game I made this slight variant. It would appeal more to the lover of pawn-play, to those who relish pawn chains and have a desire for a Mace who is a little weaker.

The link to the primary game courier preset is here.

The link to an alternate game courier preset is here.

Both of theses presets are for "Maces, Shields and Horse-apults." A link to the sister game appears at the end of these rules.

Setup

As above. Also, see pre-sets.

Pieces

As in Maces and Horse-apults except:

1) The Queen has been replaced by a Mace-Hunter. This piece moves and captures as does a King. It cannot be captured by a Mace.

2) The Bishops have been replaced by Dragon Horses (borrowed from Shogi). These essentially move like a King or a Bishop. Their orthoganal movement helps offset the loss of power by the removal of the Queen.

3) Pawns have been replaced by "Shielded-Pawns" - Maces cannot capture shielded pawns.

Rules

Please read the rules to Maces and Horse-apults.

With exception to the three notes for pieces, presented above, the games are the same in regard to rules.

Notes

Because Maces cannot capture these pawns, and because there is a Mace-Hunter who can safely move adjacent to a Mace, this game plays considerably different than does its closely related predecessor.

The board color and pawns where changed to help keep the two games separate.


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By Gary K. Gifford.
Web page created: 2008-03-10. Web page last updated: 2008-03-10