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Maces and Horse-apults. Chess with mace pieces and specialized catapults (horse-apults). (10x10, Cells: 100) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

Charles Daniel wrote on Sun, Mar 9, 2008 09:53 PM EDT:

Quite interesting! 
I have to disagree - it is not much like std chess (play-wise at least)-
the game is substantially altered because of those pieces. 
Am I right in understanding the mace this way: I move my mace next to
enemy pieces. Then on same turn I can take them off the board? 
Also, is it compulsory to remove all pieces attacked by mace? 

And if mace removes piece/pawn that exposes king to check then does that
not mean that the opponent can then capture your king? 

I was wondering too what do you think of adding one mace and one
Horse-apult to  my customizable game : pick piece big chess. I think it
will be a bit slower than yours but it might be quite interesting. 

If you dont mind - I can add that into the presets for my game.

💡📝Gary Gifford wrote on Sun, Mar 9, 2008 11:49 PM EDT:

Hi Charles, Thanks for commenting. Actually, I agree with you that 'it is not much like std chess (play-wise at least)' - What I meant was that piece wise we were dealing with close to Fide chess, i.e., Rooks, Bishops, Knights, Queen, Pawns... So, you are correct when you say, 'the game is substantially altered because of those pieces [Maces and Horse-apults].

You ask, 'Am I right in understanding the mace this way: I move my mace next to enemy pieces. Then on same turn I can take them off the board?

Yes. One of the adjacent pieces, your choice as to which one. Then, on the next turn, you could for example, move your King, but the Mace still gets to remove an adjacent piece. The Mace need not move... its weapon is essentially striking adjacent enemy pieces (one per turn, if possible). Of course, you can move it or toss it with a Horse-apult... or use the Horse-apult to toss an enemy piece over to a Mace.

Also, is it compulsory to remove all pieces attacked by mace?

Yes. But only one gets removed per turn. (one per Mace, that is) And if mace removes piece/pawn that exposes king to check then does that not mean that the opponent can then capture your king?

No - because the Mace capture (assuming he does not move) is free... so, you could move your King out of the way before or after the exposing... or block the exposing. I can add some examples, perhaps tomorrow. I was wondering too what do you think of adding one mace and one Horse-apult to my customizable game : pick piece big chess. I think it will be a bit slower than yours but it might be quite interesting.

That is fine if you give reference to 'Maces and Horse-apults.' If you dont mind - I can add that into the presets for my game.

Yes, that is fine. Best regards, Gary

David Paulowich wrote on Mon, Mar 10, 2008 09:41 AM EDT:

Mace capture is an excellent way to visualize igui capture. I'm still trying to wrap my brain around the implications of up to two Mace captures and one move per game turn.

Joe Joyce wrote on Mon, Mar 10, 2008 12:12 PM EDT:

David, it's simple. Gary has designed a game where he can win faster. This reduces stress, so it must be a good thing... ;-) And based on how he's done so far, this game will undoubtedly be in the next big tournament here, so he's clearly a successful designer!

Seriously now, this is a lovely-looking game, Gary. Very nice job, ingenious and creative. I like the lower piece density for the larger board, also; it gives your pieces room to play. I'll save a rating until I play it, but it looks real good. Congratulations on another out-of-the-mold variant.

💡📝Gary Gifford wrote on Mon, Mar 10, 2008 12:31 PM EDT:

Thanks for the comments. They are much appreciated. As a side note: I had an idea to add a 'Pawn Shield Variant' to the rules - in that variant pawns would be immune from Mace capture... but, upon further reflection I will leave that variant out... it is different enough from the intended game that it should not be considered in the same write up.

Of interest, to me at least, is the fact that a horizonal line of pawns will tend to hold off a lone Mace. The Mace could take out one pawn, but then another would capture the Mace (unless the Mace took a pawn at the edge from the adjacent file). This gives us an interesting Pawn dilema. Diagonal pawn chains (where one pawn protects another) are great against standard chess pieces, but week against maces, and horizontal pawns (that offer no protection to each other) are effective against Maces (but not against standard pieces). Piece and Pawn play will need to be carefully calculated.

oops... got to run to a meeting...

Charles Daniel wrote on Fri, Mar 14, 2008 04:39 PM EDT:

I have added some presets here for Pick the Piece Big Chess, one of which includes the Mace and Horse-apult in this game. I briefly mentioned some possible modifications as well.
It might play a bit differently from your game, but who knows it might be interesting.

One thing I was wondering can I just not bother capture the enemy piece and just move my mace away?

💡📝Gary Gifford wrote on Fri, Mar 14, 2008 06:45 PM EDT:

Hello Charles. The Mace (both Maces) automatically capture on each turn, one adjacent enemy piece)... and this does not count as a move. In the notes I wrote this:

'The removed piece must be adjacent to the Mace at its final resting place. If he stays still, he removes one adjacent piece. But, if he moves, then he removes one enemy piece that is adjacent to his new home.'

carlos carlos wrote on Thu, Mar 27, 2008 12:35 PM EDT:

gary, can pawns promote to anything?

can a horse-apult fire the other horse-apult?

💡📝Gary Gifford wrote on Thu, Mar 27, 2008 04:51 PM EDT:

Hi Carlos - Yes, as the rules indicate, 'Pawns can promote to any non-king piece.' And yes, a Horse-apult can toss another of its kind... friend or foe. As a note, I'd like to toss a pawn (my own) into the promotion zone, promote it to a Mace, and wipe out an adjacent enemy King... that would be a fun conclusion to a game. Best regards.

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