GB2070446A - War board game - Google Patents

Abstract

Apparatus for playing a board game combines some features of the traditional game of chess with supplementary playing pieces of up to six distinguishable kinds (from one to six of one kind and one or two of the other kinds). Games of simulated warfare, in which the pieces represent weapons of modern aspect and deployment, can be played. Some playing pieces may be of several parts, clipped or screwed together. The board may be hexagonal.

Description

SPECIFICATION Board game This invention relates to board games and more particularly to board games in which two or more players move playing pieces on a playing surface in accordance with rules, each in an endeavour to dominate with his playing pieces the playing pieces of his opponent(s).

Board games are known which require considerable skill and attention from a player so that the depth and variety of strategy available in the game can be fully exploited. Chess is a wellknown example of such a game. However, for children and other beginning players the apparently arbitrary rigid and unreaiistic nature of such games can reduce the appeal of the game to such potential players.

It is an object of the invention to provide a board game of greater flexibility and greater appeal to beginning games players without reducing the potential for expert players to exercise skill in strategy.

According to the invention there is provided apparatus for playing a game on a playing surface such as a board marked out in a pattern of squares or other shapes, the apparatus including at least two groups of playing pieces, the pieces in each group having a first distinguishing characteristic in common (such as colour) and distinct from the first distinguishing characteristic of another group and each group including at least one supplementary piece having a second distinguishing characteristic (such as shape) distinct from the second distinguishing characteristic of other pieces of the same group including basic playing pieces which are present each group and identifiable with the respective at least one supplementary piece of the group by said first characteristic.

The apparatus may include rules in addition to the groups of pieces, the rules providing for deployment of a supplementary piece onto the playing surface and into the game at the dscision of a player.

The basic pieces may inciudesome or all of the pieces from a conventional set of chess pieces.

According to the present invention, there is provided apparatus for playing a game which combines some features of chess with other novel features for which supplementary playing pieces are required to provide a board game of greater flexibility and wider appeal to children and beginning games players while also having the depth and variety of strategy to hold the attention and exercise the skill of adult players; which apparatus comprises as playing surface a chess board or other suitable games board and as playing pieces chessmen together with supplementary playing pieces of one or more additional kind(s), each kind being distinguishable from the other kind(s) and from the chessmen while having a characteristic (generally colour) in common with one side of the set of chessmen so that the chessmen and the supplementary playing pieces on each side make up armies movable over the playing surface.

The supplementary playing pieces can be discrete, individual pieces, or they can be composite pieces with the property that they can be separated into their several parts, which parts can be used as individual playing pieces or can be combined for use as a single piece.

A suitable means of joining the separate parts of a composite piece when it is desired to use them as a single playing piece is by clipping or screwing an upper piece of the distinctive shape or other characteristic indicative of behaviour on to a base which may be cylindrical or of other convenient shape, such as a disc.

A particular advantage of employing supplementary pieces as provided by the present invention lies in the extra scope for imaginative action which can be used in a game having such pieces.

As well as permitting a more interesting game, the supplementary pieces ensure that initiative always remains with the player even if he chooses to play against an electronic opponent. The reason for this is that the player's ability to call upon and deploy his supplementary pieces at random cannot be programmed. This is an important consideration in view of the currsnt growth in the application of machine intelligence to board games and the probable future increase in such applications.

In use, each player of the game is allocated an army of playing pieces which comprises from the chessmen a king, a queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights and six pawns, together with one or two playing pieces of one different kind, and up to six pieces of another different kind. The extent and direction in which the playing pieces can be moved are determined by the rules of the game. The rules provide that in one version of the game the playing pieces which will be described in the following account are initially arranged on the playing surface in a manner which will be described. The rules can lay down constraints upon the movement of playing pieces and can specify the conditions under which a playing piece can either capture or delay a playing piece of the opponent.The object of the game is for each player to move his playing pieces to dominate the playing surface by removal and/or obstruction of the playing pieces of his opponent, so as to capture the enemy King.

The game is modern in that the playing pieces include pieces representing Aircraft which are permitted to pass over the intervening pieces to reach a target position on the board, other pieces representing Rockets which can strike at targets over the whole board but which being then expended are removed from play along with the taken piece, and further pieces called Negotiators which cannot themselves capture or be captured but which may be used in defence to ward off an attack or positioned offensively to reinforce other moves against the opposing army.

Advantageously, the playing pieces should be shaped to resemble the objects which they represent but for the present purpose of describing the board game apparatus and explaining the rules of the game it is convenient to represent some of the pieces by chessmen.

A board game apparatus in accordance with the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figures 1 and 2 show side elevation and plan, respectively, of a Rocket piece, Figures 3 and 4 show side elevation and plan, respectively, of a Negotiator piece, Figure 5 shows a plan view of a chess board on which the game is played and indicates one way in which each army of pieces is arranged initially.

The playing pieces of the opposing armies are differently coloured, for example red and white.

Each army comprises playing pieces of different status some of which can be represented by chessmen, namely one King K (which can be represented by the chess king), one Commander C (the chess queen), two Aircraft A (the chess rooks), two Ships Sh (the chess bishops), two Submarines Su (the chess knights), six Soldiers So (chess pawns), one or two Rockets R (Figures 1 and 2) and up to six Negotiators N (Figures 3 and 4). The pieces are visually distinguishable one from another by their different shapes and/or designs.

Usually the two armies will be equal at the start of play but this is not a necessary restriction where the supplementary pieces provided by the present invention are concerned. For example, a less skillful or experienced player can have two Rockets against one in the army of the opposing player, or the more experienced player may be required to use fewer of the Negotiator pieces.

These conditions are to be decided by the two players before beginning the game. If it is decided to employ a second Rocket, the position for this on the board is in place of the Negotiator (N in Figure 5) and the displaced Negotiator is placed alongside the board with such other Negotiator pieces of the same side as are to be used during the game.

If in assessing the state of the game it is desired to attach a value to the playing pieces, the Rocket is assigned a value of four points and each Negotiator a value of two points. The other pieces have the values Commander, nine points; Aircraft, five points; Ship, three points, Submarine, three points; Soldier, one point; like the chessmen by which they can be represented.

A suitable playing surface for the game is a chessboard which can be foldable for storage. The adjacent squares on which the playing pieces are positioned can be coloured white and black, respectively, in the usual way.

Method of Play The playing pieces can be of any desired colour and/or shape provided that they can be moved from one square to another on the playing surface.

Said playing pieces can conveniently be shaped to identify the distinguishable pieces already listed.

Aiternatively, said playing pieces can be chessmen together with the additional supplementary pieces already described.

The capture of an opposing piece is made by moving to occupy the position previously held by that piece. The moves allowed by the pieces in the game according to the invention are as follows:- King can be moved one position to occupy an adjacent square exactly as can the king in chess.

The King can capture an opposing piece provided that in so doing it does not move to a square on which it could itself be taken at the next move.

The chess move "castling" is not part of the present game.

Commander (which can be represented by the queen of a chess set) can be moved and capture other pieces exactly as does the queen in chess.

Aircraft (which can be represented by chess rooks) can be moved any distance along a straight line of squares parallel to an edge of the board.

Unlike the rook in chess, Aircraft are permitted to pass over pieces of either army to reach a new position. If the new position is that occupied by a piece of the enemy side, that piece is taken by the Aircraft and is removed from the board. Being permitted to pass over other pieces, the Aircraft is not restricted to taking the nearest enemy piece in its direction of movement but can pass this piece to take another more remote piece if so desired.

The Aircraft can however take only one opposing piece at one move. An important restriction on the use of the Aircraft is that the piece can be moved in a given direction only if the adjacent square in that direction is vacant. This square is known as "take-off space". It follows from this restriction that an Aircraft cannot take an opposing piece which is immediately next to it.

Rocket is moved from its initial position to any other position on the board to take any opposing piece except the King or, in another version of the game, any opposing piece except the King or the Commander. Each Rocket can be played only once and is removed from the board along with the piece taken by it.

Ship (which can be represented by a chess bishop) can be moved and make a capture exactly as does the bishop in chess.

Submarine (which can be represented by a chess knight) can be moved and make a capture exactly as does the knight in chess.

Soldiers (which can be represented by chess pawns) can be moved forward one square at each move like a chess pawn. The initial move of two squares permitted to the pawn in chess is not allowed. A Soldier can capture another piece in one of two different ways. One way is by moving forward one position along a diagonal of the board to take the opposing piece as does the pawn in chess. The other way allows the capturing of an opposing piece which occupies the adjacent square directly in front of that held by the Soldier but if this direct capture is made the move is treated as a scarificial one in which the Soldier is removed from play along with the piece which it has captured. Any Soldier which reaches the last rank of the board can be promoted by putting in its place another piece (other than a Rocket) which has earlier been lost in the course of play.

Use of Negotiators. At any stage of the game a player may, in lieu of moving one of his pieces, place a Negotiator on any vacant position on the board. A Negotiator cannot itself capture another piece, nor can it be itself taken by an opposing piece. A Negotiator is used to block a line of movement of an opposing piece and can be used either in a defensive or an attacking situation. A Negotiator blocks the move of another piece or pieces by occuping a square anywhere on the line of intended movement, except that to prevent the movement of an Aircraft the Negotiator must be placed in the vacant square immediately next to the Aircraft. A Negotiator cannot restrict the move of a Submarine except by occuping a square to which the Submarine might conceivably be moved. A Negotiator cannot be used to prevent the movement of a Rocket.

Before commencing play the players will have decided on the number of Negotiators to be used up to a maximum of six on either side. Each Negotiator is played only once and is removed from the board, wherever it happens to be, when it is desired to introduce the next Negotiator, so that there is only one such piece of each side on the board at any one time. It will be appreciated that the same effect could be achieved by having a single such piece which is allowed to make a restricted number of moves in the course of a game. The use of severai Negotiators in succession, as herein described, is preferred so as to avoid the necessity of counting and recording, for example by writing down, the number of times that a single such piece has been moved.In one version of the game it is permitted to interpose the Negotiator to prevent the King from being taken at the next move, that is to relieve "check", but in another version this particular use of the Negotiator is forbidden. At the opening of the game one Negotiator can be already on the board, a convenient place being next to the King as shown in Figure 5, from where it can be transferred to make its move when desired.

Further Negotiator pieces awaiting use can be kept alongside the board, and after use can be put with captured pieces.

A preferred initial arrangement of the playing pieces on the playing surface is shown in the accompanying drawing, Figure 5, which is a plan view of a board showing an arrangement of the pieces for playing a game in accordance with the present invention. In the positions shown the Ship pieces provide cover for the Aircraft pieces and are themselves protected by the Soldiers in the foremost advanced rank. With this arrangement there is no immediate advantage to the player making the first move. After the first move the players make moves in turn including, if and when so desired, the introduction of a Negotiator piece, which counts as one turn.

Play continues until one or other King is captured. When in the course of play a King is threatened with capture at the following move this threat can be announced, as is "check" in chess.

Additional Playing Pieces The use of two kinds of pieces which differ from conventional chess pieces, namely the Rocket and the Negotiator, has already been described. In terms of the present invention further playing pieces can be employed in the game to simulate battles between armies of modern aspect. For example, an additional piece or pieces, on either side, can be added representing Tank, Helicopter and Carrier, whose moves are as follows: Tank (which can be represented by a cube) can be moved and make a capture exactly like the King in chess. In addition, the Tank may be moved one square to a position already occupied by a playing piece of its own army so as to push this piece forward into a new position. A suitable initial position for the Tank is on the vacant square in front of the Rocket in Fig. 5.

Helicopter (which can be represented by a cone-shaped piece) can be moved and make a capture on the diagonals of a chessboard by hopping over one square of the same colour as that of its initial and final position. A suitable initial position for the Helicopter is on the vacant square in front of the Negotiator in Fig. 5.

Carrier (which can be represented by a disc) when on its own is permitted to move only to an adjacent square of the same colour. The Carrier may be used as a base to form a composite piece, the Aircraft-carrier, which moves on the diagonals of the board in the manner of the Ship, already described.

Re-equipment During the Game Further application of the composite playing pieces which are provided by the present invention is to represent re-equipment of an army during the battle. In this use the upper part is employed alone as a playing piece until captured.

At capture it may be connected with its base so that use of the combined piece corresponds to reequipment. The combined piece may now re-enter the game; a suitable location being the space vacated by the captor of the original. In thus reequipping, the combined piece may take on extended powers of movement and/or capture.

Playing Surface As already described, one suitable playing surface is the traditional chessboard. Others are boards with fewer, or more, spaces, These boards are not necessariiy square and in general are suitable for two or more players. A further board is that for Hexagonal Chess between two players.

Another suitable board is the hexagonal board described in British Patent No. 1521 616 for games between two or more players.

It will be appreciated that the invention is not restricted to the specific details described above and that numerous modifications and variations can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims (14)

1. Apparatus for playing a game on a playing surface such as a board marked out in a pattern ot squares or other shapes, the apparatus including at least two groups of playing pieces, the pieces in each group having a first distinguishing characteristic in common (such as colour) and distinct from the first distinguishing characteristic of another group and each group including at least one supplementary piece having a second distinguishing characteristic (such as shape) distinct from the second distinguishing characteristic of other pieces of the same group including basic playing pieces which are present in each group and identifiable with the respective at least one supplementary piece of the group by said first characteristic.

2. Apparatus according to Claim 1 including rules in addition to the groups of pieces, the rules providing for deployment of a supplementary piece onto the playing surface and into the game at the decision of a player.

3. Apparatus according to Claim 1 or Claim 2 in which the basic pieces include some or all of the pieces from a conventional set of chess pieces.

4. Apparatus according to Claim 1 or Claim 2 or Claim 3 including a supplementary piece which can be joined together, and separated if required, to form one composite piece or two or more discrete pieces in the playing of the game.

5. Apparatus according to Claim 4 in which the discrete pieces are joinable by screwing, clipping or stacking together.

6. Apparatus according to Claim 5 in which the joining is assisted or provided by magnetic or electrostatic forces.

7. Apparatus according to any of Claims 4, 5 and 6 in which a discrete piece is a base of cylindrical, disc or other shape of undistinguished second characteristic and another discrete piece has a second distinguishing characteristic.

8. A board game apparatus comprising as playing pieces a set of pieces which can be chessmen from a chess set together with supplementary playing pieces of up to six additional kinds, each kind being distinguishable from the other kind(s) and from the chessmen while having a characteristic (generally colour) in common with one side of the set of chessmen so that the chessmen and the supplementary playing pieces on each side make up armies movable over a playing surface, which can be a chessboard.

9. A board game apparatus according to Claim 1, wherein the playing surface is the hexagonal board for use by two or three players described in British Patent No. 1,521,616.

10. A board game apparatus according to Claim 8 or Claim 9 wherein the number of supplementary playing pieces having a characteristic (generally colour) in common is from one to six of one distinguishable kind and one or two of the other distinguishable kind(s).

11. A board game apparatus according to any one of Claims 8 to 10, wherein the supplementary playing pieces are distinguishable by shape and/or design.

12. A board game apparatus according to any one of Claims 8 to 1 wherein some of the playing pieces are composite pieces each two parts of which can be used as individual playing pieces or can be combined for use as a single piece.

13. A board game apparatus according to any one of Claims 8 to 12, wherein the playing pieces form armies, each side consisting of one King, one Commander, two Aircraft, two Ships, two Submarines, six Soldiers, together with, as supplementary playing pieces, one or two Rockets and up to six Negotiators, the aforementioned playing pieces and supplementary playing pieces being distinguishable by shape and/or design.

14. A board game apparatus comprising playing pieces and a playing surface substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings, the playing pieces being intended to be moved substantially in accordance with the rules hereinbefore stated.