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Fearful fairies. An experimental army for CadA, featuring the Dullahan (Ferz-Knight compound) and the Banshee. (8x8, Cells: 64) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

Jeremy Lennert wrote on Tue, Mar 6, 2012 08:43 PM UTC:

Hmm.  A Banshee (or even just a Nightrider) starting on d1 can reach c4
within 2 moves, forking king and rook.  Black can play d5 or b5 to
discourage it, though for some armies 1...d5 would invite 2. BNNxd5 (still
threatening 3. BNN-c4+).  I suppose d6 or b6 could also be used to
preemptively block one tine of the fork.  (And I'm not sure if white would
be wise to develop his superpiece on turn 1...)

Of course, even a compound with (0,3) such as the Frog or Half-Duck can
likely threaten an undefended back-row piece within 2 moves.  For example,
a Frog starting on b1 can go to b4 and then a5, threatening an undefended
rook if playing against the FIDE army.  Perhaps not terribly difficult to
defend against, but I don't know about 'tactically quiet'.  Do
you feel this is acceptable but, say, a Camel (1,3) is not?

If I were forced to play against a Bison in a FIDE-like game, I imagine I
would try to deny it early access to my fourth rank by guarding any space
it appeared be aiming for with pawns.  But I've never actually tried it.