It's certainly an interesting take on Random setups, quite different from the in some ways superficially similar Universal Chess due to Carlos Cetina. The main potential weakness compared to sth with a bit more player agency such as Pick‐the‐Team is that you're relying on statistics to yield a more‐or‐less balanced setup; sometimes it'll work, sometimes it really won't. And ofc especially with Different Pawns and Kings it's probably hard for any but the most experienced(!) players to tell in advaance how balanced a given piece selection will be. Obviously the usual strategies (two games, switching armies; optional Pie rule, ⁊c.) can help w/ this to an extent, but it's sth to bear in mind.
Yes, I do think that probability will keep the two sides from being too overbalanced against each other, though of course the worst can always happen (especially if I'm one of the players). Perhaps a "redeal" rule is in order.
Still, as you mention later, it's not the pieces themselves that make the difference, but how one uses them. ("It's not the size that matters; it's how you use it.")
I'm not totally sure the ‘Introductory Rule’ is likely to be much help; defending against unfamiliar pieces is at least as difficult as handling them oneself (as I learned playing Metamachy)
After an offline conversation about this game, I think you're right about the Introductory thing (though that conversation yielded different reasons); I'll delete it.
Is the Arrow Pawn described as intended? As written it's a superset (which I recognise from JWB's Meta‐Chess, though idr the name and I don't have the PDF to hand) of the steward (which is not denoted as a pawn — though it's of comparable strength to — indeed in some cases perhaps weaker than — some of the other pawns)
Yes, the Arrow Pawn is described as intended; that's how I found it (Arrow Pawn Chess c/o Wikiipedia). And I'm aware that its move is a superset of the Steward; I almost deleted one or the other, then realized that it's not entirely a bad thing. The Arrow Pawn is about as powerful as a Pawn can get, and still be a Pawn; it promotes, and is both capable of and subject to en passant. (I should make explicit the rule that Pawns with permanent double moves are still subject to en passant.)
Ngl upon reading ‘Gold Pawn’ and ‘Silver Pawn’ I was half‐expecting the Gilman pieces :p Also I like the Zombie Pawn — it's contageon as in Maka Dai Dai (and H.G.'s several spinoffs) but for the opposite purpose
The Gold and Silver Pawns are, of course, actually the Gold and Silver Generals from Shogi, seriously demoted. (It seems they went out drinking one night....)
I actually created the Zombie Pawn for something else entirely, and needed something to fill the ranks here. (The Left End and Right End Pawns should show you how desperate I was to get a full set!)
Is there a special rule for castling with a colourbound corner piece, à la CwDA?
Good point; I should look into that. Since CwDA uses symmetrical armies and this doesn't, though, it may not be as necessary.
It's a small detail, but whilst I'm not normally a fan of the promotion‐only‐to‐captured‐pieces rule, the way it's done here is a nice touch :)
Yeah, I'm not real fond of "promote only to pieces you've captured," but it just seemed right for this game. It's a further way to make use of the fact that you have to bring one of each color.
The idea of expansions is pleasant, and perhaps with physical sets (and to a degree with software) even makes sense, but in practice is there any reason not just to pick pieces from e.g. one of the existing Cetina UC lists? At least for regular pieces, since the Royal and Pawn lists for those games are perhaps a little anæmic (though again, one could simply merge the lists). Especially since the main point of this (in common with UC, and arguably Pick‐the‐Piece, among others) is afaict less the actual set of available pieces and more the way they're employed (although ofc the obvious counterargument regarding trying to compile a Canonical List of Pieces is always a thing)
I hadn't looked at Universal Chess before now, but most of the pieces there are certainly fitting for this game. In fact, I already had my eye on the Chainsaw (which, if you've been paying attention, should come as no surprise at all).
It certainly should show that this ruleset assumes that it's a physical-set game, with one or both players either 3D printing the pieces or building them in some other way. I've made sure that I've properly designed the pieces as much as possible, since the cards have the preview pictures from Thingiverse. (After I finish this, but before it goes "live," I'll be arranging things on Thingiverse so all the pieces are in one place, or at least all from each type are in one place. The same will hold for expansions.)
And indeed, the initial set (at least, the set of regular Pieces) is, as much as I could manage, made up of pieces that are relatively common and familiar to fairy chess fans, or at least not difficult to comprehend given a decent description and diagram. (IMO all 40 of those pieces, except for the Turtle, should have Piececlopedia entries same with the regional Pawns, and maybe the Rex as well.)
Yes, I do think that probability will keep the two sides from being too overbalanced against each other, though of course the worst can always happen (especially if I'm one of the players). Perhaps a "redeal" rule is in order.
Still, as you mention later, it's not the pieces themselves that make the difference, but how one uses them. ("It's not the size that matters; it's how you use it.")
After an offline conversation about this game, I think you're right about the Introductory thing (though that conversation yielded different reasons); I'll delete it.
Yes, the Arrow Pawn is described as intended; that's how I found it (Arrow Pawn Chess c/o Wikiipedia). And I'm aware that its move is a superset of the Steward; I almost deleted one or the other, then realized that it's not entirely a bad thing. The Arrow Pawn is about as powerful as a Pawn can get, and still be a Pawn; it promotes, and is both capable of and subject to en passant. (I should make explicit the rule that Pawns with permanent double moves are still subject to en passant.)
The Gold and Silver Pawns are, of course, actually the Gold and Silver Generals from Shogi, seriously demoted. (It seems they went out drinking one night....)
I actually created the Zombie Pawn for something else entirely, and needed something to fill the ranks here. (The Left End and Right End Pawns should show you how desperate I was to get a full set!)
Good point; I should look into that. Since CwDA uses symmetrical armies and this doesn't, though, it may not be as necessary.
Yeah, I'm not real fond of "promote only to pieces you've captured," but it just seemed right for this game. It's a further way to make use of the fact that you have to bring one of each color.
I hadn't looked at Universal Chess before now, but most of the pieces there are certainly fitting for this game. In fact, I already had my eye on the Chainsaw (which, if you've been paying attention, should come as no surprise at all).
It certainly should show that this ruleset assumes that it's a physical-set game, with one or both players either 3D printing the pieces or building them in some other way. I've made sure that I've properly designed the pieces as much as possible, since the cards have the preview pictures from Thingiverse. (After I finish this, but before it goes "live," I'll be arranging things on Thingiverse so all the pieces are in one place, or at least all from each type are in one place. The same will hold for expansions.)
And indeed, the initial set (at least, the set of regular Pieces) is, as much as I could manage, made up of pieces that are relatively common and familiar to fairy chess fans, or at least not difficult to comprehend given a decent description and diagram. (IMO all 40 of those pieces, except for the Turtle, should have Piececlopedia entries same with the regional Pawns, and maybe the Rex as well.)