I've been experimenting with a Rococo/Ultima variant of my own. It uses
the 8x8 board and the following pieces from Rococo:
Long Leaper
Swapper
Immobilizer
King
Cannon Pawn
The Advancer and Withdrawer are replaced by a single Pushme-Pullyu and an
Archer is added. I have also added an FIDE Queen and a new piece: the
Shield-any piece adjacent to a friendly Shield is immune form capture (the
Shield itself is capturable).
I've also made some rule changes. Immobilizers do not immobilize each
other. Swappers cannot swap with each other (but can capture by mutual
destruction). Only one capture per turn is allowed--the Long Leaper can
make only one leap, and a Pushme-Pullyu can't both Advance and Withdraw
in the same turn.
The Archer is made more powerful. It can rifle-capture orthogonally or
diagonally any distance as long as some friendly piece is 1 or 2
(unobstructed) squares away orthogally or diagonally from the target. When
the target is 1 or 2 squares away from the Archer, no second piece is
needed.
An immobilized piece can spot for the Archer, just as an immobilized piece
can act as a mount for a Cannon Pawn.
I'm experimenting with the best setup and I need a catchy name.
Playtesting so far indicated that this is a quite interesting game.
Comments?