Bob Greenwade wrote on Fri, Jan 12, 2024 05:00 PM UTC:
178. Mountain Nyala. This piece could just as easily be called just Nyala, though since one of its parent pieces is the Bharal, it's certainly not the Lowland Nyala. Its other parent piece is the Zebra, which is why a striped creature was chosen. Those two parent pieces give the Mountain Nyala leaps of (2,3) and (2,5). (ZAX)
This is shown on a 12x12 board, and I don't think I'd use the piece on anything smaller. Its shorter leap means it's not much use at especially close range, and on a smaller board its longer leaps isn't much use either; in fact, on a board smaller than 8x8 it might as well be just a Zebra.
On the other hand, on a 16x16 (or even 20x20) board, I think it can be almost as useful as a Knight is in orthodox chess, at least during the heart of the game (it's worth sacrificing to rescue a slider, though).
178. Mountain Nyala. This piece could just as easily be called just Nyala, though since one of its parent pieces is the Bharal, it's certainly not the Lowland Nyala. Its other parent piece is the Zebra, which is why a striped creature was chosen. Those two parent pieces give the Mountain Nyala leaps of (2,3) and (2,5). (ZAX)
This is shown on a 12x12 board, and I don't think I'd use the piece on anything smaller. Its shorter leap means it's not much use at especially close range, and on a smaller board its longer leaps isn't much use either; in fact, on a board smaller than 8x8 it might as well be just a Zebra.
On the other hand, on a 16x16 (or even 20x20) board, I think it can be almost as useful as a Knight is in orthodox chess, at least during the heart of the game (it's worth sacrificing to rescue a slider, though).