The Devs here are distinguished from a group of four Dabbabas bound together not only in their (reduced) vulnerability to capture, but also in a slightly subtler way given the presence of Cannons and Vaos (here ‘Shogis’ and ‘Elephants’, though the author has since changed to preferring the conventional names): given the wording of their jumping ability as involving “one piece” between source and destination, a Dev can be presumed to provide a single two‐square‐wide mount for such a piece. A consequence of this is that a Cannon or Vao, like the other normal sliders, cannot threaten the far side of a Dev; it either targets the near side or jumps the whole thing. By contrast, a foursome of Dabbabas would be insurmountable for a Cannon (or for a Vao along the main diagonal), but the Cannon could target its far side.
Mostly something to watch out for in case anyone attempts a computer implementation
The Devs here are distinguished from a group of four Dabbabas bound together not only in their (reduced) vulnerability to capture, but also in a slightly subtler way given the presence of Cannons and Vaos (here ‘Shogis’ and ‘Elephants’, though the author has since changed to preferring the conventional names): given the wording of their jumping ability as involving “one piece” between source and destination, a Dev can be presumed to provide a single two‐square‐wide mount for such a piece. A consequence of this is that a Cannon or Vao, like the other normal sliders, cannot threaten the far side of a Dev; it either targets the near side or jumps the whole thing. By contrast, a foursome of Dabbabas would be insurmountable for a Cannon (or for a Vao along the main diagonal), but the Cannon could target its far side.
Mostly something to watch out for in case anyone attempts a computer implementation