Invasion

Invasion is a military inspired Chess variant played on an 84-squares board.

Game invented by Jean-Louis Cazaux (December 2001).

Board and pieces

The board has 84 squares formed by a 10x10 field with a central 4x4 sea where no piece can enter, stand or play.

Two players are opposed and stand on their fortress on NW and SE respectively.

Each player has an army with :

• 1 Head Quarters, the capture of which is one goal of the game. The HQ is defenseless but very mobile. The HQ is immune from Bomb explosions.
• 2 Flags, also defenseless, which play an important role, as they can turn on the Bomb and even win the game!
• 2 Commandos, very mobile and can shoot enemy pieces.
• 2 Paratroopers, which can make a long hop once in the game, being the only piece able to fly over the sea. They also shoot enemy pieces.
• 2 Tanks, dreadful pieces which slide several squares and crush all pieces, enemy or friend, on their road.
• 12 Troopers, defensive pieces, which can promote to either Commando or Paratrooper when reaching the opposing camp.
• 1 Bomb, which stands off-board at the beginning in an off-state. When turned on by the Flag, it can be dropped anywhere on the board and explode killing, all pieces (except HQs), enemy or friend, around itself.

Object

The game can be won by either:

• capitulation: checkmating or stalemating the opposite HQ or
• invasion: standing a Flag on the opposite HQ corner.

Moves

	Leaps to any space in its first or second perimeter, i.e. to any space it could reach with one or two steps. It does not capture, and it cannot fly over the sea. Its capture (checkmate or stalemate) is one way to win the game.
HQ
	Steps one or two spaces in any single radial direction, i.e. horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. It may not jump over another piece, it may not cross over the sea, and it does not capture. It turns on the Bomb when reaching one of the 2 free red corner squares. It wins the game if it reaches the opposite HQ corner.
Flag
	Captures as Queen, but moves without capturing as a Knight.
Commando
	Moves 1 square around like a chess king. Once in the game, can fly straight 5 squares or more landing on an empty square. Captures sliding all directions like a chess Queen.
Paratrooper
	Moves sliding up to 5 orthogonally and killing all pieces, friend or enemy, in its path. The Tank does not need to stop at a square where it captures an enemy, within the range of 5 squares, it can continue to slide.
Tank
	Moves 1 step, either orthogonally to move or diagonally to capture. (It is a 4 directions chess Pawn). Promotes to Commando or Paratrooper when penetrating the opposite camp.
Trooper
	Waits off-board to be turned on. Then, can explode anywhere on the board (except on HQs) removing itself and every adjacent piece except the HQ.
Bomb

Comments

Concept invented around the idea of battle around a forbidden area and a bomb which can drastically turn situations in the game. The Bomb was inspired by Stratomic, a game invented by Robert Montais-Marsay. Another strong conviction was to have two different ways of winning the game.

The Flags have the most important role in the game. Since they can only cross empty squares, try to open a road for them. Prevent your opponent's Flag from reaching the free red corners on NW and SE by using your Tanks and Paratroopers.

Paratroopers and Commandos are very offensive pieces while the Troopers are strong defensive pieces, which should be arranged in a proper battle order.

The Tanks are very powerful, but it is better to prepare a path for them free of your own pieces, since they can crush them as well. The Tanks have a limited range of action, which should be planned for in your strategy.

Playtested with Zillions-of-Games.

Computer Play

You can play Invasion on your computer with Zillions of Games by downloading this file:

• invasion.zip