Siege

Opening Position

Alternate Names

No. of Players

Two

Equipment

A Siege board, three white “officer” counters, and fifty black “soldier” counters are required for play.

History

This game is derived from the smaller game of Asalto. It is likely German or Scandinavian in origin.

Objective

The soldiers must immobilize the three officers, or occupy all seventeen positions of the fort to win. The officers win by eliminating enough soldiers to prevent them from obtaining their objective.

Play

A game commences with the counters positioned as above. Alternate turns entail the movement of a single counter of your color along a line to an adjacent vacant position. The soldiers move first but are limited to moves towards the fortress. More specifically, the soldiers must move along a line from their position that is along the shortest route to the nearest position in the fortress. Some positions have more than one equally distant route that a counter may travel. In these positions, the player may choose which route to move the counter along, provided that both are to vacant positions. Once inside the fortress, however, they may move in any direction without leaving the fortress.

The officers may move in any direction and also jump and capture soldiers along a line to an immediately opposite vacant intersection. Officers may make multiple jumps, changing direction any jump if desired. If a capture is available to an officer, it is compulsory to do so. If more than one jump is available, however, the officer may choose which jump to make. If the officer fails to make a compulsory jump the soldier player may remove that officer as a bonus before their next turn. A player must make a legal move on their turn, even if that move leads to a capture. There is no passing.

Sources