The chess pieces need to have easily identifiable facing, so pieces from Chess Teacher, chess dice from Proteus, standard chess pieces mounted on some teardrop-shaped bases, or gaming miniatures that are evoke the proper piece (clerics, mounted riders, perhaps golems for rooks, etc.) could be used. The king itself could be a standard RoboRally bot. Each player needs a king and a selection of pieces, for example, a rook, a bishop, and two knights.

Photo of the “Chess” board from planet gareth

Select one (or two) of the more symmetrically balanced boards from RoboRally—the “Chess” board from the Avalon Hill edition is an obvious choice, but there are many more that will work. You could use an empty grid as well, but then this becomes more chess and less RoboRally.

The two players set up their pieces on the two rows closest to opposite ends of the selected arena (secretly, if each wants to wait until the other sets up before deciding on their own set up). Deal out starting hands of 9 RoboRally cards.

Each turn, players lay out programs of five cards. The cards are revealed and executed in priority order. For each card, however, a player chooses any one of his pieces to move. A “Move 1″ allows a piece to make its normal chess move (and maintains the piece’s facing); all other cards would use their normal RoboRally movement or turning effect. Opposing robots landed on with a “Move 1″ chess move are captured; robots landed on with any other movement are pushed per the RoboRally rules. There are no checking rules as in chess, since the eventual capture requires hidden information (the presence of a “Move 1″). No castling or en passant captures either, for that matter.

Knights using a “Move 1″ are subject to effects similar to those of the “Frog Legs” option: the knight can pass over pits but would get stopped by walls; the knight move can be made only if a three-square path from the starting space the the landing space could be traversed by a flying robot.

A bishop can move through any vertex unless a wall or open pit on the bishop’s left and a wall or open pit on the bishop’s right meet at the vertex.

King Twonky and four chess dice pieces. Photo by J. Hunter Johnson, released under CC-BY-SA-3.0

A piece ending a turn on a double-wrench space farthest from its starting edge can be promoted (instead of any healing damage or gaining an option). That is, of the rows that have any double-wrench spaces, only the row farthest from the starting edge row “empowers” its double-wrenches with promotion capability.

The object of the game is to capture the opposing king with a chess move or eliminate him through Robo Rally effects (pits, crushers, or accumulated damage). Only damage to the king reduces the number of cards drawn.

Shogi pieces could also be used this way (and have good facing). You could even mix-and-match shogi pieces, other regional chess-like games’ pieces, or fairy chess pieces (see Chess variants). If you get really deep into it, you can also experiment with unbalanced sides, piece drafts, or point buys—let me know how it goes!

—jhunterj

Cold Room from Robo Factory

There are two unofficial RoboRally boards available online that feature Ice. “The Ice Rink” includes rules for inertia. “The Cold Room” features a much nicer graphic, but the “spin chart” is not yet available (and, given the time spent coming “ASAP”, unlikely to become available, but it would probably have be very similar to The Ice Rink’s) (UPDATE: The Spin Chart is available at the new link!). Neither of them are really suitable to lunch-time play, since tracking and dealing with inertia is tedious. But I like the art on “The Cold Room” enough that I wrote my own rules for Ice. If you’ve got a lot of time and the inclination, try out the inertia stuff, but if you don’t:

Ice

Robots may move cautiously on Ice without change. Rotate Left and Rotate Right function normally. A Move 1 will function normally except that another robot cannot be pushed.

Faster movement will be affected by the reduced friction on Ice. A robot executing a U-Turn on Ice will spin completely around, so that his facing does not change.

A Move 2 through an adjacent robot will cause both robots to slide until they leave the ice, hit a wall, or hit another robot. A Move 2 onto a square occupied by another robot will cause that other robot only to slide, as above. A Move 2 into two robots will not push them at all. A Move 2 with no other robots within the front two squares will slide as above.

A Move 3 has the same effects as a Move 2, depending on whether another robot(s) is moved through or landed on. It cannot push 3 robots. A Move 4 (via Fourth Gear) cannot push 4 robots.

In addition to the above effects, a robot beginning a turn on Ice receives one fewer card than normal, unless that would require a register to be locked.

—jhunterj

Rik Falch’s mock up of the possible stretch goal bound rulebook. Image © by Rik Falch or Radiant Gaming.

In and amongst many other additions and improvements, I believe the new version will include several of my own scenarios from my previous website as well as some weather rules, which may or may not reflect the rules I’m re-sharing here.

There have been at least three other treatments of weather in Up Front. First was Jim Burnett’s “On All Fronts” article in The General Volume 22, Number 3. It included several oddments, like the inability to move from cover to cover when the environmental conditions were muddy (two Moves had to be played, so you’d lose the benefit of terrain somewhere along the path). Then there was “Cold Front,” also by Jim Burnett, in The General Volume 26, Number 2. It covered only what his earlier article would call Frozen conditions but made some changes (Marsh was no longer Cower but Open Ground). Then there was Ken Rutsky’s article “Up Front Weather Rules” used to be available online, but is 404 now. It adapted the Squad Leader: Crescendo of Doom weather table to Up Front. My rules here are similar in origin; I’m adapting the weather rules from Advanced Squad Leader: Yanks.

Those who haven’t played Up Front, sorry, but you’re about to encounter a whole slew of unfamiliar acronyms without expansion. Rules reference numbers are to the Avalon Hill version’s rulebook, not to the upcoming Kickstarter edition’s rulebook.

99. Weather

99.1 CLEAR: Clear conditions are considered to be the normal conditions in the game unless designated otherwise by SSR or by mutual agreement among the players.

99.2 FOG: All groups not in Hill terrain are treated as if they were in Smoke (13.2). At RR5, determine effects as if only the target group were in Smoke. Smoke cards have no effect in Fog. If an effective Breeze card is drawn (13.243) with a Red 6 RNC, the Fog level is reduced by 1.

99.3 MIST: Fire attacks and observation attempts are at −2 at RR0 and at −1 at RR1.

99.4 GUSTY: Treat Radio cards as effective Breezes when they are drawn during an RNC/RPC check.

99.5 OVERCAST: Check for precipitation at the beginning of each deck. Rain (or Falling Snow, if Ground Snow, Deep Snow, or Extreme Winter are in effect) begins on a Red 4–6 RNC.

99.6 RAIN: As Mist (99.3), and Smoke cards have no effect. Make a RNC check at the start of each new deck. On a Red 4-6, the Rain intensifies and an additional −1 FS or TH penalty is applied at all ranges. On a Black 5 or 6, the Rain stops but it remains Overcast.

99.7 MUD: AFVs not in Buildings check for Bog (28.53) with a one-column shift left each time they play a Movement card that remains in play. Unboxed ordnance attacks against targets in Open Ground have −1 FS. Entrenchments are successful only on a Black or Red 1. Only Movements with RNC 3–6 may be used to exit Open Ground or Gully. EXC: A Banzai group may use any Movement card.

99.8 SNOW: Snow can exist is several forms and combinations. In Ground or Deep Snow, observation attempts are made at +1.

99.81 FALLING SNOW: Treat as Rain (99.6). Streams are Frigid unless other Snow forms are also indicated; any Infantry group entering a Frigid Stream must make a RPC check. If it is black, the man in the indicated position is Wounded (33) and another check is made with a one-column shift left for the remaining men. This is repeated until all men are Wounded or a Red RPC is drawn.

99.82 GROUND SNOW: Entrenchments are successful only on a Black or Red 2. Bog checks (28.53) are made with an additional one-column shift left.

Only Movements with RNC 3–6 may be used by Infantry to enter or exit Hill terrain and by all non-tracked AFVs unless played to the discard pile. EXC: A Banzai group may use any Movement card, and a Hill terrain discard may be accepted regardless of Movement RNC.

99.821 Streams are Frozen and treated as Gullies in all respects but if a Black 5 or 6 RNC is drawn during the resolution of a HE attack against a group in a Frozen Stream it becomes a Frigid Stream (99.81) instead. Marsh is treated as Open Ground although it may be discarded on opposing groups or played during initial terrain placement.

99.83 DEEP SNOW: Streams are Frozen as per 99.821. Marsh and Brush are treated as Open Ground and may be discarded on opposing groups or played during initial terrain placement. Minefields and unboxed ordnance attacks against targets in Open Ground are at −1 FS. All Movement cards that are not played to the discard pile must have RNC 3–6. (A Banzai group is also restricted, but the player may play Movement cards with RNC 0–2 on other groups without first playing a Movement card on the Banzai group.) Entrenchments are successful only on a Black or Red 2. Bog checks are made with an additional one-column shift left. Smoke may only be placed on groups in Buildings terrain.

99.84 DRIFTS: Marsh cards represent Drifts Terrain (not Open Ground). Any defending group on a Drifts card may subtract one from the Fire Strength of the opposing group directly opposite it, unless attacked by mortar or artillery or if the defending group is encircled (17.6).

99.841 A group in Drifts terrain must exit by playing a Movement card in the Sideways mode; this requirement does not prevent a Flanking Fire advantage from resulting from the same move.

99.842 An AFV may exit Drifts terrain by playing a Movement card in forward or reverse mode, but must make a Bog Check with a two-column shift to the left (for Ground Snow and Deep Snow). An AFV attempting to Overrun a group in Drifts terrain must also pass a Bog Check with a two-column shift to the left before resolving the Overrun attack.

99.85 EXTREME WINTER: Increase the breakdown range for Russians before 4/41 and non-Finnish Axis powers before 4/42 by 1. Non-Finnish Axis AFVs must draw a RNC during Prepare for Play in scenarios before 4/42; a Red 5 or 6 means they are Immobilized. Terrain is as per Ground Snow (99.821). No entrenchment attempts may be made in Extreme Winter conditions.

99.86 WINTER CAMOUFLAGE: Infantry personality cards designated as having Winter Camouflage receive −1 from attacks and observation attempts at RR0 or RR1 if in Open Ground and they may play Concealment as per 37.2 (EXC: Partisans do not receive any further bonus to their Concealment cards). Vehicles with Winter Camouflage receive −1 FS/TH from attacks while in Open Ground at RR0 only.

99.9 SKI TROOPS: Ski troops are available only by SSR. Any number of personality cards in a group may switch between ski mode and foot mode, but only as the sole action of that group for that turn. Ski troops in ski mode may ignore Snow condition restrictions on Movement cards, but they may not enter Buildings or Pillboxes. If Buildings terrain is discarded on a group in ski mode, that group may accept it but it must switch to foot mode as an action in the next turn. A Berserk (20.9) skier may not change modes unless necessary to attack an opponent in Buildings or Pillbox terrain.

99.91 All ski troops are assumed to be wearing Winter Camouflage (99.86).

99.92 While in ski mode, ski troops cannot fire ordnance weapons or MMGs and they have their CCV reduced by 2.

99.93 When playing a Movement card from a Hill, a group in ski mode may play a second Movement card to the discard pile to change its Range Chit by two instead of one; the Hill terrain is flipped to its Open Ground side in this case. If the first Movement was played in Sideways mode, the second card serves only to change the Hill to Open Ground.

—jhunterj

Iron Dragon in progress. Photo by ben haley (yelahneb on Flickr) under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license

Iron Dragon, published by Mayfair Games, is my favorite entry in the Empire Builder series of crayon rail games. It lacks some of the educational value of most of the other entries (it won’t teach you any geography), but the fantasy theme is a winner for me, and the addition of foremen gives players additional useful decisions to make.

This is a collection of rules and rulings for Iron Dragon from the official FAQ (now archived—the official FAQ doesn’t appear to have survived a website restructure back around 2007) and from various tournaments. My own suggestions for varying from those rules and rulings are also included.

Iron Dragon FAQ

Stuff not covered by the rules (errata)

• Piggnytz is a small city.
• The milepost near Caldeen that is the color of jungle but is otherwise a normal dot is a clear milepost and not a jungle.
• On card #20, there is demand for Iron but the card has a Fur symbol on it. On card #57 there is demand for Iron but the card has a Steel symbol on it. Always use the demand and not the symbol whenever there is a discrepancy between the two. Therefore Iron is the correct demand for both of these cards.
• Boarding cost for Ships are between 1 and 3 GP, not 1 and 5 GP as listed in the rules.
• You can dump during your initial 3 building turns. This takes the place of your building. Any disasters that are drawn do not take effect.
• You may upgrade your train during your initial 3 building turns.
• The Fire Drake is a dragon loco (even though it doesn’t say “dragon” on the card).
• You can go from a train with 3 load slots to 2 load slots on an upgrade and you must discard a load if you have 3 loads.
• You may change foremen once per turn.
• Disaster cards prohibiting movement prohibit both moving into and moving out of the specified terrain. House Rule: Disaster cards prohibiting movement prohibit only moving into, not moving out of, the specified terrain. Everything else depends solely on the target milepost, and there’s no reason to make a special exception here.
• Trains on desert mileposts during the Sandstorm are returned to the last city or port passed through. House Rule: No, they’re not; they’re just stranded.
• When an event causes the drawing player to lose a turn, he loses the remainder of the present turn and the entire next turn; the player continues to draw cards until he has three load cards. [This is the tournament rule for both kinds of tournaments below, but I place it here because it needs a rule in regular play as well.]
• When your next turn is already lost, another event card cannot cause you to lose additional turns (lost turns do not accumulate). However, an event drawn after your lost turn is over may cause you to lose more than one turn in a row.

Tournament Rules

These rules are for both Puffing Billy tournaments (PB) and for the World Boardgaming Championships tournaments (WBC) unless otherwise tagged for only one of them.

• The starting player is the player who cuts the highest-numbered demand card, not the demand card with the biggest payoff. (WBC)
• The second pre-movement build round is conducted in reverse order.
• Players may not build track solely to disrupt another player’s track builds. Gaining access to a city, port, etc., or building the best route through an area is not solely disruptive—”zippering” or spending extra to block other routes is.
• Cities are considered to be clear mileposts for purposes of disasters that affect clear mileposts. In non-tournament games, I would say that cities are cities; see, they get a separate line on the costs chart.
• Players may only lose a maximum of one load and one turn from a single event card. (WBC)
• When an event requires the players to count distance from a major city, use the center point as the starting place. In non-tournament games, I would suggest using the edges of the city, since the edge of the city is not one milepost from the city.
• The Rainbow Bridge is a permanent effect, ended only by the Wizard’s Strike event.
• Once the tax card has been turned up, all money is public knowledge. Until that time, all money is private.
• Play continues after one player can claim victory until all players have taken a turn in that round. If two or more players have claimed victory by the end of their turns during the final round, the winner is the player with the most money at the end of the round.
• If there is a tie, play continues with the cash requirement raised to $300. An event that reduces cities connected or cash cannot take a victory away, but another player who subsequently achieves the victory conditions and has more cash at the end of the game can. (WBC)
• If time is called before a game ends, the round continues until each player has another turn and the last player has gone. The winner is the player with the required cities connected and with the most cash; if no player has the required major cities connected, the player with the most cash wins. (Puffing Billy)
• If time is called before a game ends, the round continues until each player has another turn and the last player has gone. The winner is the player with the most cash minus $50 for each city connected under the minimum. (WBC)
• Whether the game ends in the allotted time period or must be called, cash alone determines positions after first. (Puffing Billy)
• If a player withdraws from a game, that player’s track is kept on the board and any usage fees are paid to the bank. (WBC)

Stuff covered by the Rules

• You may change foremen anytime during your building phase. For example, you may build with your elf foreman change to the dwarf foreman and build some more. You may of course change before you begin building or after you have finished all of your building. The cost for changing foremen is part of the 20 GP you have to spend per turn.
• The Troll foreman builds through all points in the underground for a cost of 2 GP. The Clear mileposts cost 2 GP. The Underground Rock mileposts cost 2 GP. If you cross a river, you still only pay 2 GP. If you enter a city, you only pay 2 GP, etc.
• The Troll foreman does not have to pay the bribe to the Orc to build in the underground. However you are still required to pay the bribe to the Orc when you travel in the underground; the Troll only avoids the bribe for building.
• The bribe that you pay to the Orc for moving in the underground does not count towards the 20 GP limit on spending per turn. However, the bribe paid to the Orc for building in the underground does count towards the 20 GP limit on spending per turn. Therefore, if you build in the underground, you may only build an additional 19 GP worth of track because 1 GP must be paid to the Orc. If you are the Orc, you may build 20 GP worth of track even if you build in the underground and do not have to pay yourself a bribe.
• The Rainbow Bridge lasts until the end of the drawing player’s next turn.
• The Wizard Strike event card lasts until the end of the drawing player’s next turn.
• Your train may start in any city. This can be a small, medium, or major city. You do not have to have track built to the city that you start your train in (for example, you could ride someone else’s track at the beginning of the game.)
• You may not build from a port that you have not already built into. For example, you may not build from the port near Piggnytz unless you have already built into this port. You cannot start building from this port.
• To obtain a ship when you get to a port, you draw a ship. If you like the ship, you end your movement and board the ship. It will sail out on your next turn. If you do not like the ship, you have the option of continuing your movement. It is possible to stop at more than one port in a single turn. Once you turn a ship down at a port however, you cannot go back and claim it if you continue your movement. You may also not attempt to board (draw) more than one ship at same port in the same turn.
• When you are building your track, you must build from a major city or from your track that already exists. This means that you can build out of a major city without having built into it. There is a cost for building into a major city only because you may only build out of 2 major city mileposts per turn and it is possible that you might want to build into a major city once you have used your 2 builds out of major city mileposts. However, this is a very rare occurrence and does not happen very often.
• All players must have access to build to all of the major cities. Since there are only a total of 4 Underground entrances, each allowing only two players to build into them, there are only eight routes possible into the Underground. Therefore, you may not be able to build to all of the underground entrances because you need to leave a route in for the other players (whether they end up using it or not.) For example, in a six-player game, one person may only build 3 of the 4 entrances and may not build all four because all five other players must have access to the underground.
• An Alpine does not count as a mountain for the dwarf foreman. The dwarf foreman must still pay 5 GP to build through an Alpine.

Derived in part from the archived online FAQ, which is © Mayfair Games.

—jhunterj