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SPQR. The perfect battle formation of Roman infantry. (12x12, Cells: 144) [All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
💡📝Florin Lupusoru wrote on Tue, Jan 30 05:44 AM EST:

This page is ready.


Diceroller is Fire wrote on Tue, Jan 30 01:38 PM EST in reply to Florin Lupusoru from 05:44 AM:

If a King crosses into enemy territory it will get "dictatorial powers" <•••>.

But where enemy territory starts?


Bob Greenwade wrote on Tue, Jan 30 02:04 PM EST in reply to Diceroller is Fire from 01:38 PM:

But where enemy territory starts?

I'd assume that the border is between ranks 6 and 7, though that really should be clarified in the text.


💡📝Florin Lupusoru wrote on Tue, Jan 30 03:11 PM EST in reply to Bob Greenwade from 02:04 PM:

Ok guys. I just made that clarification.


A. M. DeWitt wrote on Tue, Jan 30 04:37 PM EST in reply to Florin Lupusoru from 03:11 PM:

Already this is a much better submission than Black Swan (whose rules still do not answer a lot of the questions that I posted, and ended up giving me headaches, hence my lack of a reply thus far).

There is a typo, and a couple points that need clarifying.

All chess rulles apply, except for the promotion rules. 

Here "rulles" is misspelled.

If a King crosses into enemy territory it will get "dictatorial powers", meaning that the King will be allowed to move and capture twice in a row, provided it is not in check. 

This can be put before the line explaining the border between friendly and enemy territory. I think it flows better that way.

There's also a few points that need clarifying here:

  • Is the second step optional? (I assume it is from the current wording)
  • Can the two steps be made as a jump?
  • Can the second step return to its starting square, even when this would skip a turn?
    • If it can skip a turn, are there any additional rules about turn skipping that we should be aware of?

Also, since there are Pawns starting one row back from the full row of Pawns, I must ask about the initial double step:

  • If one of these Pawns lands on the starting square of another Pawn, can it still make a double step?

💡📝Florin Lupusoru wrote on Wed, Jan 31 01:49 AM EST in reply to A. M. DeWitt from Tue Jan 30 04:37 PM:

Thank you for your suggestions. I hope the modified rules have answered all your points.


A. M. DeWitt wrote on Fri, Feb 2 11:05 AM EST in reply to Florin Lupusoru from Wed Jan 31 01:49 AM:

Ok, this looks better. But I do have a few more things to ask here.

If a King gets "dictatorial powers" it will only be allowed to keep the enemy King at two squares distance.

This seems a bit redundant, unless you are trying to say that the King cannot use this power to deliver check. In that case, simply say that the dictatorial powers cannot deliver check.

Also, does the King lose these powers if if moves to its own half of the board?

If a Pawn reaches a promotion line and does not promote straigt away, it will have to advance to the next promotion line in order to be eligible again for promotion. 

If a Pawn reaches the last rank, is it required to promote? This would make a lot of sense, as it keeps you from accidentally leaving a Pawn as a "dead piece".

P.S. It seems that there are a couple of grammar issues here and there in your submissions. These shouldn't matter too much, as long as people can understand what you are saying.


💡📝Florin Lupusoru wrote on Fri, Feb 2 03:06 PM EST in reply to A. M. DeWitt from 11:05 AM:

Thank you again. I hope everyone is happy now with the updated rules.


Diceroller is Fire wrote on Fri, Feb 2 05:00 PM EST in reply to Florin Lupusoru from 03:06 PM:

Modest note:

Crossing back into own territory will not make a King lose its "dictatorial powers".

Once a King becomes a Dictator it will remain a Dictator till the end of the game.

These sentences can be merged into one because they carry one sense.

Though so many paragraphs is not normal in my honest opinion, a blocks for each rule can be very useful for better finding the corresponding rule in the text, which is much more useful than correct visual looking.


A. M. DeWitt wrote on Sat, Feb 3 09:55 AM EST in reply to Florin Lupusoru from Fri Feb 2 03:06 PM:

So close... However, a few things are worth mentioning. (Also, take notes for your other submission, Black Swan)

I. Kings and Dictators

Modest note:

"Crossing back into own territory will not make a King lose its "dictatorial powers"."

"Once a King becomes a Dictator it will remain a Dictator till the end of the game."

These sentences can be merged into one because they carry one sense.

Though so many paragraphs is not normal in my honest opinion, a blocks for each rule can be very useful for better finding the corresponding rule in the text, which is much more useful than correct visual looking.

Lev makes some good points here.

In particular, you could (and probably should) omit two sentences about Kings and Dictators and simply say that a King immediately promotes to Dictator when it crosses into enemy territory.

However, in doing so, you would need to make a separate image for the Dictator and ideally show it in the Pieces section, since it does not appear in the initial setup. Fortunately, the Musketeer Chess Board Painter (which you probably used when making the board image) lets you save the images in its image list. Simply save an appropriate-looking image and upload it to the page's directory, and you should be good.

It may also be helpful to mention that the second Dictator step cannot jump (per I understanding), to avoid confusion from Chu Shogi players, who may think the Dictator is equal to a royal Lion.

II. Paragraph Structure

This issue is way more prominent in Black Swan. It is okay to run sentences together sometimes. The point of a paragraph visually is to divide the text up so it doesn't look like one giant mass of text, making the text easier to read.

In this submission, this isn't a problem.

Redundant Sentences (My own observations)

One of the guidelines for approval is "Write clearly and briefly, so that you are quickly understood." Part of this is avoiding redundant sentences, especially if you could say the same thing by tweaking another sentence.

1. The same is true for the corresponding enemy Pawns.

2. The four Pawns on the third rank can still get a double move if they land on the fourth rank, the starting position of the 12 Pawns. 

The first sentence (1) is redundant, because it is generally understood that the rule applies to each player. To fix this you can replace the second sentence (2) in the Rules section the following:

"Pawns can still make a double move if they land on the starting square of another friendly Pawn."

This is simpler and doesn't depend on the rank number.

The King can also be called Emperor, without changing anything about the rules.

This sentence is unneccessary, and in fact counterproductive. In general, it is best to give pieces one distinct name and only refer to them by that name. However, in keeping with Roman terminology, you could call the King a Consul. (I am a bit of a history nerd, and recently watched Oversimplified's Punic Wars videos. Once this game is approved, I think I might favorite it.)


🔔Notification on Sat, Feb 3 10:16 AM EST:

The author, Florin Lupusoru, has updated this page.


💡📝Florin Lupusoru wrote on Sat, Feb 3 10:20 AM EST in reply to A. M. DeWitt from 09:55 AM:

I have decided to get rid of some rules in order to keep the game simple.
Please let me know if there is anything else.


A. M. DeWitt wrote on Sat, Feb 3 12:05 PM EST in reply to Florin Lupusoru from 10:20 AM:

This looks good.

I think the double King step when not in check would have been an interesting idea though. But to be fair, its hard to do King promotions or enhancements well since the King is the target piece, and needs to be able to be checkmated for decisiveness in more traditional Chess games.

Now for Black Swan...


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