Pirates vs. Ninjas vs. Vikings vs. Demons vs. Angels

    A few days ago my girlfriend and I came up with a game called Pirates vs. Ninjas vs. Vikings vs. Demons vs. Angels. It essentially amounts to complicated chess mashed up with elementary school capture the flag. Here are the rules.

    The game is played on a 10x10 grid divided evenly into two sides which constitute your territory and your opponent's territory. Where the two sides are divided is marked by X's. In the back left of each side is "hell", where you'll put enemy units when your units kill them. In the center of the back edge of each side is also your flag, your objective is to use one of your units to steal the enemies flag and bring it back to your side.

    You have 15 units: 5 pirates, 4 ninjas, 3 Vikings, 2 demons, and 1 angel.

    Pirates beat Vikings but can be killed by ninjas. They move one space and can share a space with another pirate to form a crew which makes them able to beat ninjas and unable to be killed by them.

    Ninjas beat pirates but can be killed by Vikings. They move two spaces and are the only unit able to move diagonally.

    Vikings beat ninjas but can be killed by pirates. They move three spaces and are capable of sacrificing themselves in order to kill demons.

    Demons can kill anything except other demons but can be killed by angels. They move one space and cannot pick up the flag.

    Angels can only kill demons and can only be killed by demons. They move two spaces and cannot pick up the flag but can teleport from their side's flag to the other side's flag.

    Players set up their sides at the same time and may only setup their units on their side. Units may not be touching the dividing line. When all units are set up the players play rock, paper, scissors and the winner decides who goes first. On your turn you can move one unit or turn an enemy unit in your hell to your side. If you choose to move a unit, you must move that unit's full movement value. You only "attack" another unit if you end your movement on the unit you're attacking. If you kill an enemy unit it goes to your hell. 

    We played the game twice and my girlfriend beat me both times using Vikings to grab my flag and then make a dash for her side.

The game was good fun. I had a couple ideas to make it more fun...

- Units maintain their "always beat/ always beat by" rules but two of the same type of unit can fight against each other on an opposed dice roll. Highest number lives, lowest number loses.

- You start with 3 pirates, 2 ninjas, and 1 Viking. Each turn you gain a point and can choose to buy one more unit. Pirates are worth 1, ninjas are worth 2, Vikings are worth 3, and Demons/Angels are worth 4.

- Terrain on the board with different effects. 

- Each turn a player draws from a deck of playing cards. If the card is red then you can take two actions. If the card is black then you can take one action.

- Units cannot pass through one another.

    We've been back in the states after our British isles trip for almost a month now. As we get settled back in I've been playing board games with two of my friends weekly. So far we've played Great Western Trail, Red Dragon Inn, Scythe, and Incan Gold. Last time we met I proposed that we make some terrain and play a miniatures game like BattleTech, Kill Team, or Warcry. It seems like everyone is most interested in something like Kill Team so I think that's what we'll be aiming to do by early August.

Until next time!