STLTS

Copyright (c) 2004 W. Sewell

This game is played on the following 12x12 square board:

TURN -  On each turn, each player must do one of the following actions. Move a friendly stone. A stone may move to any cell that is reachable up to H horizontal steps and V vertical steps over empty cells, where H is the number of horizontal pins and V the number of vertical pins (so, a piece with no pins cannot move). The last step may be into a cell occupied by an enemy stone (which is captured). Place a horizontal or vertical pin on a friendly stone. GOAL - The winner is whoever captures all enemy stones.

In the original rules, there is no pin limit on each piece. There is a implicit limit given by the board (in this case, 12) but this may imply that some games would turn out to be too long (a piece with 24 pins takes 24 turns to make). A shorter limit would force games to a earlier conflict (say, 3 horizontal and 3 vertical pins). Another suggestion to speed the game, would be (a) to move a stone or (b) place two pins (both on one stone, or one per stone); this implies a greater cost for movement, which may favor tactical battles for pin insertions.

A move range example (in this diagram, a red stone is a horizontal pin, and a blue stone is a vertical pin). The top-right stone can move only into the marked cells (remember, stones cannot jump over other pieces).

Check STLTS webpage for more information.