STRIKE aka FENIX

Copyright (c) 1975 Fred Horn

This game is played on a 9x9 square board with the following setup:

 

PIECES Soldier - a single stone (the ones that start at the setup) Soldiers move to an orthogonal adjacent empty cell Councilor - stack of two stones Councilors slide over an orthogonal line of empty cells (like a chess rook) King - stack of three stones Kings move to any adjacent (orthogonal or diagonal) empty cell (like the chess king) PHASE I - On the first five turns, each player alternatively moves one of his soldiers on top of another until both players have one King and three Councilors. To make a Councilor the Player puts a horizontally or vertically ADJACENT piece on top of a Soldier. To make a King the Player puts a horizontally or vertically ADJACENT Soldier on top of a Councilor. note: at the end of this phase there will be 19 soldiers left for each side. PHASE II - On each turn, each player moves a friendly piece. Captures from Soldiers and King are made by jumping over an enemy piece (in moving range) and landing on the immediate cell which must be empty. Councilors capture almost the same way, however they can continue to move after the jump to any empty cell in the same moving line. Captures are mandatory and multiple (pieces must continue capturing if possible). If there are capturing options, the sequence that maximizes the capture of single stones must be chosen (e.g., a King capture counts for three single captures). Captured pieces are only removed at the end of the capture sequence and cannot be jumped twice (so, a captured piece acts as a block in the continuation of the capturing sequence). After a Councilor is captured, the player can optionally and in the immediate next turn, not move and instead merge two adjacent soldiers into a new councilor. After a King is captured, the player must use his next turn to create another King by placing any soldier on top of a councilor (if a councilor was also captured in the same turn it will be lost, because making a King takes precedence). GOAL - A player that cannot create a new King loses the game. A player also loses if he tries to avoid capture by repeating the same sequence of moves for the third time. If neither player can capture the other's King, the game is drawn.

 

The author mentions that "The original name for the game is “STRIKE”. The suggestion made by Alex Randolph after playing the game was to change its’ name in a more appropriate one: Fenix"