Siege game

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Siege game
Siege game; Werner and Schumann publishing house, around 1890
Siege game; Werner and Schumann publishing house , around 1890
Game data
author Unknown
graphic Various
publishing company Various
Publishing year around 1800
Art Placement game
Teammates 2
Duration
Age

The siege game , internationally also Asalto (Spanish for "attack"), is a classic asymmetrical strategy and board game . The game is about the siege and defense of a castle. One player takes on the role of defender with two pawns, the other the role of besiegers with 24 attackers.

Style of play

Game board of the siege game with starting positions of the defenders (red) and attackers (green); The fortress is shown in blue.

The siege game is played on a cross-shaped game board with 35 fields, on which a castle with nine points and 24 siege points are shown (corresponds to the game board of the solitaire ). At the beginning of the game, players choose their game colors. As the defender, the white player places his two game pieces (halma cones) on any point of the castle, the black player, as the attacker, places his pieces on the 24 points outside the castle. The white player starts the game.

The aim of the game for the black player is to storm the fortress and occupy all nine spaces of the castle, while the white player has to reduce the attacker's ranks to such an extent that this is no longer possible. The defender can move on all lines and in any direction from one field to the next; he hits opposing pieces like in a checkers game by jumping over in a straight line (not diagonally) if the field behind is free. There is a compulsion to hit and several stones can be hit in a row if there are spaces in between. The jumped stones count as captured and are removed from the playing field. The attacker, on the other hand, may not use the black lines and may only move forwards and sideways. He cannot capture the defender's stones either and the defender can only lose one stone if he forgets to hit (duty to hit). If the defender can keep a stone in the fortress and it is installed there by the attacker, he has won the game; if it is in the fortress with both stones and has been built in, then it has lost. According to more recent rules, however, he has also won if both white stones are enclosed in the castle.

The recommended strategy for the black player is to keep the ranks closed and thus advance. At the same time, he was supposed to offer suitable sacrifices to lure the defenders out of the castle and thus keep the way free for the troops advancing.

variants

In addition to the standard board, there are also larger playing fields where more defenders and attackers are involved. There is a larger game board with a fortress, which consists of 17 fields and is to be held by three defenders, with 50 attackers opposing them.

Expenses and reception

The siege game is a classic game and was developed as a variant of the checkers game in the early 19th century , the inventor of the game is unknown. The game has since appeared in numerous editions with various publishers. It builds on the checkers game and is related to similar games such as the Halatafl (known as fox and geese ), the flag game and wolf and sheep, which was already handed down in the Middle Ages .

supporting documents

  1. ↑ a b The fortress and siege game. Instructions for an edition of the game from Verlag Werner and Schumann around 1890.
  2. ↑ a b c d e "The siege game." In: Erhard Gorys : The book of games. Manfred Pawlak Verlagsgesellschaft, Herrsching o. J .; Pp. 242-243.
  3. ↑ Versions of Asalto / Siege Game in the BoardGameGeek database; Retrieved November 25, 2017.

Web links