Board game duel USSR. Three Soviet board games: Four of a Kind, Duel, Hex

Does this picture mean anything to anyone? No? Then you lost a lot of gold in childhood. This is a 10x10 board game for an old board game. Battle!
"Mine" managed to sow this toy, but on the net I found its rules (I added something from memory myself, we personally cut into it like this) and her http://romeo.by.ru/download.htm in the form of a toy for the Spectrum, there is also an emulator. I didn’t understand which buttons to press to play, but I rewrote from there

Rules.
They play together. Everyone chooses an army of one color. The goal of the player is to capture the banner of the enemy.
The game is played with 40 pieces on each side. The numbers on the chips correspond to military ranks.

Number Rank Quantity
1 Marshal 1
2 General 1
3 Colonel 2
4 Major 3
5 captain 4
6 Lieutenant 4
7 Sergeant 4
8 Minesweeper 5
9 Soldier 8
10 Scout 1
- Banner 1
- Mina 6

Chips 1-10 are movable, mines and the banner cannot be moved.
The outcome of the battle will depend on how each player places his army pieces in their original position. Try to do it in the most rational way.
Arrange the chips on your side of the field in 4 rows.
Mines can be placed around the banner. They can also be placed on other cells to mislead the enemy. You can put several officers in the front line, but you should try to keep them at least at the beginning of the game. During the game, try to save the sappers as well, as the sappers are the only ones who can defuse the mines.
In the game, the pieces can be moved in any direction (one space at a time), except diagonally. It is impossible to pass through the lakes.
when the chip is next to the opponent's chip, they can attack each other. If a player wants to attack, he turns the chip with the number to the opponent and says "Attack". If the player believes that the attack is not necessary, he may choose not to do so. You can start your move with an attack.
When attacking, the title of both chips is displayed, and the chip with the lowest rank (large number) loses and is removed from the field, and the winning chip takes its place, the move goes to the winner in the attack. If chips with the same numbers attack each other, then both die.
Mina herself can neither walk nor attack.
The scout can be removed from the field by everyone, but he has one advantage: he can remove the marshal if he attacks him first.
If a mine is attacked, it destroys everyone except the sapper, and it remains to stand where it stood. The sapper defuses the mine and occupies its square.
The player who manages to capture the opponent's banner will win. You can also win if you manage to block all the moves of the enemy.

Chips are made like this: a long cardboard strip is bent in the form of a triangle. On one side - a blue or green color visible to the enemy, under the other - the number of the chip. In short, there would be a printer, cardboard and self-adhesive.

The other day, a young man named Artyom contacted me and asked me to find information about a game with hexagonal chips divided into colored sectors, which he saw as a child in a store in the USSR, but did not buy, and now he would like to remember the rules. After some clarifications, I found on the Web detailed information about her. I did not consider it necessary to rewrite it: the author is well versed in the topic and speaks Russian. Let me bring to your attention a repost of the review article "Made in USSR" by the user Valery with the nickname Viking from the Nastolker club, published by him on the site "Tesera.ru: a guide to board games".

"The Soviet distribution system often led to the fact that scarce goods, which could not be obtained in the capitals, gathered dust on the shelves of provincial cities - such as, for example, the three-volume book by Ars. Tarkovsky in the city of Kingisepp ...

Why am I? One day I returned from Volgograd with four tables.

I won’t write anything about one of them, although almost twenty years have passed between the time I started playing the “Battle” and the fact that I learned that this game is called “Stratego” all over the world. Naturally, I did not find any indication of the bourgeois origin of the game on the box.

I have a strong suspicion that the rest of the games were created in a similar way - like many of the things that were the intellectual pride of the USSR (however, in one of the boxes I found a mention of Danish origin)*. But, unlike "Stratego", these games are less known, although, in my opinion, they are quite worthy of attention.

So, I ask you to love and favor - "KARE", "DUEL", "HEX".

Huge boxes 30x42x5 cm could well serve as a symbol of soviet gigantomania, especially considering the name of the manufacturer - the Micropribor Production Association (I immediately recall the anecdote about the Soviet microcircuit with two carrying handles). However, they were apparently produced by the ElektroMera plant, which was part of the said association. The rules, printed on paper that makes newsprint look glossy, are firmly glued to the inside of the lid.

But the plastic component is well made, although not bright. In all three games next to the playing field there is a special place for storing chips, the size of which is also impressive (especially in comparison with modern ones - for example, meeple from Carcassonne).

I think that if these games were released now, then everyone would fit into one box, and there is still room ...

"KARE"

Let's start talking about the essence of games with "Kare". The playing field is a 5x8 rectangle, each cell in which is a regular hexagon. No, I didn’t go crazy ... but to prove this, I will have to use illustrative material.

The chips are also hexagonal, called "white" and "red", but in fact, as you can see, each consists of two colors: white or red plus black.

The main rule of "Kare" is that each chip (or is it more correct to call them pieces?) Can only be attacked by the opponent's piece to which it is turned with the black side; on the colored side it is protected. In this case, it does not matter at all which side the attacking chip is turned.

Remembering this rule at the moment when you look at the initial arrangement of pieces, you understand where the name of the game came from: both troops stand bristling, but cannot attack each other. In this case, as it should be in a real square, the weakest chip (with one protected side) is located in the center.

As you might guess, the moves are made in turn. The player moves his chip in a straight line in one of eight directions (that is, after all, the field is rectangular) for any distance. In this case, in the process of movement, the chip can rotate. In addition, "jumping in place" is allowed, where the piece simply turns without moving. True, there is a limitation: in one place, the chip can turn no more than two times, otherwise such a "surprise" could continue indefinitely. ( It is not entirely clear what such a turn of a chip is - you can only turn it on one side, counterclockwise or clockwise, or you can turn it on either side to the attacking chip, whether such a turn is considered a move or not, etc. - D.S.)

You can’t jump over other pieces, but you can beat the opponent by removing him from the board and taking his place (if, I remind you, he is turned to the attacking chip with a defenseless side).

Since there are eight directions of movement, and only six sides, those figures that are on the same horizontal line with yours are turned to you at an angle, and not sideways. So, you can't eat them! That is, there are more directions of movement than directions of "eating".

There is one more limitation: the weakest chip cannot be deliberately exposed to combat. Some analogy with the chess king...

And most importantly - the goal of the game. This is perhaps the most interesting moment in Kara. Winning can be achieved in two ways: either you eat 7 of your opponent's 9 pieces, or you occupy the corresponding places in the opponent's starting position with all your remaining pieces. The key word here is everyone. It turns out that the less resources you have left, the closer you are to defeat under the first condition - and the easier it is for you to win under the second. I must say that in those years winning two different ways was a revelation in board games...

I don’t know why, but “Kare” didn’t particularly fit my soul. I liked "Duel" much more.

"DUEL"

In fact, the cubes are still not ordinary, but made in a special way so that it is convenient to roll them from edge to edge. Each cube has the right to go (roll) exactly the number of moves that is shown on its upper face (of course, only on free cells). That is, if the cube stands one up, then it can go only one cell (horizontally or vertically) and after that - depending on which direction it moves - turn into a two, three, four or five. Therefore, in the initial position of the figures, it is important not only what is shown on the upper face, but also the orientation of the sides.

But the trick is that in the process of moving the cube can turn once at an angle of 90 degrees. And this is where the real miracles begin. Don't believe?

Take any die (I hope that a normal tabletop player does not have a die whose opposite faces do not add up to 7) and place it, say, three up, five towards you. Now let's try to make a knight's move - go two cells forward and one to the left ... or one to the left and two forward.

"Who cares?" you might reasonably ask. Do not hurry.

So, we go forward (five comes to the top), still forward (four) and to the left. The move is over, now it's not a three, but a unit - the weakest chip.

Let's return to the original three and first move to the left (we got one), and then forward twice. What did you get? That's right, six.

So we didn't just move the cube; not only have we changed its strength (imagine chess where, after moving, a bishop becomes a rook and a queen can become a pawn); we also found out that moving a chip to the same field can turn it into cubes of different strength - depending on the path of movement!

Probably, mathematical geniuses can easily calculate each move: if I go with a six here, then it will become a two or a four, if here - a three or a five, and here - a one and nothing else. For ordinary person this is somewhat difficult, so the player is given a cheat sheet. It depicts all possible options moves depending on the numbers on the top and closest to the playing side. Rotate the cheat sheet the way you want and study the possible consequences of your move.

The goals of the game are also two, but they are closer to each other than in "Kara": either reach the central field on the opposite edge of the board with your "royal" chip, or prevent the opponent from doing this by eating his "king". Cubes are eaten, as in "Kara" (and in chess). As you, of course, have already understood, the "royal" chip always moves exactly one cell.

The tactical diversity of the "Duel" is determined by the fact that it seems that all the figures are the same, but in fact they are all different. And each of them is most reminiscent of a chess knight: just like a knight, they do not pose a threat not only to the opponent's pieces that are located further than the "radius of damage" determined by the value on the top edge, but also to those who are closer. And this means that one should not strive to have as many long-range pieces as possible on the board. Sometimes one or two is more useful ...

Duel is the only dice game I know of that doesn't have an element of randomness. Can you name another?

(Editor's note - In fact, abstract games in which cubes act as figures are not uncommon; and, as a rule, there is no element of chance in them; Cephalopods can serve as an example of such a game.) (photo on the right).

On my own behalf, I will add that there is an even earlier Rhythmomachy and a later Chase. It is curious whether this domestic development is a kind of intermediate option. You can also mention a curious version of chess - the game "Proteus" by Steve Jackson (photo below), in which the values \u200b\u200bof the figures are drawn on the faces of the cubes, and during the game they also change their rank. (D.S.)

"GEKS"

With the third game - "Hex" - I had a funny story. Immediately after the purchase, I did my own analysis and very quickly found a forced winning strategy for the opening side ... after which I put the game on the farthest shelf: what is the point of it if it is known in advance who won? Tic-tac-toe 3x3 is even more pleasant: at least there is always a draw there ...

Many years later, when I took out a dusty box and thought, “Shouldn’t I just throw it away?” I repeated my analysis. And suddenly I realized that there is no forced win! And that this game is surprisingly simple in terms of rules and at the same time surprisingly nice in terms of tactics. Much prettier and "Kare" and "Duel".

However, you need to compare them with caution, after all, “Gex” is a fundamentally different game, not for the movement of pieces, but for placing them on the field.

As the name suggests, the field in "Hex" is made up of hexes (hexagons). But now without fools: these are really hexagons forming a rhombus with a side of 11 cells. Two opposite sides of the rhombus are considered to belong to one player, the other two - to the other. Corner hexagons apply to both sides.

Chips in Hex are also hexagonal. Which, however, is not important - round ones would also look normal.

The starting side (black is chosen as such, which allegedly emphasizes the proximity of "Hex" to go, and not to chess) puts the first chip on any cell of the field. However, if this were true, then I would be right with my pseudo-analysis: the beginner wins without difficulty. To deprive him of such a significant advantage, it is forbidden to put the very first chip on the short diagonal of the rhombus.

Then the moves are made in turn, the chips are now placed really on any free field. The task is to build a continuous chain of your chips between your sides of the field. There are no draws in Hex, because you can prevent your opponent from creating such a chain the only way- build your own.

The party in "Gex" goes all the time as if on a swing. The fact is that, defending himself from the opponent's chain, the player, sometimes unwittingly, also lines up his chips in a chain. And at some point it may turn out that it is the defender's chain that has more chances to crawl from one side of the field to the other. This usually happens at the moment when the beginner, trying to realize the advantage of the first move, plays actively ... and gets carried away. The main thing here is to stop in time and move from attack to defense, from the role of a hunter to the role of a hunted beast: this is better than just losing the game. A competent defense at some point will definitely give an opportunity to seize the initiative again ... if there is enough time and space.

In Hex tactics, it is important to stay close enough to the opponent to not give him freedom, and far enough to leave himself, not him, the opportunity to maneuver. A good defensive tool is the opposition (a chip placed through the cell), which gives the player the opportunity to interrupt the opponent's path, regardless of whether he moves to the left or right.

These are the boards for the smart ones. Yes, I didn’t say that all of them are designed exclusively for two, but you, of course, guessed it yourself.

Those who are interested in these games will be able to make them at home without significant difficulties, especially Hex. For I think that it’s impossible to buy these games for a couple of decades like nowhere else ...

By the way, when buying games, always check their completeness.

Viking
________________________________________ _______________
* - In all likelihood, this is Gex. About her there is (D.S.)

Recently I found a photo on the Internet with a fragment of my favorite childhood game - "Battle". There is no other information about this game on the Internet, so I decided to write short review to this unique, tabletop strategy, in which real battles unfolded between two paper armies ...

Board game"Battle"

It was a box containing a large playing field consisting of two or three (I don't remember) thick cardboard sheets. Many sheets with patterns of headquarters, redoubts, fences, bridges, cannons, gunners, infantry, cavalry for two armies. Two game cubes of red and green color and of course instructions. Judging by the uniform, it was about the battles of the Northern War of 1700-1721, between Russia and Sweden.

Before you make the first move in the game, you had to work hard. Cut out all patterns, glue soldiers, cannons, redoubts, bridges and other buildings. This work lasted about 2 weeks, but upon completion, two real armies were obtained.

Before the start of the battle, each player deployed his troops on his territory, which was limited to the river. The river could be crossed over two bridges (the player installed them himself) or through a ford that was on the map. The player had at his disposal: two bridges, several redoubts of various sizes, several fences, a headquarters, two cannons (one of them was a mortar), six gunners (three per cannon), infantry and cavalry. The goal of this battle is to capture the enemy headquarters! The headquarters was considered captured if there were at least three soldiers of any kind of troops on the adjacent cells. It was from this strategic goal that the whole arrangement followed.

After the troops took their positions, the battle itself began, which lasted for hours. The player who made the move rolled one or two dice of a certain color:

Only a red die meant that the player was firing artillery, the number on the die was multiplied by five, a countdown was made from the cannons and a radius of five cells, all manpower was destroyed. You can shoot with a cannon or mortar, and if you shoot with a cannon, then there should be no obstacles in the way of the core. The mortar shoots with a canopy, its core flies over all obstacles.
Only a green die - it means the player walks as a cavalry. Multiply the number on the die by two. The cavalry moves with three cavalry, if they attack, then the move should only be in a straight line, without maneuvering. All enemy manpower, in the path of the attacking cavalry, is destroyed. The cavalry does not fire.
Both dice are infantry. Six people walk and shoot. The move is made on the green die, and shoots on the red one, multiplying its number by three. Infantrymen can go to the bayonet, according to the same rules as the cavalry (only in a straight line), in this case the shot is lost. During normal shooting movement, each infantryman can change direction no more than once. You can't move less than the number on the die. After the move, a shot is fired. The first person to get in the way of the bullet is considered dead. You can shoot without a move, the move in this case disappears.

A redoubt is bullet proof, unlike a fence. An infantryman who is on an adjacent space with a redoubt (or another soldier) can shoot through it. In this way, the second rank or soldiers who have taken cover behind the redoubt can shoot. When an infantry overcomes a fence or a redoubt, the entire turn is spent (the number on the die does not matter), the infantryman is placed on the other side of the obstacle without firing. Cavalry freely overcomes obstacles. If the number of moves falls directly on the redoubt or worries, then it stops in front of it. similar

The game "Battle" is designed primarily for those who are just starting to play war games ("wargames"). It is based on the classic war game mechanics, which involves playing field, lined into hexes (with different types of terrain), game pieces that reflect combat units and the use of the so-called "Battle Table". Combat units-tokens move around the game map, spending their "movement points" - the more "movement points", the higher the speed of the unit. The main characteristic of the unit is its "combat strength". When troops enter combat, then, depending on the "combat strength" of the units participating in it, a column is selected in the "Combat Table", on which players roll a die, used as a generator random numbers. The more the player has collected forces in battle, the higher his chances of success.

In "Battle" players will control "armies", roughly corresponding to the troops of France, Russia, Germany and Great Britain 2nd floor. XIX century, - opponents will have more or less the same number of chips. Nevertheless, each army has its own small characteristic national "zest". Having become acquainted with the principles of the game, the player can practically easily join the world of the historical desktop "wargame" by turning to more complex game developments. In them, already dedicated to specific historical operations, it will be possible to lead "real" armies on historically accurate maps and try to achieve specific military goals that faced the real commanders of that era.

We are sure that the game will be interesting for everyone. For novice players - as an introduction to the first "wargame", for experienced connoisseurs - as a simple "tournament" balanced game that can be played quickly and easily in half an hour.

Information taken from the website:

http://statusbelli.ru/shop/item/9.html