Thomas, I have invented a game that fits your description:
Advancing Chess
by Michael Howe
3/10/07
This game is played on a standard chessboard with one set of pawns and two sets of pieces per player.
Pieces only move forward, but capture as orthodox chess pieces.
Pikemen are like orthodox pawns, but can capture backwards as well as forwards.
Vicars can move and capture like bishops or one square orthogonally.
Castles can move and capture like rooks or one square diagonally.
Champions can move as either knight or king, and despite being represented by the king piece, are not royal and can be captured like all other pieces.
Queens and knights are as in orthodox chess, but can only move and capture forward.
Pikemen start on each player's third rank, and then a double set of chessmen are arranged on each player's first two ranks, the array being bilaterally symmetrical.
There is no castling, no en passant capture, no check or checkmate.
The first player to move a piece to the last rank so that it cannot be captured immediately is the winner. A player who cannot move loses.
The game is both tactical and strategic, with early fighting to gain material or positional advantage, and an endgame centered around breaking through the opponent's position to safely get a piece to the last rank. Draws are not possible! Queens and champions are the most valuable pieces, and are roughly equal with an edge to the queen. Rooks, vicars, and knights are the minor pieces, and their value depends on the position, but the vicar's long-range forking ability perhaps gives it an edge.
There are 5040 different possible starting arrays after accounting for left-right symmetry, which ensures that opening play will never become stereotyped.
A Zillions implementation also exists, though I will not be posting it here.
Thomas, I have invented a game that fits your description:
Advancing Chess
by Michael Howe
3/10/07
This game is played on a standard chessboard with one set of pawns and two sets of pieces per player.
Pieces only move forward, but capture as orthodox chess pieces.
Pikemen are like orthodox pawns, but can capture backwards as well as forwards.
Vicars can move and capture like bishops or one square orthogonally.
Castles can move and capture like rooks or one square diagonally.
Champions can move as either knight or king, and despite being represented by the king piece, are not royal and can be captured like all other pieces.
Queens and knights are as in orthodox chess, but can only move and capture forward.
Pikemen start on each player's third rank, and then a double set of chessmen are arranged on each player's first two ranks, the array being bilaterally symmetrical.
There is no castling, no en passant capture, no check or checkmate.
The first player to move a piece to the last rank so that it cannot be captured immediately is the winner. A player who cannot move loses.
The game is both tactical and strategic, with early fighting to gain material or positional advantage, and an endgame centered around breaking through the opponent's position to safely get a piece to the last rank. Draws are not possible! Queens and champions are the most valuable pieces, and are roughly equal with an edge to the queen. Rooks, vicars, and knights are the minor pieces, and their value depends on the position, but the vicar's long-range forking ability perhaps gives it an edge.
There are 5040 different possible starting arrays after accounting for left-right symmetry, which ensures that opening play will never become stereotyped.
A Zillions implementation also exists, though I will not be posting it here.