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Check out Janggi (Korean Chess), our featured variant for December, 2024.
Check out Janggi (Korean Chess), our featured variant for December, 2024.
Well, I suppose that part of the reason a Lion is so valuable is that it can so easily checkmate on its own. That makes it hard to predict the value relative to pieces that cannot. The most obvious method for taking away the mating potential would be to keep the piece devoid of Knight moves.
The Lion Dog in the interpretation where it can do 2-out-1-in locust captures might be more valuable. (But I don't really like that piece, as there seems no defense against this.) The Tenjiku Free Eagle might qualify on 15x15 (where the Lion loses importance due to its slowness, and the ability to move as Queen is worth quite a lot). You could even beef it up to a 'Super Eagle' by allowing also two Wazir moves per turn (QcaWcaFcabK, possibly also adding DA). Even QcabK could be pretty strong.
It would be hard to achieve the desired value without locust captures. Perhaps with hook moves (diagonal to avoid lone mating), but Tengu Dai Shogi already exists. If you plan to allow entirely new moves, AD rifle captures could be a useful building block. Unlike the Lion's igui these can attack steppers with impunity. And unlike the Lion Dog, you can defend against the igui forks by attacking the square it is on, as all igui moves end on the same square.