BattleHalma is a new invention. In BattleHalma with promotion rule you promote to king at the opponent's corner square (in the opposite yard) by placing a counter there. The goal of the game is to capture all the opponent's pieces, as in checkers. Players take turns, moving a single counter at a time. The movement rule is similar to Halma: movement occurs horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, either by shifting to an adjacent square or by leaping over an adjacent counter (of either color). The counter leapt over is not captured.
BattleHalma is distinguished by its rule of exchange-capture: if the counter is moved to a square which is occupied by an enemy counter, then this is captured. A leaping counter may continue to leap over other counters until there are no more to leap over or the player decides to stop. To stop leaping prematurely, select 'Pass Move' from the menus or the toolbar. Note: in Battle Halma it is not allowable to jump or step backwards (i.e. in the direction of one's own yard). In the above picture it would mean that the red pieces are not allowed to move east, south, or south-east. The exception to this is the king which can jump and move in all directions. The king not only captures the piece he lands on, he also captures the enemy piece that he jumps over.
There is also a faster variant of BattleHalma, without promotion. In BattleHalma with terminal rule you must be the first to conquer the opponent's corner square (in the opposite yard) by placing a counter there. The game ends there, so it's not necessary to capture all the opponent's pieces. |
