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This page is written by the game's inventor, Charles Gilman.

Horn Rimmed Hex 1: 91 to 127

This page is to Hex Frontofhouse what Mitred Framing is to ordinary Frontofhouse. It adds an extra rim of side 7 around the "standard" hex board of side 6, making an extra 6x6=36 cells raising the total from 91 to 127. As with Mitred Framing it puts forward-only (FO) versions of the "standard" hex pieces on this rim.

As hex 2d boards do not have the Bishop, and therefore its FO version the Mitre, I could not name this variant in the Mitred Framing series. However, they instead have the Unicorn, whose FO version I named the Horn, so I looked for a suitable term starting with that name. I thought of horn-rimmed spectacles, and realised that this perfectly described putting Horns on the board's rim. Whether it makes for a "spectacular" lot of variants is of course not for me to say. The first array, a Wellisch-orientation one, doesn't actually have Horns, but to compensate it does have Supersaltires rather than plain Saltires, which would be very weak indeed in the Wellisch orientation. Oh, and it has six of them.

I also relegate Shogi-style generals to be promotees only, rather than include them in some arrays as I did with Mitred Framing. This means that the physical Silvergeneral can be used to represent other pieces, usually Unicorns. The Mitred Framing rule of not promoting them further becomes even more important on the hex board, as this page's variants inherit Hex Frontofhouse's promotion based on running out of moves rather than entering a set promotion zone.

I have now added a second page to this series.

Setup

They are all displayed for two players but some can, or even will usually, be played with three, and three-player arrays should be easy enough to work out. All these variants have an intimate connection between how pieces are represented and how they are promoted. Therefore the same array with different physical representations is a different variant, with different promotion rules. In particular, only pieces represented by Shogi pieces are promotable and can return from capture. For this reason unpromoted Shogi Points always represent the relevant Pawn analogue. Unless otherwise stated other standard-hex pieces represent themselves, as do unpromoted Wings.

The first array will usually be adjusted for three players. HORN-RIMMED WELLISCH uses Wellisch sets for symmetric pieces, and a mixture of Silvers and Helms from Shogi sets for Supersaltires. HORN-RIMMED WELLISCH FRONTOFHOUSE uses only Shogi sets with the King as General and unpromoted/promoted Rooks as Virago/Vicereine, Wings as Wing/Rook, and a mixture of Shogi Bishops and Silvers as Supersaltire/Viceroy.

The second array will usually be played as displayed, by two players. HORN-RIMMED GLINSKI uses Glinski sets for symmetric pieces and Helms for Senhelms, and a mixture of Shogi Bishops and Silvers for Horns. HORN-RIMMED GLINSKI FRONTOFHOUSE uses only Shogi sets with the King as Grandduke and unpromoted/promoted Rooks as Countess/Duchess, Wings as Wing/Rook, Helms as Senhelm/Sennight, and a mixture of Bishops and Silvers as Horn/Unicorn.

The third array can be played equally well as displayed or adjusted for three players. HORN-RIMMED MCCOOEY uses McCooey sets for symmetric pieces and Helms for Senhelms, and a mixture of Shogi Bishops and Silvers for Horns. HORN-RIMMED MCCOOEY FRONTOFHOUSE uses only Shogi sets with the King as Grandduke and unpromoted/promoted Rooks as Countess/Duchess, Wings as Wing/Rook, Helms as Senhelm/Sennight, and a mixture of Bishops and Silvers as Horn/Unicorn.

The fourth array should be played as displayed, by two players. HORN-RIMMED TRIOS uses McCooey sets for symmetric pieces and Helms for Senhelms, and Silvers for Horns. HORN-RIMMED TRIOS FRONTOFHOUSE uses only Shogi sets with the King as Grandduke and unpromoted/promoted Rooks as Countess/Duchess, Wings as Wing/Rook, Helms as Senhelm/Sennight, and Silvers as Horn/Unicorn.

The final array should be played as displayed, by two players. HORN-RIMMED LIU YANG uses Xiang Qi sets Yang Qi style for symmetric pieces and Helms for Senhelms, and Silvers for Horns. HORN-RIMMED LIU YANG FRONTOFHOUSE uses only Shogi sets with the King as Grandduke, the Rook and Bishop as Cannon and Sling without promotion, and unpromoted/promoted Wings as Wing/Rook, Helms as Senhelm/Sennight, and Silvers as Horn/Unicorn.

Pieces

Pieces common to both orientations:
The ROOK moves any distance through empty intermediate squares along any of the six orthogonals. It is unpromotable. In non-Frontofhouse variants it cannot return from capture. In Frontofhouse ones it returns as the Wing immediately below.
The WING is the Rook restricted to the two Wellisch, or single Glinski/McCooey straight, forward orthogonal(s). It returns from capture as itself. In Frontofhouse variants it is promotable to the Rook immediately above. In Non-Frontofhouse variants it is promotable to a BRASSGENERAL, which moves one step along any of the six orthogonals and the single Wellisch straight, or two Glinski/McCooey, forward hex diagonal(s).
Pieces specific to Wellisch-style variants:
The GENERAL moves one cell along any of the six orthogonals, and must be kept out of Check. It is unpromotable, and return from capture does not arise.
The VICEROY moves one step along any of the six hex diagonals, and is unpromotable. In non-Frontofhouse variants it cannot return from capture. In Frontofhouse ones it returns as the Supersaltire immediately below.
The SUPERSALTIRE is the Viceroy restricted to the single straight forward, and two half-forward, diagonals. It returns from capture as itself. In Frontofhouse variants it is promotable to the Viceroy immediately above. In Non-Frontofhouse variants it is promotable to an AZUREGENERAL, which moves one step along any of the six hex diagonals and the two forward orthogonals.
The VICEREINE is the compound of Rook and Viceroy. It is unpromotable. In non-Frontofhouse variants it cannot return from capture. In Frontofhouse ones it returns as a VIRAGO, a Wing that can also move one step along the straight-forward hex diagonal.
The POINT moves one step along either orthogonal. It returns from capture as itself and is promotable to a WAZIR, which moves like the General above but is capturable.
Pieces specific to other variants:
The GRANDDUKE moves one cell along any of the twelve radials, and must be kept out of Check. It is the G/McC analogue to the King, under whose page its hex move may be found. It is unpromotable, and return from capture does not arise.
The CANNON differs from the Rook in that capturing requires an intervening piece of either army which is not itself captured. It is unpromotable. In HRLY it cannot return from capture. In HRLY Frontofhouse it returns as itself.
The UNICORN moves any distance through empty intermediate squares along any of the six hex diagonals. It is the G/McC analogue to the Bishop, under whose page its hex move may be found. It is unpromotable. In non-Frontofhouse variants it cannot return from capture. In Frontofhouse ones it returns as the Horn immediately below.
The HORN is the Unicorn restricted to the two forward hex diagonals. It returns from capture as itself. In Frontofhouse variants it is promotable to the Unicorn immediately above. In Non-Frontofhouse variants it is promotable to an AZUREGENERAL, which moves one step along any of the six hex diagonals and the single straight forward orthogonal.
The SLING differs from the Unicorn in that capturing requires an intervening piece of either army which is not itself captured. It is the G/McC analogue to the Arrow, under whose page its hex move may be found. It is unpromotable. In HRLY it cannot return from capture. In HRLY Frontofhouse it returns as itself.
The DUCHESS is the compound of Rook and Unicorn. It is the G/McC analogue to the Queen, under whose page its hex move may be found. It is unpromotable. In non-Frontofhouse variants it cannot return from capture. In Frontofhouse ones it returns as a COUNTESS, the same piece restricted to the straight forward orthogonal and two forward hex diagonals.
The SENNIGHT makes any root-7 leap and cannot be blocked. It is the G/McC analogue to the Knight, under whose page its hex move may be found. It is unpromotable. In non-Frontofhouse variants it cannot return from capture. In Frontofhouse ones it returns as the Senhelm immediately below.
The SENHELM is the Sennight restricted to the two leaps flnking the straight forward orthogonal. It returns from capture as itself. In Frontofhouse variants it is promotable to the Sennight immediately above. In Non-Frontofhouse variants it is promotable to a DUKE, which moves like the Grandduke above but is capturable.
The MIGRANT moves one step forward at a time, along a half-forward orthogonal if capturing otherwise along the straight forward orthogonal. It returns from capture as itself and is promotable to a WAZIR, which moves like the General in the previous section but is capturable.
The BROKER moves one step forward at a time, along a hex diagonal if capturing otherwise along the straight forward orthogonal. It is the McCooey analogue to the Pawn, under whose page its hex move may be found. It returns from capture as itself and is promotable to a WAITER, which moves one step along any hex diagonal if capturing otherwise along any orthogonal.

Rules

In 2-player variants play alternates between players starting with White. In 3-player variants it rotates anticlockwise in the order Red, Yellow, Blue.

Double-step initial noncapturing moves are inherited from non-Horn-rimmed variants, but extended to moves starting with the same piece reintroduced in any part of the camp.

There is no Castling. In the Liu Yang variants the Grandduke, if not in Check, can swap places with an adjacent piece of its own army, other than a Broker, in place of a normal move..

A forward-only piece reaching a cell whence it has no further move within the original 91 cells in unpromoted form can immediately be promoted to its symmetric form. Promotion is optional if a move is available to a cell on the board's rim, and required if there is no further move anywhere on the board.

In 2-player subvariants Check, Checkmate, and Stalemate are as usual. In 3-player ones a player is Checkmated when their General or Grandduke is threatened by the player about to move. That player's pieces are removed from the game and the game continues with the Checkmating player's move. The player delivering the second Checkmate wins.


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By Charles Gilman.
Web page created: 2010-04-10. Web page last updated: 2016-04-01