Island Wars

Here is the layout of territories...

... and the starting layout (Red/White armies are neutral and don't move but must still be defeated)...

... finally, here is a game in progress.

Blue has four territories and two fortresses, so gets six armies per turn.
Yellow has three territories and no fortresses, so gets three armies per turn.

Blue's territory with the fortress and three armies has Advantage...
... but Yelllow's territory with three armies and a general also has Advantage, so Advantage is cancelled.

(turn 11)
Blue attacks Yellow - 3 vs 3, no Advantage
--Blue spins blue, yellow loses an army
--Blue spins yellow, blue loses an army
--Blue spins red, both lose an army
--Blue spins blue, and finally Yellow's general is defeated
Blue can move armies onto the now-empty territory, but only has one left, and chooses not to move it.

(turn 12)
Yellow has two territories and no fortresses, so gets two armies
Yellow attacks Blue - 3 vs 1, Blue has Advantage
--Yellow spins white, Yellow loses an army, Blue doesn't
--Yellow spins yellow, Blue loses their last army and their fortress is destroyed.
Yellow decides to move one army onto the empty territory.

Blue has three territories and one fortress, so gets four armies per turn.
Yellow has three territories and no fortresses, so gets three armies per turn.

The game ends when someone wins the whole board.


If you combine two sets you can use the neutral pieces for a four player game with max 12 armies and two generals. More sets means a bigger and more interesting game, as each additional set forces you to stretch your armies just that bit thinner.

The most interesting part of this game, having run it through a few times, is that if you want to attack in force, you usually have to weaken your defense elsewhere to do it. The careful balancing of attack and defense is what makes the army limit so vital to this game, especially as it gets bigger with four players.