SandTable Chess Rules v1

The Rules for SandTable Chess

Sand tables are also known as sand boards are a physical table in which sand is placed on top of and is used to model war games for military planning.

SandTable Chess is a variation of chess that is designed to more closely model modern warfare when compared to chess.

Keywords

Pieces - this applies to all the individual parts of the board game.
Destroy - A Piece is destroyed by removing it from the game
Capture - A Piece that is captured changes who controls that Piece
Unit - applies to any Piece that can move across the board.
Hazard - applies to hazardous traps that Pieces can be destroyed by.

The Base

Keywords

Base - a Piece that symbolizes the base of your operations.

The Base is a static piece.

No friendly Units may move onto your Base, however, Units may move through the space that has a Base.
No Hazard may be put on the same space as any Base.
Enemy Units can move onto a space that has their opponents Base, if they do then that Base is Destroyed.

The Turn Structure

The turn structure has 3 phases: PreTurn, Main, and PostTurn

PreTurn - During this phase, Some Hazards that were declared on your previous turn's PostTurn but that have not yet resolved will resolve.

Main - During this phase, you may choose to move one of your Vehicles or any number of your Infantry. It is required to make a move, you may not pass your turn.

PostTurn - Bases provide resources during this phase, you must use one Hazard for each Base that you control.

The Units - SandTable Chess has three Units and all three Units are Pieces.

Keywords

Infantry - Soldiers/Army Men are Infantry.
Vehicles - Tanks and Airplanes are Vehicles.

Infantry - They move one space in any direction. (Orthogonal and Diagonal)

If you choose to move Infantry, you may move any number of Infantry on that turn.
Only Infantry can Capture Vehicles , other Units and Hazards can only Destroy Pieces.
Each Infantry piece can move one space in any direction. Once an Infantry piece is moved it is locked in and cannot be moved back and Infantry may move into the gap that was left by another Infantry on the same turn.
Infantry may move into a square that is currently occupying a friendly or neutral Vehicle. The number of your crew increases by one up to the maximum of four. It is not a valid move to exceed the maximum number of Infantry in a vehicle and more than one Infantry may enter a vehicle in a single turn.
Infantry may move into a square that is currently occupied by an enemy Vehicle. When that happens the enemy Infantry that crew that Vehicle are destroyed and the Vehicle is Captured.
On a turn where you chose to move Infantry, any number up to the maximum allowed to crew a Vehicle may enter the Vehicle on the same turn.
On a turn where you chose to move your Infantry, any number of the Infantry that currently are crewing that Vehicle may leave a Vehicle.
If Infantry enter a vehicle on a turn that crew may not exit the vehicle on the same turn. Likewise, if Infantry exit the vehicle on a turn then the Infantry in that crew may not enter the vehicle on that same turn.

Vehicles

To move a Vehicle the Vehicle must be crewed by at least one Infantry, but can crewed by up to four Infantry.
Infantry may crew any vehicle, a vehicle without a crew does not belong to either player.
Vehicles can move any number of valid squares but can only move in one direction per turn.
Vehicles may move onto a space occupied by an enemy Piece, this destroys that Piece.
Vehicles may move through squares with friendly Mines and friendly Anti-Air but cannot move onto that same square.
Vehicles may also move through squares containing Infantry, but are required to add that Infantry to their crew, unless the crew has hit it's maximum, in that case they are able to pass through their own infantry without adding them through to the crew.
After a Vehicle moves any number of squares, one of the Infantry crewing the vehicle may move to any adjacent square on the same turn that does not contain a friendly Hazard. This Infantry can Destroy enemy Hazards, Destroy enemy Infantry, Capture enemy Vehicles, or Destroy enemy Bases. This can also be used to crew a Vehicle with no crew or add another Infantry into a Vehicle that you control.

Tanks - this Unit moves any number of squares forward, backwards, left, and right. (Orthogonal).

Tanks may move through or onto the same square as the enemy Infantry, when that happens the enemy Infantry is destroyed.
Tanks may not move through friendly, neutral, or enemy Vehicles, however, Tanks may destroy any enemy Unit by landing on their occupied space.
It is a valid move to have the Tank move through any hazard.
If the hazard is friendly, nothing happens to the hazard. If the hazard is an enemy Mine, the Tank is destroyed along with the Infantry that are the Tank's crew.
If the hazard is an enemy Anti-Air the Tank destroys the Anti-Air hazard as it is passing through.

Airplanes - this Unit moves in any direction as long as that direction is a straight line. (Orthogonal and Diagonal).

Airplanes may move through squares containing any piece, but Airplanes are destroyed if they attempt to move through a space that contains enemy Anti-Air.
When an Airplane moves through a space with an enemy Mine that Mine is destroyed. With the exception of Mines, when an Airplane moves through an square containing an enemy Piece, that Piece is not destroyed.

The Objective And Win Conditions Of SandTable Chess

You win the game if any single objective is met:

Your opponent resigns
You've Captured all of the Tanks that are on the board. (Including uncrewed Tanks)
You've Captured all of the Airplanes that are on the board (Including uncrewed Airplanes)
You've Destroyed all of their Bases
You've Destroyed all of the enemy Infantry. (Including Infantry crewing Vehicles)

The Hazards - SandTable Chess has three Hazards, but only two of those Hazards are Pieces, the third is an action.

Mines - this Piece destroys Tanks that attempt to pass through this square, the Tank and Mine are both destroyed. Mines are placed during the Deployment step and during the PostTurn phase.

Anti-Air (anti-air missiles) - this piece destroys any Airplanes that attempt to pass through this square, the Airplane and Anti-Air Pieces are both Destroyed. Anti-Air are placed during the Deployment step and during the PostTurn phase.

Mines and Anti-Air Pieces must be placed adjacent to a friendly Infantry Piece and only on an empty square. Infantry that are crewing a Vehicle do not count as Infantry on the ground, and cannot be used to place Hazards.

Drones - Drones are not represented by a piece on the board. Drones are an action that Infantry can take to destroy pieces that is on the board. The Drone action is declared at the PostTurn phase and resolve on the PreTurn phase on the following turn.

When you use a Drone, you decide which Infantry is deploying the Drone and which space the Drone will go to.
The target space must be within two squares (including diagonal) of the Infantry that sent the Drone.
The Drone destroys whatever Piece is sitting at that place at the start of your next turn including your own Pieces with the exception of a Base. A Drone may not target a Base.
To deploy a Drone, on a white board or a scratch piece of paper, write down the location of your Infantry and the location where the Drone will go to.
Drones destroy the target at the beginning of your next turn.
If the Infantry that is acting as a spotter for the Drone is destroyed, that Drone will not destroy anything.
You must notify your opponent, letting them know how many Drones you used before you can end your turn. You are not to tell them where until the PreTurn of your next turn.
If the Infantry that sends out a Drone is destroyed, the individual who controls that Infantry must must notify you that the Infantry that sent the Drone was Destroyed and which Infantry it was, however, they should not share what space the Drone was targetting.

Crater - When a Drone is used and when the Drone resolves the target space is marked with a Crater until the end of that player's turn. Units may not move through a space that contains a Crater and Hazards may not be placed on a space that contains a Crater.

Hazard Cap - Anti-Air and Mines can be generated by your Bases each turn but are capped to a maximum of 40 Pieces. This is calculated by adding up the number of Anti-Air and Mines that a player controls. If the cap is exceeded, Mines and Anti-Air cannot be placed on the board and Drones must be used instead.

Getting Started

Keywords

Board: 20 squares by 20 squares checkered board
Screen: this can be anything that can block the opponent from viewing your half of the board.

Tanks: each player gets four tanks

Airplanes: each player gets two airplanes

Infantry: each player gets thirty infantry

Mines: each players gets fifteen mines

Anti-Air: each player gets fifteen anti-air missiles

Bases: each player gets two bases

Deployment:

These units are placed in secret on their half of the board with the exception of the final row between them and their opponent. Any piece may be placed at any valid space. Two pieces cannot be placed on the same space.

Use a screen to hide your board state from an opponent. Alternatively, if each player has a pre-made selection of pieces a 3rd party can confirm that the setup is valid, then each player must place their pieces according to the plan without making any changes.

Flip a coin to determine who goes first. You can choose to use the Mine/Anti-Air token as a coin.