VANGUARD
Asymmetric Chess — Nine Armies. One King. No Mercy.
Overview
VANGUARD is a chess-inspired strategy game on an 8×8 board. You command one of nine asymmetric armies, each with unique pieces and movement rules. The AI commands a different army. Win by capturing the enemy King. There is no checkmate — if your King is taken, you lose immediately.
Each army fights differently. Learn your pieces. Exploit your opponent's weaknesses. Strike the King.
Setup & Turns
- You (Player) start at the bottom of the board (rows 6–7). The AI occupies the top (rows 0–1).
- Click a piece to select it. Its legal moves highlight on the board — green dots for empty squares, red outline for capturable enemies.
- Click a highlighted square to move. You always move first.
- Turns alternate: Player → AI → Player → AI…
- The AI picks a random army from the remaining three before each game.
Victory Condition
Capture the enemy's King (or Alpha for WILDS, Dragon Lord for PYRE, Reflector for MIRRORS, Anvil for FORGE, Specter for ECHO, or Dealer for DEALT). There is no check or checkmate — you can move into danger freely, and the King can be taken like any other piece. Play aggressively.
Promotion
When a front-rank piece (Pawn, Acolyte, Cub, Cinder, Mirage, Spark, Wisp, or Suit) reaches the back rank of the enemy side, it automatically promotes:
- KINGDOM Pawn (P) → Queen (Q)
- HORDE Pawn (P) → Warlord (W)
- ARCANE Acolyte (Ac) → Archmage (M)
- WILDS Cub (Cb) → Ravager (Rv)
- PYRE Cinder (Ci) → Drake (Dk)
- MIRRORS Mirage (Mi) → Phantom (Ph)
- FORGE Spark (Sp) → Crucible (Cr)
- ECHO Wisp (Ws) → Wraith (Wr)
- DEALT Suit (Su) → Ace (Ae)
The Nine Armies
⚔ KINGDOM
Classic balanced army. Standard chess with familiar pieces — the reliable choice.
| Piece | Movement |
|---|
| K King | 1 step in any direction |
| Q Queen | Any number of squares in any direction |
| R Rook | Any number of squares orthogonally |
| B Bishop | Any number of squares diagonally |
| N Knight | L-shape jump (2+1), ignores pieces in the way |
| P Pawn | 1 forward (2 on first move), captures diagonally forward. Promotes to Queen. |
🔥 HORDE
Swarm of brutes. No Queen, no Bishop — just raw aggression and numbers.
| Piece | Movement |
|---|
| K King | 1 step in any direction |
| W Warlord | Queen-like, but limited to 3 squares max per move |
| Br Brute | 1 or 2 squares orthogonally. The 2-square move is a jump — ignores pieces in between |
| P Pawn | Standard pawn movement. Promotes to Warlord. |
✨ ARCANE
Mages and cannons. Tricky to fight against — Cannons can jump over allies to snipe enemies.
| Piece | Movement |
|---|
| K King | 1 step in any direction |
| M Archmage | Queen — any number of squares in any direction |
| S Seer | Slides diagonally (like Bishop) plus 1 step orthogonally |
| Cn Cannon | Slides orthogonally through empty squares freely. To capture, it must jump over exactly one piece (a "screen") and land on the first enemy beyond it. Cannot capture by direct contact. |
| Ac Acolyte | Standard pawn movement. Promotes to Archmage. |
🐾 WILDS
Savage beasts. No standard King — the Alpha rules. Hard-hitting Ravagers and nimble Trackers.
| Piece | Movement |
|---|
| Al Alpha | King moves (1 step any direction) plus can move 2 squares orthogonally — but only if the intermediate square is empty (not a jump) |
| Rv Ravager | Rook-like, but limited to 5 squares max per move |
| Tr Tracker | Knight L-shape jump plus 1 step diagonally |
| Cb Cub | Like a pawn, but also captures straight forward (not just diagonally). Promotes to Ravager. |
🔥 PYRE
Dragons and fire — precise, brutal, hard to stop. No standard King — the Dragon Lord rules.
| Piece | Movement |
|---|
| Dl Dragon Lord | King moves (1 step any direction) plus alfil leap — jumps exactly 2 squares diagonally (ignores pieces in between) |
| Dk Drake | Slides diagonally any range (Bishop) plus L-shape knight jump. Covers both square colors. |
| Fb Fireborn | Slides orthogonally any range (Rook) plus 1 step in any diagonal direction |
| Ci Cinder | Moves 1 step diagonally forward (2 on first move if path clear). Captures 1 step straight forward only. Promotes to Drake. |
🪞 MIRRORS
Illusionists who swap and deceive. No capture — only confusion.
Swap mechanic: MIRRORS pieces never capture — instead they swap positions with the target piece. Both pieces remain on the board; they simply exchange squares. Swappable targets are shown with a cyan outline. Swapping with the enemy Reflector is legal but does not win the game — you must still capture it.
| Piece | Movement |
|---|
| Rf Reflector | 1 step in any direction (King). Swap with any adjacent friendly. |
| Il Illusion | Slides orthogonally up to 4 squares (Rook, max 4). No swap. |
| Ph Phantom | Slides diagonally any range (Bishop). Swap with any friendly anywhere on the board. |
| Ln Lens | L-shape knight jump plus 1 step orthogonally. Swap with any enemy in the same column. |
| Mi Mirage | 1 forward (2 on first move), no diagonal captures. Swap with any enemy ≤2 squares orthogonally or ≤3 squares diagonally. Promotes to Phantom. |
🔨 FORGE
Capture to temper your pieces. Build heat, grow stronger, unleash fury.
Temper system: Each time a FORGE piece captures an enemy, it gains 1 temper (shown as orange pips, max 3). The total temper across your army increases the range of Crucibles and Tongs. Individual piece temper unlocks bonus attacks for the Hammer and extends the Anvil's reach.
| Piece | Movement |
|---|
| An Anvil | 1 step any direction (King). At temper 3, gains +1 range (moves up to 2 squares in any direction). |
| Cr Crucible | Slides orthogonally. Base range 3, grows with total army temper (max 5). |
| To Tongs | Slides diagonally. Base range 3, grows with total army temper (max 5). |
| Hm Hammer | L-shape knight jump. At temper ≥2, also captures 1 step orthogonally. |
| Bw Bellows | 1 forward (2 on first move), captures diagonally forward or 1 step sideways. Gains temper on capture. |
| Sp Spark | Standard pawn movement. Promotes to Crucible. |
👻 ECHO
Your pieces leave ghost trails that block all movement for 3 turns — yours and theirs.
Echo trail: Every time an ECHO piece moves, it leaves a ghost square (purple tint) on the square it vacated. Slider pieces (Wraith, Shade) also leave echoes on every square they pass through. Echo squares block all movement — no piece from either side can enter or pass through them. Echoes fade after 3 turns.
| Piece | Movement |
|---|
| Sc Specter | 1 step any direction (King). Leaves echo on departure square. |
| Wr Wraith | Slides orthogonally up to 6 squares. Leaves echo on every square it passes through. |
| Sd Shade | Slides diagonally up to 5 squares. Leaves echo on every square it passes through. |
| Gh Ghost | L-shape knight jump. Leaves echo on departure square. |
| Ws Wisp | Standard pawn movement. Leaves echo on departure square. Promotes to Wraith. |
🃏 DEALT
Play power cards to amplify your moves. Skill over luck — read the hand, choose wisely.
Card system: You hold 3 cards from an 8-card deck. Before moving a piece, click a card in the right panel to activate its effect for that move. After the move, the card is discarded and you draw a replacement. The deck shuffles automatically when empty.
| Piece | Movement |
|---|
| Dr Dealer | 1 step any direction (King). |
| Ae Ace | Slides orthogonally up to 7 squares (powerful Rook). |
| Jk Jack | L-shape knight jump plus 1 step diagonally. |
| Te Ten | Slides diagonally up to 5 squares plus 1 step orthogonally. |
| Su Suit | Standard pawn movement. Promotes to Ace. |
| Card | Effect |
|---|
| Flush | +3 movement range for this move |
| Straight | +6 movement range for this move |
| High Card | After moving, auto-capture one adjacent enemy |
| Full House | After moving, one adjacent friendly piece advances 1 step |
| Bluff | Normal move (no special effect — saves a card slot for the hand) |
| Wild | The next card played has doubled effect (+6 / +12 range) |
| Cut | Skip your turn, draw 2 new cards |
| Dead Man's Hand | Place one of your captured pieces back on any empty square in your back 2 rows |
Special Abilities
Each army has a unique ability usable once per cooldown during your turn. Click the ability button in the right panel to activate it. Gold mastery (10 wins) reduces the cooldown of repeatable abilities.
One-time abilities can only be used once per game. Repeatable abilities recharge after a number of full rounds.
| Army | Ability | Effect | Cooldown |
|---|
| ⚔ KINGDOM |
Royal Decree |
All your pawns advance 1 square instantly |
8 rounds (5 with Gold) |
| 🔥 HORDE |
Warcry |
All your pieces gain +1 movement range for 3 turns |
8 rounds (5 with Gold) |
| ✨ ARCANE |
Arcane Surge |
Cannons can capture by direct contact (no screen needed) for 1 turn |
8 rounds (5 with Gold) |
| 🐾 WILDS |
Feral Charge |
Select one piece — it moves at double its normal range this turn |
8 rounds (5 with Gold) |
| 🔥 PYRE |
Dragon's Breath |
Destroy any enemy piece within 3 squares of your Dragon Lord |
One-time use |
| 🪞 MIRRORS |
Grand Illusion |
Swap any two pieces anywhere on the board |
One-time use |
| 🔨 FORGE |
Master Strike |
Mark one of your FORGE pieces — its next capture grants +2 temper instead of +1 |
6 rounds (4 with Gold) |
| 👻 ECHO |
Resonance |
All echo squares explode — every enemy within 1 square of any echo is removed from the board, then all echoes clear |
One-time use |
| 🃏 DEALT |
Reshuffle |
Discard your entire hand, shuffle the full deck, draw 3 fresh cards |
One-time use |
Starting Layouts
Back row first, then front row (left to right, columns a–h):
| Army | Back Row (cols a–h) | Front Row |
|---|
| KINGDOM | R N B Q K B N R | P P P P P P P P |
| HORDE | Br W Br Br K Br W Br | P P P P P P P P |
| ARCANE | Cn S S M K M S Cn | Ac Ac Ac Ac Ac Ac Ac Ac |
| WILDS | Rv Tr Tr Rv Al Rv Tr Tr | Cb Cb Cb Cb Cb Cb Cb Cb |
| PYRE | Fb Dk Fb Fb Dl Fb Dk Fb | Ci Ci Ci Ci Ci Ci Ci Ci |
| MIRRORS | Il Ln Ph Ph Rf Ph Ln Il | Mi Mi Mi Mi Mi Mi Mi Mi |
| FORGE | Cr To Hm An Bw Hm To Cr | Sp Sp Sp Sp Sp Sp Sp Sp |
| ECHO | Wr Sd Gh Sc Gh Gh Sd Wr | Ws Ws Ws Ws Ws Ws Ws Ws |
| DEALT | Ae Jk Te Dr Te Jk Ae Jk | Su Su Su Su Su Su Su Su |
AI Difficulty
| Level | Behavior |
|---|
| Easy | Moves completely at random. Good for learning your army. |
| Medium | Always takes the most valuable piece it can capture. Falls back to random if no captures are available. |
| Hard | Looks 3 moves ahead using minimax with alpha-beta pruning. Will set up attacks and defend actively. |
Strategy Tips
- KINGDOM vs WILDS: Your long-range Queen and Rooks outrange Ravagers. Trade pieces early and use your Bishop pairs.
- KINGDOM vs HORDE: Brutes are slow. Open the center and use your Knights to jump over the crowd.
- ARCANE Cannons need a screen piece to capture — position your own Acolytes as "platforms" behind enemy lines.
- WILDS Trackers are surprisingly mobile (knight + diagonal step). Use them to fork multiple targets.
- HORDE Brutes can jump 2 squares — use this to skip over your own pawns and reach the enemy faster.
- WILDS Alpha is more powerful than a standard King — don't hide it; use its extended reach to apply pressure.
- Promote your front-rank pieces whenever possible. A promoted Archmage or Warlord in the back row can be decisive.
- On Hard difficulty, protect your King early — the AI will find multi-move attacks within its 3-ply lookahead.
- FORGE: Prioritize captures early — even trading Sparks for enemy pawns starts building temper. Once your total temper reaches 3 or 6, your Crucibles and Tongs become noticeably stronger. Save Master Strike for a Crucible or Tongs that's already close to temper 3.
- ECHO: Think of your echo trail as a slow-spreading wall. Move sliders (Wraith, Shade) through high-traffic corridors to cut the board in half. Save Resonance until 3–4 enemies are adjacent to echo squares for maximum damage.
- ECHO vs long-range armies: Wraiths and Shades leave trails that block enemy sliders too — use this to shut down KINGDOM Rooks and ARCANE Cannons.
- DEALT: Never discard Straight or High Card unless you have three power cards already. Cut is only worth playing when you have a bad hand (Bluff + 2 Wilds, for example). Dead Man's Hand is most powerful late-game when you've lost a strong piece.
- DEALT Wild: Combine Wild → Straight for +12 range on a single move — an Ace can reach anywhere on the board.