WALDENIAN UR | A board game

[Zaerie 3415]

WALDENIAN UR

An Ancient Game Resurfaced by House Barclay

343 E.S.

 

---

 

Waldenian Ur, recently resurfacing as a game played often between the Duchess of Reinmar, and her cousins, is an old Waldenian board game played by two participants at a time. Described as a simpler and faster version of Haeseni Chess, Ur is a quick paced game of chance and strategy with elements of chaos, revenge, and some careful plotting. 

 

How to Play

 

---

 

 

The Waldenian Ur board, made up of 3 rows of 8 tiles, is a relatively simple setup with only three main functions. The C shaped movement track, the ‘swirl’ tiles where you are safe, and get to roll again, and the division into the Green side, Blue side, and the middle comprising a ‘no mans land’ setup.

 

 

First off, the shape of movement on a Waldenian Ur board is rather unconventional. Moving from the green piece, up, into the middle, all the way down, back to your side and then up into the red, without explanation it can appear rather confusing. You will never place your piece on either the red, or the green, as these are more of a placeholder for a piece that has yet to be in play, and the finishing line. The goal is to get your piece to the red, where you may then remove them from the board or stack them on the red if you so choose. In order to score your point, you must roll the exact number to get onto the red, if you roll something other than the exact number, you cannot move that piece.

 

 

Within Waldenian Ur, you roll four special dice that can give you up to four, and may also result in a 0. 1 puts you on the first white spot in front of your green beginning, and so on. Ur does not allow you to stack pieces on top of eachother, and therefor with seven pieces in play, you must manage your pieces and real estate carefully, as if you do not have an open space available to move to with your roll, your turn will be skipped.

 

[roll out of 5, 1-4 is normal, 5 counts as a 0, and you are unable to move.]

 

 

The spiral pieces within the Waldenian Ur board allow you to roll your dice again, and move any of your pieces with said second roll. If you land on another spiral with your second roll, you get a third, and so on. The spiral in the middle of the board also doubles as a safe space where you may not get taken, and will count for the other player simply as a space they cannot move to.

 

Once all seven of your pieces have made it from green to red, you will finish the game and win!

 

Optionally, for an even quicker game of Ur, you may reduce the amount of pieces from seven to four, but it is to be noted that this smaller version will lack some of the chaos that makes Waldenian Ur what it is.

 

 

---

 

GOTT MIT UNS,

Her Princely Grace, Johanna Klaudia Barclay, Princess of Sutica, Duchess of Reinmar, Margravine of Vanderfell, Countess of Freimark and Kretzen, Baroness of Madvon, and Freising, Lady of Erwinsburg, Neuberg, Wilheburg and Freisburg, Lady Vandalore, Chieftess of the Reinmaren

[argonian 12844]

"What does it mean for a piece to be taken? It's off the board? If so, what if we both take a token off each other, do we both lose?" asks a relative embarrassedly disconnected from his roots!