This project is a RiiR of my ancient sy3c4ll/chess-of-hastings.
Chess of Hastings is a Chess-like board game inspired by the 1066 Battle of Hastings. The two sides are asymmetrical, which means they have different armies. Rules are constantly being adjusted due to balancing issues, so please don't refrain from reaching out if you think a piece is overpowered.
- Normans have the invaders' initiative; they go first.
- The Normans and the Saxons take turns in striking; such is the way of the noble.
- Neither side shall peruse more than one move in their given turns; such is the way of the greedy.
- Neither side shall stall and make no move in their given turns; such is the way of the cowardly.
- The King's throne oversees the entirety of the battlefield; any who rest here may reengage in any lane. However, royal leisure brings sloth to the soul and prevents even the mightiest of men from moving any faster than the common footman.
- With no King, there is no Country. The war can be won through either coercing capitulation or vanquishing the enemy King while keeping your own King safe. Long live the King!
- The Norman army is composed of Cavalry, Archer and Footman lines, from rear to front.
- The Saxon army is composed of Huscarl, Footman and Shieldsman lines, from rear to front.
- Footmen and Shieldsmen may move and conquer one square cardinally each turn.
- Archers may only advance one square each turn, but may alternatively unload onto a desired area at most three squares in their facing direction.
- Shieldsmen wield tower shields that are capable of protecting themselves and those behind them from Archer fire.
- Cavalry are fierce horseback warriors who cover ground fast with their mounts. Calvalry may move and conquer at most two squares cardinally each turn.
- The horseback nature of Cavalry makes them ruthless against Footmen; normal Footmen cannot compete, even when they hold the initiative. Trained Shieldsmen and mighty Huscarls stand a good chance, though.
- Huscarls are vicious royal bodyguards who are capable of charging across multiple squares where the average soldier is capable of one. Huscarls may move and conquer either up to two squares cardinally, or one square diagonally each turn.
- The King commands the servitude of all on the battlefield, and His Majesty's safety is of utmost importance. The King may move and conquer one square cardinally or diagonally, and may even execute His own men to occupy their place if the need arises.
Clone the repository, then compile and run with
cargo run --releaseI originally came up with the idea for a History assignment, and since its inception the game was repurposed several times according to personal needs and wants. The legacy is as such:
- c. 2018: Crayon squares and cardboard pieces, the one and only physical copy of my game was drawn up and submitted. Fun fact, back then the King thrones were only connected to the two central files. This design was later discarded when it proved a challenge to describe in code.
- Jan 2021: An electronic version utilising Java and Swing was drafted and published via Git. To this day it remains unknown whether this date was truly the date of completion of this project, or simply a belated publishment of a copy I had created prior, especially since it was also around this time I learned to use Git.
- Mar 2021: Past technical roadblocks or basic skill issue, an executable archive was able to be compiled and was promptly released. To this day it remains not just the only release on the repo, but also the only release on my entire account. By this time I had also gone through several revisions of the README with assistance from the backside of my physical copy, however I had neglected to document what little rule changes I had made. The discrepancies remain to this day.
- Feb 2025: Feeling a sense of disgust with the haphazard codebase that is the Java Chess of Hastings, I decided to right my wrongs with the Shiny New Language (TM). I believe I managed to do a better job, future me would vehemently disagree.