Echelon

A game of truth and love by Messrs Pitt and Reams.

• Beginners: Try setting the AI thinking time to about 2 minutes.
• Intermediate: 5 to 10 minutes thinking ought to provide a decent challenge.
• Expert: If you can beat the computer consistently with 60 minutes thinking then you are probably quite good.

News

1. 30th July 2007: v1.0.6.0: More major improvements to the AI. Larger opening book with faster load time.
2. 8th July 2007: v1.0.5.0: Proper clock system. Major rewrite of the AI. Arguably the first decent opponent yet.
3. 29th April 2007: v1.0.4.0: Opening book (of a fairly modest 130 positions) and some AI enhancements. Also fixed the lock-up bug with the analyser. More to come...
4. 25th February 2007: v1.0.2.2: Nicer analysis UI and more AI speedups.
5. 23rd February 2007: v1.0.2.1: Much nicer analysis interface and a few bug fixes.
6. 22nd February 2007: v1.0.2.0: Better UI and analysis options.
7. 3rd February 2007: v1.0.1.0: I had a smart idea for the AI, which resulted in a 400% speed increase. The AI player should now be considerably stronger at the same time control.

Technical problems

Having problems starting the program? You might need to update Java. Try going to the Java download site and getting the Windows (XPI) download. If that still doesn't work then e-mail me and I'll make good stuff happen.

The Full Rules

Playing the Game

A winning move for blue.

• Echelon is a game for two players; red and blue. Each player has ten counters of their own colour.
• Red plays first, and play alternates between the two players. By default, you play red and the computer plays blue.
• On each turn, the player can move one piece in a straight line in any direction. If a player does not have a legal move, they have lost. The piece may move any number of spaces until it encounters an obstruction or another piece.
• Obstructions comprise:
  • The edge of the board
  • Dead hexagons (see later)
• If a piece moves into another piece's hexagon, it is said to stomp that piece and is placed on top of it. The piece underneath cannot move until the piece on top moves away.
• A piece is free if it is not on top of any other piece. Only a free piece can stomp.
• If one piece is stomping another, another piece that moves into this hexagon can stomp both of them. A player wins if a stack of three counters is created with their counter on top. The other two counters can be of either colour.
• When the last piece moves out of a hexagon, that hexagon is becomes dead. Pieces cannot move onto or through dead hexagons.

The Finer Points

• A piece may stomp a piece of its own colour. This is surprisingly useful!
• If a stack of three is created by removing the top counter of a stack of four, the player whose counter is revealed is considered the winner, as usual. Beware this!

Variations

We have also developed a more gently-paced game known as Gentleman's Echelon. The rules are largely the same, except players cannot win by triple-stacking. This completely transforms the required strategy. Check it out if you fancy a breather.

Glossary

Auto-stomping

A move in which one piece stomps another piece of the same colour.

Dead hexagon

A hexagon which has previously contained a piece but no longer does. No piece can move through or onto a dead square.

Dink

A move from one hexagon to an adjacent one.

Restomping

When piece is unstomped and immediately stomps the piece that was stomping it.

Stack

A pile of two or more pieces.

Stomping

Moving a piece on top of one or more other pieces.

Super-stomping

A move in which a piece moves from the top of one stack to the top of another. This is not allowed ever, at all, under any circumstances whatsoever.

Unstomping

Moving the top piece of a stack to another hexagon, freeing the piece directly underneath.

Feedback

If you love this game and generally find that it has given your life new purpose then let me know — my CRSid is calr3. Conversely if you hate us for even daring to conceive such a game, Simon's CRSid is sp440.