Pressman is a two-player board-game where opponents try to capture all of the other player's SOLDIERS. The SOLDIERS are round black and white pieces similar in size to checker pieces. The board is an 8x8 grid of 64 squares of alternating light and dark color (similar to a checkers or chess board) called the BATTLEFIELD.
At the beginning of the game one player has 28 white SOLDIERS and the other other has 28 black SOLDIERS. Players set up their pieces by filling up the first two rows that are closest to them with 16 of their 28 SOLDIERS as shown in the diagram below:
The remaining pieces are placed off to the side of the board for later use.
The BATTLEFIELD is divided into eight vertical columns, called FILES, and eight horizontal rows, called FLANKS. All Pressman SOLDIERS move similar to a queen does in the game of chess. They can move horizontally along FLANKS, vertically along FILES, or diagonally.
SOLDIERS cannot 'jump' over other SOLDIERS. So that if an opponent's SOLDIERS or your own are in your line of movement, there is a BLOCKADE that will restrict further movement.
A player may capture their opponent's SOLDIERS but cannot capture their own. To capture, a player simply moves their piece to an opponents occupied square, replaces the opponents soldier with theirs, and then places the opponents piece off to the side of the board.
If a player's SOLDIER reaches a square on his opponent's HOME BASE, he may place a SOLDIER on a square on his own HOME BASE. However, if all squares on your HOME BASE are occupied with other SOLDIERS he cannot receive a new SOLDIER.
The object of Pressman is to capture all of the opponent's SOLDIERS. There are three ways to end the game:
- One player captures all of their opponent's SOLDIERS.
- One player forfeits.
- There is a stalemate.
Players decide before the game who goes first. On the first move, a player may only move the pieces on their second FILE because the pieces on the first FILE (called the HOME BASE) are initially being BLOCKADED.
Here are a few things that you may want to know before you play the game:
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A player would be wise to protect his first row from the opponent to prevent him from gaining more pieces. A player with more pieces will have a material advantage so it is of utmost importance weaken the opponents defenses while maintaining your own.
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Generally, it is not wise to capture an opponent's SOLDIER if the piece is your own HOMEBASE and it is protected by another opponent's SOLDIER. If you do capture it, the opponent will simply capture your SOLDIER and create a new SOLDIER, possibly gaingin a material advantage.