Chaturanga Family

Rimau is a game from Malaysia of the "hunt family" of games.  One player takes on the role of the tiger while the other player controls all the humans.  There are two versions ~ one with 22 humans and one with 24 humans. They play the same. The (15) below in the rules is for the 24 human version.  

 

Game Play and Rules

1. In the beginning the tiger is placed at the vertex of one of the two mountains that connects to the Alquerque board. Nine men are initially placed on the nine intersection points of the central square of the Alquerque board.

2. The tiger player moves first and removes any 3 men from the board. Then the tiger player may also pick up the tiger, and place it on any empty intersection point on the board, or the tiger player can simply leave the tiger where it is already.

3. The man player moves next, and must drop his or her remaining 13(15) pieces on any vacant intersection point on the board one piece per turn before he or she can begin to move any of them. This will take 13(15) turns. Players alternate their turns throughout the game. The tigers can move and capture from the beginning.

4. After the 13(15) men have been dropped, they can then move. Only one man may be moved per turn. The man can be moved (in any available direction) along a line to a vacant adjacent intersection point.

5. Similarly, the tiger can move (in any available direction) along a line to a vacant adjacent intersection point in a turn. However, the tiger, alternatively, can capture. The men cannot capture.

6. The tiger can capture an odd number of men (e.g. 1, 3, 5, or 7). If more than one man is captured (i.e. 3, 5, or 7), the men must be in a line. The tiger must be adjacent to the man or line of men, and leap over them onto a vacant intersection point immediately beyond. The leaped pieces are removed. The tiger must leap over them in a straight line that follows the pattern on the board. Moreover, when capturing a line of men, the men must be lined up right next to each other with no vacant points in between them. Once a man or a line of men are leaped over and captured, the tiger can no longer capture further or move. Captures are not compulsory.

7. If the men are reduced to 10 or 11 pieces, the men will usually resign as there is not enough of them to effectively immobilize the two tigers.

(Thank you to whoever wrote these rules out)