Epaminondas

About the game

What is Epaminondas?

Epaminondas is one of Bob Abbott's masterpieces, sadly poorly known. It's a pure abstract 2 player game, white versus black, the board is somewhat similar to the one in Brain Trainer or Othello. Epaminondas is named after the Theban general who invented the phalanx formation he used to defeat the Spartans in 371 B.C. The term "phalanx" is used in the game to describe a connected group of two or more pieces in a straight line, either orthogonally or diagonally. Epaminondas is played on a 14 x 12 checkered board with 28 black pieces and 28 white pieces. The objective is to move your pieces across the board onto your opponent's back rank, the row closest to him, by moving your phalanxes and capturing enemy pieces. Re-implements: Crossings that is on a 8x8 board.

How it plays

Mechanics

On the shelf

Categories

Questions players ask

Questions to bring to BoardGameBrain

• How do setup and the first turn work in Epaminondas?
• When does scoring happen and what ends the game?
• How should the table resolve an unusual timing or rules interaction?