Game Explanation: SHEPHERDS AND WARRIORS

Shepherds and Warriors

Abstract strategy board game for 2 players.

Description and Purpose

Shepherds and Warriors is a competitive abstract strategy game for two opposing players.

The goal of the game is to eliminate all of the opponent's stones.

The term "stone" is used for the playing pieces because historically board games have been played with stones and/or seeds.

About the Game

• The game was created to be played on a 12-point Alquerque board (25 points).
• It's a great introduction to board games for young people, with only 2 types of stones with 2 movements and a great logical-strategic component.
• This game can be used for quick matches, for example at the beach or in the countryside (easy to create a board on ground, paper, etc.).
• Additionally, any material can be used for the stones: bottle caps, marbles, stones, etc. In my case, I play with 8 checkers, 3 of which are marked to differentiate the 2 types of stones.

History of the Game's Creation

The game was created in 2025 and is called "Shepherds and Warriors" thinking about the pre-Hispanic wars over grazing territory in my native Tenerife.

In Tenerife (Canary Islands), before the conquest, it was normal for shepherds and some warriors from the different kingdoms (Menceyatos) to fight over goat grazing territory. With this idea in mind and being a big fan of Checkers and Alquerque games, I came up with this variant, more complex than checkers and alquerque but simpler than chess, easy to learn and with a great strategic component.

During the process, it was baptized with different names, until reaching the current "Shepherds and Warriors" which are listed for preservation and curiosity.

• The Menceyes
• The Shepherds
• Checkers and Pawns (Because of the type of stones we use at home)

Type of Stones

Each player plays with 8 stones named as follows:

• 5 Shepherds
• 3 Warriors

The stones don't have a specific color or shape, they just need to be clearly differentiated from each other.

In explanatory representations, the colors for players are Yellow/Blue and the stones are represented as follows:

• Shepherds = Circles
• Warriors = Squares

Playing

The game develops in 2 parts just like in other alquerque games such as Mill (Nine Men's Morris) or 3-point Alquerque (Three Men's Morris), the placement phase and the movement phase.

Stone Placement

It's determined who starts by any method between the players. Stones are placed one at a time per player and turn without any pre-established order or position in the 2 rows closest to the player as shown in the following figure.

A Warrior can be placed initially on a point that doesn't have diagonals to position it after the game begins. The placement largely determines the strategy to be followed by both players and is extremely important.

Stone Movement

In the representation, Shepherds are shown as circles and Warriors as squares. Stones always move following the board lines.

• Shepherds can move (and capture) in cross pattern (↔️, ↕️) to the next nearby point.
• Warriors can move (and capture) diagonally (↖️, ↗️, ↘️, ↙️) to the next nearby point. If diagonal movement is not possible, they can move laterally (↔️) but not capture.

Stones can only move to the next empty space around them following the rules listed above or capture enemy stones if they are in some of these adjacent spaces and the movement allows it.

Stones cannot replace or capture their own stones.

Capturing Opponent's Stones

When two stones are close and connected by a line, if the movement and turn allow it, one of them can be "captured" (as in chess). The capturing stone will take the place of the captured one. Once this is done, the captured stone will be removed from the game board.

Observe a diagram of how stones move, both normal movement and capture of enemy stones:

1 vs 1 and Draw

Sometimes the end of the game is determined in a 1 vs 1 situation.

These are the rules for the final 1 vs 1, regardless of the stone type.

• Only 5 turns can be played.
• If 5 turns are reached without a winner, the game will end in a draw.

When the game becomes 2 vs 1, the player with one stone will try to force a draw and the other will try to win.

Other Rules

These are not rules that must be followed (everyone plays as they want at home) but at least we play this way at home and it's good to share them:

• The stone that is touched is the one that moves or is placed, this forces analysis of the board before starting an action.
• The winner always shakes hands with the loser.

More Information

Capture Points

There are 25 points total on the board. 12 of them serve for cross captures and 13 for diagonal captures. (See figure 3)

Playing on a Standard 8x8 Chess Board

It's possible to play on a standard 8x8 chess board. In my case, what I did before printing an alquerque board was to leave a black block at the bottom right so in 5x5 blocks you have: White Squares (Only movements for Shepherds) Black Squares: Diagonal movements.

To better understand this concept, here's an explanatory image:

Educational Benefits

Shepherds and Warriors has educational benefits and "lessons" for children and up, due to its rules and regulations, aside from the typical logical and strategic thinking of this type of games.

• The randomness when placing stones makes initial strategies very varied. (Each game is different since each player has 2520 ways to position the stones at the start).
• The board has 25 points of which 16 are occupied in the first turn after the placement phase, meaning stones must be sacrificed before the third turn to open gaps on the board, especially in the initial turns where sacrifice is almost mandatory. It's the player's decision which piece to sacrifice and how this will affect subsequent turns. (You must choose to sacrifice to advance).
• The stone that is touched is the one that moves and/or is placed. (You must assume the consequences of decisions made by mistake).
• Without the obligation to capture or possibility to crown, medium-term vision (1 or 2 turns ahead) and piece sacrifice are key to victory. (You must think about the consequences of the decisions you make).
• Respect for the opponent must be maintained; this comes from Canarian Wrestling where the winner must lift the loser from the ground to give them victory. (You must be courteous with everyone).

In addition to these points, Shepherds and Warriors can be learned in minutes, both the board and stones can be made from disposable and/or recycled materials, and it's easy to understand. All this makes it ideal for an introduction to abstract strategy in schools. It's simpler to learn than Chess and more complex than Checkers or Alquerque.

Example Game

An example game in .GIF format

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