Stub
Nemein is a strategy board game which uses national currencies as the pieces of the game. It is a game which has permeated nearly all of the southern Plane’s cultures.
History
The origins of Nemein are lost to time, but current theories suggest it originated early in the Post-War Era. Anthropologists and historian Dian Fossey has posed that the game may trace its earliest origin to Sextown and the God of Tectonics. Many folk tales are told and have been passed down regarding the origins of the game, these tales often tell of Gods who would challenge mortals during the God-War or vice versa.
Rules
Nemein is a two-player strategy game played on a hexagonal grid. Players compete to control the board through strategic settlement and combat. The game is typically played with two differing currencies, but may be played with the same currency. If using the same currency each player must distinguish their coins by consistently using either heads or tails.
Each player selects a handful of coins that add up to a whole fraction of their national currency, within a set maximum number of coins. (E.g., in USD: one quarter, four dimes, six nickels, and five pennies is valid; one hundred pennies is not.)
Terminology: All pieces on the board are coins. Coins of the highest denomination are used to construct houses; all others are considered units.
Turn Structure: On their turn a player may perform up to one of each of the following actions, in the order they are listed. Players may skip any action, but once an action is skipped or completed they may not return to it later in the same turn.
- Move an unhoused unit;
- Split a unit;
- Upgrade a housed unit.
- House a unit;
Movement: Unhoused units may move to any adjacent tile containing fewer than three coins. Up to three coins may coexist on a tile. If a unit moves onto a tile with one or more opposing coins, an attack is initiated.
Attacking: If a unit moves onto a tile occupied by one or more enemy coins an attack is initiated against the tile. If the attacker’s value is greater than the lowest-value enemy coin the attacker wins. If the attacker’s value is equal to or less than the lowest-value enemy coin the outcome is decided by a coin flip. If the attacker loses, the attacker is removed and all defenders remain. If the attacker wins, all enemy coins on the tile are removed, the attacker is promoted to the next available coin denomination, and the attacking player may take another turn.
Splitting: A unit which is not of the minimum fraction of value and exists on a tile with no more than one other friendly unit may be divided into two more units of the next fraction of value down (I.E. an American dime(1/10) would become two nickels(1/20)).
Housing: If a unit is alone on a tile it may be housed by placing a coin of the highest denomination beneath it. Houses are not units and cannot move. The unit on top of a house may not move, but may still split. If a tile contains two friendly units and one is housed, their positions may be swapped.
The game is won either by eliminating all opposing units or by claiming a set number of tiles through the placement of houses.