B ATAKY!

B ATAKY! ("To the attack!") is a Soviet-era board game described as being for secondary school students clearly has its roots in chess, with a mapboard laid out in squares, 15 across by 20 deep. There are three terrain features: a six-square box at the centre of each side representing the headquarters that must me captured; a river (which slows movement) across the middle, two squares wide in the centre and one square on the sides; and four yellow squares on each side closest to the players, which are reserve areas in which pieces may be placed but not attacked.

Each side starts with 21 pieces: 8 infantry, 4 tanks, 4 artillery, 3 missiles and 2 airplanes. As in chess, each piece moves differently and destroys an enemy piece by moving onto its square.

All moves are orthogonal, and pieces may attack in any of the four directions. Infantry may move one or two squares. Tanks may move 1 - 3 spaces. Missiles may move up to 5 spaces but when attacking are destroyed along with their target. Artillery moves one space but may attack a target up to 3 spaces away (without moving to that square). Airplanes may attack up to 10 squares away. Finally, each player may record one space that is mined and will destroy an enemy piece that moves onto it.

There is a screen that allows players to make their initial placements in secret. The first player makes a single move; his opponent then makes two; the first player makes two; and then the opponent makes three. Thereafter each player's turn includes three moves, enabling a variety of assaults, probes and counter-attacks.