General Silver begins play. Play moves to the left. The player with the Move may move and return as many pieces, one at a time, as necessary to find the optimum move. The player with the Move must move a piece before passing the Token. The player's move is not final until the Token is passed. Note: There is no touch move - touch capture rule in HexiMerosTM. When the player with the Move is satisfied with his turn, he passes the Token to the player on his left so that player may begin his turn.

Attack A piece is said to be under attack when it is in a position where, on the next move of one of the other players, the piece may be captured by one of the other players.

Capture Capture is the removal of an opponent's piece from the board by occupying the space that the captured piece was occupying. Exceptions are the Dreadnaught and the Archer (see Movement for the Dreadnaught and Archer). Every playing piece is subject to capture by its opponents. A player may make one capture per turn. A capture is always the end of a move. Except for the Dreadnaught, a piece may not capture another piece of its own color. The Dreadnaught may not capture its own Sovereign.

Check Check is a term borrowed from Chess. In HexiMerosTM it means that the Sovereign of the player in Check is under attack and that that attack has been announced to the table by the attacking player. A Sovereign under an attack that has not been announced to the table is not in Check. Check applies only when declared. Declaration of Check is not mandatory as in Chess. It is a matter of play strategy. Check must be declared before the Token is passed. Check declared after the Token is passed is not binding. Check may be declared by or upon the player with the Move. Check declared by the player with the Move In this form of Check: you have the Move your move places one or more of the other Sovereigns under attack you inform the table of the attack by declairing that one or more Sovereigns are in Check Only the player with the Move can declare this form of Check. This form of Check is not binding if declared by any other player. Check only applies to the Sovereign(s) that you declare it on. If your move places one or more other Sovereigns under attack and you do not declare them to be in Check; Check does not apply to these Sovereigns. When Check is declared, the player declared to be in Check must relieve Check on his next turn. He may do this by: moving his Sovereign to a space where it is not subject to capture moving another of his pieces to a position that blocks the attack capturing the opponent's piece that is attacking The player in Check does not have to relieve Check if the move of one of the other players prevents the attack before the player in Check gets the Move. In other words, if another player relieves Check for him. Check declared upon the player with the Move In this form of Check: the player with the Move moves so as to place his Sovereign under attack from one or more of your pieces you inform the table that the Sovereign of the player with the Move is placing his Sovereign in Check This form of Check may only be declared by the player that has the Sovereign under attack. This form of Check is not binding from any other player. You must declare this form of Check before the Token is passed. If you do so, the player with the Move must change his move. A player may not pass the Token while his Sovereign is in Check. Check and The Archer Special attention must be given to a Sovereign placed in or moving into Check by an Archer. The Archer is special in its board status: it captures without occupying or moving through the space that was occupied by the captured piece it must move to a shooting position before it can capture See The Archers

Captured Sovereign A captured Sovereign is removed from the board. The pieces of a defeated Sovereign remain in place on the board for the duration of play. These pieces may be captured in the normal manner, but they may not be moved.

Landing on Ground Zero For a Militant, Sovereign, Cavalier, Dreadnaught, Archer or Assassin that reaches Ground Zero, on the piece's next move, its movement doubles. This only applies to the next move of the piece that landed on Ground Zero (see Ground Zero Movement). The player has the option to use the doubled capability of the piece or the normal capability of the piece as his strategy dictates. The Alcazar, Prelate and Regent are not affected by this rule because their normal movement range from Ground Zero already extends to the edge of the board in any movement direction.

Ending The Game There is no equivalent to the checkmate position in Chess. The game ends when there is only one Sovereign left on the game board. Victory One player's Sovereign(s) remains on the board. All other Sovereigns have been captured or otherwise removed from the board. The player with the surviving Sovereign(s) has won the game. If the game is scored, the victorious player is awarded +100 points (see Scoring The Game). Draw If the play position is such that neither of the last two players can capture the Sovereign(s) of the other can be captured, the game is drawn between these two players. If the game is scored, each player receives +45 points (see Scoring The Game). Resignation A player relinquishes or abandons his place at the game. If a player chooses to leave the game for any reason except that of a Concession, a replacement player may be elected to finish the play of the resigning player. The election of a replacement player follows the Rules For Voting (see Rules For Voting). If the resignation will leave only two players, both players must agree on the replacement player. If the Resignation will leave a single player, that player may opt to refuse the Resignation in favor of Concession. If no replacement player is available or agreed to, the resigning player's Sovereign is removed from the board and placed at the base of its own colored hextant, off the board. The resigning player's remaining pieces have the same status as those of a captured Sovereign (see Captured Sovereign). If the game is scored (see Scoring The Game): No points are awarded to the remaining players for a Resigning player that is not replaced, unless there is only one remaining player. In this case, the Resignation is equivalent to a Concession and the remaining player is the winner and has ach ieved Victory. All points accumulated in the current game by the Resigning player are forfeit except for the Loss points. Concession A player admits the inevitability of his defeat and withdraws from the game. If a player is convinced that victory is unattainable and that it is pointless to play out the rest of the game, the player may choose to concede defeat to the remaining player and thus end the game. Unlike a Resignation, a Concession may only occur between the last two players remaining in the game. Before this point, a player may only Resign. When a player Concedes, the player's Sovereign is passed to the remaining player. The remaining player is the winner and has achieved Victory. If the game is scored (see Scoring The Game): The victorious player is awarded +100 points. All points accumulated by the conceding player are retained. Loss A player is said to have Lost the game under any of these situations: The player's Sovereign is captured The player Resigns The player Concedes If the game is scored, the loosing player is penalized points depending upon the sequence of player departure from the game (see Scoring The Game). There is no 5th out player in a Draw. 1st Out 2nd Out 3rd Out 4th Out 5th Out -50 -40 -30 -20 -10 A player who's Sovereign is captured retains all of his accumulated points. Expulsion The special case of player Expulsion is treated as a Resignation (see Call For The Expulsion Of A Player). If the game is scored, the player is penalized -500 Expulsion points (see Scoring The Game). House Rules At the beginning of the game, before the Silver player passes the Token, the players may establish their own variations on the rules of play. These rules may cover any part of game play and are only in force through the end of the game. House Rules are chosen according to the Rules for Voting (see Rules For Voting).

Board Etiquette During play, the players may walk around the board to get a different perspective on the play. This includes looking over the shoulder of another player. Only the player with the Move may touch the game pieces. In the case of a Team, only the Team member designated to move the game pieces may touch the game pieces. Board talk and other conversations by players are not prohibited, but you could make enemies if you are not frugal. Eating, pit stops and other trips away from the play area by players are expected and encouraged. Food and beverages near the play area are not restricted. However, care should be taken to protect the board and playing pieces. Spectators are allowed but kibitzing by non-players is verboten. Non-players may be summarily ejected from the play area for kibitzing. Play patiently and carefully. It is not uncommon, with new players, for a game to last 8 hours. The longest game recorded lasted over 18 hours. Honor Rule: If you are going to declare Check on the player with the Move, you should declare it when the player moves in to Check, not just before the Token is to be passed. Remember that this is a game. Take great care not to bump the board or otherwise disturb the game pieces. This type of carelessness could get you Expelled.

Strategy The board can become very visually confusing, so get up and move around to get a different perspective Consider alliances carefully. Attack and unsolicited assistance from an unanticipated hextant is common. Opponents concentrating on each other can provide interesting opportunities. Moving a lot of pieces, looking for a good move, can reveal your strategy or weakness. This can also give the other players ideas that they may not have had. Player fatigue and patience become very important as the game progresses. Hasty moves are always dangerous. Don't get cocky. There are five other players in the game. Watch faces and behavior. Body language is also part of the game. The game consists of everything that is happening in and around gaming area. The game also consists of everything that is happening away from the gaming area that relates to the game. Although kibitzing is not allowed, players may be receiving advice and planning strategies away from the playing area. Do not concede to quickly. An apparently defeated player can, with dogged and tenacious play, reverse what appears to be a hopeless situation. If the game is scored, points that a player has or might receive and their impact on the player's standing become important.