ASALTO VS LIUBO

Asalto, also known as the Assault Game, German Tactics or Officers and Sepoys, is a board game for two players in which one player, playing as the officers, attempts to defend a fortress from their opponent's invading rebels. The game is a variant on the Fox and Geese theme, and is commonly played in Germany, France, and England. Asalto is an asymmetric game in which the players take on two very different roles: the rebels and the officers. The rebels' objective is to capture the two officers, surround them so that they cannot move, or occupy all of the points within the "fortress". The officers' objective is to capture enough rebels that these tasks become impossible. Asalto is played on a grid of 33 intersection points in the shape of a cross, with a specially denoted arm known as the fortress at the top of the board. The total number of pieces in an Asalto game is 26, composed of 24 rebels and two officers. Before play begins, the rebels are arranged so that they sit on the 24 intersection points outside the fortress, while the officers may be arranged at the player's discretion inside the fortress. The game begins once the rebel player takes the first turn.

See statistics

Liubo (Chinese: 六博 or 陸博; pinyin: liù bó; Wade–Giles: liu po; lit. 'six sticks') is an ancient Chinese board game played by two players. For the rules, it is believed that each player had six game pieces that were moved around the points of a square game board that had a distinctive, symmetrical pattern. Moves were determined by the throw of six sticks, which performed the same function as dice in other race games. The game was invented no later than the middle of the 1st millennium BCE, and was popular during the Han dynasty (202 BCE – 220 CE). However, after the Han Dynasty it rapidly declined in popularity, possibly due to the rise in popularity of the game of Go, and it became totally forgotten. Knowledge of the game has increased in recent years with archeological discoveries of Liubo game boards and game equipment in ancient tombs, as well as discoveries of Han dynasty picture stones and picture bricks depicting Liubo players. It is not known when the game of Liubo originated, although according to legend it was invented by Wu Cao (烏曹, called Wu Zhou 烏胄 in the early 2nd century CE Shuowen Jiezi dictionary), a minister to King Jie, the last king of the Xia dynasty, who according to traditional chronology reigned 1728–1675 BCE. While there is no archeological or reliable documentary evidence to support the view that Liubo dates back to the Shang dynasty (1600–1046 BCE), early Chinese records do indicate that Liubo was already a popular game by the Warring States period (476–221 BCE). For example, the Records of the Grand Historian records a speech made during the reign of King Xuan of Qi (reigned 319–301 BCE) that claims that the capital city of Linzi was so wealthy that its citizens were all able to indulge in activities such as playing musical instruments, cockfighting, dog racing, playing Liubo and playing kick ball.

See statistics