As you have probably noticed, I have updated the rules of Veletas as follows:
In the setup, shooters can be placed next to each other, but no shooters can be placed on the perimeter of the board.
Shooters can move and shoot over other (claimed or unclaimed) shooters.
Because all shooters are available from the beginning, they could be abused as blockers in the previous version to claim a few shooters in the corners in the first few moves of the game, when there is not enough organically appearing material on the board to justify it.
In the new version, shooters don't block each other. This makes them survive for longer, so that, when you do trap them, it feels more deserved. There is also a thematic justification: stones were always pieces that trap but don't get trapped, and now, conversely, shooters are pieces that get trapped but don't trap.
The other change is that, in the setup, the prohibition to place shooters adjacent to each other is replaced with the prohibition to place them on the perimeter of the board. Since the perimeter is the only initial obstacle, shooters will gravitate towards it anyway, so it makes sense to at least prevent them from starting right there, just as it made sense in the previous version to prevent shooters from starting next to each other.
I expect the new rules to be final. I think the game is now better than before. The implementation of the game on this site has been updated as well. I hope you will enjoy it!
Luis
In the setup, shooters can be placed next to each other, but no shooters can be placed on the perimeter of the board. Shooters can move and shoot over other (claimed or unclaimed) shooters.Because all shooters are available from the beginning, they could be abused as blockers in the previous version to claim a few shooters in the corners in the first few moves of the game, when there is not enough organically appearing material on the board to justify it.
In the new version, shooters don't block each other. This makes them survive for longer, so that, when you do trap them, it feels more deserved. There is also a thematic justification: stones were always pieces that trap but don't get trapped, and now, conversely, shooters are pieces that get trapped but don't trap.
The other change is that, in the setup, the prohibition to place shooters adjacent to each other is replaced with the prohibition to place them on the perimeter of the board. Since the perimeter is the only initial obstacle, shooters will gravitate towards it anyway, so it makes sense to at least prevent them from starting right there, just as it made sense in the previous version to prevent shooters from starting next to each other.
I expect the new rules to be final. I think the game is now better than before. The implementation of the game on this site has been updated as well. I hope you will enjoy it!
Luis