Help For the Game Of Fire and IceIntroductionWelcome to the network server for Fire and Ice, the abstract board game by Jens-Peter Schliemann published by Pin International. The Fire and Ice challenge command starts a new game between userid1 and userid2 as follows: fireandice challenge [-handicap=number] userid1 userid2 The -handicap parameter sets the number of handicap pieces (range 1..6). Fire always starts with at least one piece, but may also start with up to six additional pieces randomly added to separate islands. Other commands are the same as for all pbmserv games. Board LayoutThe Fire and Ice board consists of a system of seven triangular islands. Each island has seven positions marked '-' in a similar triangular layout. Two players, Fire and Ice, compete to control three islands forming a line or circle. FIRE (#): 24 _ ICE (O): 25
/ \
/ - \
/ \
A / - - \ 1
/ - \
B C / - - - \ 2 3
D \___________/ 4
E F G . . . 5 6 7
. . .
_. . . . . . ._
/ \ . . . / \
/ - \. . ./ - \
/ \ _ / \
/ - - \ / \ / - - \
/ - \ / - \ / - \
/ - - - \/ \/ - - - \
\___________/ - - \___________/
. . / # \ . .
. . / - - - \ . .
_. . . \___________/ . . ._
/ \ . / \ . / \
/ - \ . . / - \ . . / - \
/ \ . . / \ . . / \
/ - - \ ./ - - \. / - - \
/ - \ / - \ / - \
/ - - - \. . . / - - - \ . . ./ - - - \
\___________/ \___________/ \___________/
The islands are labelled A, B, C, D, E, F and G according to the key at the top left of the board. Similarly, the positions within each island are labelled 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 according to the key at the top right. Every board point can therefore be described by island and position, for instance the central position of the central island is D4, the top position of the righmost island is G1, etc. RulesEach player has 25 pieces of their type. Fire (#) starts with a single # piece at the central position D4 and moves first. Players alternate taking turns. Each turn the current player must move one
of their pieces either: In both cases the destination point must be empty. Once the piece is moved, an opponent's piece is automatically added to the position just vacated. A player controls an island by forming a line or ring of three of their pieces upon it. For instance, the following examples show the seven possible ways in which Fire may control an island: _ _ _
/ \ / \ / \
/ # \ / # \ / - \
/ \ / \ / \ Line from corner
/ # - \ / - # \ / - - \ to corner.
/ - \ / - \ / - \
/ # - - \ / - - # \ / # # # \
\___________/ \___________/ \___________/
_ _ _
/ \ / \ / \
/ # \ / - \ / - \
/ \ / \ / \ Line from corner
/ - - \ / - # \ / # - \ to edge.
/ # \ / # \ / # \
/ - # - \ / # - - \ / - - # \
\___________/ \___________/ \___________/
_
/ \
/ - \
/ \
/ # # \ <--- These pieces
/ - \ form a ring.
/ - # - \
\___________/
Each of these islands is controlled by Fire regardless of whether the unused positions are empty or occupied by either player. It's not possible for more than one player to control an island at any time. The game is won by the first payer to form a similar line or ring of three islands under their control. Sample GameThe following example shows a game won by Ice (O) who controls three islands in a line (A, C and G). Ice also controls the central island D but this is not relevant to the win. FIRE (#): 4 _ ICE (O): 5
/ \
/ O \
/ \
A / O O \ 1
/ # \
B C / O # O \ 2 3
D \___________/ 4
E F G . . . 5 6 7
. . .
_. . . . . . ._
/ \ . . . / \
/ # \. . ./ # \
/ \ _ / \
/ # # \ / \ / O O \
/ O \ / - \ / # \
/ O # - \/ \/ # O # \
\___________/ # O \___________/
. . / O \ . .
. . / O - - \ . .
_. . . \___________/ . . ._
/ \ . / \ . / \
/ O \ . . / # \ . . / - \
/ \ . . / \ . . / \
/ O - \ ./ # # \. / # # \
/ - \ / O \ / # \
/ # # # \. . . / - O # \ . . ./ O O O \
\___________/ \___________/ \___________/
General TipsThe following points summarise strategies and tactics from the official Fire and Ice rules page: http://www.otb-games.com/fireandice/rules.html As soon as a player controls an island they can safely move additional pieces off it, as only one player can control an island at a time.Critical islands are usually those at the intersection of lines extending from the pairs of islands most strongly held by both players. It is often prudent to concede a disputed island and concentrate your efforts elsewhere if the opponent holds the majority of positions upon it. Each game consists of between 9 and 24 moves per player. The triangular pattern of seven points which connect into triplets in seven ways is a mathematical construct called the Fano Plane, which is a finite projective plane of order two. Move SyntaxFire (#) moves first. The move syntax is: fireandice move board# userid password coords Where coords are of the form: F6-C6 Move a piece from position 6 on island F to position 6 on island C. F6 must be occupied by the current player and C6 must be empty. An opponent's piece will automatically be added to F6 after the move. Other commands are the same as for all pbmserv games.
HistoryFire and Ice rules and design by Jens-Peter Schliemann. The game is copyright Pin International and distributed by Out of the Box Publishing, who would like to point out that copying for commercial purposes is forbidden. Further details of the game including its history, variants and additional tips on strategy may be found at Out of the Box's "Fire and Ice" page: http://www.otb-games.com/fireandice/ Implementation and help file by Cameron Browne, November 2003.
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