General's Gambit
Roll two dice to determine which units may move, then outmanoeuvre the opposing army and destroy its Fort. Play against Easy, Medium or Hard AI.
Overview
General’s Gambit is an original dice-driven war game of manoeuvre from GameYantra, where clever positioning matters as much as the luck of the roll. Two armies of specialised units face off across the board, and your mission is blunt: fight through to destroy the enemy Fort, which ends the match the instant it falls. The twist that shapes every turn is that you do not freely pick who moves — you roll two dice, and each die selects a unit type, from Soldiers and Rockets to Tanks and Choppers, with wildcards for flexibility. You then move one eligible unit, so your grand plan constantly has to bend to what the dice permit. Capturing is direct — move onto an enemy square to take the piece — and a unit that reaches the enemy Fort sacrifices itself to bring the Fort down with it. The push and pull between the units you want to move and the ones the dice actually allow makes each game a fresh tactical problem. Play against Easy, Medium or Hard AI.I wanted a chess I could play with dice
There is an old board game I can only half-remember — obscure, but chess-like and played with dice. I kept missing it. So what if I make one with tanks, rockets, soldiers and forts? What I wanted was a much quicker chess, with dice.
The first attempt was too slow
I started with the idea that the game would be rectangular, like 13x7, and units could actually go behind enemy lines.
One dice or 2? Hmmm! I wanted the game to be faster and units to cover the longer 13 squares, so let’s go with 2 dice. Yeah, but how to utilise the 2 dice scores? I played a few games with AP — Action Points — per unit.
But remembering those AP rules which I created myself itself was a challenge, and the game was no fun at all. Moreover it was still pretty slow.
Smaller board, then smaller again
Quicker means a smaller board for sure. So instead of a standard 8x8, let’s go smaller — 7x7 or 5x5, to keep it symmetric. 5x5, tried it! But found it too small. So go with 7x7.
Then the two dice finally meant something
Each dice roll unlocks a unit type that can be moved.
That was it. The player gets multiple options and yet stays constrained, so it is not just luck — it is a strategy you build to keep your base fort secured.
So yeah, dice = luck. But strategy does help. The game is much quicker than chess and more casual, and it requires you to think as you go, turn by turn. Try it out, it shall be fun!
This one came after Commander’s Ludo — that story is worth a read too.
Objective
Each army has one stationary Fort in the centre of its back rank. Destroy the enemy Fort before yours falls.
Units
- Soldier: advances forward and captures diagonally.
- Tank: slides horizontally or vertically.
- Rocket: slides diagonally.
- Chopper: jumps in an L shape.
- Fort: cannot move and must be defended.
Dice and turns
Roll two dice. Results select movable unit types: 1 Soldier, 2 Rocket, 3 Tank, 4 Chopper, and 5–6 Wildcard. Move one unit matching either die.
Capturing
Move onto an enemy square to capture its unit. A unit attacking the enemy Fort destroys both itself and the Fort.
Strategy tips
- Keep defenders near your Fort.
- Use Choppers to jump blocked lines.
- Open long diagonal lanes for Rockets.
- Control the centre to increase your options.