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About the game
GHQ is a game of strategy and tactics for two players. Players alternate turns moving pieces on the board, attempting to capture their opponent's HQ to win the game.
It was originally designed by
Kurt Vonnegut
.
The physical game was developed by Geoff Engelstein (see his great
How To Play GHQ
video).
This website is being actively developed on
GitHub
.
Correspondence
Play Friend
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GHQ Tuesdays
8-10pm ET
Every Tuesday night
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⭐ Chat with players on
Discord
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@TylerGHQ
teaching and playing
Leaderboard
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Basics
How to win
Capture the enemy HQ
to win!
Use
artillery
and
infantry
to defend your HQ and destroy the enemy's HQ!
How to play
You get
3
moves per turn.
Choose any of:
(A) Deploy a piece from your reserve
(B) Move an infantry and/or capture a piece
(C) Move and/or rotate an artillery
Each piece can move once per turn
Adjacent square
means touching sides left, right, up, or down.
Any square
means adjacent or diagonal.
Capturing
means destroying an enemy piece.
Board setup
How infantry capture
An infantry is
engaged
if it is adjacent to an enemy infantry.
Engaged, no capture
An infantry may
capture
if it is adjacent to an already-engaged enemy infantry.
Capture!
Tip: Try to
outnumber
your opponent!
How artillery capture
An artillery
bombards
squares in front of itself.
Controlling squares
If your piece is left in a bombarded square, it will be
captured
at the start of your opponent's turn!
Capture!
Enemy pieces cannot move onto or through bombarded squares.
Infantry
Moves: 1 square, any direction
Captures: 1 square, adjacent
Captured by: 2 adjacent infantry
Armored Infantry
Moves: 2 squares, any direction
Captures: 1 square, adjacent
Captured by: 2 adjacent infantry
Airborne Infantry
Moves: 1 square, any direction
Captures: 1 square, adjacent
Captured by: 2 adjacent infantry
While on home row, it can move to any square!
Artillery
Moves: 1 square, any direction
Bombards: 2 squares, forward
Captured by: 1 adjacent infantry
Rotates any direction
Armored Artillery
Moves: 2 squares, any direction
Bombards: 2 squares, forward
Captured by: 1 adjacent infantry
Rotates any direction
Heavy Artillery
Moves: 1 square, any direction
Bombards: 3 squares, forward
Captured by: 1 adjacent infantry
Rotates any direction
HQ
Moves: 1 square, any direction
Captured by: 2 adjacent infantry
Can't defend, can't attack.