After the placement of the cities was settled it was time to place each player's starting squads. This was done in reverse order starting with the last player to place a city. New units are always placed in the ring of hexagons around a city. The young man placed two fire squads, one above and one below his city. Fire squads are aggressive units, capable of moving up to two spaces in any direction and can also attack at a range of up to three spaces, dealing two damage to their target and one damage to all surrounding units, including allied units. The young man believed that by damaging her squads and city at the same time the little girl next to him would feel pressured. He doubted she'd be able to last longer than four rounds before her city fell.
The man's thoughts were written all over his face and were clear for any to see, he was practically dripping with confidence. -Rule 5: Victory is equal parts patience and preparation. Rule 6: The first to lose focus is the first to lose,- Ming Jia Ying continued to go through the rules of warfare as she placed two earth squads between her city and the 'river'. The elderly man simply smiled when he saw this, but said nothing.
Earth squads are seen as defensive units because they reduce all damage received to one and their attack hits all adjacent enemy units for one, allowing them to excel at battles of attrition and holding out against superior numbers. However, they are slow, moving one space at a time, but their speed is doubled when beginning their movement from a road tile. Also moving through fields doesn't consume their supplies and they count as three units when used as part of a blockade.
The timid young man chose a water and a wind squad and placed them along the 'river'. The aggressive young lady also placed her two lightning squads next to a 'river'. The old man picked out two wind squads and put them along the edge of his city facing the young lady's territory. Finally, the teenage boy put a wind squad on either side of his city.
Water squads are fairly average units, with a movement of two, attack range of two and damage of two, but when they are positioned near water their range is tripled, giving them the longest range in the game. Wind squads are highly mobile and capable of attacking at a distance, with a movement of three and attack range of four, however they only have a damage of one. Lightning squads are close range specialists, they move in straight lines of up to four spaces, dealing one damage to any unit they pass through, they have an attack range of one with a damage of three and may attack multiple times a turn.
For his first turn the teenage boy decided to take a wait and see approach, ending his turn without taking any actions. In the first round of a six-player game the first three players only get two actions while the last three players get four actions, from the second round on each player gets four actions every turn. Ending a turn early converts those remaining actions into additional supplies for each of a player's cities. The boy's squads each started with four supplies while his city started with six, produced two at the beginning of the turn, then converted the two remaining actions at the end of the turn for a total of ten supplies. Supplies are used to move units across fields, build roads and bridges, resupply squads on connected roads, and recruit new squads. In addition supplies indicate how much damage a unit can take, when supplies run out squads are lost and cities fall.
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The elderly man moved his two wind squads towards the young lady's territory, three spaces each, thus ending his turn. The aggressive young lady also used her two actions to move her two lightning squads. They each moved four spaces towards the old man's city, arriving just out of range of the city. Crossing the river without a bridge had cost one supply from each squad, but passing through his squads on the way dealt one damage, evening things up between them.
Next was the seemingly timid young man, now that his neighbors seemed to be ignoring him while engaging in their own skirmishes his complexion had improved. To start off his turn he built a bridge across the river along with two additional roads leading into the young lady's territory. This cost his city two supplies for the bridge and one for each road, reducing his city's current total to four. Fortunately, using supplies doesn't cost an action, so the young man still had four actions remaining. He used two actions to move his squads to the other side of the river and converted the last two, bringing his city back up to six supplies. It seemed he was looking to fish in troubled waters[1] while the young lady and elderly gentleman fight it out.
In a six-player game there is a mercy rule in effect for the first round that prevents players from targeting their opponents' cities, this is intended to ensure every player gets a chance to play at least one turn. However, this does not prevent cities from taking damage from attacks with an area of effect, which is why the annoyed young man to Ming Jia Ying's left was planning to harass her city with his fire squads.
Under the young man's belittling gaze Ming Jia Ying built a bridge, connecting their cities, before moving her two earth squads next to his city. Then, using the same tactic that he had hoped to use against her, she attacked his fire squads with her earth squads, dealing an additional two area of effect damage to his city. This was an example of bombardment, when a city takes damage from a squad's attack and is the most common way in which cities take damage in Siege. The only other way to damage an opponent's city is through a blockade, where the presence of enemy squads next to a city drains it of its supplies at the beginning of its owner's turn.
As Ming Jia Ying's turn came to a close the young man's look had gone from contempt, to annoyance, to shock. Her two attacks had reduced his city's starting supplies to four. Now, as his turn began, the city's production brought it up to six supplies, but the earth squads at his gates formed a blockade equivalent to six units, summarily draining his city of all its supplies. It wasn't just the young man that was flabbergasted, rather the whole table had become still and silent, except for the old man who was slapping the table as he howled with laughter. As his laughter died down he managed to squeeze out, “Truly well played young man,” wiping the tears from his eyes, “I'm sure we'll all remember this for years.”
Never in his life had the young man been so embarrassed. As he recovered from his shock he rapidly became outraged and wished to protest. Unfortunately for him, the announcer and a referee quickly arrived at his side, informing him that all the moves had been legal and that he needed to exit the stage. As the young man left, the referee removed his squads from the board, but left the city. This was the last major rule difference for six-player games, when a player fells a city they gain control of it.
Author's Notes:
[1]“Fish in troubled waters” means to use others fighting as an opportunity to reap benefits