Vintage 1966 Milton Bradley Board Game of Siege

Siege, a vintage 1966 Milton Bradley board game, offers two players the chance to engage in a quick, challenging match of battling wits.  It is an abstract strategy game which involves a medieval theme and comes complete with Knights on horses, Defenders with various weapons, and a Commander who tries to keep his rule secure from a raised castle on the board. These unique game pieces help players feel like they are actually taking part of either laying Siege to a castle, or protecting it from one.

Employing movements of the Knight used in the game of Chess, Siege’s Knights begin the game from the four positions marked with a black dot on the board.  From the castle, the Commander and his Defenders begin.  One player is in control of the Knights and the other player is in charge of the Commander and Defenders.  Each takes a turn to move one of his pieces on the board.

The Knight’s objective is to capture the castle’s Commander.  The Defenders/Commander’s goal is to eliminate all four Knights before a Knight piece can capture the Commander piece.

The board utilizes an 8×6 gridded surface with the additional four starting Knight squares set out from the grid.  The castle is raised from the board and occupies a special 4×4 section (shown).  Surrounding the front and side of the castle are green squares and along each of the left and right sides are 5 blue squares on which the Defenders are not allowed to move upon.

There are a few special movements.  They are illustrated on the board, but they are as follows.

Knights:
*Knights move forward two squares and one square to the left or right. (like a knight in Chess)
*They cannot move backwards (towards beginning positions) unless upon the castle squares or moving onto the castle.
*Once a Knight is in the castle, he cannot move out of it.

Defenders:
*Defenders move one square in any direction.  (like a king in Chess)  However, they can only capture a Knight from a diagonal move.
*They can move from inside the castle to the outside green squares and back in again.  They are not allowed to move (or capture) on any blue squares.

Commander:
*The Commander moves diagonally 1,2, or 3 squares.  (similar to a bishop move in chess)
*He must stay in the castle squares.
*If he is on one of the two marked Crown squares, only then may he choose to move sideways onto the other Crown square.  This would change his diagonal ability.

Knights capture Defenders and the Commander by landing on the exact space they occupy.  As said, Defenders capture Knights when moving only diagonally and landing upon the space a Knight occupies.   A Commander can capture a Knight by landing on the same space as the Knight from the movements he can make.

Whichever player achieves his objective first (knights capture commander, or defenders and commander captures all knights), wins the game!

The game of Siege can usually be found on eBay. It is a great game to play between two players and is especailly nice for younger players; since it introduces moves found in Chess and offers less complex game play to enjoy these strategic movements and then step up from.  Be sure to look out for the game the next time browseing games on eBay!

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