by capn_tucker
Camelot enthusiasts will be excited to learn of a previously unknown variant called "Royal Camelot", which was developed by George Parker in 1931. It comes from the estate of Leroy Howard, who was Parker Brothers' head of research & development from 1930-1952.
Intended for inclusion in Camelot sets, for unknown reasons only a few copies may have had Royal Camelot rules included. In any case, what Royal Camelot does is to introduce a king piece to the game.
The king has all the powers of the knight, but has the following additional abilities:
Can resume cantering after performing a knight's charge (no other piece can do this)
Can perform a circular canter, returning to it's starting point (also something no other piece can do)
The king can also plain move up to two squares in any direction, vice the one of all other pieces.
Of even greater interest is that if the king is captured, it is not the end. The king is held for ransom by the capturing player. The player whose king was captured must surrender one knight and one man to regain the king. If the player does not have any knights remaining, then three men must be surrendered. If these conditions cannot be met, then the game is over.
Which introduces a new victory condition to the game. All other rules remain the same as in original Camelot. According to the rules sheet, players desiring to play Royal Camelot could send a 50 cent money order to PB and they would send a red and yellow king piece.
King pieces can easily be created by painting the tips of one red and yellow knight in gold.
Those who use chess pieces to play can simply add a king from their chess set. These rules look like a lot of fun, and certainly breathe new life into the game. If anyone tries them out, I'd be interested to hear how the games went.
The rules sheet for Royal Camelot can be found in the images section..
