Four Nations Military Chess

Junqi Rules

Junqi is a four-player hidden-information strategy game. This version is Four Nations Military Chess, also known as Si Guo Jun Qi, Lu Zhan Qi, Luzhanqi, and Army Chess. Two allied teams arrange secret armies, use roads and railways, protect their flags, and aim to eliminate both opposing players.

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Combat at a glance

The left piece attacks the right. Resolve special pieces before comparing ranks. An occupied camp cannot be attacked at all.

Attacker → DefenderCombat result
Higher normal rank → Lower normal rankThe higher rank wins the combat.
Equal normal ranksBoth pieces are removed.
Engineer → MineThe Mine is removed. The Engineer survives the combat.
Other normal rank → MineThe attacker is removed. The Mine remains.
Bomb → Any enemy piece, including Mine or FlagBoth pieces are removed. Destroying a Flag still eliminates its owner.
Movable non-Bomb piece → FlagThe Flag is captured and its owner's army is removed.

Goal

North and South form one alliance against East and West. Your alliance wins when both opposing players are eliminated, usually by capturing their Flags. Players with no legal moves are also eliminated. If the battle's move counter reaches 300 without a team win, the game ends as a tie.

Players, Teams, And Turns

  • There are four players: North, East, South, and West.
  • Opposite players are allies: North with South, and East with West.
  • Turn order proceeds clockwise: North, East, South, then West.
  • Defeated players are skipped for the rest of the game.

Game Phases

  • Setup phase: each player secretly places all pieces inside their own territory.
  • Battle phase: players take turns moving, attacking, scouting, and defending their headquarters.
  • Game over: one alliance eliminates both opposing players, or the move counter reaches its limit and creates a tie.

Ranked Scoring

Ranked scoring rewards participation and fair play. You need a signed-in account, and the match must be played in a Ranked room. Normal losses never deduct points.

  • Ranked standard matches and ranked 1v1 shared-control matches affect score and ranked statistics. Guest, bot, single-player, practice, and casual matches do not count.
  • Win: +3 points.
  • Tie: +1 point.
  • Normal loss: 0 points. No points are deducted.
  • Surrender: 0 points and a recorded surrender loss.
  • Escape: -2 points and a recorded escape loss.
  • Surrender and escape override the team result, even if the player's ally later wins.

Piece Set And Rank Order

Each player controls 25 pieces. Normal ranked pieces defeat lower normal ranks and lose to higher normal ranks. Special pieces use their own rules and are not part of the normal rank ladder.

Piece LabelPiece NameRankCountRule Note
Gen / 司General101Strongest normal rank. Its removal reveals your Flag.
LtG / 军Lieutenant General91Second strongest normal rank.
MG / 师Major General82Defeats all lower normal ranks.
BG / 旅Brigadier General72Defeats Colonel and below.
Col / 团Colonel62Middle-rank combat piece.
LtC / 营Lieutenant Colonel52Defeats Captain, Lieutenant, and Engineer.
Cpt / 连Captain43Lower middle-rank combat piece.
Lt / 排Lieutenant33Defeats Engineer among normal ranks.
Eng / 工Engineer23Weakest normal rank, but removes Mines and turns freely on railways.
Bomb / 炸BombSpecial2Removes both pieces in combat, including Mines and Flags.
Mine / 雷MineSpecial3Immobile. Engineers remove it and survive; Bombs remove both pieces.
Flag / 旗FlagSpecial1Immobile capture target placed in headquarters.

Setup Rules

  • Each player places their own pieces secretly in their starting territory.
  • All required pieces must be placed before battle starts.
  • The Flag must be placed in one of that player's two headquarters spaces.
  • Mines may only start in the rear two rows of your territory and cannot move during battle.
  • Bombs may not be placed in the first or front row.
  • Camps are protected movement spaces and are not valid setup spaces.

Board And Spaces

The board is a cross-shaped four-player battlefield. Each player has a 5-column by 6-row territory around a shared center. Territories contain stations, campsites, headquarters, roads, and railways.

  • Stations: normal deployable and traversable spaces.
  • Campsites: protected spaces that cannot be attacked while occupied.
  • Headquarters: the Flag must begin in one headquarters, and pieces entering headquarters cannot move out again.
  • Public center: shared spaces connecting the four territories.
  • Roads: normal one-step connections.
  • Railways: long-distance movement lines when the path is clear.

Visibility And Hidden Information

  • A player can see their own piece ranks.
  • Enemy ranks remain hidden during normal play.
  • Combat does not reveal either combatant's rank to the player.
  • If a player's General is removed, that player's Flag becomes revealed.
  • Allied piece positions are visible, but allied ranks remain hidden in this version.
  • When the game is over, replay or review mode can reveal all pieces.

Movement Rules

  • Movable pieces may move to an empty connected space or attack an enemy occupied space.
  • A piece may not move onto an allied occupied space.
  • A piece cannot move through another occupied space.
  • Flags and Mines cannot move.
  • Bombs move like normal movable pieces in this implementation.
  • A piece in headquarters cannot move out again.

Roads And Railways

Road movement is simple: a movable piece moves one connected step. Railway movement is more powerful and depends on the piece type.

  • On railways, pieces may move multiple unobstructed spaces along valid railway lines.
  • Non-Engineer pieces normally follow straight railway lines; the adjacent-player outer-column corridor is a specific exception.
  • Engineers may turn freely through connected railway paths.
  • Railway movement cannot pass through occupied spaces.
  • A railway move may end by attacking an enemy piece if every space before the target is clear.
  • Adjacent player railway corridors connect side columns directly when the path is clear.
  • A non-Engineer cannot combine front-row horizontal railway movement with an adjacent-player curved railway in the same move.

Camps And Headquarters

  • An occupied camp is protected: enemy pieces cannot attack a piece inside a camp.
  • A piece may enter an empty camp and may leave camp on a later legal move.
  • Headquarters are valid setup spaces, and the Flag must occupy one of them.
  • Enemy pieces may enter headquarters to capture the Flag.
  • If a piece enters the wrong enemy headquarters and does not capture the Flag, it remains stuck there.

Combat Rules

  • Combat happens when a piece moves onto a space occupied by an enemy piece.
  • Higher normal rank defeats lower normal rank.
  • Equal normal ranks eliminate each other.
  • Bomb eliminates both itself and the opposing piece.
  • Engineer defeats Mine.
  • Mine defeats attacking normal ranks other than Engineer. A Bomb and Mine remove each other.
  • Flag loses to any attacking movable piece.
  • A Bomb attacking a Flag still eliminates the Flag's owner; the Bomb is also removed.
  • If the attacker survives, it occupies the target space. If both pieces are removed, the target space becomes empty.

Capturing Flags And Elimination

Capturing a player's Flag eliminates that player and removes their remaining army from the board. Having no legal moves, surrendering, or reaching five total skipped turns also causes elimination; timed-out turns count as skips. Eliminated players' turns are skipped, but their surviving ally continues. An alliance loses only when both of its players are eliminated.

Common mistakes that cost an army

  • An occupied camp is protected even from a General or Bomb. Move into camps for shelter, or wait for an enemy to leave before attacking.
  • Headquarters are a one-way destination. A surviving piece cannot leave, and trapping your last movable piece can eliminate you even while your Flag is safe.
  • Engineers can turn on railways, but cannot jump over occupied spaces. An enemy may be the destination of an attack, never a space you pass through.
  • Bombs are an exception to Mine defense: both disappear. Only an Engineer removes a Mine and survives the combat.
  • Losing your General reveals your Flag, including when the General trades with an equal rank or a Bomb.
  • One enemy Flag is not the whole alliance. The surviving ally keeps playing until both opposing players are eliminated.
Junqi is also known by related English and pinyin names including Army Chess, Lu Zhan Qi, Luzhanqi, Jun Qi, and Si Guo Jun Qi.Luzhanqi