Uckers
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Uckers is a two or four player board game traditionally played in the Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy, where a six-sided game is predominant, and so the possible number of players are increased. Uckers is generally played using the rules stated below but Wafoo's (aircraft polishers) are known to play with 'suck backs' and 'blow backs' (see the advanced rules for more information on that).
It is similar to the board game Ludo and is based on the same principles; getting your four pieces around the board before the opposition. However, the whole point of Uckers, and this may vary according to personal preferences, is to get all your pieces home without your opponent getting any home at all. This is known as an '8 piece'. The ultimate win is when you get all your pieces home and your opponent has all their pieces still in the base, that is called an '8 piece in harbour'. Usually when a person has been '8 pieced' then their names are written on the back of the Uckers board as a memento of your glory and their shame!
[edit] Rules of the game
The game is played by either two or four people, if there are two people playing then each player takes two opposite colours. Unlike the image supplied this is normally yellow and red vs green and blue . If there are four players then the players opposite each other become partners so Yellow partners with Red and Green partners with Blue.
To travel around the board TWO dice are thrown, if you throw a six then you get another go. To see who goes first each player throws the dice and whoever throws the highest starts.
To exit your base you need to throw a six which puts your piece on the immediate square joining your base known as the doorstep. However, if on the very first throw you throw snake eyes (two ones) then all your pieces come out of the base onto the doorstep and the play continues with the next player. If on roling snake eyes on the first throw you again throw snake eyes on your second throw then all your pieces return to the base! As the saying goes All bits out, all bits in.
A throw can be split up into the two separate numbers so it is possible to move two different pieces as in backgammon. However, unlike backgammon if you are moving a single piece only then it must move the sum of the two dice rather than moving the value of the first dice and then moving the value of the second dice.
If your piece lands on a square with an opponents piece on then like ludo that piece is sent back to the oppositions base.
If your piece lands on a square with a playing piece of the same colour then this is known as a blob and is basically like a barrier. Blobs are a symbol of success in Uckers as your opponent is not allowed to jump over them but you or your partner can. The only way you can get by a blob is to destroy them. To do this you need to have a playing piece adjacent to the blob and then when it comes to your throw, you will need to throw X + 1 sixes where X = the number of playing pieces forming the blob. You should note that if a player has a blob formed on your doorstep then you will need to throw X + 2 sixes where X = the number of pieces forming the blob and an extra six to actually get out of the base.
If you do manage to throw a six and you want to attack the blob then the usual call is Once your yellows. or if you throw double six of course then Twice your greens etc. At the point of only needing one more six to destroy the blob the opponent will usually say Touch wood whilst touching the Uckers board in the hopes that this will put you off your run of sixes.
If you succeed in knocking the blob off then the single playing piece used to attack the blob is moved to the square that the blob was on and the pieces forming the blob are returned to the base. Play then continues to the next player.
If your piece lands on a square with a playing piece that belongs to your partner or is the other colour that you are playing with then this is called a mixi blob. Generally speaking mixi blobs are a sign of impending doom. Unlike blobs a mixi blob is equivalent to a single playing piece so your opponent can land on the square and send all the playing bits back to their relevant bases. Your opponent can pass over your mixi blob so there is no security and what is worse is that you can not attack a blob that you maybe adjacent to if your piece is part of a mixi blob.
Like ludo you do need the exact numbers to get home and if your pieces are in the tube then they can not be attacked unless you are playing wafoo rules. If you are playing with a partner and you have all your pieces home first then you can continue roling in the hopes of getting a six. If you do role a six then on your next turn you can then role for your partner and move his/her pieces as well. However, you can not move any of your partners pieces once they are in the tube. The game obviously ends when your eight playing pieces are home or if you are playing with a parter then both their pieces and your pieces are home.
Remember you can either Move or Attack. You can not move a piece next to a blob and then on the same go attack it.
If you can use the dice with the highest value then you must do so even if it means forming a mixi blob. It goes without saying if you can use both numbers of the dice then you have to use them.
[edit] Advanced rules
Another rule, which can be accepted in the game, is the formation of superblobs, this is more than two of one players pieces on the same space. A superblob does the same as a blob but has to be knocked off with even more sixes in a row (number of pieces in blob+1) A superblob can not be moved around the board. Once a player has got his/her piece into the line before home it isn't completely safe. If an opposing player lands on the end of that last line on their next go they can declare 'suckback'. The player then rolls the dice, if one of the numbers on the dice, or the sum of both is the same as the number of spaces the other piece is in on the last line, it is returned to its base.
Mixi-blobs can also be formed, where the blob consists of more than one colour. This is often done when two players have "paired up" as the blob can no longer be moved. To move the blob the top piece must be moved, and so on until the blob becomes all one colour.
NOTE: The image displayed here is wrong, red and yellow, blue and green are diagonally opposites on a true Uckers board.
