Internecine is a card game I created as a response to link. It's intended to be a much faster game with some tactical choices to make the game interesting, while representing something of the essential brutality of warfare. I liked Michael's format for link so much that I'm emulating it here in this response. Note: I use the masculine pronoun in this article to be grammatically correct, not to suggest that women would not ever play Internecine.
Objective
To survive longer than your opponent.
Set-up
Internecine is for 2 players using a standard 52-card poker deck, including jokers. The deck is divided by color, one player getting all hearts and diamonds (hereafter known as the "red" player), and the other getting all spades and clubs (the "black" player). Each player gets one joker. Aces are high, jokers low (but see the section on sneak attacks, below).
Players then shuffle their hands and each player deals four cards, face-down, on the table in front of him. These cards are hereafter referred to as the player's civilians. Each player then completes set-up by dealing a five-card hand to himself. This hand is hereafter referred to as the player's army. Each player's remaining cards are then set aside in a face-down draw pile, henceforth referred to as the population.
Players determine which player goes first and then each player proceeds to take turns in sequence per the order of play.
Order of play
On his turn, the player declares whether he is going to attack or draft (draw a new card from his population into his army). If the player is attacking, the other player then declares whether he will defend or draft. To attack or defend, each player plays a card of his choice from his army, face-up in front of the other player. When attacking and defending, both players play their cards simultaneously.
When attacking and defending, the values of the cards on each side are compared (suit is ignored), per the following list:
* number cards have the number value
* Jacks = 11
* Queens = 12
* Kings = 13
* Aces = 14
The lower value card is discarded, and the higher value card is returned to the bottom of the victor's population. If the cards are equal, then each player, starting with the defender, may choose to surrender or escalate. If a player chooses to surrender, play continues as if he'd lost (his card is discarded and the other player's card returns to his population).
If both players choose to escalate, they then lay three cards from their population face-down, saying "This...means...war!" They then play another card from their army, face-up, and the card comparison is repeated. Once the victor is determined, all of the face-up army cards except for the winning card are discarded. Then all of the face-down cards are flipped over, their values totalled, and the totals compared. The cards of the player with the lower total are discarded, as well as the cards of the other player equal to that number. The winning player may return any cards in excess of that value, returning them to the bottom of his population deck. If the losing player has the higher total, the winning card is also added into the value, and may be discarded as a result.
Example of escalation
The red player is attacking, and black decides to defend. Red and black both play a 6. Black decides to escalate, and red does too. They draw and play face-down the top three cards of their population, saying "This...means...war!" Then then each play an army card simultaneously, face-up. Red plays a Queen and Black plays a 10. The 10 and both 6s are discarded. Then each player flips over the population cards they'd played. Red has a 2, a 5 and a 7, for a total of 14. Black has a 9, a 6, and a King, for a total of 28. All of red's cards are discarded, including the Jack, as the Jack's value still doesn't exceed the 28 that black has. All of black's cards are discarded, because all of his cards are needed to defeat all of red's cards. If, however, black had a Queen instead of the 9, he would be allowed to keep the 6, as the Queen and the King together equal 25, sufficient to defeat all of red's cards, including the Jack.
Drafting
When drafting, a player draws the top card from his population and adds it to his army.
Attacking unopposed
If a player announces that he will attack and the other player decides to draft instead of defending, the attacker plays an army card of his choice face-up on the table and randomly chooses one of his opponent's civilian cards. This civilian card is then discarded without either player seeing the face of the card. The army card returns to the attacker's hand while the drafting player draws the top card from his population and adds it to his army (as in a normal draft), then draws another card from his population and plays it face-down into his civilians without looking at it.
Defending unopposed
A player may choose to defend when the other player is drafting. To do so, the player plays an army card face-up on the table, then returns it to his army.
Sneak attack
When attacking or defending, a player may perform a sneak attack by playing a Joker. The sneak attack immediately discards all of the opponent's army cards, not including any that have been played on the table already. The Joker is then discarded.
Ending the game
The game ends when a player has no more civilians and no population to replenish them when he is attacked. The other player then wins if he still has some civilians.
Objective
To survive longer than your opponent.
Set-up
Internecine is for 2 players using a standard 52-card poker deck, including jokers. The deck is divided by color, one player getting all hearts and diamonds (hereafter known as the "red" player), and the other getting all spades and clubs (the "black" player). Each player gets one joker. Aces are high, jokers low (but see the section on sneak attacks, below).
Players then shuffle their hands and each player deals four cards, face-down, on the table in front of him. These cards are hereafter referred to as the player's civilians. Each player then completes set-up by dealing a five-card hand to himself. This hand is hereafter referred to as the player's army. Each player's remaining cards are then set aside in a face-down draw pile, henceforth referred to as the population.
Players determine which player goes first and then each player proceeds to take turns in sequence per the order of play.
Order of play
On his turn, the player declares whether he is going to attack or draft (draw a new card from his population into his army). If the player is attacking, the other player then declares whether he will defend or draft. To attack or defend, each player plays a card of his choice from his army, face-up in front of the other player. When attacking and defending, both players play their cards simultaneously.
When attacking and defending, the values of the cards on each side are compared (suit is ignored), per the following list:
* number cards have the number value
* Jacks = 11
* Queens = 12
* Kings = 13
* Aces = 14
The lower value card is discarded, and the higher value card is returned to the bottom of the victor's population. If the cards are equal, then each player, starting with the defender, may choose to surrender or escalate. If a player chooses to surrender, play continues as if he'd lost (his card is discarded and the other player's card returns to his population).
If both players choose to escalate, they then lay three cards from their population face-down, saying "This...means...war!" They then play another card from their army, face-up, and the card comparison is repeated. Once the victor is determined, all of the face-up army cards except for the winning card are discarded. Then all of the face-down cards are flipped over, their values totalled, and the totals compared. The cards of the player with the lower total are discarded, as well as the cards of the other player equal to that number. The winning player may return any cards in excess of that value, returning them to the bottom of his population deck. If the losing player has the higher total, the winning card is also added into the value, and may be discarded as a result.
Example of escalation
The red player is attacking, and black decides to defend. Red and black both play a 6. Black decides to escalate, and red does too. They draw and play face-down the top three cards of their population, saying "This...means...war!" Then then each play an army card simultaneously, face-up. Red plays a Queen and Black plays a 10. The 10 and both 6s are discarded. Then each player flips over the population cards they'd played. Red has a 2, a 5 and a 7, for a total of 14. Black has a 9, a 6, and a King, for a total of 28. All of red's cards are discarded, including the Jack, as the Jack's value still doesn't exceed the 28 that black has. All of black's cards are discarded, because all of his cards are needed to defeat all of red's cards. If, however, black had a Queen instead of the 9, he would be allowed to keep the 6, as the Queen and the King together equal 25, sufficient to defeat all of red's cards, including the Jack.
Drafting
When drafting, a player draws the top card from his population and adds it to his army.
Attacking unopposed
If a player announces that he will attack and the other player decides to draft instead of defending, the attacker plays an army card of his choice face-up on the table and randomly chooses one of his opponent's civilian cards. This civilian card is then discarded without either player seeing the face of the card. The army card returns to the attacker's hand while the drafting player draws the top card from his population and adds it to his army (as in a normal draft), then draws another card from his population and plays it face-down into his civilians without looking at it.
Defending unopposed
A player may choose to defend when the other player is drafting. To do so, the player plays an army card face-up on the table, then returns it to his army.
Sneak attack
When attacking or defending, a player may perform a sneak attack by playing a Joker. The sneak attack immediately discards all of the opponent's army cards, not including any that have been played on the table already. The Joker is then discarded.
Ending the game
The game ends when a player has no more civilians and no population to replenish them when he is attacked. The other player then wins if he still has some civilians.
