Echelon is like «Chapaev’s Checkers,» but more interesting.
By fate’s decree, the legendary Commander Chapayev boards a train hurtling through the afterlife. To avoid becoming fuel for some otherworldly mechanism, Chapayev must overcome his rivals in a bizarre board game.
Before the round begins, the player develops a strategy by moving checkers with special mechanics and placing them on the board.
The landscape must be taken into account—it affects the movement of figures. Forests and swamps slow movement, while mountains completely block the path.
In battle, players attack each other in turns with pawns, striving to eliminate all of the opponent’s pieces.
Each strike consumes action points—they will regenerate at the start of the next turn.
The stronger the pawn, the more action points it requires to attack.
Checkers pieces are eliminated if they move off the board. Capturing opponents' pieces without losing your own is not always an easy task.
Each piece can possess special abilities that alter its behavior and mechanics—from physical attributes to attack and destruction methods. Typically, abilities depend on the type of piece, but they can gain new ones during gameplay.
Cossacks can attack in an arc, bypassing obstacles and striking from unexpected angles.
Tanks and armored vehicles cannot be moved by a single strike. Instead, the vehicle loses protection points and explodes when they run out.
At the end of a round, a random event occurs that changes the conditions for the next round—ranging from a small bonus to resources to increasing the stakes for the round.
The winner of the round advances, capturing a new line on the field. The one who captures the entire field wins the game.
