CAMELOGISTICS

by Paul Yearout

In the initial look at Camelot end play, the two-can-travel-faster-than-one principle was mentioned.  Positions in the current World Camelot Federation tournament suggest elaborations of that principle for efficient troop movements.

In Zigzag March 1 the four indicated pieces can advance four rows en masse, repeating a double canter of the rearmost pieces: f8d10f12, e9g11e11, and onward.

Zigzag March 1

A piece at A or B can be carried along, too, the platoon advancing four rows in five or six moves.

Zigzag March 2

Zigzag March 2 uses the same double canter (d8d10f12, d9f11f13), again in four moves advancing four rows, but diagonally rather than orthogonally.  Shifting d8, d9 to f8, f9 provides diagonal movement leftward instead of rightward.

Lambeth Walk

The Lambeth Walk uses a triple canter (e8g10e10e12, f9f11d11f13), yielding a vertical reflection in two moves, and restoring the original configuration in four.  (The name shows a fancied resemblance of the move pattern to the Hebrew letter lambeth, a cognate of Greek lambda, influenced by an irrelevant pun on the Lambeth Walk, a 1930's dance fad.)

This arrangement has additional versatility in that Zigzag 2 shows up after the first move, so it is possible to alternate diagonal and orthogonal advances, as appropriate.  A knight or two in the company increases its strength, but the open spacing of the three shapes makes them vulnerable to an opposing knight's charge.

Phalanx

Against opposing forces, a phalanx of four or six pieces cedes speed to power while still able to advance.