Phalanx Duel: Make the Rules Legible (Automated Rules Engine & Combat Demo)
Phalanx Duel: Make the Rules Legible (Automated Rules Engine & Combat Demo) Companion demonstration for the Software Craftsmanship McHenry County (SCMC) presentation on September 15, 2026.
The Interviewer
Mike Hall
Host, phalanx-duel
Mike Hall
Host, phalanx-duel
▶ Speaking
Phalanx Duel is a tactical card game for two players. Each
player runs a standard deck of 52 cards and starts with a
pool of life points. You win by breaking through a column
of your opponent's cards and driving their life points to
zero. Everything you see here runs from one shuffled seed,
so the same game plays the same way every time.
Mike Hall
Host, phalanx-duel
▶ Speaking
Each player shuffles their own deck and draws 12 cards. You
build four columns, each with a front card and a back card. Players take turns placing one card face up until each
board holds 8 cards and each hand holds 4. The front card
of every column faces the enemy.
Mike Hall
Host, phalanx-duel
▶ Speaking
The back card waits behind
it. On your turn you do one thing. You attack, or you pass. To
attack, pick one of your own front cards and point it at
one enemy column.
Mike Hall
Host, phalanx-duel
▶ Speaking
A card's attack value is its printed
number. 10's count is 10. Face card's count is 11. That
value is the damage the attack starts with.
Mike Hall
Host, phalanx-duel
▶ Speaking
Damage moves through the target column in order. Front card
, then back card, then life points. Compare the damage to
the front card. If the card's value is higher, it survives
and the attack stops.
Mike Hall
Host, phalanx-duel
▶ Speaking
If the damage meets or beats the card
, the card is destroyed. Subtract its value and carry the
rest forward. The leftover damage then hits the back card,
and whatever remains after that reaches the opponent's life
points. Each suit changes the math at one boundary in that chain.
Mike Hall
Host, phalanx-duel
▶ Speaking
It is a timing rule, not a card power. A destroyed diamond
subtracts its value from damage carrying on to another card
. A destroyed heart subtracts its value from damage headed
to life points. A club attacker doubles the carry over once
, right after its first kill.
Mike Hall
Host, phalanx-duel
▶ Speaking
A spade attacker doubles the
damage that crosses from the cards into the player. After the attack resolves, the defender may reinforce, but
only the column that was hit. You play cards from your hand
into the open ranks of that one column. Then you draw back
up to four cards, and now you are the attacker.
Mike Hall
Host, phalanx-duel
▶ Speaking
A card that
survived a hit returns to its full value on your turn. Dam
age does not carry between turns. The duel ends when one player's life points reach zero. Passing is legal, but three passes in a row, or five passes
in a game, forfeits the duel.
Mike Hall
Host, phalanx-duel
▶ Speaking
Running out of cards to draw
is not a loss. There is no reshuffle. So every attack is a
choice about which column to break, and when. That is the whole game.
Mike Hall
Host, phalanx-duel
▶ Speaking
Set up four columns, send one card
at a time, and follow the damage through. The printed rules
and the face-to-face quick start go deeper on special cards
and edge cases. Shuffle a deck and play a hand.