Of Cowboys & Amazons

This is a new club, one that is in the process of being created.
Anyone is welcome to join, but please be patient because my plate is rather full right now and it probably won't be fully complete for several months.
The games we shall be playing are (1) Nine Men's Morris —sometimes known as Cowboy Checkers—, (2) Twelve Men's Morris, (3) Amazons and the standard game of (4) Lines of Action.
Guess which two games this club is named for!

Nine Men's Morris

This is the game that inspired the creation of this club.
The board consists of three concentric squares and the connection of the three midpoints on each of the four sides.
This creates 24 intersections, each identified by a dot.
No lines pass through the centre.
There are no connections in the centre.
It is empty.

The game has three distinct stages, an opening, a middlegame and an endgame.
The first player is called White; the second is called Black—although here at GoldToken we have the freedom of choosing our colours.

OPENING
In the opening, the players alternate placing pieces on the vacant intersections of an initially empty board, one at a time.
Any vacant intersection is o.k.
Each player has nine pieces in hand to begin with.
When you make three in a row in a straight line with no gaps, it is called a mill.
Then you must remove one of your opponent's pieces, and it becomes a captured prisoner for the rest of the game.
Any opposing piece may be removed in this way except one that is part of a mill.
If all of the opposing pieces are in mills, then this restriction is temporarily waived and you may capture a piece from your opponent's mill.
If you form two mills simultaneously, you only remove one opposing piece, not two of them.
When both players have taken nine turns, the opening is over.

MIDDLEGAME
In this part of game, the players continue taking turns, but instead of placing new pieces on the board, they move one of their pieces already on the board to a vacant, immediately adjacent intersection.
If someone forms a mill, they remove an opposing piece that is not in a mill.
Again, the restriction against capturing a piece from an unbroken mill is waived if there is no alternative capture available.
If a mill has been and remains broken by moving a piece out of it, then any of the three pieces from what used to be that mill can be captured and removed.
When one player has only three pieces left on the board, the middlegame ends.

ENDGAME
During the endgame, a player with only three pieces on the board acquires the ability to fly.
This player may move any of their three pieces to any vacant intersection, adjacent or not.
This rule is meant to provide one last hurdle for the superior side to surmount in order to win.
Usually the weaker side will be trying to block the opponent from forming mills, but if a flying piece itself completes a friendly mill, then all the rules of capture remain in force.

WINNING
A player can win in either of two ways.
If the opponent is reduced to only two pieces and is therefore unable to form a mill, the other player becomes the winner.
Or if the opponent is stalemated, that is, blocked so that they have no legal move when it is their turn, then again the other player wins.
If neither player can force a win, a draw should be agreed upon.
A game can be won or drawn at any stage during the game, opening, middlegame or endgame.

—Th 20/2 2025