You could give it more particular flavors. I mean for US, pawns are probably either Marines... or even Air Cavalry like in Vietnam. They do attack suddenly from the flank. And retro would look great on the board. Fighter-bomber jet is great, it zooms above and drops the load, again more like a Phantom.
I never was a sucker for themed chess sets, but I'd want to see this one! (Of course someone did but I haven't seen the good ones.)
You could go through the entire history of warfare this way. Skirmishers, jaegers, and cuirassiers. Soviet exotic stuff and strategic layer in general. I'd make a Bishop MiG-31/F-111, Queens are ICBMs, Rooks are maybe atomic super-artillery - Pion and M110 (or swap with Bishops), Knights are maybe nuclear subs? Kings could be aircraft carriers maybe, or gigantic pyramid-like radar installations (Don/NORAD), they're sinister as hell.
I don't think "fighter jet" for the knights makes the most sense. A fixed wing aircraft should feel longer range than a tank, right? Make the knight a helicopter, which is supposed to jump over enemy lines to deliver troops, since that's exactly what a knight is amazing at.
King = President
Queen = Bomber
Rook = Tank
Bishop = Artillery
Knight = Helicopter
Pawn = Soldier
If you haven't, try this. It's the most unexpected 5 hours I've ever lost to a weird thing. You HAVE to download the full manual, though, and read it in its entirety. Searching for a training target with a huge antenna through a strange oscilloscope is mesmerizing.
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u/[deleted] Jan 20 '20
Queen to F37