TheBB
07-17-2004, 1:38 PM
My sister got me this ancient viking board game called "Hnefatafl" (yeah, just laugh, I'd like to see you try to pronounce it).
It looks really interesting, so I wanted to share it with you. I'll just skip the historical mumbo jumbo, and get down to business.
http://www.aligulac.net/hnefatafl.gif
There's the game board. There are two players, white and black. White has a king (dotted circle) and 8 soldiers, and black has 16 soldiers. Alternatively, the sides are called attackers (black) and defenders (white). Because of it being asymmetrical, it is considered common courtesy to play two games, swapping sides.
The white king and his men are under attack. The objective for the white player is to let the king escape into one of the four orange squares (the king's castles). Each piece (including the king) moves just like a rook in chess. No piece may jump over any other piece, and no piece (except the king) can enter the castle or throne (blue) squares. It is allowed for a piece to jump over the throne square.
A piece is captured if it is sandwitched between two opposing pieces on opposite sides. Assuming X are white and O are black:
XOX ... the black piece is sandwitched and must be removed.
O
X
O ... the white piece is sandwitched and must be removed.
O
XO ... there is no sandwitch here.
Also, if a piece is sandwitched between an opposing piece and a castle or a throne square, it is also captured.
The king can't be captured, but it can be trapped. So there's the objective for the black player, he must trap the white king by blocking its movement in all four directions (not just two), before it can escape to a castle.
Oh, and, the sandwitch only takes effect if it is caused by the capturing player. I.e. it is safe for a white piece to move inbetween two black pieces, the capture only happens if a black piece moves to sandwitch a white one or vice versa.
A lot of complications ensue over these simple rules. You try it (it's simple to make a board, you need a piece of paper with a 9x9 grid, 16 equal or similar looking "black" pieces, 8 equal or similar looking "white" ones, and a distinct king piece).
It looks really interesting, so I wanted to share it with you. I'll just skip the historical mumbo jumbo, and get down to business.
http://www.aligulac.net/hnefatafl.gif
There's the game board. There are two players, white and black. White has a king (dotted circle) and 8 soldiers, and black has 16 soldiers. Alternatively, the sides are called attackers (black) and defenders (white). Because of it being asymmetrical, it is considered common courtesy to play two games, swapping sides.
The white king and his men are under attack. The objective for the white player is to let the king escape into one of the four orange squares (the king's castles). Each piece (including the king) moves just like a rook in chess. No piece may jump over any other piece, and no piece (except the king) can enter the castle or throne (blue) squares. It is allowed for a piece to jump over the throne square.
A piece is captured if it is sandwitched between two opposing pieces on opposite sides. Assuming X are white and O are black:
XOX ... the black piece is sandwitched and must be removed.
O
X
O ... the white piece is sandwitched and must be removed.
O
XO ... there is no sandwitch here.
Also, if a piece is sandwitched between an opposing piece and a castle or a throne square, it is also captured.
The king can't be captured, but it can be trapped. So there's the objective for the black player, he must trap the white king by blocking its movement in all four directions (not just two), before it can escape to a castle.
Oh, and, the sandwitch only takes effect if it is caused by the capturing player. I.e. it is safe for a white piece to move inbetween two black pieces, the capture only happens if a black piece moves to sandwitch a white one or vice versa.
A lot of complications ensue over these simple rules. You try it (it's simple to make a board, you need a piece of paper with a 9x9 grid, 16 equal or similar looking "black" pieces, 8 equal or similar looking "white" ones, and a distinct king piece).