Hnefatafl
(Tafl)
Ruleset:
Copenhagen
Game
See the game Hnefatafl for more details.
Period(s)
Medieval
Summary
Suggested rules by A. Nielsen, A. Bartley and T. Millar in 2012.
Description
These rules, which are played in tournaments, were made in response to perceived shortcomings in the Fetlar reconstruction of Hneftafl. It uses the mistranslated rules from Linnaeus, which incorrectly states that the king must be surrounded on four sides to be captured.
Rules
Played on an 11x11 board, with the central square and four corner squares marked. One player plays as the king with twelve pieces, the other with 24 attackers. Attackers play first. Pieces move orthogonally any number of spaces. Only the king may land on marked squares. Other pieces may move over the central square, but not land on it. Pieces are captures when surrounded on opposite sides by opposing pieces, or being surrounded by a marked square and an opposing piece. A row of pieces along the edge of the board may be captured by completely surrounding them along the edge so they cannot move. The king may be captured by surrounding it on all four sides. The king may also be captured by surrounding it on three sides and the central square on the fourth. The king wins the game by moving to one of the corner squares. The attackers win by capturing the king. The attackers may also win by surrounding all of the king's forces to they cannot reach the edge of the board. The king may also win by creating a formation on the edge of the board with its pieces such that the king may move freely and the attackers cannot capture the pieces making up the fort.
Concepts
Browse all concepts for Copenhagen here.
Reference
http://aagenielsen.dk/copenhagen_rules.php
Other Rulesets
Suggested rulesets
Fetlar
Suggested reconstruction from 2007 Fetlar Hnefatafl Panel.
Identifiers
DLP.GameRulesets.546
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