Search found 38 matches

by cyningstan
Sat Dec 19, 2015 10:33 am
Forum: Rules
Topic: Copenhagen Hnefatafl
Replies: 153
Views: 271557

Re: Copenhagen Hnefatafl

Summary on the Copenhagen Hnefatafl: http://aagenielsen.dk/copenhagen_summary.php Just a quick aside: although the Swedish sections of the diary were translated by Troilius, Smith says (in his preface) that he had to redo the Latin passages himself. So Smith, rather than Troilius, is responsible fo...
by cyningstan
Tue Oct 20, 2015 9:22 pm
Forum: Other
Topic: Tafl in Denmark
Replies: 8
Views: 54836

Re: Tawlbwrdd 11x11

Tawlbwrdd is often the first version of the game that I teach people. It's the simplest and purest version, and I'm glad that it works so well. Of course I'm yet to find out if the absence of a special central square is historic or not.
by cyningstan
Sun Oct 11, 2015 10:09 am
Forum: Rules
Topic: Alea Evangelii 19x19
Replies: 47
Views: 124163

Re: Alea Evangelii 19x19

Possibly, with the 8 defenders placed in the attackers' circle, the game can work even without special duxes. Tim Millar and I tried this some time ago. We didn't get round to finishing the game, but as far as we went the layout worked much better than the usual one devised by H. J. R. Murray. I've...
by cyningstan
Mon Aug 24, 2015 12:23 pm
Forum: Rules
Topic: Brandubh 7x7
Replies: 92
Views: 175872

Re: Brandubh 7x7

Since last month I notice that the balance has changed, it's now at +1.22 overall (+1.31 when compensated for better players). That's not bad, but I've compared it to the game on Dragonheels' Lair that uses my old rules. Of 314 games, there were 144 white wins against 166 black, with 4 draws. Using ...
by cyningstan
Sun Jul 19, 2015 5:14 pm
Forum: Rules
Topic: Brandubh 7x7
Replies: 92
Views: 175872

Re: Brandubh 7x7

I'd be happy to promote these instead of my own rules (as currently used on my site, leaflets and books, and played on Dragonheels' Lair). The balance is better than my old rules and the consistency with tablut is an advantage.
by cyningstan
Tue Jun 30, 2015 8:02 am
Forum: Rules
Topic: 13x13 Tafl
Replies: 19
Views: 34749

Re: 13x13 Tafl

Perhaps not fully proved, but it's my strong impression, that strong king variants work only on the 11x11 board. [...] In contrast to this, the weak king and the sea battle king are scalable and work on many board sizes. This doesn't surprise me, as the strong king is just a mistranslation of the L...
by cyningstan
Tue Jun 30, 2015 7:58 am
Forum: Rules
Topic: Tawlbwrdd 11x11
Replies: 19
Views: 59887

Re: Tawlbwrdd 11x11

Never the less, this Damain Walker illustration from a historical source does indeed indicate a throne square also for Tawlbwrdd: http://tafl.cyningstan.com/page/146/literary-sources That was taken from Lewis's 1940 article. In the original article it appears to be a version tidied up for print, ra...
by cyningstan
Sat Jan 25, 2014 3:23 pm
Forum: Puzzles
Topic: Puzzle 5
Replies: 4
Views: 21822

Re: Tablut problem

As for the general idea of looking at old games, I think I'll give that a try. Reading up about chess problems, though, has suggested that they're better carefully composed, reducing the pieces to only those that are necessary. Hnefatafl presents some difficulties in that all pieces are long-range, ...
by cyningstan
Sat Jan 25, 2014 3:19 pm
Forum: Puzzles
Topic: Puzzle 5
Replies: 4
Views: 21822

Re: Puzzles

Whoops! I made an error while transcribing the diagram, sorry. There's an attacker on G5 meaning that the D5 defender can only get as far as F5: 9 - - - - - A - - - 8 - - A - - - - - - 7 D - A - - - - - - 6 A - - - - - - - - 5 - - - D + - A - - 4 D - - K - D A - A 3 - D A - A - - - - 2 - - - - - - -...
by cyningstan
Fri Jan 24, 2014 10:24 pm
Forum: Other
Topic: archaeology
Replies: 12
Views: 24548

Re: Saaremaa, the Salme ships, and the Kaali meteor crater.

This, to my mind, is the earliest confirmed hnefatafl find, what with the Vimose board (A.D. 400) actually being Roman. Although a supposed hnefatafl find in Dorestad is earlier, I can't find any detailed information on it.