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Re: Copenhagen Hnefatafl

Posted: Sat Sep 08, 2012 4:33 pm
by Hagbard
The German page with the shieldwall rule explicitely says "if several taflstones with the same colour stand side by side on the edge of the taflboard and one opposing taflman is placed in front of each of them, it is possible to capture the complete row at once by flanking the opposing taflstones. In contrast to the so far explained kinds of capturing the refuges do NOT count as substitute taflstones in this case."

But perhaps it would be more logical if forbidden squares do participate in shieldwall capture as they do in other captures, and perhaps better for the game, giving further tactical opportunities?

Re: Copenhagen Hnefatafl

Posted: Sat Sep 08, 2012 4:50 pm
by Kratzer
That would maybe lead us to epic battles in the corners! Why not have try?

Re: Images for boards

Posted: Tue Sep 11, 2012 9:37 am
by Hagbard
skallatorc wrote:Here is the .rar files, let my know if they work or need resized.
Thanks a lot - the pieces are now used in the Copenhagen variant.

Re: Copenhagen Hnefatafl

Posted: Tue Sep 11, 2012 9:38 am
by Hagbard
Forbidden squares now participate in shieldwall capture.

Re: Copenhagen Hnefatafl

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2012 8:10 pm
by Adam
Excellent idea! That's is going to lead to some crazy corner situations. It will add another tool to whites toolkit for unlocking the corners. Lets see how it plays :)

Re: Copenhagen Hnefatafl

Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2012 12:18 am
by crust
shieldwall black capture.JPG
It could also work to black's advantage sometimes, as in this example. Without the shieldwall rule, white would surely win

Re: About the draw concept

Posted: Sat Dec 01, 2012 9:45 am
by Adam
Hagbard wrote: The past two years 1800 tafl games were played on this site. Counting the draws in the exposed variants gives 42 draws:
22 center forts
7 edge forts
1 corner fort
9 perpetual checks
2 cases of too few pieces left on both sides
1 case of white not able to move
I wonder how many of these draws were in tournament games in the exposed variants, as draws were never really considered a problem until we had tournament situations. So is it a bit misleading to think of it as 42 draws from the exposed variants out of 1800 total games? Could we hear the figure for draws as a percentage of tournament games in the exposed variants?

Re: About the draw concept

Posted: Sat Dec 01, 2012 10:23 am
by Hagbard
Adam wrote:Could we hear the figure for draws as a percentage of tournament games in the exposed variants?
There were 15 draws in 246 tournament games in the exposed variants. So, while the overall draw percentage is 2 %, the tournament draw percentage is 6 %. The minimum-kill rule could be made a tournament rule only?

Re: Balanced 9x9 and 11x11 tafl variants

Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 1:44 pm
by conanlibrarian
Seems like that. Question is if rules forbidding draws should be included? Since there were not many draws, perhaps this is not a problem, but I have the feeling that people simply did not go for a draw even if they had the chance, instead mostly playing as if draws were not possible. The rules as they stand are susceptible to draw forts and infinite raichi. And the rules are definitely playable without draws. (I know I am starting to repeat myself, but I am simply not fond of draws! :D )

Re: To draw of not to draw...where is the option?

Posted: Sun Mar 10, 2013 7:48 pm
by Hagbard
There is an issue with the white-is-blocked-and-cannot-move situation.

The rules description for Hnefatafl 11x11 (Norse America?) normally calls this a black win, as fx. in this reference:
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~aldrich/courses/ ... s-spec.doc ("Also, if one player cannot move, the other player wins.").

Likewise does the Skalk rules description ("Black has also won if the situation arises that all white's pieces have been rendered immobile by encirclement.").

Maybe it's a bit too chess-like sophisticated to call it a draw when white in this way is completely passivized. Perhaps a viking would rather call it a case of "you lost!" ?

The situation is not as yet handled by the software. The situation leaves it to the players to use either the "Offer draw" button or the "Resign" button.
crust wrote:As a side issue, what about giving each game a code number, so it can easily be found in the archive?
There's a time stamp to each game, which can identify the game, fx.:
"Pedro / Warren. Hnefatafl 11x11, 58 moves, 2010-12-29 16:34:40, white won (Pedro)"