Up until now, I did post via the small forum, due to log-in problems, but the administrator has fixed it so now I can post on this forum... My name is Luk Martens,aka 'Masterluke'. That being said, I'm far from a 'Master' if one regards my playing... My nickname has to be interpreted with a serious amount of irony.
Anyway, some of you may have already seen in the gallery section that I like to make my own Tafl-games. I've made some in real life, as well as computer-designed models for 3D-printing. Just today, Aage added my version of the 'Alea Berserk' pieces in the gallery. Feel free to comment.
At this moment, I'm intrigued by the Alea Evangelii variant, as it's the most 'complete' Tafl game. Of course, some monk wrote it down way back in the 11th century... but I can't help but wonder why it is set up on a 19x19 board, rather than a 17x17 board, which makes more sense if you compare the number of pieces (including king) in relation to the amount of squares on the other variants: 13 pieces on a 7x7 board; 25 pieces on a 9x9 board; 37 pieces on a 11x11 board; 49 pieces on a 13x13 board (Parlett setup) and 61 pieces on a 15x15 board (Damian Walker setup).
So I began thinking (I do that sometimes, which leads to various results
) about a 'new' variant which should combine the best of all worlds. The Alea-Berserk variant on this website, thought by mr Bartley is very enjoyable. Then I discovered several websites discussing and explaining the origins, the meanings and countless interpretations of the Alea Evangelii-game. For all we know, it may be not even intended as a game, but pure an allegoric text - albeit heavily related to Tafl games...I really like the Berserk-move. The Variegated men and Commanders are also a brilliant treat! At 'dragonheelsliar' and 'boardgamegeek' I found out about the 'guards'. Herewith I enclose a pure fictional - for now - game set-up, on a 17 x 17 board, combining all these features. I call it 'Total Tafl', whithout the slightest amount of modesty
; see attachment. But since I favor in general the 'old hnefatafl rules', with an armed king which is captured from 2-sides and edge-escape, I applied these... hopefully resulting in a kind of allround game, disconnected from any historical or religious meaning. I deleted the knights, though... The commanders, variegated men and guards do add enough complexity in the game... Besides, in the Viking-era (or early middle-ages, for that matter) 'knighthood' was in its infancy and had yet to develop... There were just 'warriors', with a very small minority seated on a horse. 
Let it be understood: historical accuracy is the least of my concerns here! I wonder if this could work? I'd like to find out and maybe some of you have something to say about this?
Greetings
Luk
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