Hagbard wrote:I'd say that in the capture-from-4-sides-games the king is captured alive for ransom - more worth alive than dead, not unusual of the times. This also supports the idea in the note above that the king in the 4-sides-game is captured when and only when he cannot in the next move run away from the encirlement.
I'm glad you pointed that out, as I was about to make a post suggesting that if you can take the king against the edge, then ordinary soldiers should logically be taken against the edge too, which would create an absurd game where the king would escape every time.
I agree with your logic, the goal of black is to capture the king, as opposed to destroying the king.
That would just leave us with the potential problem of making things too easy for black again. Once again edge escape seems to be the simple answer, and we have previously agreed that it makes a well balanced game on the 9x9 (rachuneck/long ship tafl). However, I think what we are looking for is a rule set for 11x11 corner tafl that can function in a tournament situation.
I still dont see the need for the shield wall rule, though no reason not to try it out. Could be a nice addition.
Strong Copenhagen rules with a king hostile board edge, but king friendly corners then seems to be where we are ending up with this exploration?