Hnefatafl forum

Newbie here. From Chattanooga, TENNESSEE in the USA. Quick question.
Should I start putting my time and efforts to learning and playing
Copenhagen or Old Hnefatafl

I don’t know much, but I can see Copenhagen is more popular but it being able to capture the king along the edges makes sense to me, as well as no exit forts. I know I have no depth of knowledge so I was looking for input from the knowledgeable players who have been at it for a while

Just for background info
I’ve been playing 11v11 Sea Battle and have been enjoying it . Looking for the next jump up

Welcome!

I don’t play the strong king / corner win variants myself, so I can’t advice you there.

If you want to try historical hnefatafl (weak king / edge win), the most enjoyable and balanced is 11x11 Lewis Cross, in my opinion, especially if you already have some experience with other variants.

Awesome advice!! Thanks so much for responding

I’ve tried the Lewis Cross and the Bell setup. I like them both. I seem to do better with the Lewis Cross at this stage of my development. I do really like the edge escape because it seems like you always have a chance to win, especially being new


I’m not so good right now, ESPECIALLY playing White. I think I’m too impatient and try to push the King too early before I’ve properly softened up the defense.


Additionally As much as I like the edge escape variants it seems like most people like to play the Corner escapes, which to me seem very hard. I’ll always play edge escape variants, especially to improve my tactics, but I’m wondering which corner escape variant to choose, and why pick one (Old Hnefatafl or Copenhagen) over the other. Which do more people find more intriguing and why choose one over the other. I think it will be interesting to hear the different perspectives