| Tango01 | 10 Jan 2018 12:18 p.m. PST |
"Viking warriors storm into the torch-lit camp of a rival clan. Outnumbered, the ambushed Norsemen are far from their boats. Their one goal: flee to a nearby castle while keeping their king alive. At first glance, Hnefatafl (prounounced "nef-ah-tah-fel") might just look like a knock-off version of chess with Norse helms and impressive beards, but the game is at least 600 years older—already well-known by 400 A.D.—and is perhaps a lot more relevant to the conflicts of the 21st century. "I love the asymmetry in this game. To win in this game, you absolutely have to think like your opponent," emails Kristan Wheaton, a former Army foreign area officer and ex-analyst at U.S. European Command's Intelligence Directorate. "Geography, force structure, force size and objectives are different for the two sides. If you can't think like your opponent, you can't win. I don't know of a better analogy for post-Cold War conflict."…"
Main page link Amicalement
Armand |
| Neal Smith | 10 Jan 2018 1:14 p.m. PST |
They were playing this in the last episode of "Vikings" on History channel. |
| General Kirchner | 10 Jan 2018 1:16 p.m. PST |
i have one. my mom bought it for me when i was in high school. its a replica look so the board is linen and the pieces look like bone or ivory. i just played it over Christmas break with my youngest son (age 14). its a very fun game, and the funnest part is switching sides after a game. |
| Mick the Metalsmith | 10 Jan 2018 2:12 p.m. PST |
I make silver and bronze hnefatafl pieces if anyone is interested. |
| mumbasa | 10 Jan 2018 2:29 p.m. PST |
My friend Terry and I played it just this past Saturday. Some very deep thinking for just a simple game.
mumbasa |
| Buck215 | 10 Jan 2018 4:15 p.m. PST |
You are close, Neal Smith! Ivar the Boneless was using the game to plan his attack strategy against Lagertha's forces… |
 Parzival  | 10 Jan 2018 6:45 p.m. PST |
I have a wood version of a smaller variant called "tablut" that I picked up at The Museum Store a long time ago. It's a challenging game, especially for the attacker, which seems contrary to the fact that he has twice as many men as the defender, a testament to the effect of differing victory goals. The game plays very quickly. A true classic. |
| goragrad | 10 Jan 2018 10:21 p.m. PST |
At a 400 AD date it predates Vikings. I also read elsewhere that the rules used today are a reconstruction as the historical rules were not recorded. However, does look interesting. |
| Sobieski | 11 Jan 2018 3:13 a.m. PST |
Do give shogi (Japanese chess) a go, fans of such games. It's unbelievably addictive. |
GildasFacit  | 11 Jan 2018 3:22 a.m. PST |
It's history is nothing to do with chess and it is part of a large family of games, re-popularised in Victorian times as 'Fox and Geese'. |
| Mick the Metalsmith | 11 Jan 2018 9:44 a.m. PST |
The reconstruction of the rules is of a debate as to whether dice were used give a player a turn to move or not. You could call this one of the first miniature games with command control rules! |
| Tango01 | 11 Jan 2018 10:32 a.m. PST |
Yes, you are right about the TV Serie…
Amicalement
Armand
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| Parzival | 12 Jan 2018 1:34 p.m. PST |
I decided to look around to see what commercial versions of the game are available. I'm certain there are a lot more, but this one (sold through Walmart) has to be the funniest (whether it was meant to be so or not):
link |
| zoneofcontrol | 12 Jan 2018 3:30 p.m. PST |
There is a bunch of info on BoardGameGeek: link |
| The Last Conformist | 13 Jan 2018 9:06 a.m. PST |
prounounced "nef-ah-tah-fel" Not in Old Norse. Most notably, the f's should sound like Modern English v's. |
| Mick the Metalsmith | 13 Jan 2018 9:49 a.m. PST |
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gets medieval.
