Brandubh,  Tablut,  Tawlbwrdd

These games are some of the modern reconstructions of a class of games played during Viking times. They are basically the same game, share common movement and capture. In all of them the King sits in the centre of the board and has to find refuge ( to a corner or board edge ) without being captured by the enemy warriors.

The definitive rules together with the history, strategy and discussion on all these old games and their variants are given on the World Tafl Federation web site. My page doesn't attempt to give an exhaustive description of all the variants. I have also given some mention to a few variants that I find particularly interesting.

[ World Tafl Federation ]

The games of Brandubh, Tablut and Tawlbwrdd can be played online on the Gorrion web server. The games are played by the rules given below. Hopefully the information here is presented in a format that will avoid any confusion.

[ Gorrion Games Online ]

Heron Game Editor. This is a game editor for these games that I adapted from the existing software for Penguin, my game editor for Chess. Heron is now available for download.

[ Heron ]   [ Penguin ]

Brandubh,  Tablut,  Tawlbwrdd

The following table gives the rules for the games. The throne and corner squares are highlighted wherever they are used. The statistics listed in the table have been taken from the World Tafl Federation web site.

	Brandubh rules Corner Win Weak King / Double Weak King Avg game length:  24 moves King victory:  57%
	Tablut rules Edge Win Weak King Avg game length:  35 moves King victory:  46%
	Tawlbwrdd ( Same rules as Tablut. ) rules Edge Win Weak King Avg game length:  42 moves King victory:  47%

Rules Explained

First Move. Black ( the warriors ) move first.

Movement. All pieces move horizontally or vertically any number of free squares. Only the King may occupy the throne or corner squares. But all pieces may pass through.

Warrior Win. The attacking side's objective is to prevent the King reaching safety, by any means. 'By any means' is the significant phrase. It permits capturing the King, but also permits surrounding the King with a blockade that cannot be broken, or achieving infinite repetition. If there is a blockade or repetition then the King will never reach safety, so the attacking side have their winning objective. It will be up to defending side to halt any repetition and to find an alternative move.

Edge Win / Corner Win. If 'edge win' ( Tablut, Tawlbwrdd ) the King wins if he can reach an edge square. Alternatively, 'corner win' ( Brandubh ), the King wins by reaching one of the corner squares placed in the corners.

Custodial Capture. A warrior is captured when he is bounded by two enemy men in a straight custodial entrapment, or if bounded by an enemy man against a throne or corner square. The King may also capture. However if the throne square is occupied then a King's man cannot be captured against it. For the capture to happen the trap needs to be closed by an enemy move. If a man walks into the entrapment there is no capture.

Corner Trap. Under 'edge win' rules a warrior will not be captured if he is trapped on a corner square by two enemy men. The World Tafl Federation believes that such a situation will rarely occur and so it doesn't require any extension to the capture rule. The warrior remains trapped unless freed by one of his own men.

Strong King / Weak King / Double Weak King. Under 'strong king' rules ( Ealdfaeder, Hnefatafl ) the King can be captured only if he is surrounded on four sides by the warriors, or by three warriors if the throne square bounds the King on the fourth side. Under 'weak king' rules the King can be similarly captured, but if he is two steps or more from the throne square he can be captured with a custodial move. Under 'double weak king' rules the King is weaker still and can be captured custodially between two warriors one step from the throne. Brandubh is the only game that uses 'double weak king'. In all cases the capture has to be made with an enemy move.

Unarmed King. The King cannot assist in captures. A black pawn cannot be captured if trapped against the King.

King Edge Capture ( Old Hnefatafl ). The King can be captured if surrounded by enemy warriors on an edge square or bounded by two warriors against a corner square.

Edge Fort ( Copenhagen Hnefatafl ). The King can win with an edge fort. If the King's men can form a guard around the King on the edge of the board that has an internal liberty then the defending side gets the win.

Shield Wall Capture ( Copenhagen Hnefatafl ). A line of warriors can be captured in a shield wall formation. The line needs to run along the edge of the board, and has to be surrounded by enemy men. The capturing move must be an edge move at the head or tail of the line. The logic of this is to prevent a row of warriors from resting safe on the edge of the board.

Warrior Loss. The attacking side loses if all its warriors have been captured.

No Move. If a side can make no move then it loses. Typically if all their men have been surrounded.

Drawn Game. Strictly, draws are not possible if the attacking side's objective is stated as above.

York Game 11x11.  Origin of Hnefatafl 'Corner Win'.

The York game was the first modern day proposal for the rules for 11x11. Based around the board fragment found in 1976 at York, Coppergate. Starting position is as for Old Hnefatafl. Rules are as for 'edge win' Tawlbwrdd with the King 'unarmed'. 'Corner win' was suggested just as an optional consideration.

'Corner win' was then later incorporated into the Danish Skalk Hnefatafl variant. And then later into current Hnefatafl play.

[ http://aagenielsen.dk/hnefataflforum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=10&p=245#p16 ]

Foteviken Game 11x11

This variant offers a novelty that definitely must be tried.

It is played with the 'strong king' rule. However the King's objective is 'edge win'. There are restricted base squares for the warriors. The King and his men may not enter any square of the base camp. Warriors may move within their base camp but may not re-enter any base once they have left. No piece may traverse any square of the base camp. The squares of the base camp are hostile to the King only. Likewise with the throne square: no return, no traverse, hostile to King only. Even though he is in his base camp a warrior in the front square of the camp may still be captured with a custodial move ( although this feels wrong to me ). World Tafl Federation states that 11x11 is the best size for this variant.

Ealdfaeder Game 9x9

The Ealdfaeder Re-enactment Group have adopted their own variant, a 'strong king', 'corner win' game played on a 9x9 board, and with the following starting position.

[ Ealdfaeder rules on Cyningstan ]

 
The World Tafl Federation currently has no 9x9 'corner win' variant that promises a balanced game, but it has not trialled the Ealdfaeder setup. Hopefully they might implement it. There is a proposal for this on their forum

[ Ealdfaeder proposal on the World Tafl Federation forum ]

 
However this game was trialled on Gorrion, and with the following additional rules.

Unarmed King. The King can assist in captures by being an anvil for a pawn move. A King's move cannot be the hammer for a capture.

Group Capture. A single piece or a connected group of pieces will be captured if it has been surrounded by enemy men or by the sides of the board or by a corner square and has no liberties, outside or inside. The King can assist in the capture only as an anvil. If the King is part of the group he is captured.

No Throne. The centre square is not restricted in any way.

Archaeological Boards,  Marked Squares.

Fragments of game playing boards have been found at a number of archaeological sites in Scandinavia. Probably the games were played by people of status. A well crafted board being a symbol of their standing.

Marked Squares. On some of the boards marked squares can be seen. Most probably games evolved over time and marked squares were added to give a different playing experience. My own suggestion is that all these boards are played with the traditional 'edge win' and 'weak king' rules, and the marked squares on all these boards have the same simple purpose. They are restricted squares on which no enemy warrior may land. Because they hinder the warrior side a playable and shorter game may be had with fewer King side pieces. The Trondheim game could possible be played with pieces in the ratio 1:8:20.

( Trondheim board possible starting position. )

Oslo board fragment, 13x13.
[ tafl.cyningstan.com/post/1506/a-hnefatafl-board-from-oslo ]

Oslo board fragment, 15x15.
[ aagenielsen.dk/hnefataflforum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=51#p524 ]

Trondheim board fragment.
[ wilhelmszabel.wordpress.com/2014/09/14/trondheim-hnefatafl-board-fragment ]

   

Online Play

Brandubh, Tablut and Tawlbwrdd can be played online on my game server, Gorrion.

[ Gorrion Games Online ]

Brandubh is played under the 'double weak king' rule as recommended by the World Tafl Federation.

For Hnefatafl The World Tafl Federation has three sets of rules, 'Old', 'Fetlar' and 'Copenhagen'. However for play on Gorrion I am proposing my own variant. Old Hnefatafl will be played with the 'group capture' rule. The added capture opportunities might lead to a shorter game. It might possibly shift the balance of the game. However this isn't too important. More important is to have a good playing experience. Edge forts will not be recognised. To me they feel wrong. Best to stay faithful to the original objective, to get the King to a corner, and nowhere else.

Group Capture. A connected group of two or more pieces will be captured if it has been surrounded by enemy men or by the sides of the board or by a corner and has no liberties, outside or inside. An enemy move needs to take away the final liberty. If the King is part of the group he is captured.

Gorrion hasn't the functionality to automatically end the game once every winning condition has been formed. It will be up to you to interpret the rules, and offer a draw or a resignation once the outcome is clear. Gorrion will only terminate a game when the King has been captured, has reached a safe port, or the attacking side has lost all of its warriors or a side cannot make a move because all its men have been surrounded.

Please do join in the fun. I am 'dashstofsk' at the server and will welcome challenges.

( A game on Gorrion )

Heron Game Editor

One benefit from my recent interest in these games is that I have been able to adapt my Penguin program for Chess and create a version of that software for the storage, review and analysis of Viking Tafl. It has been of help to me in some of my games. It is now available for general download.

[ Heron ]   [ Penguin ]

( The Heron window )

( Composing a game )

Links, More Information

[ World Tafl Federation ]. All the established variants may be played here.

Wikipedia page about the games. [ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tafl_games ]

A historical tour of the games, together with information about the variants, rules and strategy is available at [ tafl.cyningstan.com ]

An interesting series of discussions about these games is given at the boardgamegeek forum.
[ boardgamegeek.com/thread/346545/how-tafl-and-why-youd-want ]