Fetlar

What is different here

The Fetlar Hnefatafl Panel wrote these rules for the annual tournament on Fetlar, in Shetland. They are the simplest of the modern eleven by eleven codes and the easiest to teach in one sitting.

Board, army, movement and capture are identical to Copenhagen. What is missing is the extra machinery. There is no shieldwall capture, no edge fort win and no win by encirclement, so neither side gets a result for merely having a grip on the position.

That makes the endings blunter: the attackers have to actually take the king, and the defenders have to actually walk him into a corner.

• Identical 11x11 array: 24 attackers, 12 defenders and the king.
• Corner escape; the king needs all four sides held to fall.
• Empty corners and the empty throne are hostile to both sides.
• No shieldwall, no edge fort, no encirclement.
• The simplest modern code — a good first tafl game.

Learn

• Full rulesEverything this rule set does, in full.
• The basicsStart here if you have never played at all.
• LearnA first game, opening ideas and a glossary.
• HistoryWhere this game came from, and what is guesswork.