Latrunculi

[ziegenpeter]

Its a bit like Hnefatafl (you also have to "sqeeze" the king) - a viking board game.



Its also played in the Beowulf&Grendel movie with Gerald Butler. There is one scene where Hrotgar comes out of his hall an says to two guys with a game board: "The king is going to win"

[Titus Marcellus Scato]

What would be nice is if we could create a notation system for Latrunculi, so games could be recorded. That way newbies could play through complete notated games to understand how to play and get an idea of strategy.

The chess notation system could be adapted, I think. The board above is 12 files wide instead of 8 in chess, but both boards have 8 rows. So the columns would be a-l, and the rows 1-8.

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algebraic_chess_notation

The round 'stones' are equivalent to pawns in chess, so their moves would be notated:'a8-a5'. The King (Dux) moves would be notated as 'D-g3'.

E.g:

Black --- White
1. D-g3 - a8-a5
2. g1-g4 - f8-f4

and so on.

Captures could be notated thus

3. e1-e4xf4

indicating that the man on f4 has been captured. (Don't know what the round pieces are called, I can't call them pawns, so I'll just call them men.)

I'm not sure if multiple enemy men can be captured at once by flanking a row of them on both sides? But, if so, the notation would be:

3. e1-e4xf4,g4,h4

indicating that the men on f4, g4, and h4 have all been captured.

Threats (men adjacent to) the enemy Dux following a move placing a man adjacent to the Dux could be indicated by plus signs, one plus sign for each man adjacent to the enemy Dux after the completion of the move, thus:

c3-c5+ if the opposing Dux is adjacent to one piece. c3-c5++ if the Dux is adjacent to two men (even if one is on the enemy side - White or Black, doesn't matter, since the Dux can be hemmed in by his own men just as in chess.) c3-c5+++ if the Dux is adjacent to three men. (Diagonally adjacent men don't count, remember, only rows and files.

Finally, c3-c5# if the move traps the enemy Dux completely, indicating the end of the game.

What do you think?

Apparently the size of the board varied quite a bit - 7x8, 8x8, 10x8, 11x8, 12x8. So to start with newbies could use an 8x8 chessboard and use the chess pawns and king as pieces.

I'd be interested in playing this game by PBEM if anyone is interested, preferably on an 8x8 board to start with.

[anubis88]

@ziegenpeter
You are completly right. In fact it's theorized, that hnefatafl is a close relative to latrunculi - some rules were in fact taken from hnefatafl, since it seems they are the most likely for both games.

@Titus
You can take as many men as you like by squeezing them - theoreticaly even 10, unless there's a dux between them. The dux protects them (at least that's my interpretation, since he can't be conquered, there are no specific rules about this). I like you notation idea, but i think it's unnecessary to call "checks" on the dux, since the dux doesn't have to move when attacked like the king does in chess. You just need to watch out he doesn't get trapped (it's very difficult to trap a dux).

I started playing with the 12x8 board, since they found a position from a 12x8 board in Brittain with the starting positions on. And i really like it... It's not that different from an 8 board; it's just that the game lasts longer :)

[Titus Marcellus Scato]

I wonder if the Dux really moved like a rook, any number of squares along files and rows. Maybe the Dux should only be able to move one square at a time, like the king in chess except for not being able to make diagonal moves.

I think the game would play more strategically that way, as the Dux would be a lot more vulnerable.

Also I think the Dux should have to be trapped in every game. Otherwise the players will just focus on capturing all the other men, and not bothering with the enemy Dux at all.

[anubis88]

You should read the article i posted... It's clearly explained why the dux moved as much as he did. I would take forever to capture a dux, so i guess it's better to take all the men of the opponent.