Otherwise known as The Viking Game seeing as they are the progenitors of the game which fueled the creation of many others, such as chess and nine men's morris.
Hnefetafl is perhaps the oldest variation of the Tafl games, evidence of its usage going back to 400 AD. The game was played on boards varying in size from 7x7 to 19x19, with each variation requiring different tactics to win the two player game.
The setup of the game is interesting in how different it is from most other war games, which usually pit forces against each other across a 'no man's land' and/or require the capture of a precious asset on both sides (chess for example). Henfatafl is different in that it begins with on of the players already mostly captured.
The objective of the captive player is to use his pieces to open a path for the king to escape to an edge of the board (not a corner) while the other must do their best to totally capture the opposing king by completely surrounding him on all four sides.
There is a slight negative feedback loop in that the more pieces are used to 'restrain' the captured pieces the easier it is for the king to escape, and this creates intense conflict with extremely versatile tactics, strategies and outcomes, making it a fun and engaging game.
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