The Viking Game (Hnefatafl)

Hnefatafl, also known as The Viking Game, The King's Table or simply Tafl, is one of those two-player games where the opposing sides are not equal in number (we always think of this as a 'lop-sided' chess of sorts).

The defending side comprises twelve soldiers and a king, who start the game in a cross formation in the center of the board. Their objective is for the king to escape by reaching any of the four corner squares. The attackers comprise 24 soldiers positioned in four groups of 6 around the perimeter of the board. All pieces move like the Rook in chess and pieces are taken by "sandwiching" i.e. moving your piece so that an opponent's piece is trapped horizontally or vertically between two of yours

Find out more about this great historical game here.