Uneven forces make game compelling

You probably have not heard of Alea Evangelii, but you probably should look into this old board game if you enjoy a challenge.

The game is part of the tafl family, which are a group of abstract strategy games which pit two players against each other, but with unequal forces.

The game is an ancient one, with www.boardgame.geel suggesting an origin dating back to the year 800.

Damian Walker, who has created a number of informative little pamphlets of old abstract strategy games, pegs the game as a bit more recent, or at least dates an early reference to it.

“Corpus Christ  College, Cambridge, owns an interesting manuscript dating to 1140.  One of the things that makes it interesting is that it depicts a board game which, the manuscript says,  was   played   in the  court  of king Athelstan 200 years earlier.  It calls   the   game  alea   evangelii, the game of the gospel,” states the pamphlet.

In terms of game play, like all tafl games, the core is that one player has a force greatly out-manned by the other. In that respect tafl games better mimic battles than chess, the game which tended to replace the popularity of games such as Alea Evangelii,.

Chess is a great board game in most of its configurations, but rarely are forces on a battlefield ever exact mirror images in terms of forces.

What makes Alea Evangelii, so compelling within its rather small family group of board games is its scale.

The game is played on a huge 19X19 board, which of course makes it ideal to be played on the largest Go board. There are not many abstract strategy games played at such a scale.

“The game features a king in the centre of the board, and a large number of men around him. This is a kind of  hnefatafl, a game brought to the British Isles by  Norse invaders who settled mainly in the northern areas,” explains the Walker material.  “In hnefatafl, a king in the centre must escape from the board with  the help of  his  guards, while twice their number of attackers attempt to capture them.  In alea evangelii, the  numbers are 24 defenders and 48 attackers.”

To begin the game the king is placed on the central square with his defenders around. The exact positioning is explained in any rule set.

The attackers are placed on the squares nearer the edges.

The king’s side moves first.  

All pieces move along a row or column any number of spaces (the movement of the rook from chess).  

A moving piece cannot land on another, nor may pieces jump.  

Only the king may land on the marked central square or the 16 marked corner squares.

Capture is a piece is captured by surrounding it on two opposite sides along a row or column with two pieces of your own, commonly referred to as custodial capture.  

It is sometimes possible to capture two or three enemies separately.  

It is possible for either side to capture enemies against the empty central square, or marked corner square, as if the square had one of your pieces sat upon it.  

The king is more difficult to capture when in the central space. It is captured by surrounding him on all four sides by attackers.

Otherwise, he is captured like other pieces.  

To win the defenders must get the king to one of the aforementioned 16 marked squares in the corners of the board. He has escaped the larger force to find safety.

The attackers win if they capture the king before he escapes.

Visually the game is daunting off the start, with the King supported by 24 pieces against a force of 48 rebels, all ready for battle in the expansive board.

The key is to get your head around the idea of unequal forces, and the different paths to victory. Obviously the strategy is different for both players, and victory comes from best implementing your plan.

Be ready to sacrifice pieces, as you build an escape route if you are the king.

This is a game where players can delve into strategies for play-after-play, much like fans of chess do.

This is not for all, but is worth investigating. You might just find a new favourite game.