I think Hnefatafl is a good fit for Swords-and-shields, with the King's defenders being the Shields and the attackers the Swords. There would undoubtedly be extensive regional variation dictating the size of the board (from 7 by 7 to 15 by 15), to the number of pieces each side is allowed (always more attackers than defenders, though), and even whether the King is safe when he hits the edge of the board, or if he has to get into a corner square. With the game being played on the corners of the squares, it strongly resembles Go; I think it would be MGF to have old Orlanthi sitting around the stead in the evening, discussing Swords-and-shields strategy like modern players discuss Go.
> there are a number of free computer games of it on the net, not
> tested by me but in case you are interested, here are some links
FWIW, while I picture the Orlanthi preferring strategic board games like Hnefatafl, I see the Lunars as being more into parlor games, like Monopoly and such. I had the idea to place the ancient Egyptian game of Senet as a Dara Happan invention, elaborated upon by the Lunar Empire:
http://www.discovery.com/games/senet/senet.html
I originally thought it would fit best as a Holy Country innovation, then I read this article:
http://www.ahs.uwaterloo.ca/~museum/Archive/Piccione/
Roland Volz
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