Brandubh

Based on rules posted online by Matthew Allen Newsome ( Lard Eogan Og Mac Labruinn ).

Brandubh (pronounced bran-DOO) is a Gaelic-Celtic board game played on a board that is 7 squares by 7 squares, and appears to be distantly related to tafl, although is played in a different manner. It is played with two sides, with 13 pieces between them, representing the King, the Princes and the Barons. It is a tactical game considered to be at least 10 centuries old.

The pieces are laid out with the King in the middle, surounded by his four Princes defending against the Barons as shown in this diagram. Here Gold is chosen to represent the King, Red the Princes and Blue the Barons.

Please note, these are one variation of the rules. A few other variants are around.

Movement

The Baron side starts the game with the first move.

Each piece (Baron, Prince or King) can move one space in any direction. Any piece, with the exception of the King can move two spaces on a white diagonal if the move does not go through friend or foe and doesn't end in a capture. A diagonal capture can be made on the white spaces if the capture move is just one space (Added Jan 2003, evens up play).

Capturing Pieces

A piece is captured by moving onto the space it is occupying and removing it from the board. Because the King is considered divine he can never be captured, but he can capture other pieces.

Captures are made either moving vertically or horizontally onto an adjacent piece. A non-king piece can capture another piece by moving diagonially one square if it follows the white diagonals.

Tara

The central square (marked with the 3 pronged spiral here) is called Tara. This is where the King piece starts. Only the King piece may cross onto or over Tara.

Lost in the Woods

If a Prince piece is on one of the four corner squares for three turns in a row (consecutively, so this includes both Baron and Prince turns) he is removed from the board, and is assumed to be Lost in the Woods.

Winning

The Barons win when all the Princes are removed from the board. The King with his Princes win when all of the Barons have been removed from the playing board.

The Barons have the advantage of numbers and should try to press the Princes, not giving them a chance to move their King. The Barons can sometimes afford to sacrifice a piece to take a piece.

The Princes should try to avoid getting into dangerous situations and let the king do the capturing.

For tournament play, have each player play each side one time. If this results in a 1-1 tie, the player who won by the largest margin (had the most peices remaining on the board) may choose sides for the tie breaker.