The Regency Chess Company Hnefatafl - Viking Game - Cardinal Edition (Red Pieces)

This is one well made product to play the ancient Hnefatafl game. Highly recommended to buy from them. The quality is top notch.

We have recently started to play the game and we like it very much.It's a good mental exercise and - when you get more intuitive and can follow through your own and your adversary's moves and thinking - it is a great way to spend some time. Also, socially it is very involving.A good buy.

Very good value for money, delivered quickly, excellent service.

I have brought this as a gift. Looks fantastic

There are umpteen Hnefatafl sets doing the rounds - especially at Christmas time and anytime Vikings are fashionable again due to some film or telly show.This, to put it mildly, is the one that set the bar.The pieces look great, not as exquisitely elaborate as certain Lewis Chess Set style versions, yes, but without the "saw you coming" price tag from various Dick Turpins across the interwebs peddling "hand crafted pieces" that anyone with eyesight better than Mr Magoo can tell are really from resin moulds. They are tiny (apart from the king), but deceptively much heavier than you'd think due to the stone resin.The instructions are clear, concise and with diagrams - and are not glued to the inside of the box to penny pinch on already overpriced "special editions" (grrrrrrr!)Anyone receiving this could be up and playing in under two minutes easily - less if they're familiar with the rook in chess (which is how all the pieces move).The sole drawback is the cloth board. It looks nice, and there's the novelty factor, but it's completely impractical for gaming. Whether children or adults, gamers aren't exactly known for keeping gaming areas as clean as a operating room, and that lovely cloth is one spilled drink away from being ruined.That's one reason why easy wipe boards of vinylled cardboard or wood predominated - the other is, of course, they guarantee a hard flat playing surface. The company that makes this does a limited edition with a beautiful wooden board, but it's far too much money to spend on such a simple game unless you're a real games nut or "Living the Thor Life" type.That said, it's the pieces you want this for. There's lots of other Hnefatafl sets out there with wonderful boards and boring pieces using much the same "authenticity" excuses for cutting one corner to keep down the price overall - and which can be picked up for a song if you're willing to wait, so you can give these pieces the board they deserve.Regarding the plethora of suspiciously similar sets to this one out there: if you have a suspicion that a particular "limited edition" set is just THIS particular set in different colours or a different box, chances are your hunch is right, as they do "specials" for others that aren't all that special (different presentation box and that's it!).£24-25 is about right for this, any higher and wait for the price to come down.