Nine Men's Morris (aka Mills, Merels, Mhüle)
Introduction
Nine Man's Morris Dates back to the Roman Republic with some contested evidence dating back the ancient Egypt. It remained popular in Europe through the middle ages into the late 1800s in the New World. Although the orginal lore is long lost the goal of game is to remove all of the opponents pieces from play. Players maneouver their pieces with the aim of aligning three pieces (men) along one of the board lines. This formation is known as a 'mill.' Whenever a mill is established, the player is obliged to remove an opponent's piece from play. Opponents pieces that are already sheltered in a mill are safe unless no other options remain. Games are typically quick and brutally unforgiving.
Rules
Placement Phase
The game board consists of 3 concentric squares intersected by 4 partial lines. The lines mark movement paths while the intersections marked with dots show valid placements. Players will alternate placement of pieces on the board until they have placed 9 each. Throughout the game, pieces may only be placed or moved to unoccupied dots. Mills can be formed and executed in this phase so you need to think tactically from the start.
Manoeuvring Phase
After placement, players will alternate moving their pieces along the marked board lines. The goal is to organize your pieces into a row of 3 known as a "mill." Pieces may only move one space at a time. If a mill is formed, the attacking player must immediately remove an opponent's piece from the board.
"Milled" pieces are safe unless no other option is available. After the piece is removed, the round continues with the defending player's turn as normal.
This phase continues until:
a) Draw: 20 moves have been played without a new mill being formed.
b) One player is reduced to 3 pieces.
Flying Phase
If a player has 3 pieces, they are no longer constrained to move one space. They may move their pieces to any unoccupied dot. This can apply to both players if both have 3 remaining men. The game ends when one player is reduced to 2 men and can no longer form a mill.
Basic Strategy
The key to Nine Men's Morris is to create multiple credible threats. Your opponent can only move one piece per turn, and therefore can only block one potential mill. Here are some patterns to watch for:
The Double Mill
In this configuration, Light can potentially move a piece between two mills, creating a new mill each turn. This "windmill" attack is typically lethal. God speed.