Nine Mens Morris
(Mill or Merrills)
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A popular game played in the Royal Navy, before it was surpassed by Uckers.

 

 

A very ancient game that is derived from Noughts and Crosses or Tic Tac Toe. Which dating back into history, was very fasionable with the Romans, who may have introduced it to Britain, but it is more often assosiated as becoming very popular with the arrival of William the Conqueror to England in 1066. Vistors to our major cathedrals might likely, spot a board engraved on the cloister seats, of about circa 1300, where the monks might play at Stand Easy. I also have been told that a stone board is situated high on the mountains of Snowdownia. Undoubtably the scene of Fleet sports competitions during the medievil era when sea levels were much higher.

The game appears in several formats incloving a diferent constructions of lines (nodes) and the number of counters or men used. In this case we use nine men. It is also known as Merrils which has been corrupted or converted over the years into Morris because of the intricate angular movement of a series of men, a situaton replicated on the village green with Morris dancing. Often it is nick named from the move, in which you hope to create a Mill.

Again it is well recorded, in use, as a popular Public House game, until well into the twentieth century and as such it would be expected to be found aboard ship. Specific eveidence for this comes in the excavations of the Tudor warship Mary Rose, that sunk inbattle in between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight. In this situation the game board was found incised onto a barrallell lid.

It was common practice in those days to mark a Nine Mans Morris on one side and a chequed or (Draughts/Chess) board onto the other side. This was how the Mary Rose board was found. Sometimes such double boards will be hinged with a game of backgammon inside.the box.

Note the board is a series of intersecting lines, (nodes). In any straight line there are only ever three nodes.

The Rules
A game for two people - The object is to to succesively place your men on any three nodes in a straight line, thereby achieving a mill. There must be a connecting straight line between the feet of each placed man.

Equipment - A board, two sets (nine pieces per set) of pegs or counters. (Each coloured black or white etc.)

The Play - Divided into three stages -

    1. With an empty board, players will alternatively place a man on the board at any one of the nodes (The intersection of two or more line.) You cannot occupy a node with more than one man. Everytime you form a mill, you may remove an opponents man from anywhere on the board, so long as that man, does not himself form part of a mill - When any such piece is removed it is discarded and cannot take any further part in the game.
    2. Middle Game - Once all the men in play are on the board, each player in turn moves one of his men to another node on the board, but it can only be to an adjacent node. he cannot jump across spaces or other men.. This can create situations where you can open a mill in one turn and reclose it on the next, thus requalifying you for a mill or create a runing mill by removing a man and adding it to the end of a line thus closing a mill - Each occasion will allow you to remove an opponents man so long as it doesn't form part of a mill.
    3. End Game - When any player is reduced to three pieces you may jump a man to any spare node.
    4. You Win - When your opponent is reduced to two men, and thus cannot form a mill. or when he canot move a man to any adjacent node because you block him.

Rule Variation 1 - When breaking a mill by moving a man to the next node, another move must be made before the first man can be moved back to recreate the same mill.

Making a Board
Any piece of wood can be used, an electric soldering iron, is useful to etch or burn the lines. A drill to create sockets for the pegs (If Used) or a suitable broom from the wardroom cleaning locker to make counters.The board can be any size (say 18" square). It is occasionally, but not often, found on the back of an uckers board, partly because the Uckers board is always in use, but mostly because the back of an uckers board records (in many messes) the best, but only the very best up boards.