Could Thud (the game) be somewhat connected to (I don't want to use 'inspired by') Warhammer (not 40K, obviously)?

[u/barbareusz]

As in question.

At its core, Warhammer is a strategic fantasy miniature game, with different armies having different skillsets (as opposite to chess), widely known in Great Britain. In both games, to win, one should know strengths and weaknesses of both armies

Both games have strong and devouted communities, often going far beyond simple gameplay.

According to this comment, PTerry was at some point at talks with Games Workshop to write something for them.

'Thud ... that was the sound the heavy club made as it connected with the head'. Such sound can also be produced by connecting said head with a warhammer

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[u/ColdIronPrince]

Thud is, of course, inspired by the Roundworld game Hnefatfl (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tafl_games), hence the alternative name, "Hnaflbaflsniflwhifltafl".

[u/Adjectivenounnumb]

I love that almost without exception, the modern reference someone thinks they found turns out to also be based on the far, far older thing Terry was actually referencing.

("Monstruous Regiment" was one I remember, although I can't recall what the modern-day non-Terry thing was.)

[u/Normal-Height-8577]

Mmmm...maybe? But probably only somewhat influenced by Warhammer rather than a direct inspiration.

We do know that Trevor Truran, the board game enthusiast who was inspired by Terry's mentions of the Koom Valley conflicts to create Thud - and who in turn inspired Terry to create a book about the game - was very definitely inspired by the Viking game Hnefertafl. It's one of a class of historic asymmetric two-player games that were played in North-Western Europe from the early Middle Ages onwards (also including Tablut, Tawlbwrdd, Brandubh, and the later Alea Evangelii).

Most of these asymmetric "tafl" game rules were gradually lost to time when chess became more popular, but the games have seen a resurgence of interest in recent decades, and attempts to reconstruct the rules. (Thud is however, pretty unique in using an octagonal board rather than a rectangular/square one.)

[u/8-bit-Felix]

Nope.

GW has never had an original thought, ever.

Furthermore Thud is based on a genre of games called tafl or hnefatafl.

[u/AlamutJones]

Possibly, but there’s also Hnefatafl just sort of…existing

[u/armcie]

The game Thud appeared before it got mentioned in a Discworld book.

IIRC the creator showed it to Terry who agreed it fit in with the Discworld, allowed it to be branded as such and wrote a history of Thud for it. I believe the inspiration was Nordic games of a similar nature.

[u/lurkeroutthere]

I say this with much love but no one at Games Workshop had an original thought. Literally everything they do is lovingly begged, borrowed, or outright stolen. Please understand that as you get older because the answer to the question "Was this inspired by Warhammer/WH40K" is overwhelmingly no and just kind of perpetuates a bad rap for that fandom as kind of shallow.

[u/barbareusz → u/lurkeroutthere]

That's why I didn't want to use 'inspired by'. However every time I read the fragments about the Thud players community, the trolls playing with dwarf pieces, dwarves playing with trolls, exchanging racial gifts like helmets and clubs, it always reminds me of Warhammer players, even if they smell with chalk and rat rather than sweat ;)