LUSITANO RETREAT — Nine Men’s Morris / Merrills
Historic European game; exact origins debated
Players: 2
CHOSEN VERSION: Three-phase museum version with flying at three; no-flying versions exist. No diagonal connections.

EQUIPMENT
1. Three-square board with 24 nodes
2. Nine counters per player

SETUP
1. Start with an empty board and nine counters each off-board. Choose the first player. Nodes are corners and side midpoints, not arbitrary positions on a line.

HOW TO PLAY
1. Placement phase: alternate adding one counter to an empty node until both have placed all nine. A new line of three on a drawn straight board line is a mill.
2. Each completed mill removes one opposing counter permanently. Choose a counter outside an opponent mill if any exists; otherwise a counter in a mill may be taken. A move making two mills removes just one in this chosen version.
3. Movement phase: move one counter along a drawn line to the next empty adjacent node, without jumping. Opening and later reforming a mill earns another capture.
4. When reduced to exactly three counters after placement, that player may fly one to any empty node. The other player still follows normal movement unless also down to three.

SCORING
1. No numeric point score. Agree a draw if the position repeats without progress rather than playing indefinitely.

WINNING: Win when the opponent has only two counters left, or has no legal move.

AT THE RETREAT
Paint a board on sound reclaimed wood; add an inventory pouch with eighteen large counters.

SOURCES
National Museum of Ireland — Nine Men’s Morris — https://www.museum.ie/getmedia/63903c58-0117-4b32-96e9-e1e8fd78e763/NMI_PastTimes_NineMensMorris_BW_FINAL.pdf
Museum three-phase rules, mill capture restriction and flying.
Berkeley GamesCrafters — Nine Men’s Morris — https://gamescrafters.berkeley.edu/games.php?game=ninemensmorris
24-node board and complete game description.

https://lusitanoretreat.com/build-guides/world-games/#game-nine-mens-morris