The Languages of the Stars:  

Constructed Languages in Fact, and Science Fiction

tIqtaH to' ** Enduring Tactics

Kahless and his warriors strengthened their mental acuity in warfare by playing this strategy game - the object of which is to place three ships in horizontal, vertical or diagonal lines on the field of play:

(to make your own tIqtaH to' set, print this page out, glue the pieces and board on heavy paper, and cut them out)

Traditionally this was played in two dimensions and  warriors took turns placing markers (ships) into play by announcing coordinates:

wa' DoD wej QuvDaq ghoS DujwIj

(my ship goes to coordinates 1.3)

A warrior cries out "tIqtaH to'"  (enduring tactics!) on achieving a formation of three vessels in a diagonal, horizontal or vertical row.  Often the game was played more simply declaring the space one took "wa' DoD wej", "wej DoD wa'" and so on.  You can print out and play the game using the pieces above, with ships from the tlhIngan 'ejyo' (Klingon star fleet) or the DIvI' 'ejyo' (Federation Star Fleet).

NOTE: tIqtaH to' really means  ("tactics are being long",

to say enduring tactics you would say taHtaH to' ,

which doesn't sound much like  tic-tac-toe.).

A typical game might end looking like this (after the Klingon player has won, of course) :

Typical Game Play

tlhIngan player	Federation Player
wa' DoD wej
	wej DoD wa'
cha' DoD cha'
	wej DoD cha'
wej DoD wej
	cha' DoD wej
wa' DoD wa' tIqtaH to'! Qapla'!

But Klingons are masters of warfare on land and in space - so the game can be played in three dimensions.   Simply take three boards and arrange them in a stack:

With such a board you call out THREE coordinates, the first being the level.  The bottom most is wa', then cha' and the top is wej.

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