This game was created by Jennifer Diane Reitz to make part of her fictional universe of Pastel Defender Heliotrope.
It is based on the ancient game of latrunculi or latrunculorum, where players try to eliminate all the opponent's pieces using a "flanking movement" (i.e. pieces surrounding the captured piece in opposite sides). There's little information about movement of pieces, being suggested different ways.
Latrotabuli is a variant played in 12 x 6 retangular board and players have 12 latros and 1 centurion (acts as king). Latros can move any number of spaces in one of the cardinal directions whilst the Centurion can only move one space.
One particular feature of the game is the possibility of creating several formations to best deployment of pieces: the Testudo and the Phalanx. The testudo is a 4-piece square formation and phalanx is a 4-piece linear formation, in which pieces move as one.
The method of capture depends of the capturing formation (or lack of) and of the captured piece/pieces, and can be by approach, by flanking or by moving and replacing.
There's 3 victory conditions:
capture all opponent latros (pieces)
capture the opponent centurion or,
when a player in the beginning of his turn can't move his centurion, he loses.