Midgard Heroic Battles released, latest information & free downloads 19.11.24

[Pattus Magnus]

James will be able to give a better answer (I only read a beta version a couple years ago), but I think it should be possible to extend Midgard to a GW-inspired late medieval/ early Renaissance fantasy setting. The main things would be to keep in mind that the victory conditions in Midgard centre around loss of Reputation- lose your reputation points and you lose the battle, so it’s more important to have leaders leading charges or accepting duels than using them like they function in WFB.

Also, you should be able to find special abilities to approximate things like black powder weapons, as long as you focus on the overall game effect rather than trying to get a 1-1 translation from GW to Midgard. So, the Empire arqubusiers could be a Warrior unit (if deployed en masse), or a skirmisher unit, with weak armour and a heavy hitting ranged attack (I’m not familiar enough with Midgard to suggest a specific special rule that would apply).

So, doable, but will take some careful thought - representing the unit abilities may be less an issue than that Midgard has a much different focus in the game design than the GW model.

[fred]

Thanks - sounds doable then. I’m coming from a Warmaster background rather than WHFB - so units are more generic so sound like they map to Midgard pretty well.

And over the years we have hacked plenty of rule sets to work with different fantasy elements, and Midgard sounds like it has 90% there already.

Heroes sound more heroic than commanders in Midgard, but that feels OK.

I am wondering with Warmaster based figures that skirmish units aren’t often represented - but gives a chance for some new units - or rebasing of existing in less dense formations.

[James Morris]

Thank you for taking the time to write that article - very informative. And can I just say how good the photos are that accompany it - if anything they get better as you go down the article - so worth a look just for the eye candy!

The rules are sounding very interesting.

Can they be stretched to later fantasy periods - thinking about GW Empire style armies, or is black powder and pikes really outside the scope?

Thanks, glad it was useful and you enjoyed the photos.  I’m keen on combining words and pictures!
I’ve been planning to write something like this for a while, your question helped to crystallise it.

I have my doubts about how well Midgard maps on to the WFB world. The focus of the game is heroic leadership, reflected in the Reputation system that provides overall morale and victory conditions for the game. Certainly you can create profiles for WFB units, though bear in mind that pikes, firearms and artillery are not key areas of the rules; whether it then plays how you imagine, I can’t say. By all means give it a go though. I’m sure that, when it gets released, there will be a lot of discussion about repurposing WFB/ Warmaster units, and that might produce its own direction.

[fred]

It’s good to have your view on where the rules are aimed, from era and style of play.

Whilst lots of my figures and armies are Old World based - they have been used with many sets of rules over the years, and have been extended with many armies beyond WHFB, both historical and fantastical. 

[James Morris]

It’s good to have your view on where the rules are aimed, from era and style of play.

Whilst lots of my figures and armies are Old World based - they have been used with many sets of rules over the years, and have been extended with many armies beyond WHFB, both historical and fantastical.

Cool, sounds like you know what you're doing.  If you can see your troops doing the heroic leadership thing, you should be fine.

[guitarheroandy]

I have my doubts about how well Midgard maps on to the WFB world. The focus of the game is heroic leadership, reflected in the Reputation system that provides overall morale and victory conditions for the game.

I had a couple of cool games with Elves vs Skaven during play testing. Can't recall how we did the Skaven matchlock shooty things now though, but the game was fun. I played the Elves so can't recall how my mate Andy managed the 'not so heroic but rather sneaky' attributes of Skaven when selecting heroes/leaders. However he did it though, it worked... You just have to get WFB mechanics out of your head and focus on the idea of heroic leaders inspiring their troops to victory.

[Kitsune]

100% getting these. Been waiting an age for them!

BTW - the blog generally is excellent

[James Morris]

100% getting these. Been waiting an age for them!

BTW - the blog generally is excellent

Thank you!

[James Morris]

How would you compare your rules to Dux Bellorum, which seems to cover a similar period, with rules for commanders to effect combat?   Are your "heroes" quite different in how they operate?   Thanks!

If you’re talking about Dan Mersey’s Dux Bellorum, there are a few similarities (whole based units without figure removal, use of base widths/ spear throws as measures etc) but it’s a very different game. Dux Bellorum doesn’t really have heroes, just a commander who is an integral part of his unit.  Midgard takes a very different approach with the heroes being central to the game.

[James Morris]

It’s been a very busy week getting Midgard ready and now I can show you the logo! Outstanding work by Handiwork Games. It should be available to pre order within a week.

[SJWi]

James, excellent news and good to see you at "The Other Partizan" last Sunday.  My Foundry European Bronze Age troops are slowly awaking from their 20 year slumber in deep storage.....

Regards

[Pattus Magnus]

Oh yes please! I’ve been saving my lunch money for this!

[fred]

Cool!

Oh yes please! I’ve been saving my lunch money for this!

Wargames as a slimming aid! Not very TFL though

[James Morris]

And here’s the front cover, a stunning piece by Jon Hodgson of Handiwork Games, logo by Paul Bourne.

[Marine0846]

James,
Saw the interview of you and Richard on You Tube.
Excited to see the rules can be pre-ordered.
Went and ordered until I got to the postage part.
L25.00 for postage, seems high.
I live in the US.
What is your take on this?