Champions of Midgard

By: Grey Fox Games    Players: 2-4     Ages: 10+     Time: 60-90 mins

The Jarl of Trondheim has died! Without strong leadership, his prosperous port has fallen into a state of catastrophe.

Monsters in droves are causing chaos and destruction everywhere they go. The people are suffering and cry out for help.

Each player takes on the role of a Viking leader seeking glory for their clan. Defeat monsters, gain glory and favour of the gods and claim your rightful place as the new Jarl and champion of Midgard.

What Is Champions of Midgard: A Worker Placement Game?

Champions of Midgard was released in 2015 by Grey Fox Games and blends worker placement and dice-driven combat. Players will recruit fierce warriors, gain powerful runes, and defeat fierce and mythical beasts, all with the goal of amassing enough glory to become the new Jarl and Champion of Midgard.

This Viking-themed game is played over eight rounds where players will place workers around the board to collect resources or warriors. Resources are used to carve runes, build ships, or feed followers, whilst warriors are sent to neighbouring villages or across the sea to fight monsters, claim glory, and lead to victory.

Game Overview

Champions of Midgard is a middleweight, Viking-themed, worker placement game that masterfully combines dice rolling and strategic gameplay. Players step into the roles of leaders of Viking clans, tasked with defending an embattled Viking harbor town against fierce and mythical beasts from Norse mythology. The game features custom dice, representing Viking warriors, which are used to battle against trolls, draugr, and other mythological Norse beasts. With a playing time of 60-90 minutes, Champions of Midgard is suitable for players aged 10 and up, and is designed for 2-4 players. The immersive theme and engaging mechanics make it a standout in the realm of worker placement games.

Game Set-Up in an Embattled Viking Harbor Town

The game is played on an impressive board that spans both land and sea and aesthetically looks great. There are a sizeable number of different types of tokens (food, resources, warriors, coins) and decks of cards (rune, destiny, troll, draugar, monsters, journeys) that need to be organised and placed in their respective areas. Both small and large longships are placed on the board as are a number of market stall tiles relative to the number of players taking part.

Along with a set of meeples, each player starts with a small number of resources, a destiny card, and each player places their token on the scoreboard that makes it’s way around the outside of the game board. Other worker placement games like Stone Age and Lords of Waterdeep also have similar setups, but this game stands out with its Viking theme.

Each player also gets to choose a Viking leader to represent them in the game. Each of the five warriors that serve as avatars for the players all have special abilities that will aid them as the game progresses. Most offer bonuses during combat in some fashion, but others will grant players extra glory for achieving certain goals or receive extra cards at certain locations. All are handy to have, but it comes down to each player’s personal preference and strategy they adopt that will dictate the best Viking for them!

How To Play: Fight Monsters

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At the top of each of the eight rounds, there are several actions that must be taken. This mostly revolves around a number of cards from the various decks being revealed, including the trolls, draugar, monsters, runes, and merchant ships. This makes it a fun game for both new and experienced players.

Being a worker placement game, gameplay predominantly revolves around players making strategic choices about where they wish to place their meeples. Players take turns placing one worker at a time on an available location until all of the meeples have been used. Each location is colour-coded: brown and blue locations effects will activate either once the meeple is played or at a certain point in the round, whilst those that are red are battle locations and will come into play later.

The brown and blue locations vary greatly in effect but mostly allow players to collect or trade resources or warriors. Resources are used to purchase warriors or feed them on long journeys and can be traded for different resources at certain locations. There is also the sage house where players can collect destiny cards. These act as secret missions players need to complete in order to gain bonus points at the end of the final round. Red spaces are all about combat and defeating monsters to gain glory! These come into play once all the other effects have resolved.

Players that have assigned workers to red locations assign warriors to take on the threats to the village. These can be local threats like Trolls and Draugr that are constantly attacking the village, or Vikings can be sent across the sea on longboats to fight epic monsters. In doing so, a leader must make sure their warriors are supplied with plenty of food for the journey and expect to potentially encounter hazards along the way in the form of a journey card.

Combat is resolved with the rolling of dice. There are three types of warriors in the game carrying different kinds of weapons: swords, axes, and spears. The dice faces will be slightly different with each type of warrior, but in addition, some monsters are not affected by certain types of weapons, which means those warriors cannot encounter that monster. When attacking, the player rolls their dice, and for each weapon result, a damage token is placed on the enemy.

Each enemy has an attack and defense value and once the warriors have attacked, the attacking player must remove a number of dice equal to the monster’s attack value. These warriors have been defeated. If the number of weapons still matches or exceeds the monster’s defense value then it is defeated and the rewards on the card can be claimed. If the monster is not defeated after this first wave, play continues in a similar fashion until it’s defeated or all the warriors are.

After this phase, the workers are returned to their players and certain cards are discarded to make way for new ones at the start of the next round.

Once all eight rounds are over, players move on to tally up their final scores. In addition to what players have already scored, they will gain extra glory for completing destiny cards, defeating ‘sets’ of monsters (one of each colour), collecting runes, longships, coins, and gaining favour with the gods. Additionally, players will lose glory for any blame tokens they have earned. These tokens are bestowed to any players that did not defeat a troll during one of the rounds, but can also be assigned by one player to another periodically throughout the game. Whoever amassed the most glory is declared victorious and the new Jarl!

Gameplay Mechanics

Champions of Midgard features a unique blend of worker placement and dice rolling mechanics that keeps players on their toes. Each turn, players place their worker meeples at various locations around the board, allowing them to collect resources, recruit warriors, and gain favor with the gods. The heart of the game lies in its combat system, where players use their warrior dice to battle against the myriad enemies that threaten the town. The dice rolling introduces an element of luck, but players can strategically use their resources and abilities to tip the scales in their favor. This blend of strategy and chance ensures that every game is a thrilling experience.

Worker Placement Strategy

In Champions of Midgard, worker placement is a crucial aspect of the game that requires careful planning and strategic thinking. Players must consider the resources they need to collect, the warriors they need to recruit, and the enemies they need to defeat. The game board features a variety of locations, each offering unique benefits and challenges. Players must balance their need for resources with their need to defend the town, making strategic decisions about which locations to prioritize. The game also offers a variety of character options, each with unique abilities and strengths, adding another layer of strategy to the gameplay.

Objective and Victory Conditions

The primary objective in Champions of Midgard is to earn the most glory by defeating the epic creatures that threaten the town and gaining favor with the gods. Players gain glory through various actions, such as defeating monsters, recruiting warriors, and collecting resources. The game spans eight rounds, and at the end, the player with the most glory is crowned the winner and recognized as the champion of Midgard. This quest for glory drives the competitive spirit of the game, making each decision and battle crucial to achieving victory.\

Expansions and Replayability

Champions of Midgard offers two expansions, Dark Mountain and Valhalla, which introduce new mechanics and challenges, enhancing the game’s depth and complexity. The game boasts high replayability, with multiple paths to victory and a variety of character options. The random setup and variable player powers ensure that each game is unique, while the modular design allows players to customize their experience. With its compelling blend of worker placement and dice rolling mechanics, Champions of Midgard provides a fun and challenging experience for fans of strategy games and Viking-themed adventures alike.

Summary: How Players Gain Glory

Nice looking components
Straightforward rules
Strategic gameplay
Combat is simple and fun
Vikings are awesome!

Final Verdict

How can you say no to a fun game where you play as a Viking? Honestly? Worker placement games are hit-and-miss for some people but Champions of Midgard takes the concept and makes gameplay as simple as possible but fun at the same time. Not only that but even though it provides a good degree of strategic depth, it doesn’t take a long time to get through so you won’t be playing for hours on end. Everything included in the game looks great and reinforces the Viking theme perfectly. It’s a good game to introduce players to worker placement games as they won’t be bogged down with rules and kept entertained the whole way through too!

If You Liked This:

If you enjoyed Champions of Midgard, below are some similar games we would highly recommend:

Blood Rage: Ragnarök has come signalling the end of the world. It’s the Viking’s last chance to claim their place in Valhalla and go down in a blaze of glory! Players take control of Viking warriors and battle against epic monsters in a game well renowned for it’s excellently crafted miniatures.

Lords of Waterdeep: A worker placement game set in an iconic city from Dungeons and Dragons lore. Play as one of the secret lords of Waterdeep and send minions to recruit adventurers to go out on quests to earn you rewards and influence over the city.

Ankh: Gods of Egypt: Play as a god of ancient Egypt, competing to survive as society begins to forget the old ways, so that only you and your followers remain. Build caravans, summon monsters, and convert followers in your quest to reign supreme.

Shadows Over Camelot: A cooperative/semi-cooperative hand-management and deduction game based on Arthurian legend. Each player represents a knight of the Round Table and they must collaborate to overcome a number of quests, ranging from defeating the Black Knight to the search for the Holy Grail. One of the knights may be a traitor, pretending to be a loyal member of the party but secretly hindering his fellow knights in subtle ways, biding his time, waiting to strike at the worst possible moment…

Raiders of the North Sea: As Viking warriors, players seek to impress the Chieftain by raiding unsuspecting settlements. To do so, players need to assemble a crew, collect provisions, and journey north to plunder gold, iron and livestock.

Comparing Champions of Midgard to other worker placement games like Stone Age and Lords of Waterdeep highlights its unique Viking theme and engaging mechanics.

Also Read: A Comprehensive List of Marvel Champions Expansions

Champions of Midgard FAQ