I exist! I even got my hands on a new ruleset: Midgard. It released just this last Monday from TooFatLardies. Midgard is a set of rank and flank heroic historical rules with the ability to flex into low fantasy. It comes from James Morris and is available from TooFatLardies. The tagline is:

And I think that works quite well indeed to describe the objective the game. I managed to get a game in with my son and a full readthrough this week. It’s not much but I’m positive so far. The game’s focus is on leaders impacting battles. Realism takes a backseat to a bit of Hollywood and it works well.

The game really encourages you to charge your heroes in and use them to influence the battle. It rewards you for decisions that would normally look foolish–but that makes sense for the eras presented. This is when leaders romanticized battle and genuinely charged into dangerous situations, sometimes turning battles with their bravery. Or so the stories say. On first blush I definitely felt this. It does so with the following mechanics:

1. Reputation – Victory points, essentially. Whoever has the most at the end wins (generally, in most scenarios). You lose reputation by losing units or doing cowardly things. Reject a single combat? That’s a reputation loss. You gain it by doing dumb courageous things. I charged my commander into my enemy’s commander unit and gained three reputation: one for a hero charging into combat, one for charging my commander specifically, and one for charging into my opponent’s commander.
2. Mighty Deeds – Leaders gain Mighty Deeds each turn, which are an expendable resource used to fuel rerolls, combat buffs, and special abilities. They can be very influential at the right time.
3. Command Tests – Checks made for moving twice, moving when injured, or any number of other situations. Leaders help to control the troops and maintain control over your line. Absent a leader, it seems you’ll find your men running off or failing to keep pace. I experienced this first hand and, well, ow.

Late in my game with my son, I found myself near defeat, almost out of reputation tokens (in the default scenario you lose when you hit zero reputation–not normally the case). In a desperate bid to stay relevant, I charged my lone commander into my son’s Viking Warriors who had his commander attached. Right there I gained three reputation. I challenged his commander to single combat and won–one more reputation! Four total! I kept myself in long enough for backup to arrive the following turn. I nearly pulled back a victory as a result. That was the kind of moment Midgard encourages quite successfully.

Will it hold up over time? No idea. It feels like a midweight, fast playing game that’s not hard to understand. The rules were a little intimidating to get through but generally very clearly explained. The QRS is a front and back print out with basically the entire rules on it and honestly it worked well. I barely referenced the rulebook in our first game.

Like I said: my first impressions are positive. I had a lot of fun and so did my nine-year-old. I kept our lists simple for his sake and really look forward to trying more complex lists. If you’re looking for a rank and flank and this sounds appealing to you at all, I lean positive on recommending the rules. My personal fear is the restrictions of rank and flank will eventually turn me off. It feels silly at times, given the rigid movement rules. My only complaints are complaints I have with all rank and flanks–yet at the moment those complaints feel trivial.

I stress this is my early first impression. No guarantee my final review will glow positive but I have to admit my experience with TooFatLardies is that they knock it out of the park a lot more often than they whiff. I’m already planning the Battle of Clontarf and planning out which Reconquista battles I can trick a few friends into play. Not to mention the various fantasy historical armies I have brewing in my head.

I’m digging this right now is what I’m saying. Midgard feels fun, fast, and enjoyable. I’ll have more content on it soon, I’m sure. In the mean time, here’s links to my Thingiverse movement axe and tokens as well as my cards PowerPoint for anyone who may find these useful:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cuy3Xul_92v1nWKUfXoOaJILQ14fWa03/view?usp=drive_link

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6808512

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6808514

Back to fleshing out fantasy versions of my Vikings and Arabs to play with the kiddo. He’s been begging to paint a dragon and is finally about to get his wish.